Should I Stay or Should I Go

Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the waters, which parted to the right and to the left. Then the two of them crossed over on dry ground. ... Then Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. ... Elisha picked up the mantle that had fallen off Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Then he struck the waters. “Where is the LORD God of Elijah?” he asked. He struck the waters himself, and they parted to the right and to the left, and Elisha crossed over. -- 2 Kings 2:8-14

My nomination for Prophet of Cool is Elijah. Put some cheap sunglasses on him and Elijah could be the drummer for ZZ Top. Of course, there is always the possibility the concert would be cut short by lightning strikes. Nobody messed with Elijah.

Even Joe Cool, though, loses it now and then, and Elijah was getting tired. After destroying the Baal cult prophets in a confrontation on Mt. Carmel, Elijah prayed until the three and a half year drought broke and out ran King Ahab’s chariot back to Jezreel. The threats of Jezebel caused the prophet to flee into the wilderness. Though he asked God to let him die, Elijah was not allowed to leave this world until he had appointed his successor. After Elijah threw his mantle on the plowboy Elisha, the two of them traveled together for a while.

In the second chapter of Second Kings, it has been revealed that God is about to take Elijah, and Elisha refuses to leave his master until the end. They visit several places of symbolic significance such as Bethel (“the house of God”) and Gilgal (“roll away the reproach”), eventually coming to the Jordan River. The crossing of Jordan symbolizes, not so much physical death, as the death of self, or dying to the old nature. The power of God upon Elijah is such that he is able to command the forces of nature and the waters part at the touch of his mantle.

When the two men reach the other side, Elijah asks Elisha, “What do you want me to do for you before I go?” Elisha replies, “I want a double portion of your anointing.”

Elijah says, “You have asked for something very difficult, but if you see me taken up, it’s yours.”

I have a question about exactly what this means. It is easy in the immediate context to think that Elijah means “if you are allowed to see me go up,” – or, in other words, if God reveals the nature of this departure to you. This would be related to revelation knowledge and would be applicable.

There is another possibility, too. In the larger context Elisha persists in following Elijah through the various locations to the very end, despite each time Elijah saying to his servant, “You just stay here. There’s no need for you to go on with me.” Elijah may have been saying, “This will be pretty hairy. If you have the courage to handle it and see me actually go, then the double portion is yours.” It could also be a combination of both those ideas.

Receiving revelation requires courage – not exactly the same kind as is required for skydiving or the kind that earns men the Medal of Honor in combat, perhaps, but courage still. It is not easy to give up all of our defenses and abandon ourselves to God and His revelation. We know the revelation is going to demand something of us even as it gives us something of incalculable value. I think of Jesus’ parable of the Pearl of Great Price – the man gave up all he had to have that one pearl. One Sunday evening in the space of a few minutes standing on the sidewalk outside his church in Lewisville, Texas, A. R. Trotter gave the most powerful exposition of that passage I have ever heard. We were all weeping, including Brother Trotter, before he was done. It takes courage to even begin to seek the Pearl. Most of us never start.

Elisha was not to be denied. He crossed Jordan. He faced the fiery chariots and horsemen of God. He saw Elijah taken up and he saw the mantle fall to him. The mantle, or prayer shawl (talith, spellings vary), was the symbol of Elijah’s connection to God and of his authority in this world. He had thrown it on Elisha when they first met to call him to the prophetic ministry -- much as Jesus had breathed on His disciples immediately after the Resurrection and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit,” though the outpouring did not come until after Christ’s Ascension on the day of Pentecost.

Taking up the mantle, Elisha returns to the Jordan and strikes the water himself. Is this real? Do I have the authority of my master? Does this piece of cloth mean anything? Where is Elijah’s God now?

The water parts just as it did for Elijah. Elisha now carries not only the authority of God but the responsibility. God will not give authority to those who are not tested, who cannot follow and endure. Nevertheless, the story of Elisha assures us that the Lord will find some, a remnant in every generation who will abandon themselves to His purposes, bear the burden of revelation, and speak with His authority.

Cheap Sunglasses

Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable – if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise – dwell on these things. Philippians 4:8

Look at that verse. Turn it around in your mind. Imagine if the Apostle had said, “Whatever is false, dishonorable, unjust, filthy, ugly, and despicable – if there’s anything reprobate and if there’s any complaining – dwell on these things.” Who would want to do that? I know there are the usual suspects – the Obamas, Rev. Wright, and Jimmy Carter. But I’m talking about normal people. Why would anyone want to dwell on the dark, nasty aspects of life?

Being happy is just as cheap as being miserable. They do not charge positive, bright-side people any more at that gas station than they charge bitter Obama supporters clinging to their victim status and their government cheese. No, everything does not go my way, but it doesn’t go my way whether I’m fretting, miserable, and angry, or whether I’m happy, upbeat and peaceful. The only difference is that in the latter case I’m happy and in the former I’m unhappy.

Maybe it’s like people used to say: “My future’s so bright I have to wear shades”.

The world can be a difficult place and our place in it can be uncertain. We do not have all the answers. Perhaps shading our eyes with a little pessimism takes some of the harshness and contrast out of what we see. We use negative thinking to moderate our losses and hurts and failures. If the thing that happens is not as bad as what we imagined might happen, it may be easier to take.

I suppose that would be all right except that our shades also moderate what is good. Meditating on all the ugly keeps us from look for and seeing the beautiful. We have a better option. Instead of wearing cheap, black frames of pessimism, we can rest our eyes upon the eternal. Put on the sombrero of salvation and crank the front brim down a little.

With an eternal perspective, the pains of this world ease. We realize our losses are not permanent. We understand that life has a purpose beyond life. The beauty in this life is a foretaste of its ideal manifestation in the Real. It brings us joy here and now because it connects us with the eternal. Paul’s admonition is to meditate on those things that will fill us with the light and perfection of the Divine.

We need not burden ourselves with falsehoods, lies and deceptions. We can turn off the evening news. We can read great books and listen to good music. We can find truth in the Bible certainly, but also in the Upanishads, The Silmarillion, or Treasure Island. There is purity in music.

And, of course, there are John Wayne movies.

If you wanted to teach a child about nobility, loyalty and redemption you could do a lot worse than to show them Stagecoach. Who cannot see the beauty in Red River, The Quiet Man or The Searchers? Where in all the world is moral excellence seen if not in Rio Bravo or The Cowboys? Where is honor if not in True Grit?