Sermon: Taking Up the Mantle
Text: 2 Kings 2: 1-2, 6-14
Today’s story is about transition.
It begins by announcing that a transition in prophetic leadership is imminent: “God was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind” (2 Kings 2:1)
On the ground, Elijah must confer his power and position to his younger apprentice, ‘prophet-in-training’, Elisha.
Elijah is anxious about this transition; once we learn that Elijah’s chariot is about to arrive, we hear that Elijah intends to travel alone - from Gilgal to Bethel, on to Jericho, and then to the Jordan River. A strange journey. Elijah tells Elisha not to continue on with him. “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel”, “Jericho”, “to the Jordan.” Three times. Why does Elijah want to travel alone? He’s seeing the inevitable transition ahead. Transition is never easy for anyone.
But Elisha refuses to leave his master until the last possible moment, insisting upon traveling with him. Why?
Some scholars suggest that Elisha was unwilling to let his beloved master go, but I think that there is more to it than affection and loyalty. We know that the pair operated outside the traditional system of prophetic leadership. Once Elijah is gone, he’s not just retired, he’s really “Gone.” If Elijah doesn’t care about the arrangement of his successor in leadership, then Elisha will be left without a clear path to succession. Will other prophets recognize his leadership, as the prophet among prophets, or will they bypass him, seeking the mantle of authority for themselves?
Imagine with me: what if Elisha were the most promising disciple but lacked the essential social/cultural capital that would win the approval of the other prophets. Let’s imagine a situation, using contemporary terms: What if he were a transgender person, born poor and growing up in the marginalized downtown (or born in another country and raised there until his teens), from a mixed race marriage, (so he’s bi-racial), with an accent or some language limitation, with a disability. He’s still a visionary, intelligent, person, with unusual sensitivity and compassion (way more compassionate toward outcasts than his society would expect him to be), even in a society where social mobility and acceptance is very limited and he is so different.
I wonder what it really means that Elisha asks for “double the power” of Elijah’s spirit. What might his reason be for requesting a ‘double-portion’? Elisha doesn’t seem to be a power-obsessed person. Can ‘doubling’ the power just mean that Elisha needs more ‘empowerment’ because he has more social/cultural deficits than he has ‘capital’?
Why double the power? On his master’s departure, Elisha might take his master’s place, but not his master’s ministry. Elisha is given a double task: He needs to continue his master’s legacy, and he will also need to be true to his own prophetic vision. To illustrate, in the story, God removes Elijah from Israel in a ‘chariot of fire.’, pulled by horses of fire. “Chariot of fire” symbolizes the battle between God and Israel’s enemies; it also illustrates the nature of Elijah’s ministry. Elijah’s prophecies were deep and characterized by violence. He was the determined judge of his people. On the contrary, Elisha’s career is characterized as being more inclined to healings and miracles ‘for’ the people, not just as their judge. That Elisha picks up Elijah’s mantle and strikes the water and splits it into two means that he starts his ownership of prophecy, within the community that has been shaped under the leadership of his master. He will not just continue the character of his master’s ministry; that’s neither his calling or his gift.
Here, I see this story’s analogy for starting an expansion of new ministry inside the current structure. The person who taught me this interpretation is Cheryl Black.
In Toronto, two weeks ago, at the DUIM (Deepening Understanding of Intercultural Ministry) program, I met Cheryl. We had known about each other for several years but only through “reputation and stories” about each other, until one brief encounter in 2014. (A story)
Just before the DUIM week, I saw her email address on the list of participants, and I was quite delighted. Cheryl is an excellent minister with a really great reputation for church development and the successful ministries she has implemented wherever she’s been; I wanted to learn the secret of her success.
Although Cheryl and I met in 2014, the connection between us started 8 years ago when I was seeking a home congregation two years after my family landed in Canada. I was desperate. I needed a safe and welcoming place where I could be myself and pursue my career in ministry. At the time, West Point Grey United Church was exploring the path to become an intercultural church. The church hosted a forum on intercultural ministry, sending invitations to four pastoral charges nearby. I attended the forum, and found out that I was the only participant attending outside of their own church members. They were very welcoming; I shared my stories. I told my perspective. The minister at the time was Valerie Taylor, and as I was about to leave, she talked to me, with her emerald green eyes looking at me with such genuineness, “ I wish we/I could ‘allure’ you.” (...Into attending our church) That lured me, indeed. I chose the congregation as my congregation (not the congregation my husband served..) and the amazing journey continued from that initial relationship with the minister and the church members. What I learned later was Cheryl Black was Valerie’s predecessor, and Cheryl was the catalyst for intercultural ministry there. Then Cheryl moved to Highlands United Church in North Vancouver, implementing intercultural ministry there, and after leading it to be a ‘transformed’ place, after 10 years, she’s now in St. Aidens, in Victoria. She shared with me in Toronto, wherever she goes, her goal is “Leading into transformation, and nothing else”.
One gift that the DUIM programme has given me is acknowledging that I was saved, 7 years ago, by intercultural ministry; my life was saved, 7 years ago, because there were these “Samaritans” - White Samaritans - who were inspired by intercultural ministry, planned intercultural ministry, and executed intercultural ministry in spite of the congregation’s reluctance, hesitation, indifference to the process - leading all to contemplate why intercultural ministry must inspire us all, and why it is an ‘opportunity’ to own so much more than we were given, why it’s no ordinary, run-of-the-mill mission statement! As I returned to Winnipeg I pondered upon what I learned ,and what transformation I had undergone during the programme, and for the first time in my life I acknowledged that if I was saved by intercultural ministry, shouldn’t I also save others with the same gift and ministry? A lot of Samaritans - of all ethnicities, of all paths, across Canada, in General Council, you - had been leading me here where I am now and now I live with the “hard-won” privilege of ministry (Jordan Cantwell, the moderator of UCC). How could I be anything but eager to inspire us all at UCiM to become, together, an intrepid and innovative community that is competent and confident in planning a new ministry?
The following is what I posted to my Facebook page, recently:
‘Intercultural Ministry’ shouldn’t be treated just as a desirable ‘perspective’ or just a mission statement that has no effect if no one really cares about implementing and strategizing business and ministry plans into real actions. I am interested in real action-based ministry. Intercultural ministry is an entrepreneurial opportunity that requires both good ministry/business plans, the execution of higher ministry performance, research, consultations, evaluations, strong staffing, leadership/partnership identification, with focus on and commitment to creating a community that saves and changes the lives of all who are involved, invited to participate and welcomed. In such a community, the newly welcomed should be able to see and experience the immediate benefits and gifts that are “for” them: hope, confidence, a supportive network, and the joy of participation. Not (just) English. If, in our thinking, we cannot think of anything else other than offering ESL classes as being equal to intercultural ministry, IM will never excite us. If we think of the great value in IM as the opportunity to lead us into transformation and a new vision and concept of who we are, Samaritans, it will give us a sense of purpose. If we also humbly acknowledge that IM is actually one of the few - but great - options we might have for ‘growing’ our church - we will never get bored with the idea, because it addresses the sense of urgency - when we see how fast our North American cities are becoming secularized.
We have plans. We have resources. We have great partnerships.
There are more stories and insights I would love to share, but I will not tell them all in one sermon. But I do want to share one amazing moment I had at the DUIM course on the third day. Cheryl and I became pretty intrigued with one another - I knew that she would be my Elijah. If you asked me, “Why you are so into Cheryl?”, I must tell you a love story - which is one way. But one amazing moment, at a window in the classroom of the Toronto School of Theology, we found a quick moment to chat, and I asked her, “So what are the secrets of your ministry, so successful, so transformative?” When I asked her that question, my expectations were just to hear some of her visions, insights, perspectives on what she thought was the most important part of ministry.
She answered, “Two things. I always have a good ministry plan. I also always have a good business plan.”
“Oh - you are the CEO type. I would never be the one, I just am not,” I said.
“Yes, and you can become a CEO, too.” Those words propelled me into a whole new world.
The Elijah and Elisha story is about transition. No ministries are the same. Yet they run like young rivers which will meet, in the end, in the ocean that is infinite. I trust that we can, like Elisha (and Elijah), pick up our mantle of ministry, and strike it and walk through.
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