I'll Have a Double Portion

Back in July, the Barna research Group reported that 1 in 3 Christians had stopped going to church during the Pandemic. Considering that most churches had canceled in person services, that makes sense, except the study reported that they were not streaming the service either. That is quite concerning. I get that sometimes we cannot be present. This morning, for example, with the ice that is outside makes it dangerous to go out the door. I certainly understand why people would avoid being part of a crowd of people during a pandemic. I also understand that it is difficult to “attend” church online. It just isn’t the same. I hope that the results would be different if the study was done today.

Why is being part of the church important? We have a responsibility to pass on the faith! We can look back to those that went before us in the faith. Those of us who were raised in the church can think of individuals that we think of as giants of the faith. I often think about my pastor that I had from the time I was 4 or 5 until I was in my mid 20’s, Dr. John Howald, and I think of him as a giant of the faith. In many ways, he was a mentor for me in the faith.

We can all probably think of people that helped to form us in the faith. Nobody comes in to the faith without mentors, whether it be a pastor or a Sunday School teacher, or a parent. Whoever helped lead you to Jesus and whoever helped you grow in Him is so important to our faith.

We have a responsibility to pass this faith along to new believers, but if you are anything like me, you sometimes feel inadequate for the task. Just as we have received mentorship from others, it is important that we become mentors to others.

Let’s look at one story of mentorship from the Bible:

2 Kings 2:1–14 NIV

1 When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “so be quiet.” 4 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho. 5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied, “so be quiet.” 6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on. 7 Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. 9 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. 10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.” 11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two. 13 Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.

One prophet’s time had come to an end, but God did not leave the people without a voice and a messenger from God. I’m sure that as the prophets in training saw that Elijah’s time on earth was coming to an end, they were concerned about how God would continue to work in the people.

Throughout history, the same concern has been voiced over and over again as we wonder what will become of the church when certain giants of the faith pass from this life into the next. I have often been concerned what the legacy will look like and how my generation would do at caring or the church. People often look to the younger generation of believers and wonder, will they faithfully carry the message of the Good News of Jesus Christ to those who come after them!

It would be a good question, I suppose, if the future of the church and the Christian faith were up to us. We could get caught up in all of the changes that have happened over the years. Some of the changes have been difficult to accept, while others have been wonderful additions. People are always coming up with new ideas and new ways of doing things - even church. The songs we sing today are not usually the same ones that were sung even 20 or 30 years ago, but the truth is, that has been true throughout history - few songs stand the test of time and are used for hundreds of years. Many years ago, few people could read, and before printing presses, there were no such things as even printed Bibles, let alone hymnals. Now, we rarely use a hymnal - future generations may not even know what a hymnal is - and that is OK. Life changes - we do things differently -

Elijah had been a great prophet - his life and legacy were complete. He had spoke the words that God had placed upon him. He had even been used to perform great miracles. He had even stood up to the King and had been victorious over the prophets of Baal. He had established camps of prophets who were followers of his - they are mentioned in the text that we read this morning. He had selected Elisha to mentor. The time had come for his life on earth to be over, and for Elisha to continue the legacy.

Although Elisha was not Elijah - the stories in many ways are similar. Again, God did miraculous things through the life of this prophet. God was faithful to continue to speak - using a different human voice, but continue to speak is what God did. He was faithful to continue to speak through this new voice.

God has continued His faithfulness to His people down to today. He has used this church to send out many into the world to speak His words and to be His voice to a world that desperately needs Him. There are at least 5 other pastors on this district alone that spent significant time here in this church in their formative years in the faith. They have gone out from here to preach the gospel in other places. God has been faithful to continue the legacy.

Jesus also had those that He took under His wing and taught - He preached to the great crowds, but He also took 12 disciples with Him wherever He went - He poured His life into these 12 men in ways that the crowd only glimpsed. But there was an even smaller number - Peter, James, and John - just 3, that He took aside from time to time and really poured His life into them. Most significantly, would be the time He took the 3 of them up the mountain with Him to what we call the mountain of transfiguration. It was on that mountain that Jesus’ countenance had changed as He experienced the glory of God. Those 3 disciples had the opportunity to see Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah - the very prophet from our text this morning. And they heard the voice of God tell them - “This is my Son whom I love, Listen to Him.” Listen to Him It means more than hear what He has to say - hearing and listening are 2 completely different things. Every parent understands that when they want their child to listen, it implies much more than hearing. Listening implies obedience as well, doesn’t it? The voice of God told the 3 disciples to listen to Jesus. The prophet Elisha - listened to the prophet Elijah. We have a responsibility to listen to the voice of God!

- A reporter named Karen Jordan several years back, walked along the main street of a College University and asked a most profound question of those who were passing by: "If today were your last day on earth, how would you spend it?" She reported the following answers: Tony said, "I would get drunk, do as much dope as I can, and be with two pretty women. That’s my dream." Chris responded, "I would spend it in the desert or a very peaceful place. I would just try to enjoy every moment and get connected to God and nature." Vera, an older woman, said, "I would phone my family and visit my friends." Lou Ann said, "I would ride around in my new, old convertible. I just bought a 1968 250 SL." And finally Jacqueline said, "I would spend my last day with Gene."

Elijah spent his last day on earth going to check on his schools of prophets. He went to some of the significant places where God had worked wonders in the past. Elisha wanted to be with Elijah throughout the trip because he desired to be faithful to the very end. He followed and he watched everything that Elijah was doing because he desired to faithfully continue to carry on the message.

- Well, what about you. How would you spend your last day on earth? What would be your priority? Your main mission? I am sure if I went around the room this morning and asked each of you that question, we would get a wide range of answers. Maybe it seems like a dismal topic, but we have all been reminded in recent weeks that we are not immortal. The end will come for each of us. We are in a season where many in our own congregation are continuing to mourn the loss of loved ones that have passed from this life into the next. Over the past year, all of us have experienced loss and mourning - some more acutely than others - but it has been evident in all of our lives. Several of us have lost a parent - others have lost the love of their lives - all of us have lost friends.

The question I want to ask you this morning is - where do we go from here? What do we do in response to the loss to the pain - to the grief?

This week, we begin a very important season of the church year. I know that we have not always spent much time in the Church of the Nazarene talking about the season of lent - we have sometimes considered it to be a season that is observed by Roman Catholics, and we have avoided doing things that appear to be part of that tradition. But if we throw out this tradition, we also lose something in the mix. We are not going to have an Ash Wednesday service on Wednesday, but I encourage you to remember as we begin the season of lent that from dust you have come and to dust you will return. I encourage you to spend time throughout this coming season of lent to focus on our humanity, and on the great suffering that Jesus went through in order to provide eternal life for you and for me. I encourage you to join me as I try to spend time daily in His Word and in prayer for our world and for our church to be refreshed and renewed in Him. I intend to spend a few minutes each day doing a video that will be on our Facebook page. I wish I could tell you exactly what time each day that will occur, but it will not be the same every day. I invite you to go on this journey with me through this important season. I encourage you through this season to be intentional in Listening to the voice of God!