When they came to the other side, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken away.” Elisha replied, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit and become your successor.”
“You have asked a difficult thing,” said Elijah. “If you see me when I am taken from you, then you will get your request. But if not, then you won’t.” As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father! My father! I see the chariots and charioteers of Israel!” As they disappeared from sight, Elisha tore his clothes in distress. Elisha picked up Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen when he was taken up. Then he returned to the Jordan River, struck the water with Elijah’s cloak and cried out, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” Then the river divided, and Elisha went across.
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As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.” He said to another person, “Come, follow me.” The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.” Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.” Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”
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While I was working on this sermon yesterday afternoon, I got thinking about some of the Star Trek movies; The Wrath of Khan, and The Search for Spock. In the Wrath of Khan, Captain Spock has given up his life for the rest of the crew of the Enterprise, but before he died, he put his living spirit into safekeeping with the ship’s doctor, Leonard McCoy. The Search for Spock reveals Spock’s life essence inside the doctor, but it needs to be reunited with Spock’s body. The the crew hijacks the old ship and go searching. The physical and spiritual parts of Spock can be reunited, but not without significant physical and psychological danger to the one who holds the essence, and the body which is without. Having explained the purpose and the risks, the Vulcan High Priestess says to McCoy “The danger to thyself is grave, but thee must make the choice.” McCoy responds “I choose the danger.”, and then mutters in an undertone, “Helluva time to ask!”.
Spock’s father Sarek and Captain Kirk discuss Kirk’s choice to risk everything. Sarek says to him “But at what cost? Your ship, even your son!” Kirk responds “If I hadn’t done it, the cost would have been my soul.”
Many of us would likely say we are Christian by heritage; but most of us are really Christian by birth. At some point there is a choice we have to make. We have to make the choice to be disciples, not just worshippers. Discipleship costs: it isn’t just about tithing, or givings - it’s about being committed to the message of Jesus, to go out, to be active in the world - we have a word for that, too. It’s called ‘outreach’. It isn’t called “bring them in so we can be nice to them”, it’s called “go out and meet them where they are and never mind if they come or not.”
In the Hebrew Scripture this morning we follow two people who are as good an example as we can get. Elijah the Prophet, and Elisha his protégé, who is being groomed for his own prophetic career. Their direction is clearly laid out - Gilgal - Bethel - Jericho - Jordan.
Elijah’s prophetic leadership is ending, but he has prepared for this very moment, for years. Decades earlier Elijah picked his replacement - a kid, out plowing the field, minding his own business and probably thinking about little more than finishing so he can slip into the village and flirt with the cute girls. Elijah approaches the kid, suddenly throws his cloak across the kid’s shoulders, and then walks away! I’d be willing to bet that Elisha stood there for a good long while, looking stunned - until the penny drops, and he realises he’s maybe been tapped on the shoulder. Elisha-the-kid kisses his parents goodbye, and follows this strange person to God only knows where - and he never looks back.
...and there’s a link here to a story from Exodus, where Moses parts the Sea of Reeds so the people can go ahead, following where God leads them in the person of Moses. When Elijah is taken up, his cloak has been left behind. Elisha picks up the cloak, rolls it and strikes the water - and the river is parted, for Elisha to cross. It’s a clear picture - pick up the mantle which has been passed on from one to the other.
The passage from Luke brings another one of those “hard sayings of Jesus.” While Jesus was travelling, a man asked if he could go along. "I’ll go with you, wherever you go." he said. Jesus was pretty sharp-tongued to this would-be disciple: "Are you read to rough it? We don’t even know where we are sleeping from day to day.”
He said to another "Follow me." That one said, "Sure, but first I have to make arrangements for my father’s funeral." Jesus’ response was a little cryptic - “Let the spiritually dead do the burying. Your business is life, not death. The message is critical - Announce God’s kingdom!"
Another one said, "I’m ready to follow you, Master, but first let me get things settled at home, and then I can come with you."
Jesus replied, "Anyone who looks back has already lost. Seize the day. Go forward, regardless of risk” Let me repeat that, because it’s a critical piece for congregations. Anyone who looks back has already lost. Go forward, regardless of the risk.”
In 1977 Oscar Romero was the Bishop of El Salvador. At the time sharecroppers had no rights and rich landowners and the military kept each other in business. Priests who stood with the sharecroppers and fought back were considered "subversive."
It wasn’t long before he became Archbishop Romero. He was torn between sharecroppers and subversive priests who promoted violence, and the landowners, military, and President-elect who crushed the people. Then, a close friend, a priest, was murdered; he went to the village of the murdered piest, where the militia, at the direction of the President-elect, had turned the church into a barracks. Romero said he was there to take the Eucharist; the soldier opened fire on the cross and the altar. Romero left, but came back later, put on his clerical robes, and resolutely set his face toward the church; two priests joined him, then the village people. Romero and the people walked into the church, and Romero cried out, "I have come to retake possession of the church, to strengthen those who the enemies have trampled."
Romero had not realised what being a disciple might mean. He knew intellectually about Jesus, but the man who took back the church knew personally the human cost of discipleship, and in the end it led to his assassination. He is most remembered for saying “When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint; when I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.”
Well, there isn’t one of us here who is Jesus, or Romero. Most days we just do our jobs, and then go home and have a life with family. But Jesus, Elisha, Romero, and the fictional characters of Spock, Kirk and McCoy know that the decisions are not easy and often go against accepted logic. Dramatic changes happen and they have to carry on. It may mean going against our culture, giving up a good job as captain of a starship; it might mean doing something totally contrary to what our families might ask or expect. It is a choice between the good and the best.
Royal Caribbean International, the cruise line, a while ago took as its motto “The Nation of Why Not?” All the advertising included “Why not??”, where imagination and innovation were the keystones. Back in May, at the preaching festival in Nashville, Michael Curry, Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina, talked about the “Why not?” attitude. I like to imagine Elisha, standing there in the field, with the plow in his hand - and instead of saying “Why?”, just dropping the plow and saying “Why not?” Or those who just, apparently, followed Jesus - As we read the Gospels, it appears not one of them said “Why?” but rather “Why not?” And I will forever have a picture in my head of Michael Curry roaring to the congregation “Why not???” “Why not???” “WHY NOT???”
“Look at that, bunches of littleUnited Church people up on their feet, waving their little hands reverently, and shouting “Why not??”
Nowadays, most churches don’t talk a lot about discipleship. We are suspicious of those religious groups which do. But the reality is that it’s not possible to be a Christian without being a disciple. Just saying we are Christian, and showing up at church - is only the first step. Discipleship - following Jesus wherever that might lead - is a difficult choice - but it is a choice between the good, and the best. Jesus calls us to sleep in the hard places, to stick our necks out in the difficult times, to take risks. Jesus calls us as individuals, and as a collective congregation, to pick up the mantle and do it ourselves.....but we’re like the man who asked if he could go home first and put things in order. - and what we end up with is a tiny group of people who do everything.
Canadian sociologist Reginald Bibby commented, almost 20 years ago in 1995 - that it’s time to stop making helpful suggestions from the sidelines, and get into the game. Humber is in a position, here in Corner Brook, to be in the game. But it won’t work if you don’t do it. You can screen all the people you want, check out references and qualifications - but if YOU don’t want anything to happen, it won’t. The choice is yours - to really follow Jesus, or to talk about it. Elijah called Elisha into commitment, For Romero, being called to the priesthood was a call to commitment. Jesus called the disciples into commitment, at all times, even when it’s not convenient.
Is there any good news here? Of course - the good news is that if we take up the mantle left behind, God goes with us no matter what the risk. Jesus left his mantle behind; it is our role to choose to pick up the mantle and follow - wherever that leads.
Sources:
1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
2. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
3. "An Easy Choice?" based on Luke 9:51-62 by Rev. Thomas Hall
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Romero
5. "Coachable Moments" a sermon based on 2 Kings 2:1-14 by Rev. Thomas Hall
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