19 So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah passed over to him and threw his mantle on him. 20 He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, "Please let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you." And he said to him, "Go back again, for what have I done to you?" 21 So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen, and gave it to the people and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him. (NASB)
In the previous chapter, we left Elijah who not only received a new vision of God who came in the gentle whisper but a new commission from God, calling Elisha to not only share in Elijah's burdens of ministry but to eventually succeed him as prophet. Again we see the loving hand of a merciful God as he brings to Elijah a companion, a fellow sufferer for the Lord, a committed follow of God's call. There are several lessons that I gleaned this week as I studied the the call of Elisha.
Lesson #1: Need Others. Have you ever heard people say, "they don't need others, they don't need to attend corporate worship, they can worship anywhere"? I know I have. As a believer, I need fellowship. The Greek word for fellowship is Koinonia. I am not talking about just getting together and enjoying a "potluck" or doing a family activity with other families. It runs much deeper than that.
A Pastor was visiting a member who had begun to miss a lot of church. As they sat near the man's open fireplace, the Pastor tried to encourage the man to get back in church and in the fellowship of other believers. The wayward member responded by saying, "Preacher, I don't need to go to church, I can do just as well here at home by myself." Without saying a word, the Pastor picked up a pair of tongs and removed one cherry red coal from the midst of the fire. He laid this coal by itself on the hearth. Neither man said a word as the coal turned from a bright cherry red to a dull gray in just a few minutes. I need my brothers and sisters in Christ, just as this illustration demonstrates. Without the fiery, hot passion for Christ, I can easily turn into dull gray ash, lethargic, apathetic, and ineffective. God knows this and in His mercy has provided me will several opportunities to experience koinonia: Sunday School, small groups, accountability partner, etc.
Koinonia is to encourage, to edify, to lift up, to share and carry burdens to walk alongside. A powerful example of what koinonia should look like can be found in a study of the phrase “one another” in the Bible. Scripture commands us to be devoted to one another, honor one another, live in harmony with one another, accept one another, serve one another in love, be kind and compassionate to one another, admonish one another, encourage one another, spur one another on toward love and good deeds, offer hospitality, and love one another. I love how the NASB translates the chapter’s concluding statement: “Then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him.” The word ministered means "to attend to, to contribute to, to serve". God called Elisha to follow, to minister to, to attend to, to serve Elijah so His greater purposes could be fulfilled. That is God's desire for me and for you.
Lesson # 2: Do t he ordinary well. I have always wondered why I haven't experienced a dramatic calling like Paul--the Damascus Road experience, the blinding light, stop-you-in-your-tracks encounter with the living God; or being ripped out of the throws of some kind of addiction. These are all dramatic encounters. God can and still does work in the dramatic, but by and large, God works in the ordinary. Right? He didn't show up in the wind, the fire, or the earthquake. He showed up in the gentle whisper. What was Elisha doing when Elijah called him? (v. 19). He was plowing the field, doing the routine of life. I have often struggled with the routine. God, there has to be more than this.
Ray Pritchard says that "99% of life is ordinary. It is the same old stuff day after day. You get up in the morning, take a shower, put on your clothes, eat breakfast, get the kids ready for school, go to work, hope the kids are okay, come back from work dead tired, read the paper, watch TV, try to be nice, eat supper, play with the kids, flop into bed dead tired, get up the next morning, and then do it all over again. That is the way life is." Have you ever felt that way? Exhausted? Feeling empty because of the mundane? Losing ground because of the routine? I know I have. So what is the answer? Pritchard tells us that we "begin doing what you already know to be the will of God in [our] present situation." I keep reminding myself that it is to be the kind of man God wants me to be: humble, patient, loving, righteous, gentle, meek, contrite. In short, to demonstrate the fruits of the spirit, to walk in the spirit, not in the flesh.
God works in the ordinary as we learn from Elisha's call, so we have to do the ordinary well. Remember when Moses was called? (tending Jethro's sheep). David? (tending family sheep). Nehemiah? (working as cup-bearer for the King). Peter? (Casting fishing nets). Matthew? (tending to the affairs of the tax office). The common, the ordinary, the routine, right? Colossians 3:17, 23 reads, "17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,giving thanks through Him to God the Father. . . . 23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men." Do the ordinary well.
Lesson #3: Accept the Cloak. I made a crazy connection here in this scripture. Have you ever heard the phrase, "pass the mantle?" At the end of verse 19, we see Elijah doing just that, "passing the mantle" (the NIV translates it "cloak"). It is clear that Elisha would understand this ceremonial gesture. In essence, Elijah was passing the torch, the baton. Giving Elisha the clear call from God, that he would be the prophets successor. Elisha could have easily thrown off the cloak and said "No way--you have got to be kidding me; you are E-L-I-J-A-H, the mountain man from Gilead, God's man who defeated all those Baal Prophets, I have not the strength to do what you do. Besides, I have a family to think about; I must tend to the obligations of a son, plowing the field, taking care of my father's inheritance. It isn't going to be easy to leave all this wealth; its comfortable and familiar. Thanks, but no thanks." That could have been real easy for him to say, to be tempted by the world's pull, and the satisfaction that comes from the familiar. My cloak of ministry has been teaching and bible study. I not only accepted that cloak almost 8 years ago but there have been numerous of times where I have wanted to throw that cloak off and let someone else worry about it (that sounds like a Juniper Tree moment--for thoughts here refer to last week's post). But with acceptance comes commitment, comes choice and responsibility.
On April 21st, in the year 1519, the Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez sailed into the harbor of Vera Cruz, Mexico. He brought with him only about 600 men, and yet over the next two years his vastly outnumbered forces were able to defeat Montezuma and all the warriors of the Aztec empire, making Cortez the conqueror of all Mexico. How was this incredible feat accomplished, when two prior expeditions had failed even to establish a colony on Mexican soil? Here’s the secret. Cortez knew from the very beginning that he and his men faced incredible odds. He knew that the road before them would be dangerous and difficult. He knew that his men would be tempted to abandon their quest and return to Spain. And so, as soon as Cortez and his men had come ashore and unloaded their provisions, he ordered their entire fleet of eleven ships destroyed. His men stood on the shore and watched as their only possibility of retreat burned and sank. And from that point on, they knew beyond any doubt there was no return, no turning back. Nothing lay behind them but empty ocean. Their only option was to go forward, to conquer or die.
That is commitment. Accepting the cloak is just like that: we may not know what lies ahead--but as a believer, we know that trials, temptations, as well as blessings and promises lie ahead--but we have a choice to make: to retreat and live a life of disobedience or go forward and live a life as conquerors, for Paul says, "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:37). I tell you the truth, I would rather plod forward, than be swallowed up by the empty ocean. Elisha accepted the cloak. Elisha was aware of the consequences of following Elijah but willingly made the choice in spite of those fears and challenges.
Lesson #4: Be Humble. In order to lead with Christ, I must follow humbly. To be a servant of Christ, I must place the needs of others before my own. Paul writes in Philippians 2:3: "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves." Elisha was thinking of the feelings and needs of his parents in 1 Kings 19:20.
When Christ says, "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the Earth" (Matt. 5:5), He is referring to the gentle spirit--which comes from the word praos, basically meaning mild or soft. It was used of colts or other animals whose naturally wild spirits were broken by a trainer so that they could useful work. We are the wild spirits as a result of our sinfulness and therefore in need of "breaking" in order to be used by God. A meek person, a humble person is a broke person. A meek person trusts God and knows that whatever transpires is filtered through the loving fingers of his heavenly Father. A meek person humbly submits to God's will not his will. And so meekness is a willingness to accept whatever comes as allowed by the sovereign, all loving God. This is Elisha. The committed follower of Christ must be humble.
Lesson #5: Say Good-bye and Separate. This really is the high cost of following Christ. Notice Elijah’s response to Elisha's request to go and say good-by to his parents: “Go back again, for what have I done to you.” Meaning, “What claim do I have on you?” In essence, Elisha is free to stay or go, but the choice is his to make. Elijah instructed Elisha to go, but to keep in mind the solemn call of God and not to allow any earthly affection to detain his obedience. Luke 14:26 declares: "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple." It is very important to read scripture in multiple translations so I encourage you to do so with this verse. According to this verse, a committed follow of Christ will essentially "hate" everything in comparison to Him; everything is secondary. Of course, He doesn't mean that we should hate our family for that would be contrary to His word, but nothing should serve as master but Him.
When I first read Elisha's response, I thought: "This really isn't any different than the responses of the would-be followers of Christ in Luke 9:59-62." Oh, but there is. In Luke, these would-be followers were saying in essence, “Let me go home and stay with my father until he dies. When he is gone, then I will follow you.” Take care of his father was nothing more than an excuse cloaked in piety. Elisha simply wishes to say good-bye to his parents and then will gladly follow. God hates wishy-washiness. God is not a fan of ambivalence. He doesn’t care for fence-sitters. He isn’t pleased by people who can’t quite make up their minds, who are forever weighing their options, who can never settle on a course of action. God isn’t calling us to act rashly, without any thought to the consequences. God wants His children to follow Him with joyful abandon, without regret, without looking back (remember the 600 committed men who defeated the Aztec empire?). Elisha was that man.
Lesson #6: Burn the Plow. Notice what Elisha did? He burned the plow and slaughtered the oxen. What a symbolic act. In essence, Elisha was saying that nothing is more important than following God's call. In was ALL in, totally sold-out to this ministry. When Jesus calls us to be disciples, he calls us to make a lifelong, irrevocable, absolute commitment--to count the cost. Isn't that the message of Luke 14:26-33? It is about carrying my cross, dieing to self, being totally surrender, a heart unequivocally committed to Him, counting the cost. He wants us to determine in our hearts, once and for all, that when we follow Him, and that there will be no turning back. The words of John 6:66-68 speak to this: "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 'You do not want to leave too, do you?' Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.'
Notice that Elisha’s burning of the plow takes on deep significance in light of Jesus’s words in Luke 9:62: Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." Read Philippians 3:7-14. Paul counted the cost; Paul burned his plows. Why? So that he may know Him, His righteousness, His sufferings. What plows do I need to burn? Certainly the plow of earthly wealth must be secondary; the plow of comfort; the plow of "I-would-rather-be-doing-something-else"; the plow of apathy; the plow of pride, thinking of myself more highly than I ought; and any other plow that hinders my call.
Lesson #7: Take the Hard Road. Watch this clip from A League of their Own, where Dotty, the star catcher, struggles with her decision to leave baseball and return home. Watch until 8:40.
Notice Jimmy's response: "It is the hard that makes it great." Ray Pritchard says that there "will be hard days, bad days, sad days, discouraging days, confusing days, angry days, frustrating days, boring days, upsetting days, discombobulating days and then there will be some really bad days." But the hard is what makes it great. When we read Luke 9:23-24, we recognize that it is hard to follow Christ, to not shrink back (as Hebrews 10:38-39 says), to not look back, to not retreat, for we are dieing to self, putting aside all of our wants and wishes, our longings and comforts. But it is good to do so. Why? We are rightly related with Christ, saved through that loss, we are in His presence, we know that nothing passes to us except through the loving fingers of God, we are being perfected day by day. Remember the narrow road, the difficult road, the hard road leads to life and few enter it; whereas the broad road leads to destruction and many find it (Matt. 7:13-14). Elisha counted the costs and chose God and servanthood. Quite fitting when we discover what his names means: "God is my salvation." Way to look forward and commit Elisha. I only pray for God's strength and discernment to live life with that example.
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