SER Feb 15 Supersize Me! CONTINUANCE
TEXT:
2 Kings 2:1-12
SUBJECT: Continuing the work of the Lord
THEME: To serve with humility is the greatest gift we can give or receive
PURPOSE: To encourage boldness, but not unbridled ambition
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It’s been three years since our dog Lady died. It hardly seems
possible that it’s been that long. She was very much a part of our lives.
On that last day there were signs that it was going to be our last. She
had been struggling for a while – not in pain or anything, but just not as
peppy as she used to be.
Every morning I would take Wil to school, and she loved that time.
Being in the car with her family was the greatest thing she could ever
imagine. So that morning we got up to go to school, and she dutifully got up
to come downstairs with us.
She had a little trouble getting up into the car, but she made it by
herself. I dropped Wil off and came back home, but she couldn’t get out. I
realized then that something was going on. I helped her down, went inside
and told Kim, and immediately made a call to the vet to bring her in. Kim
got ready for work and found Lady huddled under the dining room table.
Kim said that she felt that this was going to be it, and went under the table
to kiss her goodbye.
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I took Lady to the vet, and as we sat there waiting, she wasn’t acting
as she usually did. She hated the vet, but this time she just put her head on
my lap and sat there. That was the point when I finally had to face it – I
wasn’t going to be bringing her home that day.
What do you do when you realize that your whole life is going to
change by the time the sun sets that evening? Usually things like this
happen without us realizing it. We may be aware that someone we love is
dying, or that we’re in line for that promotion, or that we are going to be
deployed in the near future, or that the baby is coming, but there’s nothing
we can do about it right now so we just try to live our lives as normally as
possible.
Kaipos
But the time comes when suddenly life changes. The one we love
dies; the baby is born; the call goes through. This is what the Greeks called
“Kairos” time – not the particular hour and minute, but those moments
when eternity touches our existence.
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I believe Elijah and Elisha were having one of these moments. Elijah
had been a prophet of the Lord for 12 years, during which he had not made
a whole lot of friends for himself! But one person that he was able to
influence was Elisha, to whom he became a mentor.
In our story here the two of them are going for a walk. If I’ve figured
this correctly, they walked about 25 miles that day! Quite an achievement
for your last day on earth!
I think the farthest I’ve ever gone in a single day was 15 miles, which
was during a family vacation at Disney. But of course Elijah and Elisha
walked everywhere, so they were probably in much better shape.
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The scriptures say that, along the journey, several prophets came up
to them to ask Elisha if he knew that this was going to be Elijah’s last day. I
wonder when Elisha began to suspect. All along he says, “Yes, I know;
don’t bother me about that!”
I wonder what kinds of thoughts and emotions he experienced. Was
he sad? Nervous? Did he just want to spend as much time with his friend
as he could, knowing that the end was coming?
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Along the way, Elijah keeps giving him opportunities to go back to his
old way of life. When Elijah found him, Elisha was out plowing a field. In
their time together Elisha had seen that being a servant of God is not an
easy life. People will deliberately misunderstand you; you will have to
speak up against powerful and vindictive people; your life will not be one of
ease.
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Perhaps Elijah is giving Elisha an chance to back out of all of this.
Maybe he was telling him that a life of plowing behind a bull in the hot sun
is preferable to being a servant of the living God.
But Elisha does not go. Three times he tells Elijah, “This is what I
have chosen.”
Finally Elijah comes to the last part of his journey. He turns to Elisha
one last time and says, “Okay – this is the life that will have. Is there any
last thing that I can do for you before I go?”
And Elisha says, “Let me have a double portion of your spirit.”
Does this sound arrogant to you? It sounds as if Elisha is saying, “Let
me be twice as important as you were!”
That is one possible meaning, and in reality, Elisha did do greater
things than Elijah did, but I’m not sure that that’s the correct interpretation
of what’s written.
If we look at Oriental inheritance rules, we find an interesting parallel.
All property was passed down to the sons, but the oldest son was the one
who got the larger share of property.
The oldest son always got twice as much as everyone else. If you
had two sons, your property was divided into thirds. The oldest got two
thirds, and the younger one third. If you had three sons, the property was
divided into fourths. The oldest got two fourths, and the other two received
one fourth.
What if you had seventeen sons? (You wife would probably shoot
you!) It was divided into 18th’s, and the oldest got how much? (2/18ths, and
the others 1/18th).
Part of this was because the oldest was now responsible for carrying
on the family name, and would have to take care of the younger brothers
until they were old enough to go out on their own. So the oldest, the rightful
heir, always received a DOUBLE PORTION.
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So Elisha says, “Let me receive a double portion of your spirit.”
Three times Elijah gave him a chance to back out, and three times
Elisha says, “I accept this responsibility.”
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Elisha is saying, “I will step up and take the mantle. I know that this is
not going to be easy; I know that there will be sleepless nights and times
when I will have to go into hiding. But I love this nation; I love these people;
and I love the Lord. I will not shirk this responsibility.”
A decision point had been reached. Elisha realizes that this is it; he is
not going to have Elijah with him anymore. Not only that, but the children of
Israel aren’t going to have him around anymore! As much as they
complained about him and disliked him, they needed him to bring the word
of the Lord, as difficult as it was to hear, and to give them guidance.
When someone comes to join with our church, we ask them
questions about their faith. I tell our new members that everyone is
welcome to come worship here, but to become a member means that you
are accepting a special responsibility. You are saying, “I believe in what this
church is doing. I believe that God is leading this church, and I willingly
submit myself to this church’s authority in order to grow the kingdom of
God.”
Being a member does not mean that you have more rights than
anybody else. It means that you are taking up the mantle of service
yourself, and that you want to go out and serve others.
Many people get that wrong. Being a member of a church does not
mean that you can have more expectations of the pastor. I saw a cartoon
once where the pastor was out mowing the church’s grass. In the
background were various yard tools, ladders, painting supplies – it was
obvious that the pastor had been working hard all day and would be there
for quite a while longer.
In the foreground was a lady clutching her purse and talking to the
pastor – “I just heard that Mrs. Jones’ son is having some trouble and is
over at rehab again. I told her that you would be over to see him sometime
this evening.”
Now – who’s responsibility is it to minister to the sick and imprisoned?
According to the Bible, who are the ministers?
EVERYBODY. Anyone who has given their life to Christ has now
been given the ministry of reconciliation. This is totally different than what
we expect in our western culture. Lots of people want someone else to do
the work for them, while they just sit back and expect others to feed them.
But Elisha says, “Let me be the one. I will step up and serve.”
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You may remember a few years back there was a book called “The
Prayer of Jabez”. In one of the most boring books on the entire Bible, in the
book of Chronicles, we find this short passage:
Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless
me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me
from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his
request.
I remember their being criticism at the time about what a selfish, selfcentered prayer that was! “Oh, God, give me more stuff!”
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But the point of the book (and the point of the prayer) was not about
asking God to make us rich, it was about asking God for the opportunity to
do more for Him. “Oh God, increase my territory! Give me more
chances to speak to people and to reach them with Your love! Give
me guidance so that, when you give me these chances, I can bring
hope to others. And keep me safe, so that I would not be distracted
from this task by earthly things!”
Pretty good prayer when you read it like that, huh? I see in this the
same request of Elisha –
“Elijah, supersize me. Let me be able to live up to the standards that
you have set, and to be seen in the same light as you. Whether it means
that I receive blessing or curse from others, I want to follow in your
footsteps.”
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So what is your request? If you could ask God for anything, what
would it be?
As you know, I often ask my waiter at a restaurant or telemarketers
who call me on the phone if I can pray for anything for them. I have gotten
lots of answers. Some ask for their children or their parents; some ask that
they could become rich!
If you could ask God for anything at all, what would it be? Would
it be the ability to talk to people? Would it be to overcome shyness? Would
it be for health and prosperity, and for what purpose? Take a minute and
ponder this question, and then I’ll give you some time to talk it over with the
people around you.
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Now, let’s consider this question: If you could ask God for anything
for our church, what would it be?
One final question: What would God need to give you, in order for
this church to achieve what you asked Him for?
There are moments when things in your life become very clear. All of
the extraneous stuff is stripped away, and we have the gut-check to see
what our life is going to be about from this time forward.
What are you doing with your life that is going to make it meaningful?