A double portion

2 Kings 2:1–15 “Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please 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. And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?”

And he said, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.” Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?”

And he answered, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.” Then Elijah said to him, “Please 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 sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.” And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.”

And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more.

Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him opposite them, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.”

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7-12

13-15

Dominant theme: God is calling us to greater

Walk away with: Adopt a classroom

God can do more

Adoniram Judson: born in 1788

He grew up in a christian home. But after going to university he met a very strong incredibly persuasive skeptic named Jacob Eames and lost his faith. Adoniram was brilliant all the same. A valedictorian of his graduating class who likely became a staunch and persuasive skeptic himself.

After graduating he moved to NY to write for theater. There he found little purpose in his life. One night he was traveling through a small village and there was a fierce storm outside.

Drenched from the storm and shivering from being cold and wet he entered the inn looking for a room.

The story goes that the innkeeper looked at him with compassion but told him nonetheless that there were no rooms to be had.

Surely for the love of god you have a room though? I can’t go back out in that storm, there probably isn’t another inn for miles. Give me a coat closest if you have to and ill sleep there.

Finally the innkeeper gives in and admits there is room, but with one caveat… there is a man who is deathly ill in the room next to it.. he is surely going to keep you awake.

Without even a second thought Judson took the room. As soon as he arrived he heard it. Groaning, coughing, and the rumblings of a man dying in his bed.

He thought little of it until he lay down to sleep and it started to hit him, “is this man ready for death? Has he made peace in all of this?”

He knew his skeptic Jacob Eames friend would be laughing at him now, Adoniram, seriously? Did you really graduate as a valedictorian just to get spooked by the idea of someone dying? All that religious nonsense that was put in your head as a child is still bugging you?”

But, alas, he still could not put it fully out of his mind. Those groans, those echoing groans. They echoed through his bones with a deep sense of anguish and torment. Until eventually the voice along with the groans stopped and he gradually fell asleep.

The next day as light entered his window he awoke with no fear or despair left in his head.

He came down stairs and his curiosity led him to ask the desk keeper about the man in the room next to his.

The man aptly replied simply with, “He is dead.”

Do you know what happened to him, asked Judson?

Oh yes the man says, he was a fellow from providence college… Eames, Jacob Eames was his name…

Frozen, he replayed that name in his head again and again. Jacob Eames.. his dear friend, who had belief in nothing outside of himself. Gone, dead, deceased.

He was left so distraught he did not leave the inn for hours. Hell, eternal damnation continued to echo through his mind like an unquenchable fire that could not be extinguished. The man who had convinced me God could not be real now sits lifeless in a bed with no hope, all that he has ever known has ceased and will continue to be ceased for all of eternity.

Like a fly ensnared in a spider's web, with the predator endlessly spinning, the specter of death and despair surrounded him.

While he sat there contemplating all that happened and all that it meant he wrote these words.

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“Lost. In death, Jacob Eames was lost—utterly, irrevocably lost. Lost to his friends, to the world, to the future. Lost as a puff of smoke is lost in the infinity of air. If Eames’ own views were true, neither his life nor his death had any meaning. . . . But suppose Eames had been mistaken? Suppose the Scriptures were literally true and a personal God real? . . . For that hell should open in that country inn and snatch Jacob Eames, [my] dearest friend and guide, from the next bed—this could not, simply could not, be coincidence.”

He was left terror stricken thinking of hell and condemnation. What about all the people he had hurt? All the people he had talked out of their faith? Where are they now? Where are they headed?

And so he set out on a mission. He set out on a mission to know

God, before he had even decided to be a christian yet he decided to join seminary. While he was there he quickly became a fully devoted Christian and met his wife Ann. They then graduated and set sail to Burma.

He and his wife would become the first American missionaries. Not only that but he and his boat-mates became the first Americans to relocate to another country in order to proclaim the gospel.

They arrived with no financial sponsorship. They did not know where their money would come from, or how they would receive it. They did not know the language, they did not know the culture, in fact, basically no one did. They did not know what they would do next, but they trusted God and like Abraham they obeyed their call.

Unfortunately A few years after arriving war broke out between England and Burma and so Adoniram was arrested and thrown in jail for 21 months and was imprisoned in June 1824. In the 21-month period of incarceration during the Anglo-Burmese War, he suffered from fever and malnutrition and underwent a forced march.

One prison he was forced to stay in was led by literal convicted murders who were spared death if they became jailers. Ann Judson his wife spent months trying to free him and get him food all while taking care of an infant and the two Burmese children they were fostering. After helping him get released from prison, Ann Judson soon died of complications of smallpox later the same year.

His 2 year old daughter would die 6 months after her mother, his wife.

He became so depressed for 40 days he retreated to a tiger infested jungle living on tiny portions of rice next to a grave he dug for himself.

Again he would marry and again he would lose his wife.

In total he would spend nearly 40 years in Burma struggling with disease and imprisonment. He would lose two wives, and 3 children.

He spent nearly 40 years in Burma. Most of his adult life. Struggling, struggling to make any converts. Struggling to bring anyone to Christ. Struggling to obey the call that god had given him. But before he died he did finish translating the Bible to the Burmese language and wrote most of a dictionary for the Burmese people.

But for what? For the maybe 7 thousand or so people that came to Jesus in his lifetime? Just so that after he leaves they would likely go back to being Buddhist? In a country of millions, with hundreds of people groups and dozens of languages, what does it matter? What did it cost him?

We see a similar story with Elijah.

As we have talked about the last few weeks, Elijah has this incredible moment, and for what? to be threatened and chased off?

When God speaks to Elijah again, lets look one last time at what is said. He complains, he grumbles, he gives up on life and declares it would be better for him to be dead.

So God sends Elijah up on the mountain and he hears from God in the whisper. Even on this mountain after hearing from God what is his response? a response of desperation. a response of trauma, pain, isolation and depression.

You can hear his words oozing with pain, dripping with hopelessness. Oh how I have loved and served you faithfully, and yet their is no one left! I proved you alone are God before all your enemies, and for what? What has changed?

What does he tell Elijah to do? Three things. He tells him, anoint Hazael king over Aram. And Anoint Jehu over Israel. And finally, anoint Elisha to succeed you.

Does he anoint any kings after this event up until now where he is taken up to be with God? no. In fact, in the chapters after the anointing of Elisha, Ahab wins a battle he should not have, and then continues to perpetuate evil against the powerless.

Where is the deliverance? In the 22nd chapter we read Ahab the evil king dies, great, wonderful, and then we read right after his son takes over and he is just as evil as his father. nothing changes.

Much like Adonriam, it seems ‌he has wasted his time, wasted his energy. For what purpose has he starved, been in constant persecution, illness, and hopelessness?

The next time we see Elijah and Elisha pop up after the anointing we read about before, it is at the beginning of 2nd kings. The book of First Kings is finished, and still no deliverance has occurred.

The next time we see Elijah is when God decides to take him away. Still no deliverance.

We see in the story that Three times Elijah tries to persuade Elisha to not follow him. Three times he said stay, wait, do not follow. Three times he tried to stop him. But like the Persistent widow pounding at the judge's door for justice to be paid, Elisha refuses to leave his side.

He refuses to give up. He refuses to sit idly by as his master is taken from this world. Tenaciously, he follows. Adamantly, he says I will never leave so long as you and I both walk this earth.

And just as Moses crossed the Red Sea, and just as Joshua led Israel across the Jordan on dry land, so Elijah splits the river in half with a flick of the wrist.

I am not really sure why they keep doing this. The prophets of God will hike all the way up the mountain, commune with God, battle false prophets, but like cat don’t ask them to get wet, they won’t do it.

So it is in this magical moment after traveling to three cities, and three times trying to convince Elisha to not follow he looks at his young protégé and asks, Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?

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“When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.

Elisha, being adamant and tenacious, asks with the bravado of ten men, his words dripping with gusto, allow me… to have a double portion.

Oh, the audacity! The audacity to ask for double the spirit, perhaps even double the power of Elijah. Elijah of all people? Do you know who Elijah is?

The prophet of all prophets? A man of such stature and righteousness that God did not deem him worthy of tasting death. If Abraham stands as the patriarch, Moses the Law giver, David the king, then Elijah stands as the prophet of prophets.

Oh the arrogance. Where is the humility? When God asked David’s son Solomon what he wanted, he asked not for riches, fame, nor power; he in humility asked for wisdom. Wisdom, of course, we all use a little wisdom, and what would you know, God honored and blessed him for his humility.

But a double spirit, twice the power? Oh no, what is he doing? I can’t help but ask.

Imagine you are out to eat. You are going to order a burger and fries, your spouse just orders the salad, you know, trying to stay skinny and all that over rated stuff.

So you ask, should I order a side of fries for you? I know, I knowwww you like to eat my fries, but not today, I worked all day and I am hungry. They say no no no, of course not, I just want a handful, a few.

I know you all know where this is going.

So you order your burger and a side of YOUR fries. You start munching on your burger, and you notice they grab a fry. Okay, no big deal it’s one fry. One and one only. Then they ask you, how was your day? So you start rambling on, well this happened and that happened and then you look down and there’s only five fries left out of the whole basket! And then right before your eyes they snatch up another one like a frog spying out a fly. They haven’t even touched their salad yet! did they distract me just eat my fries? the audacity.

but it is not just audacious and rude, it is ungrateful. Imagine your kids asking you, mom, dad, whatever you planned on getting me for Christmas… It's not good enough, double it.

and yet.. oh boy, and yet that is exactly what God gave him. That is exactly what happened.

According to some counts Elijah performed 16 incredible miracles, and yet 16 is measly compared to Elisha's incredible 32.

Elijah raised the dead to life, so did his protege. Elijah split the Jordan river, so did his mentee. Elijah multiplied the widows jar of oil, and Elisha also multiplied a widows jar of oil.

Elisha declared, so help me God by the same power and spirit of God, what you did in my mentor, do in me also.

And it did.

Adoniram Judson believed he could do what no other had done: he could reach Burma, he could reach the lost, he could convert the Buddhists. It might seem like he had failed, that the Spirit was not present, and much like Elijah, his effort was in vain.

But what I did not tell you is that because of Adoniram's work, because of his translation of the Bible into Burmese, there are now 4.5 million Christians. Between potentially 8-9 percent of the population of Myanmar is Christian, with the Chin people being 85 percent Christian!

Despite years of the Christian faith being continually outlawed, persecuted, killed, and raided, all the Christians there still trace their faith back to this one single solitary man who believed that with God all things were possible.

I believe the only thing that can limit the spread of the gospel is ourselves. When we as believers, inspired by the Holy Spirit, choose to still live in fear of being the disciples Christ has commanded us to be, terrified of spreading the good news, and afraid to follow Christ.

That, that is when we fail. That is when the gospel stagnates and slows. When we, as workers of God's holy kingdom, are slow to respond to God's call to discipleship with anything but “here I am Lord, here I am.”

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C.S. Lewis is correct when he tells us, “You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong and sound as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice. Wouldn’t you then first discover how much you really trusted it? . . . Only a real risk tests the reality of a belief.”

Is God asking ‌us to sit in the stands as fans, paralyzed by fear to speak about Jesus, or to move the world for Jesus? Are we capable of standing here today declaring with confidence that God can make mountains out of molehills?

Can he take our meager offerings, our flat empty wallets and purses, our two fish and five loaves, and change the world?

So what does discipleship look like? God has looked at the Western Church and wonders why it won’t take him at his word. The church is so often complacent with the normal and natural and unspiritual. So it’s willingness to be idle in times of great need has atrophied its ability to do the supernatural.

But I will tell you, here, today, at this moment? I believe God is calling you out into the waters. God is calling you to be a change maker. He’s calling you to follow. It does not make sense because the kingdom does not make sense.

He calls the fishermen, not the Pharisees. He calls the ignorant and unlearned. He equips the widows and the orphans. He calls the shepherd boy to lead his country, and the man with stutters lips to demand to the Pharaoh LET MY PEOPLE GO.

This is the kingdom God has implemented. This is the people God uses. This is the example God has set.

But yes, I am calling you to be a bit extreme, to walk in faith, to rely on trust. I am calling you to a greater righteousness, yes, God is calling you, me, and everyone to be brave in the face of death. He is calling us to, as James writes, “resist the devil so that he may flee from you.” God has commanded us, be bold and courageous.

because the most extreme thing in the world was when the son of God, in the flesh was crucified upon a tree, with full emotion, full of pain and agony, and was killed so that the enemies of God could find peace and salvation in the blood of Jesus.

The call to, in the case of Abraham, to leave all he knows and go to a land not yet known to you. To Moses, to stare at the principalities of power and say “let my people go.” The call to Peter to step out of the boat and walk on the water. The call to all of us to take up our cross and die.

Read what God said to the people of Israel through the prophet Malachi.

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6 “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.

“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ 8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty. Malachi 3:6-12 NIV.

You see church; Elisha does not ask for a double portion because he wants to hoard power. He does not ask for a double portion because he aspires to be considered more righteous. Every outpouring of the Holy Spirit, every miracle ever performed, was done for the faith of others. Elijah and Elisha performed miracles to show the grace, mercy, and compassion of God.

So when we pray, Lord give me a double portion, we do not pray it for our benefit. We pray for it so we may do the work of God even better than before. That we may raise an army of believers, that way may proclaim the name with confidence, that we may show who God is amid the darkness of unbelief in our community.

Let me demonstrate this through a story. After I graduated from Point, I went to Arizona and did a residency at a large church in Arizona. Every year around Christmas, they take up a month-long special offering. The year before I got there they partnered with Compassion International. You know their goal?

Adopt every single child from Colombia who was a part of Compassion International, and plant several churches. Do you know what they actually ended up achieving? They adopted every single child available. Over 10k children, and planted 9, NINE! churches.

Their verse for that whole program? Ephesians 3:20

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Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, (Ephesians 3:20 NIV)

The following year I sat with the missions team as the next initiative came in. We want to raise money to give to other churches. Yes, we want to raise money to help other churches, right here in phx. That was the goal.

At first, the mission's pastor said no, no way. This isn’t helpful. This won't work. People will not give, and other churches won't accept it.

There's no chance this will work. The lead minister is off his rocker, he does not understand how missions work. But then God spoke to him, and he changed his mind. Maybe he thought, The lead pastor does not know how missions work… but maybe he started to question everything and asked, maybe I underestimate how God works.

They wanted to raise something like 2 million dollars. That was the goal.

Can I tell you here today what they raised? Every single dime went to other churches. Do you know what they raised?

4.3 million dollars.

Immeasurably more.

That was the single greatest giving campaign I have ever personally witnessed… Until today.

We have been through so many conversations about budget, money, cutting this, cutting that. Do we have enough for this for we ask, do we pay for this AC or the other AC. like that old joke about whos on first base, we go around asking,

Wait which AC, the Ac here? No, that AC doesn’t work, we can’t fix that one, we are talking about the one here. no no your btoh wrong, I want to know about this unit! We just met this week over the budget. Do you know what we we had to do? Cut it! dwindle it, Shrink it! To make sure bills are paid.

Over and over again, time after time, it seems like this plan of mine would never come to fruition. But there is never a good time to watch God perform miracles of abundance out of dry buckets and empty stomachs. They only happen in faith. We can continue to tighten belts, live cheaply, and try to scrape by on the scraps of food God in his mercy has given us.

Trust me, ask my wife, no one is cheaper than I am. So we can live like that, or we can stand with confidence and declare to God, give me a double portion that I may give and grow the kingdom.

Here's my vision; here is what has been on my heart before I even started here in person. What I felt like God interjected to me. Virtually no one knew what we were going to do this today. While I was writing this sermon I felt so convicted, so moved, that I knew we just had to do it. God had spoken, what choice does that leave us?

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Today we are going to take part in what I am calling the

Cotton Indian Adopt A Classroom Initiative.

Cotton Indian has 29 home rooms.

82 percent of its students come from low income families, and the teachers need help. I want us as a church, to adopt every single classroom in that school, and help pay for the school supplies for the semester.

100 dollars, per classroom. That's it.

Here's what you get: a free t-shirt that looks like this

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You get to know the name of the teacher or teachers, and you get the opportunity to pray consistently that God would work in that classroom the same way God is working in this place. You get to use the blessings of God and bless someone else. You to hopefully write a card, make a real connection, continue to bless the teacher, love on them, host them for dinner, make a new friend.

but most importantly, you get to be a part of something amazing. You get to be a part of a church that actually shows up rather than just speaking up.

You know what God has already done for this church time and time again. How several years ago the church was in deep debt, voting to close its doors. Just within the last year, you had one pastor who struggled to leave the church, another retired, and you struggled just to get up and make it here when everything looked bleak. I know how the past few years have felt.

I know the most common, the wisest thing to do after coming out of a time of dwindling numbers and increased doubt is to be careful and not take any risks. Ask Dave Ramsey and he would say the last thing you should do after getting out of the pit, is take a risk that could put you back in it.

But let me ask you this: during any of this, did you ever ask, oh Lord, give us a double portion. Whatever you were going to do oh God… double it.

Join us in this and watch what God is going to do, not just at the school, not just in the church, but in your life! Ask for a double portion of his spirit and watch a miracle.

Set out to do the will of God with all haste and commitment, and you will find him doing things far greater than you could have ever possibly imagined.

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William Sloane Coffin says it best, “I love the recklessness of faith. First you leap, and then you grow wings.”