2
KINGS 2:1-2, 6-14
1Now when the LORD was about
to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way
from Gilgal. 2Elijah said to Elisha,
"Stay here; for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel." But Elisha
said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave
you." So they went down to Bethel.
6Then Elijah said to him,
"Stay here; for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan." But he said,
"As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you."
So the two of them went on. 7Fifty
men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them,
as they both were standing by the Jordan. 8Then
Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was
parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry
ground.
9When they had crossed,
Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken
from you." Elisha said, "Please let me inherit a double share of your
spirit." 10He responded, "You
have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it
will be granted you; if not, it will not." 11As they continued walking
and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them,
and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. 12Elisha kept watching and
crying out, "Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its
horsemen!" But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes
and tore them in two pieces.
13He picked up the mantle of
Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the
Jordan. 14He took the mantle of
Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, "Where is
the LORD, the God of Elijah?" When he had struck the water, the water was
parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Picking Up the Mantle
Two
weeks ago we used as our text a passage of 1 Kings that involved King Ahab,
Jezebel, a vineyard owner named Naboth and the prophet Elijah. Remember I asked who had heard of that
passage before and understandably about three fourths of you said, “Never heard
of it.” I’m going to ask the same
question with this passage. Anyone ever hear this before? I bet a few more have heard this story.
But for those of you who are new to this one. Here are the important points.
Elijah, the super prophet of
his age, was walking along with Elisha, the newbie, and they came to the Jordan
River. About fifty other guys in the prophet guild are trailing along. At three
points in the trek Elijah said to Elisha,
"Stay here; for the LORD is calling me further along.” But Elisha swears,
"As the LORD lives, I will not leave you." They come up to the Jordan
River. Old
Elijah took off his cape and he rolled it up and “whap” hit the water. The
water divided to the right and the left and Elijah and Elisha walked together
across on dry land. The fifty other guys lag back on the wrong side of the
Jordan. Perhaps they were just spiritual spectators. Once they were across
Elijah turned to Elisha and said, “Well, before I leave you, Elisha, what can I
do for you?” Elisha said, “I’d like a double portion of your spirit.” Elijah
said, “Well, Elisha, if it happens, it happens.” And then all of a sudden from
out of the heavens came a fiery chariot swooping down pulled by flaming horses
and it picked up Elijah, sort of like a celestial rollercoaster, and it shot up
into the air, and the cape that was on Elijah’s shoulders flew off and it went
floating down to the ground. Young Elisha walked over and picked up that cape
and walked over to the Jordan River and, standing exactly as he had seen Elijah
stand, he rolled up that cape and he went “whap” and the waters parted to the
right and to the left and Elisha walked over.
Some
may not remember this story but most of you know the phrase “to pick up the
mantle.” It means to carry on a
job. It is a gift and a responsibility, to say “I’ve got it now. I’ll carry
on.” Whether we like it or not, ready or not every one of us is picking up
mantle’s along the way. Every change in life, every turn of age and every turn
of time involve us evolving into new roles. Life is dynamic. If you want things
to just stay the same then let’s all invest in some cryonic freezing technology.
But being cryonically frozen looks a lot more like death than life. Because, life is growth and change. So if
we choose to live, we better learn to do change and transform well.
I
remember a powerful moment of transition in my own life. After my mother died.
My three siblings and I were taking a quiet moment together before we went
downstairs to face my mother’s funeral. The house was full to overflowing with
friends and relatives. The few days since her death were so hectic. Just the
four of us were upstairs in my childhood bedroom in our old farmhouse. My
brother looks around at our small circle and he said with great insight. “We have
just stepped up.” In a flash we all understood that for our family, he meant we
had stepped into our parents generation. We inherited their mantle. Whatever
family relationships we carried through, however we lived our lives, it was up
to us, not my mom, not my dad, not anyone older or wiser or more prepared. It
was us now. How do we grow into the roles God has in mind for us?
Elijah
and Elisha can give us a hand here.
In this tiny, crazy story we see some of the things that help us step
up. First, find a mentor or let a mentor find you. I pity people who don’t have a rich faith community. I have had many jobs over the years and
I have had professional mentors that nurtured and helped me in the workplace.
But there is a profound difference when people mentor you spiritually. They
don’t teach you what to do as much as how to be. This place is thick with
mentors. I can look out and most of you have taught me something. Agnes Peebles and I did breakfast at
the Kaufman House. For years I prayed with a prayer group every Wednesday. I’ve
puzzled and talked and contemplated how to live in Faith Groups and Devotional
Groups. I’ve watched and learned how to walk through grief and illness with
many of you.
I’ve learned how to move from problem to finding the solution. I’ve had before
me the power of tender love and lifelong learning. I’ve learned how to be
hopeful, loving, giving. I look out and see a sea of mentors. But of all the Calvin mentors, one
mentor is extraordinary, Graham is a mentor that I have valued in a special
way. Because he has had a hand in
all the familiar aspects of Calvin we often don’t acknowledge the miracle that
is a healthy church. But it is his
leadership that has framed it all. I have such gratitude for his quirky
combination of tremendous vision and hope combined with an practical, workable,
step by step approach to life and work. We are truly blessed to have that rarest
of things in Graham, an original thinker with a kind heart.
This
is a wonderful environment to live and learn. So look around. Spot someone who
is living richly, has some skills, some experience or a view point that is life
giving and plant yourself where you can learn. Say, “As the Lord lives I will
not leave you.” And soak up some goodness.
Mentoring
is entirely unique. Elisha is not a carbon copy of Elijah. Mentorees are not clones of
their mentors. It’s not like being an Elvis impersonator where you mimic
someone. Elijah is so open-ended with Elisha. His final words are simply,
"Tell me, what can I do for you?” Elisha replies, “Let me inherit a double
portion of your spirit.” It sounds like “I want to be you – to the second
power. I want to be you – squared.” But Elisha goes on to bring his own style
to his role as prophet laureate of Israel. Elisha is not as pugnacious and
flamboyant as Elijah. Elijah was always righting the great wrongs of the world.
Elijah spent most of his ministry in someone’s face; King Ahab, Jezebel, the
Priest of Baal. Elisha’s ministry
was helping people, demonstrating God’s power through caring. Elisha would be
found more often with the common people as much as with great kings. Great as mentors are, you make your own
decisions. Three times Elijah gave Elisha the chance to leave, saying, “You’re
free to go your own way.” Each time Elisha said, "As surely as the LORD
lives and as you live, I will not leave you.”
Mentors
can come in surprising forms. Too
often we are looking for the Luke Skywalker/Obi Wan Kenobi model, an older
wiser mentor and a young apprentice.
This is a great model but it is not the only model. But we rob ourselves
of rich lessons by being so narrow.
This past week I spent lots of time with my Vacation Bible School
classes. In every class I learned
something that I needed to know; how to have more fun, how to be a good friend,
how to enjoy simple things. I learned lots from my small mentors. My friend, Peter’s oldest son, Joel, is
a genius with computers. As a high
school senor Joel met with someone who desperately wanted to learn computer
skills. The social network and emailing and photo sharing were really important
to her. Joel was 17. His student,
Alice, was 93. Mentoring can have amazing surprises and sometimes in the best
mentoring it is unclear who is mentoring who.
There is a habit of
great people that we should imitate. They talk to the dead. Great people are
formed by those who go before. Barak Obama wrote a book called Dreams From My Father about his
own father. All his life, Abraham Lincoln talked with the founders of this
country. Winston Churchill talked with the Duke of Marlborough. Theodore
Roosevelt talked with the men and women who settled the West.
Since we are talking about
picking up a mantle and because the Pirates are doing so well that we are all
baseball fans again, we should mention Mickey Mantel. Mickey Mantel was tremendously influence by his father, Mutt
Mantel. At the age of five.
Mickey’s dad would pitch to him left-handed and he would bat right handed. Then
his grandfather would pitch right handed and Mickey would bat left handed. Mickey’s
father and Grandfather both died in there 40’s from Hodgkin’s Disease. While
Mutt got to see his son move up to the big leagues he didn’t live to see all of
Mickey’s success. But Mickey admitted that he talked to dad whenever he was on
the road in hotel rooms. Mickey would go over the game and hear words of encouragement
or humor or insight in his father’s voice. With great people in times of great
need the dead come alive and looking over their shoulder with encouragement and
example.
This opens up new
realms of possibilities. If you didn’t have such a great dad, borrow Corrie Ten
Boom’s father from The Hiding Place. If you didn’t have a great mom, let
Catherine Marshall give you sage motherly advice from her book Beyond Ourselves. Can’t pray deeply seek
out some mentoring with Father Thomas Keating. Want to live a deeper
spirituality learn from the Quaker, Thomas Kelly. The world is deep in mentors
We have mentors from
beyond this life too but in scriptural terms we call it the great cloud of witnesses.
It as though in this sanctuary, we have an invisible balcony. In our lives we
have an invisible ceiling. Those we love, those we admire, and those whose
lives have been important to us are sending encouragement and inspiration.
Roman Catholics believe this strongly with their veneration of the saints. We
Protestants aren't quite so sure how it all works out. But the Word of God
teaches that we get strength and encouragement from the greats who have gone
before. I know it is true for me.
Over 15 years ago I was a
functional agnostic. I had lost
the knack of faith. In a faithless
world, I was lonely in the universe.
I came to Calvin and found mentors in faith that nurtured me. I really
came to Calvin for the older women, who with love and kindness and just being
themselves mentored me. Now I have a great congregation of faith models. I am
rich with the wisdom of ancient and modern Christians. This is the life that enables me to
pick up my mantle.
“Whap” the River Jordan and
cross over to a richer life.
Amen.
