The Call and the Cost

A Glorious Conclusion

We have spent the last 5 weeks looking at the life of Elijah, who the Lord called to confront a culture that was gradually growing more and more hostile to God and a life of faith.

He was called to stand up, speak out, and call the people of God to repentance for turning there back on God.

His life was difficult, risky, and even overwhelming at times, and yet we have seen how God has continually showed Himself to be faithful and gracious to Elijah.

The most glorious display of the gracious love coming in our passage today.

Elijah is one of only 2 people in the bible (and human history) to not experience bodily death.

A glorious and gracious gift from God and one that stands in stark contrast with the deaths presented in the previous chapter.

Like last week, what we see in the end of Elijah’s life, and in his relationship and interactions with his protege Elisha, leads us to make some challenging observations and ask some seriously important questions.

That is where we are headed today, but first let’s read our passage.

2 Kings 2:1–14 CSB

1 The time had come for the Lord to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal, 2 and Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord is sending me on to Bethel.” But Elisha replied, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3 Then the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?” He said, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.” 4 Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here; the Lord is sending me to Jericho.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho. 5 Then the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho came up to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?” He said, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.” 6 Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord is sending me to the Jordan.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. 7 Fifty men from the sons of the prophets came and stood observing them at a distance while the two of them stood by the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the water, which parted to the right and left. Then the two of them crossed over on dry ground. 9 When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken from you.” So Elisha answered, “Please, let me inherit two shares of your spirit.” 10 Elijah replied, “You have asked for something difficult. If you see me being taken from you, you will have it. If not, you won’t.” 11 As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire with horses of fire suddenly appeared and separated the two of them. Then Elijah went up into heaven in the whirlwind. 12 As Elisha watched, he kept crying out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” When he could see him no longer, he took hold of his own clothes, tore them in two, 13 picked up the mantle that had fallen off Elijah, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the mantle Elijah had dropped, and he struck the water. “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” he asked. He struck the water himself, and it parted to the right and the left, and Elisha crossed over.

We are going to look at this passage in 4 scenes as you can see in your notes and ask 4 reflective questions for us all to examine our lives in light of what we find in the text.

Scene 1: A Master and Apprentice (vv. 1-6)

We begin chapter 2 with a foreshadowing of the end of Elijah’s earthly life. He and Elisha, who has been following him for a number of years, are were on their way from Gilgal.

We meet Elisha way back in chapter 19 as an answer to Elijah’s prayer as he is overwhelmed and ready to give up on Mt. Moriah.

On his way to the place he will meet the Lord, Elijah has some stops to make and it seems he sees this as an opportunity to test his apprentice’s willingness to take over the mantel of leadership.

Is Elisha willing? Is he committed? Does he know what he is coming into?

In these first 6 verses, Elijah gives Elisha three opportunities to stay back in the city they were in.

Was he willing to walk the journey, face the trials, and endure?

As we have followed the life of Elijah the last several weeks, we have sought to connect ourselves to the story, to see how our world resembles the world of Elijah;

and how Elijah’s call to stand up and speak up for the Lord in the midst of his world is the same call we have today to “go and make disciples”.

So as Elijah is handing off his ministry to Elisha and testing his level of commitment, we are confronted with a question:

Are we too concerned with COMFORT and CONVENIENCE?

The Seductive Lure of Comfort, Convenience, and Safety

I really enjoy smart home products. Like if money wasn’t an object, I would likely have lights turning on and off based on time of day, binds opening and shutting depending on sun patterns, and a robot cleaning our floors everyday.

There is just something about being able to turn off lights and clean your house while laying in your bed.

Call is excess, but it sure is convenient.

But there are unseen effects our world of comfort and convenience has on us, especially as believers in Jesus.

I loved what Ryan Lister said in an article at desiringgod.com:

There is the dark appeal of temptation is to twist good things into idols. Convenience steps in front of God and steals his worship. The world’s empty promises silently hijack our affections. When our hearts fall for the idol of convenience, the call of Jesus to follow him in shouldering a cross feels foreign. The one who saves us quietly mutates into a threat to our counterfeit sanctuaries of advantage. When our security is the warm comfort of secular convenience, we will keep hitting the snooze button on Jesus’s alarming command to take up our cross. — Ryan Lister

Lister is pointed to Jesus’s words in Matthew 16:24 “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

Jesus, like Elijah in 2 Kings 2, doesn’t want us to take lightly or judge wrongly the cost of following Him.

It is not to a life of comfort and ease, though many of us have bought into that counterfeit idea.

When Jesus meets a man eager to follow him in Matthew 8, He responds with these words:

Matthew 8:20 CSB

20 Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

Jesus isn’t discouraging the man from following Him, but helping him to understand that this world we live in is not our home.

The appeal of the comfort, convenience, and ease this world offers us leads us to believe that what we experience and accumulate here is really the most important thing to pursue.

So when that comfort and ease is threaten, we begin to question the character of God and the gods of this world begin to look more and more appealing.

Three times Elisha is given the opportunity to stay and all three times he refuses to leave his mentor’s side.

Back in 2 Kings 19 we learn that Elisha had left his whole life to follow Elijah.

He wasn’t going to walk away now.

At some point believer, you also left all behind to follow Jesus, but what about now?

He is still enough.

Scene 2: A Heavy Responsibility (vv. 7-10)

In verse 8, Elijah splits the Jordan river so they can walk to the others side.

This is a connection to Moses splitting the Red Sea and it is also setting the stage for Elisha to prove he has taken over Elijah’s mantel of leadership.

Now Elijah turns to Elisha, having proven his commitment, and asks him “What should I do for you before I am taken up.”

Elisha asks for a “double portion” of Elijah’s spirit, which likely means he is asking for Elijah to give him his full power and responsibility, to be the leader of the prophets and God’s main voice.

Elijah’s response points to the gravity of his request.

Elisha was leaning into a difficult, dangerous, and daring appointment, yet he knew it was God’s call for His life.

Jim Elliot, who was lost his life seeking to reach an unreached people group in Ecuador famously said,

“He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” – Jim Elliot

That leads us to our second question:

Are we too concerned with SAFETY and SECURITY?

Elijah’s life was hard, and yet, to the end of his days he followed the Lord.

When you read of Christian martyrs, both of old and in modern time, we can’t help but ask the question “would I be willing to stand and speak if I was in their shoes?”

The reality is most of us won’t go overseas to a country that imprisons or murders Christians for carrying a bible or going to a church meeting.

But everyone of us are given opportunities EVERYDAY to live lives that show others Jesus, and to speak the gospel to those around us who do not believe.

And yes, we face rejection, mockery, ridicule, and even harsher consequences when we do.

Jesus doesn’t call us to a life of despair, He calls us to a life of joy in Him, which will lead us to look beyond our circumstances to find safety and security in Him.

Scene 3: A Hero’s Reward (vv. 11-12)

The reason often given for Elijah being spared death is to point us to the hope of death being overcome, the longing for resurrection.

I think that is accurate since Moses and Elijah are both Old Testament foreshadows of Jesus is many ways.

But I think there is a secondary reason for this miraculous occurrence, grace.

We see the gentle, loving graciousness of God like back in chapter 19.

God was sparing Elijah from the pain of death as a reward for his faithfulness in a very difficult ministry.

Here’s where the 3rd question comes:

Are we too concerned with SUCCESS and WORLDLY PROSPERITY?

I don’t believe there will be varying levels of rewards in heaven for what we do on earth.

I know 1 Corinthians 3 says and I do not believe it means we all rack up Jesus tickets to cash in for prices in heaven.

The reward of faithfulness is God Himself.

That is what Elijah’s being taken up is pointing to.

No other prophet or preacher gets that, not because Elijah was better than them, but because Elijah shows each of us the glorious goodness of the God we all serve.

He is worth wasting our earth lives for.

He is worth giving up the pursuit of worldly treasure and temporary pleasures.

He is worthy, so much more worthy.

Scene 4: A Clear Confirmation (vv. 13-14)

And with that, Elijah is gone and Elisha is the new guy on the block.

He rips his robe in half out of a sign of love and mourning his mentor, and then he puts on Elijah’s robe.

He walks to the water like Elijah and says “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?”

Kind of sounds like he is mocking or calling out God, but he is really just proving to all watching that the same God that Elijah served is still working.

He strikes the water, like Elijah, and, also like Elijah, the water parts.

Elisha proves he is now God’s chosen vessel.

There are a couple more miraculous confirmations of Elisha’s legitimacy, but then there is a odd account at the very end.

2 Kings 2:23–24 CSB

23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking up the path, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, baldy! Go up, baldy!” 24 He turned around, looked at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the children.

I love this story, even though it is odd.

It leads us to our final question:

Are we concerned with ACCEPTANCE and APPROVAL?

By no means is this a green light to retaliate against people who mock us.

Rather it is a reminder that we will be mocked, rejected, and even abused because of our faith in Jesus.

But we cannot live for the acceptance and approval of a world whose standard of what is acceptable is in a constant state of change.

Just like Elijah, Elisha’s life will be difficult.

But there will be justice and God is the one will serve it.

thousands of years later, we now face a world that is increasingly hostile to the life Jesus calls us to live and the truths He calls us to speak.

But there is no reason to fear, no reason to shrink back, and no reason to walk away.

Jesus makes a wonderful promise to us when He commission’s us for His mission

Matthew 28:18–20 CSB

18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

He is in charge, He is has gone before us, and He is with us.

Now let’s go!