2022.06.26 | Passing the Mantle
“Passing the Mantle”
Rev. Dr. Arlene K. Nehring
Eden United Church of Christ, Hayward, California
Third Sunday after Pentecost
June 26, 2022
Eden Church will hold its 157th Annual Meeting less than an hour from now. This year, as in every previous year, our members will elect the laity who will make decisions on our behalf for the coming year.
In anticipation of this vote, and in recognition that we all play a role in choosing leaders in our representative democracies--here at Eden and in our larger society--I will describe the leadership change that took place between two famous prophets. Today’s Hebrew Bible lesson describes the passing of Elijah’s mantle to Elisha.
I will also propose a few lessons that we might take to heart as individuals and as a congregation as we contemplate succession planning in our families, church, and public life.
Before we jump into the application, let’s review who these prophets were, the context in which they lived and served, and how they are depicted in scripture and how they have been understood within the Christian faith. (Note that both of these prophets appear in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, so they are claimed by all three of the Abrahamic faith traditions.)
II
Who was Elijah?
Elijah was the prototype of the courageous and countercultural prophet of God. His name itself literally means, “My God is Lord.”
Hebrew Bible scholars generally agree that Elijah prophesied when Kings Ahab and Ahaziah reigned over Israel, which was during the first half of the 9th century BCE.
Elijah shows up in I & II Kings, where he is the protagonist of four stories that are now referred to as the “Elijah cycle.” The events described in these stories are thought to have occurred 200 years prior to the time that they were written down, so Biblical scholars understand these stories to provide us with more information about how the prophets were seen and understood rather than as an exact historical record of events.
In the books of Kings, Elijah is depicted as a religious zealot--a hardliner who championed pure worship of the Hebrew God in the face of the Queen’s heretical worship of the Canaanite gods known as “Ba’al.” Elijah also championed various causes for justice, using earlier ancient Hebrew prophets’ plumbline as his hermeneutic for determining right from wrong.
Elijah believed that in order for Israel to get right with God they had to worship God in accordance with the Levitical Law and abide by the Ten Commandments and Deuteronomic Law as a whole.
If the nation adhered to priestly practices, and the Law of Moses, the nation of Israel would enjoy peace and prosperity. If they didn’t, their king and his army would be overrun by their enemies, and all kinds of bad things would happen to the people of Israel.
Last Sunday Pastor Marvin read the best known of the four stories in the Elijah cycle--the story about Elijah fleeing the wrath of Queen Jezebel, after she found out that he had bested all of her prophets of Baal, and rounded them up and killed them.
Elijah ran through the desert from Jerusalem, where he fleetingly took cover under a broom tree, and then pressed on to Mt. Horeb/Mt. Siani, where he hid in a cave. God sought him out, and he found sanctuary in that cave and direction to continue on, by anointing new kings in Damascus and Israel, and passing the mantle to his successor, Elisha.
III
Today’s scripture reading (2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14) is drawn from the fourth of these four stories about Elijah (See 1 Kings 19:19-21; 2 Kings 2:1-18), where we learn how Elijah and Elishah meet, how the younger prophet (Elisha) becomes Elijah’s understudy and how the follows him until the day that the elder prophet is swept up to heaven by an angelic charioteer.
If the Elijah cycle was portrayed in a four-part TV mini-series, the trailer for today’s episode would repeat the events described in II Kings 2:15-18, where God commands Elijah to return to the wilderness of Damascus, and anoint Hazael as King of Damascus, Jehu as King over Israel, and the prophet Elisha as his successor.
We aren’t told--but rather, we are shown by Elisha’s response to Elijah’s call--why the younger prophet was chosen to succeed the elder prophet. In today’s passage, we learn that Elijah set out from Mt. Horeb/Mt. Siani and found Elisha plowing his father’s field.
We don’t know for sure why Elijah laid his mantle on Elisha. Perhaps it was because the young man reminded him of his younger self. He, too, like Elisha, was a farm boy from the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
Elisha was quick to accept the call, under the condition that he be allowed to say goodbye to his parents. The condition was granted. The young prophet went back to his parents, said his goodbyes, and returned to his mentor--ready and willing for duty.
Recognizing the magnitude of the young man’s actions, and fearing that he did not understand the full implications of his decision, Elijah directed Elisah to return, one more time, to his parents. This time Elijah was clearer with Elisha about the life-changing nature of his call, and tried to talk the young man out of it.
Elisha followed Elijah’s direction, and more. This time when he returned to his parents, Elisha took time to slaughter the two steers that he was using to pull his plow. He chopped up the wooden plow and used the parts to build a fire on which he cooked the beef. When the meat was done, Elisha shared the beef stew that he had made with his entire extended family and their neighbors. Then, Elijah left his family and the farm forever, and followed Elija and his prophetic call for the rest of his life.
IV
It’s notable that although both prophets seemed to come from similar backgrounds, such that Elijah may have thought that he was annointing a “mini-me”--a carbon copy of himself-- the two prophets were quite different from each other in their approaches to ministry, and they seem to have been differently gifted.
Elijah, the elder prophet, is depicted in the annals of the Kings as a religious zealot, a rules guy, a keeper of liturgical tradition, a harbinger of justice--as in “just us”--for Israel, while Elisha is remembered as a miracle worker, who brought healing and restoration of life to those who sought his ministry, including people like Naaman (who we’ll learn about next Sunday) who was a foreigner and mercenary for other nations’ armies.
What do we make of these differences? What are the takeaways for us as we consider succession planning in our families, the church, our places of work, the organizations with which we affiliate, and our larger civic life?
I’ll venture a few ideas for your consideration and reflection.
1.Elijah may have thought that he was anointing a “mini-me” when he threw his mantle over Elisha, but it turned out that the younger prophet was cut from a different cloth than he. Both prophets came from similar origins. They even dressed similarly. But Elisha did not become a religious lawyer like Eijah, he turned out to be a spiritual healer like Jesus. They were differently gifted, which was good, because the times when they lived and served called for different types of leadership and different types of leadership gifts.
As we consider succession planning in our time, we would do well to ask ourselves, “Are the gifts and graces that have gotten us this far the gifts and graces needed for the future? If not, what skill sets are needed, what leadership style, what approaches might be more helpful for the foreseeable future?
2. Another thought. This one on commitment. Elisha was no less committed to his vocation than his predecessor, Elijah. In fact, he may have been even more resolved than his mentor to fulfill his calling. The younger prophet, Elisha, could have gone back home and stayed on the farm. Elijah himself said that he would have understood. But he did not.
Instead, Elisha butchered his draft animals and burned their yoke. These actions were the equivalent of cashing in his inheritance. Even if he had wanted to go back home and farm, he literally would have had to start over. His legacy had been consumed. Elisha’s actions made it clear--he was “all in.” He wasn’t going back.
3. As we consider succession planning in our time, we would do well to ask ourselves, “What does dedication to God’s mission look like today and going forward?” Is our answer quantified solely in seniority, or might commitment to a set of carefully defined faith values be as important or more important than rank or a traditional pedigree?
The way that the biblical storytellers remember, divine genius was at work when Elijah passed the mantle of leadership to Elisha. This was because, when the mantle was passed, the younger prophet had an equally strong commitment to the ministry, but even stronger conviction (which might be classified as “sheer nerve”) than his predecessor--and that nerve--helped Elisha stay strong in the struggle as he progressed through uncharted waters without his mentor at his side.
V
As we consider our own legacies and the future of our families, this church, and other groups that are dear to us, let’s commit ourselves to deep discernment about the values that we want to pass on, the vision that God has for the global village, and the gifts and graces needed to fulfill that vision. And, then let’s pass on the mantle with great care and intention--before the angels come and carry us away. Amen.