Delivered February 19, 2012
The text we have before us this morning is one of the most dramatic stories in the Bible. It takes place about 850 years before Christ. It is the prophet Elijah’s ascension into heaven in a fiery chariot in the midst of a whirlwind. It is dramatic exit for a very colorful OT character. It made Elijah into one of the most popular characters in the Bible. Elijah, according to this story, is one of only two persons in the Bible who did not die. The other is Enoch. But Enoch’s whole life is described in just four verses in the Book of Genesis, and we know almost nothing about him. But we have a lot of stories about Elijah. Elijah became the subject of much speculation. It came to be believed that Elijah was going to return to earth one day. To this very day, Jews at their Seder meal every spring open the door of their homes for the prophet Elijah and set out a cup of wine for him, just in case he shows up for dinner. It was believed that Elijah was going to return before the Messiah appeared.
That belief was prominent in Jesus’ day. Jesus said that John the Baptist was in some way the fulfillment of that expectation. At the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain, there is a vision where Elijah and Moses show up and speak with Jesus. So Elijah became a very important character in Jewish thought and consequently in Christian thought. Elijah’s chariot became a symbol for going to heaven. We sang the song: “Swing low, sweet chariot, comin for to carry me home. If you get there before I do, Tell all my friends I'm comin' too, Comin' for to carry me home.” But when we actually read the story of Elijah’s ascension to heaven, that part of the story is just two verses long. Most of the story is the preparation for his departure and how Elijah and his friend and protégée Elisha handle the fact that God was going to take Elijah from this earth. That is what the story is about, and that is what I am going to focus on this morning.
Billy Joel sings that life is a series of hellos and goodbyes. The goodbyes are harder. When you say hello, you never know what that relationship will turn out to be. But when you say goodbye, you know exactly whom you are losing. If we have lived long enough, we have said goodbye many times in our lifetime. When you move from place to place you have to say goodbye to people and places. When you graduate from high school and college you have to say goodbye to teachers and friends. When you change jobs you have to say goodbye. If you are divorced, you have had to say goodbye. Then there is the big goodbye that comes at death. When someone we love dies, we have to say goodbye; when we are approaching death, we have to say goodbye. Life is a series of goodbyes. Today we are looking at how Elisha says goodbye to his friend and mentor Elijah. There are five parts of this long goodbye.
I. The first part is Elisha’s refusal to say goodbye. He did not want to admit that lifelong friend was really going to be taken from him. Elijah seemed to know his earthly life was coming to an end, and Elisha suspected that this was happening. It seems like Elijah wanted to leave this earth privately. He keeps trying to get away from Elisha to be by himself. It seems like a lot of people like to die in private. My mom died nine years ago now. Jude and I visited her at the nursing home in Danvers, Massachusetts. She was sitting in a wheelchair in her room. We visited with her and said goodbye, and then went to have lunch, planning to return right after the meal. But while we were at the restaurant we got a call from the nursing home that she had died. People said she had waited to die until she saw me and could say goodbye, and then waited for me to leave to die.
Elijah tried to get off by himself to die. He told Elisha to say in Gilgal while he went to Bethel. Elisha suspected that Elijah might not return, and replied, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” At Bethel Elisha ran into some of his colleagues – some prophets. They said, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?” And Elisha responded, “Yes, I know; keep silent!” This pattern repeats in the story. At Bethel Elijah tells Elisha to stay there while he goes on to Jericho. Elisha responds again, “No way. I am not leaving you!” They go to Jericho and Elisha meets some more of his prophet friends, who again say to him, “You know that God is going to take away your master today?” And Elisha responds again, “Be quiet! I don’t want to hear about it.”
This is the way many people respond to the news that someone they love is going to die. Grief counselors call this denial. When we don’t like an idea we try not to think about it. It doesn’t work. The inevitable happens anyway, but it is our way of giving ourselves some time to slowly come to grips with reality. This is not a bad thing. We should not be hard on ourselves or others for doing this. It is natural to react to bad news initially by not wanting to accept it – even to pretend it isn’t true – while knowing all the time deep down that it is true. People do not want to say goodbye, and so they don’t.
II. The second part of this long goodbye is Elisha and Elijah revisiting important places. They take a final road trip together. They start at Gilgal and go on to Bethel and Jericho and finally the Jordan River. These places are not accidental. They were important places in the lives of these prophets. They were places where groups of prophets (called in the passage “the sons of the prophets”) had banded together into religious communities. They were people important to Elijah and Elisha. Furthermore these were sacred places to the Hebrew faith. Bethel was the place where Jacob (later to be known as Israel) had his dream of the ladder between heaven and earth and angels ascending and descending upon it – a pretty important theme for what was about to happen to Elijah. Gilgal was where the Hebrews first arrived in the Promised Land. Jericho was the place of the first victory over the Canaanites. The Jordan River is the boundary of the Promised land. Crossing the Jordan later became a symbol for death. These were not just random places they were visiting; these are holy places with deep personal and spiritual meaning. Elijah and Elisha were really on a final pilgrimage together.
Jude and I watch the television reality show Survivor. I know some people don’t like Survivor and others do. We like it. One of the practices that they normally do near the end of the show, after all but three have been voted off the island, is to go back and remember each person who was part of the tribes. They would say their name, recall some things about them, say some good things about them (like a eulogy), and then move on to the next person. That is what Elijah and Elisha are doing. We do it. We remember the good times; we share memories. When I left here as pastor in 1994, we had a meal and a reception and people shared memories. I actually learned some things at that gathering I did not know. For example, apparently my son Ernie (who was a teenager at the time) had a reputation for jumping off the bridge at the Potholes in North Sandwich, even though we told him not to – that it was too dangerous. One time is alright, just so you can say you did it, but you don’t repeatedly tempt fate. We found out that our son had a reputation for tempting fate on a regular basis.
Revisiting memories is one of the purposes of memorial services of the one who has departed. This is a good thing also, and Elijah and Elisha were doing this – revisiting people and places that had significance for both of them and for their faith, even though Elijah wasn’t telling Elisha that was what he was doing.
III. This third part of this long goodbye was Elisha’s Request. He asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. They had gotten to the Jordan River, and Elijah rolled up his mantle (which is a cloak) and he hit the river, and the waters separated. It was a reenactment of the Hebrews crossing the Red Sea and later crossing the Jordan on their entrance into the Promised Land. The act had symbolic significance; it was another remembering of an important event in Israel’s history. The two prophets walked across the Jordan on dry ground. Then verse 9 says, “And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?” Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”
First of all, notice that Elisha had come to grips with Elijah’s imminent departure. He did not argue with Elijah; he didn’t say he did not want to hear about him leaving and didn’t want to talk about it. He had accepted the inevitable. Elijah wanted to give him some parting gift before he left. So Elisha asked for a double portion of his spirit. He was asking for the Spirit of God, who inspired and empowered Elijah’s life. By asking for a double portion, he was not asking for twice as much spiritual power as Elijah had. The “double portion” is a reference to the inheritance laws of the day. In Hebrew society the eldest son got a double portion of the inheritance of the father, and the second son got one portion. Elijah was asking to be Elijah’s spiritual heir. Elijah’s answer was very good. He basically said that was not up to him but up to God. He actual words were: “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.”
In some ways it sounds a lot like Jesus’ answer to James sand John. They asked Jesus if they could sit on his right and left in his Kingdom. They did not know what they were asking. Jesus replied, “to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father." This discussion about the Spirit also sounds a lot like what Jesus said to his disciples about the Holy Spirit shortly before his death. Jesus said that he had to depart from this earth so that the Holy Spirit could come and indwell his disciples. “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”
Elisha is asking for the Spirit of God, whom we know as the Holy Spirit. We also need the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The whole Christian life can be summed up as being filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God entering into us through faith, and living in us and through us. We live not by our own power but by the power of God. This is what Elisha saw in Elijah’s life. He saw the prophet empowered by the Spirit of God, and that is what he wanted in his life. He wanted not just to be like Elijah, he wanted to be filled with the same Spirit as Elijah. That is what he asked for at the end. Likewise, the Holy Spirit is ours for the asking. Jesus said, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
IV. The next part of this long goodbye is the actual departure of Elijah in the fiery chariot. There are a couple of elements in this I want to point out. One is that God had to physically separate Elisha from Elijah. Verse 11 “Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” The chariot actually had to force the two men apart. That is how close the attachment was between these two; the only way that God could take Elijah from Elisha was to actually place a chariot of fire between them. Apparently there were angels involved also, for Elisha exclaimed in verse 12, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” So he saw him no more.” The other aspect of this scene is Elisha’s show of grief. Verse 12 goes on to say, “ And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces.” To rend one’s garment was the traditional sign of grief in that culture.
V. The final part of this long goodbye is the Recovery of the mantle. Verses 13-14 say, “ He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. 14 Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over.” This shows that Elijah was moving on, and he was doing so with the Spirit of God empowering him. Elisha picked up Elijah’s mantle, which was the symbol of his prophetic office, and used it the same way that Elijah had used it. He struck the river, and he had the same results as Elijah; the waters parted. The words that he says at that moment are interesting. As he strikes the Jordan with the mantle of Elijah, he shouts, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?”
The implied answer is that the Lord God of Elijah is still there, empowering Elisha and his ministry. The Spirit did not leave with the prophet when he went to heaven. The same is true of us. The Lord Jesus ascended into heaven, but the Spirit of Jesus is still here. Jesus had said, “I will be with you always, even until the end of the age.” He meant that his Spirit would be here. As I said previously, Jesus had promised that even though he was leaving that the Holy Spirit would come to be present with them and in them. So in a very real sense there was no final goodbye. Elijah was gone, but the Spirit or Elijah remained. Jesus is physically gone, but spiritually he is present. He is present in us, his church, which is called the body of Christ. We are now his physical body indwelled by his Spirit. “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” asked Elisha. The answer is that He is here. He is in us as believers. He is in his church. That connection between us and God is a permanent one. In that sense we never have to say goodbye.
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