Sermon: Succession Issues

2 Kings 2:1-14

Succession Issues

James Sledge                                                                                       June 30, 2013

Even if you are not a techie and care little about computers or the latest smartphone, you probably still have heard of Apple. From iPods to iTunes to iPads to iPhones, plus computers and other products, Apple is everywhere. They have a well-deserved reputation for innovation and for developing the latest and greatest cutting edge technology, and much of that reputation is connected to one individual, Steve Jobs, the inventor and entrepreneur who founded Apple, left it, then later returned to rescue it from near bankruptcy.

Jobs died in 2011 from complications connected to cancer, but there had been a great deal of speculation about his health for many years prior. I suspect that Apple’s employees and investors did a lot of worrying about what would happen after Steve Jobs. And now, in the post-Jobs era, many worry that his absence is being keenly felt, that the company is losing its edge in innovation and technology.

When companies, organizations, movements, sports teams, and so on lose a powerful, charismatic, visionary leader, it is not at all unusual for things to founder. Indeed some never fully recover. And so succession issues can make people very nervous.

You can see that in our scripture reading this morning. We’re not told how it is everyone seems to know that Elijah is about to be  taken away, but they do. Elisha silences the prophets who speak of the impending departure. Why is not clear. Is he in denial? Does he think his repeated refusals to let Elijah go on alone will somehow forestall a future that frightens him. After all, Elijah is his mentor and like father to him. Surely the thought of what it will be like without Elijah was frightening to Elisha and many who were followers of Yahweh.

At times, Elijah had single-handedly seemed to keep the faith alive. He has stood against corrupt rulers who not only exploited the people but gravely damaged the faith. He had been willing to stand for Yahweh when almost no one else would, and he had revived faith in Israel when he bested the 450 prophets of Baal in a huge contest on Mt. Carmel. What would happen when he was gone? No wonder Elisha sticks with Elijah, following him as he seems to wander aimlessly around the countryside, repeatedly trying to ditch his younger protégé.

When the big event finally arrives and Elijah is scooped off the earth by God, not dying but transported away by fiery chariot, Elisha watches in amazement, not averting his eyes until there was no longer the faintest glimpse of the great prophet. And then, realizing that Elijah is gone, he tears his clothes in mourning and sadness. What will he do now?

I’ve heard this story many times, but for some reason, as I read it to begin work on this sermon, I was immediately reminded of another biblical scene. It’s from the opening of the book of Acts where the disciples of Jesus are staring up into the sky as their mentor leaves them. After Easter, the risen Jesus has been with the disciples for over a month, but then he departs, telling them to await the coming of the Holy Spirit. He is lifted out of their sight, leaving them staring at the sky. What will they do now?

When you think about it, it is remarkable that the Jesus movement doesn’t simply fizzle out once he is gone. That was the usual pattern with messiahs who got themselves killed by the Romans. First Century Palestine was full of messianic expectation, and would-be messiahs appeared with some regularity, gathered followers and created hopes that this might be the one. But the moment they started to stir up trouble, the Romans were there to put an end to them, and those messiahs were soon forgotten.

The same pattern had happened with Jesus, except he wouldn’t fade away. He was gone, and yet his followers were more active than ever. The movement exploded across the Mediterranean region, growing in ways it never had when Jesus was on earth.

Of course the big difference between Jesus and all those other messiahs who made a big splash, got executed, then faded into the mists of history, is that his presence remained with his followers after he was gone. The Holy Spirit came upon them and both empowered them and propelled them out into the world to continue Jesus’ ministry.

It is not so different with Elisha. The ministry of Elijah doesn’t even skip a beat after he is taken up in a whirlwind because a double share of his spirit is given to Elisha, insuring that God’ work will continue, no matter that the great champion of the faith is gone.

But the story of disciples receiving the Spirit is ancient history, and Elisha getting a double dose of Elijah’s mojo is nearly a thousand years before that. What does any of that have to do with you or me?

These stories are not just history. They are a pattern that repeats all through the Bible and down through the history of the church, a pattern that is still going on right now.

It is easy to view the champions of the faith who inhabit the pages of the Bible as a cut above normal human beings. They are sometimes afforded a legendary, almost mythic status. They weren’t mere mortals like us.

But the original disciples Jesus called could not have been more ordinary. If anything, they are a substandard lot. A number of them, Peter included, were fishermen. We’re talking poor fishing village sort of fishermen, people from the backwaters of society, people we would never would have heard of had Jesus not called them.

Similarly, Elisha is unknown and surely would have remained so had God not sent Elijah to call him. He’s plowing a field when Elijah finds him. Apparently he’s the son of a well-to-do farmer. Presumably he knew a lot about plows and farm animals and planting crops, but that hardly seems to qualify him for replacing the great prophet Elijah.

There’s an old adage that’s a bit trite but nonetheless true. It says, “God doesn’t call the equipped, God equips the called.” It’s a story that repeats over and over and over again in the Bible. It is the basic story of Israel, a small, insignificant people who scarcely would have rated a footnote on the pages of history except that God chooses them and calls them to reveal God to the world.

And us? God calls us to be the body of Christ in the world, to incarnate or give flesh to Jesus. And we have been given explicit promises that we will be equipped for this call. We do not have to have the most impressive faith, the most knowledge, the best abilities, or the best training and preparation. We merely have to be open to God using us.

On the night Jesus was arrested, he said something remarkable to his dazed, confused and disoriented disciples, who were just beginning to realize he is about to be taken from him. “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these…”

Greater works than Jesus has done… That isn’t Jesus’ confidence in the abilities of his disciples. It is his promise to them, and to all who come after them, that in the power of the Spirit, we can do what seems impossible.

I do not envy the CEO who had to take over at Apple after Steve Jobs, and I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. I wouldn’t want to be the football coach who takes over when Bill Belichick steps down. I wouldn’t want to be successor to anyone who was famous, innovative, influential, and had taken her organization to the very pinnacle of success. But collectively, we have been asked to take over for Jesus, and to continue the work of Peter and Paul, St. Augustine and St. Francis, Martin Luther and John Calvin, Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King, Jr. It’s enough to make that Apple CEO thing look like child’s play.

Except… Except we have the promise of the Spirit to strengthen, empower, and equip us with all that we need for the task, and more.

Now to God who by the power at work within in us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than we can ask or imagine, to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.  (Ephesians 3:20-21)