Taking up the Mantle

By Larry Short, Elder Chair

While listening to Steve’s final sermon Sunday on the fascinating transition of prophetic leadership from Elijah to Elisha, I was reminded of something I wrote in my blog 13 months ago. And I realized that God used the story of the Elijah-Elisha transition then to help me prepare for what was coming.

I’m just going to quote some of the salient points. If you’d like to read the blog in its entirety (realizing it was written more than a year ago), click here. Otherwise, for an updated summary, keep reading.

We have been undergoing a “pastoral transition.” That’s a rather pleasant-sounding way to describe a lot of work and emotional trauma. In early 2019 our senior pastor of 25 years resigned and took up a new career (for which he is well-suited) as a chaplain. Some months later, our long-term (18 years) associate pastor also resigned so he could take up a senior pastorate at a church in Colorado.

That’s a lot of transition for a smallish church. Of course when anybody leaves, it’s emotionally difficult. We hired an interim pastor who is a transition specialist, and the good news is that Pastor Steve has now done his job, with prayers and sweat of a lot of Elim’s faithful leaders thrown in. Our new lead pastor, Ryan White, arrives with his family THIS WEEKEND and is on the job in April, and we are all VERY excited about what God has in store!

But when I first learned of our pastoral transitions back in 2019, I was distraught. I liked our church the way it was! Stepping into an uncertain future can fill one with foreboding.

And then there’s all the extra work. Darlene and I retired in 2019 and had happy plans for our new life. But suddenly the need to invest large quantities of time and energy in “keeping the plates spinning” at Elim began pressing down on us.

And then of course COVID-19 hit, with all its shutdowns and isolation and social distancing. Following hot on the heels of that disaster was the recurring trauma of the results of centuries of racial injustice. And we as a church struggled (as nearly all churches were doing) to resolve diverse opinions on all of these controversial topics and to figure out (with a lot of halting steps) how to move forward in the love and unity of purpose that our Head calls us to demonstrate as His Body.

In a men’s group last February we were studying aspects of leadership, and one of our studies focused on 2 Kings 2. Elijah was mentoring Elisha when it came time for a huge transition to occur. (That’s one thing we can always count on: change!)

Elijah gave Elisha several opportunities to withdraw, but Elisha insisted he would follow. He followed Elijah first to Bethel, then to Jericho, then to the edge of the Jordan River. Also in the entourage were 50 “lesser prophets,” local prophets in Israel.

Once at the river, Elijah removed and rolled up his mantle (or cloak, the symbol of his prophetic authority) and smote the river Jordan with it. Just as the waters parted before both Moses (at the Red Sea) and Joshua (also at the Jordan), so they split before Elijah, and he and Elisha continued on across, leaving the rest of the prophets behind.

Elijah then tells Elisha—both knowing that his time is short—“Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you,” and Elisha responds brazenly, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.”

Elijah replies, “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.” But sure enough, chariots of fire soon separate Elijah and Elisha, then Elisha sees Elijah taken up into heaven in a whirlwind.

At this point Elisha rightly grieves for what once was, just as I shed tears at the early-2019 meeting when our former senior pastor announced he was leaving. Elisha tears his garment in a sign of mourning for Elijah’s departure. But then something amazing happens. Elijah’s prophetic mantle comes fluttering down, and Elisha picks it up. He turns his back on the scene and heads back toward the Jordan. Then he does something extraordinary and incredibly risky.

Elisha takes Elijah’s mantle, rolls it up just as Elijah had done, and cries aloud (in the hearing of the prophets who are watching from the other side), “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” He then strikes the waters with Elijah’s mantle. What an enormous act of faith! Sure enough, the waters part. God shows up! His back to the departed Elijah, Elisha walks across (alone) on dry ground, and rejoins the prophets

As a result, the prophets now are compelled to acknowledge that “the spirit of Elijah has rested on Elisha!” (Duh! Right?) Yet these lesser prophets still remain focused on the glory of the past. They want to launch a search mission to try to find Elijah! “It may be that the Spirit of the Lord has caught him up to cast him onto some mountain or in some valley!” They are not yet willing to let go.

But Elisha has already let go. He seeks to convince them of the new normal: Elijah is departed! But they persist, and he finally relents. They search for Elijah for three days, to no avail. “Didn’t I tell you?” Elisha challenges them. The past is behind, the transition has occurred, and the future is now upon us.

So as he approaches that challenging and uncertain future, Elisha has chosen to leave Elijah in the past and seek the ever-living LORD of the past, present, and future. New days and new challenges lie ahead!

Through His Word, God challenged me in my grief: “Are you going to be like one of those lesser prophets, refusing to let go of days gone by? Or are you going to be like Elisha, who was prepared to meet the future, who moved forward from the past and headed out in faith and anticipation toward the river and whatever lay ahead?”

Yes, transition is uncomfortable. It is emotionally challenging, risky, and a lot of work. But so is this task to which Jesus has called us: “Take up your cross, and follow Me.” And elsewhere, “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God.”

Yes, God is changing us! We are to learn from the past, thanking Him for it, but not to live in it. He calls us to move forward at this present moment, in faith, with hope for what He will do in whatever future He has in store for us. So, let’s roll up the mantle and move forward!

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