Picking Up the Mantle

2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14    Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah 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. Then 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. Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then 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.

When 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.” He 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.” As 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. Elisha 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.

He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He 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.

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Lois Lowry wrote a book called The Giver, that has been read by just about every middle-school or high school student since it was published.  It has been quite popular with adults as well.  It is a story about a future society where everything is peaceful, orderly, and pleasant.  Every family has two parents and two children – a boy and a girl.  At the age of 12, each child goes through an evaluation that determines what vocation they will be assigned to.  A boy named Jonas is found to have certain rare qualities that equip him for a very special vocation: to be the Receiver of Memory.

The elders of the society are very happy to have discovered Jonas has the gift.  Because they are lucky to see one in a generation come along.  The current Receiver is getting old – maybe older than his years, for it is a vocation that wears on the body, mind, and soul. This Receiver is due for a rest.

If you haven’t read the book, you must be wondering: why does this society need a Receiver of Memory? Because the real key to the peaceful and orderly bliss of this society is this: the people have no memory.  Well, they remember what their personal life experiences are, which are all bland and uneventful, hardly memorable, but not at all troublesome.  They have no collective memory of wars or oppression, poverty or cruelty, or joy.  The complete memory of their history is stored in the body and mind of the one individual who still has the capacity to remember. 

When Jonas is chosen to become a Receiver, he begins his tutelage with the old man.  Now the Receiver will become the Giver as he passes memory on to Jonas. 

I am reminded of The Giver as I read the story of Elijah and Elisha. 

Old Elijah.  This is the last we will see of this larger-than-life character; this Troubler of Israel, Needler of Ahab and Jezebel, prophet of the Lord.  He preached truth, he brought rain by the power of God, he brought new life to a poor widow and her son.  He has brought down enemies of Israel, and he has anointed kings and prophets – including Elisha.  It was from the mouth of the cave up on Mount Horeb that God told Elijah to anoint Elisha.  He set out and found him working in his father’s field, hand to the plow.  Elijah walked up to Elisha, took off his mantle, dropped it on Elisha’s shoulders, and continued walking.  Elisha dropped the plow and followed him.

We don’t hear anything more about Elisha and Elijah for a while.  Elijah continues his prophetic work; maybe Elisha is standing behind him all the while, watching and learning.  We don’t know.  But when it is time for Elijah’s work to come to an end, Elisha is there.

I am reminded of words from T.S. Elliot: In my beginning is my end and in my end is my beginning.  The end for Elijah but the beginning for Elisha.  Stay here, he says to Elisha.  But Elisha says I will not leave you.

At his end, Elijah goes back to the beginning.  They embark together on a journey down memory lane.  They go to Bethel, the very place where Abraham had pitched his tent so many generations ago and made an altar to the Lord.  Bethel remained for Israel a place of worship.  They go to Jericho, the city that Joshua led Israel to conquer.  They pass over the Jordan river, the place that marked the entry into the land that God had promised. Joshua and the men of Israel had carried the ark of the covenant through the river; the waters had parted and they were standing on dry ground.  These are the memories of Israel, the memories of who they are.

Each leg of the journey, Elijah gave Elisha an opportunity to stay behind.  And each time Elisha repeated, “I will not leave you.”  Each time, Elisha chose to be the receiver of the memories of the Lord’s covenant with Israel.  He has been on this journey with his master, Elijah – an old man at his end.  Elisha at his beginning.  And yet there is still a question of what will be.  Will Elisha be a great prophet also? 

When Elijah asks him, “What can I do for you before I go?”  Elisha knows what he wants. “Give me a double share of your spirit.”  He is asking for the inheritance of the first-born son; he is asking to be named heir to the titles Trouble of Israel, Needler of Kings, Prophet of the Lord.

He has passed every test so far given.  Yet there is one more essential test.  “If you see me as I am being taken from you, then you will have it.”  In other words, if Elisha has the vision of a prophet, on his own, without his master, his mentor at his side, then he is truly God’s anointed one.

He keeps his eyes of Elijah, swept up in the whirlwind, until he has disappeared from view.  Then Elisha looks down and sees the mantle of Elijah, lying on the ground.  He picks it up.  It’s his now.  The mantle has passed to him.

In a way, the story of Elijah and Elisha speaks to the timeless relationships between older and younger men in the life of faith.  We do not know if Elisha would be the prophet Elisha without Elijah as his guide and mentor.  And truthfully, we don’t know who we would be without the guides and mentors God has given to us in our lives.

There are many stories about saints who have passed through this place and left a legacy.  Today, we think particularly of the men of the church – men who have served as strong leaders, teachers and guides to others, especially to younger men coming up in the church.

And I have known a few of these saints, too, in the short time I have been here.  Men who have been taken from us too soon, and who are remembered with love and admiration.

They weren’t perfect, of course.  We don’t sacrifice our memories like the people in The Giver, exchanging truth for some rose-colored half-truth.  We know that the men who have served this church had human flaws just as we all do.  But perhaps it is because of the flaws they were able to teach us about forgiveness, humility, self-discipline, and servanthood.  We give thanks for their lives.

God has blessed this church with a company of prophets, leaders, teachers, mentors.  They have served us well, and in God’s time, passed on their mantle to another – someone who would serve, teach, guide in their place.

Who has mentored you in your life?  I have no doubt you can think of men and women who have played this role for you.  But now I ask you a harder question: who is God calling you to serve as mentor, guide, teacher?  To whom will you pass the mantle at the appropriate time?

As we say about Abraham and all his descendants, God has blessed us to be a blessing.  We are called to serve.  The church will go on serving in this community and beyond as long as we continue to teach, guide, love, and serve, passing the mantle on to a new generation.  In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.