2 Kings 6:15-17
* August 30, 2009 *
Pentecost 13 * Pastor Leyrer
Dear Friends in Christ,
Our summer sermon series is drawing to a close. Next week will be the final sermon specifically devoted to an Old Testament Bible figure under the general theme, “A Great Cloud of Witnesses.” Pastor Pagels will wind things up, so today is the last time I have the opportunity to preach within the parameters of this particular theme…
Earlier in this series, when we considered the life and lessons from the patriarch Jacob, I preached in the first person. I have to tell you that I’d never done that before. But because this series lends itself quite well to that approach, today we will do it once again.
The great figure of faith we’ll be considering today is
ELISHA, THE PROPHET WHO RECEIVED
A DOUBLE PORTION OF THE SPIRIT
From here on in, try to imagine that it is he who is speaking to you…
My name is Elisha, which in Hebrew means “God is salvation,”
and I was privileged to serve the Most High God as one of His prophets for over
50 years. If you read about me in the
Books of First and, mainly, Second Kings, you’ll quickly discover that the time
and context I lived in was radically different than yours. In fact, you can’t imagine living in my world
and circumstances in
Nevertheless, as different as we are in time and space, there are some deep and significant spiritual areas where our lives intersect. We’re really not all that different from each other and I believe there is a lot you can learn from me. So I ask that you not think of me merely as a historical Bible story figure, but as one whose life our God chose to uphold and record for your spiritual benefit and growth…
That being said, as I look back on my life as a believer, I find it neatly divides into these four chapters: My calling… my mentor… my message… and my miracles. As I talk about each of these items in my life, I’ll also mention how some of them also correspond with your life.
Let me tell you about my calling. I was working on the family farm of my father Shaphat, overseeing a work force and plowing operation that utilized twelve pair of oxen. That probably tells you something about me right away. I came from a fairly well to do background. Try to picture the size of a field that needs six or seven big John Deere tractors working it over and you’ll get the modern day equivalent of my roots.
But I’ll tell you this from the very outset: whatever wealth I had was no comparison to the riches of a relationship with the One True God.
At any rate, I was at work in the field when the prophet Elijah came into my life and did something rather unexpected. He placed his mantle – that is, his cloak or coat – over me. I knew what that meant. In a very symbolic way God through Elijah was calling me to His service. And I knew my life would now be different.
So I asked Elijah for permission to say goodbye to my parents, which he did. Because I knew I wouldn’t be needing them anymore, I butchered the oxen I was working with, prepared the meat over a fire I started from the wood of the plow I’d been using and sponsored a farewell party. Then I became the attendant of the great prophet Elijah.
Here’s where you and I share our first common ground. I
was called into service; you also were
called into service. Mine may have been
a bit more dramatic, but yours is no less real.
Elijah placed his cloak over me; through the waters of baptism the
Messiah, placed the robe of his perfect righteousness over you. Later on the Apostle Paul will write in the
book of Galatians: “You are all sons of God through
faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have
clothed yourself with Christ.”
So never forget that as believers you wear a robe of righteousness. The Most High God looks down from heaven and sees you clothed with the sinlessness of His Son, which means you are perfect in His sight.
That’s not the way things started out. All of us were born wearing the spotted robe of our own sinfulness. And that’s unacceptable to God. God demands a perfection from His creatures that none of us by nature are either willing or capable of giving Him. The consequences for disobedience are drastic and eternal. What can we do about this? Absolutely nothing.
So God takes the initiative to make things right between us and Him. I looked forward to Him as the Messiah, but you know Him as Jesus. And you know what He did. He lived that perfect life, in your place. Then he died on the cross paying out the wages for your sin. All who embrace Him in faith are covered with the bright, white robe of Jesus; as a result, you have been redeemed, restored, and forgiven.
And that changes things. Through baptism you entered a new life in and with God, just as I did. As members of the family of God it is now our desire to bring Him honor; to live our lives, as the Apostle Paul will put it, “worthy of the high calling we have received.” This we are moved to not by guilt or a sense of coercion or obligation to “follow rules;” but purely and wholly by gratitude. We have been saved to serve.
And that’s what I did. For a number of years I served alongside Elijah. I saw how God used him mightily. I was there when God took him to heaven in a whirlwind accompanied by a fiery chariot and horsemen. It was something I’ll never forget. Something else I’ll never forget is the conversation we had just before it happened…
Elijah asked me what he could do for me before the Lord took him home. What I requested was for him to give me “a double portion of his spirit.” I should probably explain what that means. It doesn’t mean that I wanted to be twice as great or twice as spiritual as Elijah was. I was using terminology that was very familiar in my day, but perhaps not yours.
In my day it was the custom of a father to give his firstborn son a double portion of the inheritance. So what I was really asking for was that I might be considered worthy to become Elijah’s rightful successor. And God in His grace did indeed allow that to happen. So I was privileged to continue the work of Elijah.
Maybe there’s another touch point between you and me here. Many of us have hopes and dreams and aspirations. In our youth we hope to be successful and to do great things and to make our mark. In those middle years we often assess if we’re where we want to be and if there is time to make the adjustments. As we age we sometimes wonder what kind of legacy we might be leaving behind.
The only aspiration I had was to be used by God in whatever way He chose. And I would pass that on to you. If you wish to aspire to anything, aspire first and foremost to being a person of God. If you wish to leave a legacy, let it be as a man or woman of God. There is no greater aspiration or legacy than that – nor anything more important.
After I took over Elijah’s role God used me as He had used Him. I preached and taught and as God’s spokesman warned both kings and commoners. We as a people went through some very volatile and difficult times, often of our own making. My ministry was marked by length… and by miracles. That’s what I’d like to talk to you about next.
God performed miracles throughout that part of the Bible you call the Old Testament, but they didn’t necessarily take place in a steady or uniform progression. Rather they sort of clustered around certain people and certain times. Think of all the miracles connected to Moses at the time of the exodus, for example. Well, I was privileged to live and be involved in one of those times of high miracle activity.
Some of them you probably know about, others you may
not. You can check them out in the
opening chapters of the Book of Second Kings.
There you’ll read about how God used me to part the
I performed a miracle of resurrection, bringing a woman’s son back from the dead. I fed a large group of people with but a little food, reminiscent of what the Savior would do twice in His ministry. I won’t take the time to list them off, but I was involved in a number of other miracles as well. All of them spoke of God’s power and might.
However, perhaps the one that I found most significant and personally beneficial was the one that you heard at the beginning of this sermon. Let me tell you about it.
It happened at a time when the King of a neighboring country
called
The next morning the people were gripped with fear. Surrounded as we were by this massive and
well-equipped army, the situation seemed hopeless. One person in particular – a servant –
verbalized what everyone else was thinking.
“Oh my lord, what shall we do?” he
asked me. “Don’t be afraid,” I answered.
“Those who are with us are more
than those who are with them.”
Then I prayed: “Oh Lord, open his eyes so that he may see.” I’ll simply read to you from the Bible what happened next. “Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
After that, I think it is safe to report, his fears went away. And, in fact, through another miracle the Lord gave us a great victory even though we seemed greatly overmatched.
Of all the miracles I was a part of, here is the reason I wanted to share that one with you. It conveys a most comforting truth and a most comforting assurance.
If what was true in my day is true in your day – and I suspect it is – life can at times become overwhelming. Some days it seems like we’re surrounded by our troubles and fears. Maybe they have to do with our health. Or our economic situation. Or with the uncertainties of a future we know we’re going to have to face.
Maybe they’re of a personal nature; a besetting sin that seems to outmatch us or a family concern we find ourselves obsessing over because we just can’t see how – or if – its ever going to work out. And we find ourselves wearing a mantle of sadness rather than joy.
In such times I’d like you through the eyes of faith to
relive this miracle with me. And to
remember my words: “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And who is always with us? The Apostle Paul answers that question with
another one when he wrote: “If God
is for us, who can be against us?”
Please do not forget this. Nothing is bigger than God. He may ask us to endure, but we never need be overwhelmed. Because He is always with us. That’s what this particular miracle taught me. And that’s what this miracle teaches you.
So thanks for listening to my story. I’ll look forward to talking with you more in heaven, thanks be to God for Jesus Christ. Amen.