Chariots of Fire!?

This week the text is 2 Kgs 2:1-14

Note the repeated instances where

1.      Elijah tells Elisha to ‘stay here’ and Elisha’s reply is that he will not; he chooses to follow Elijah; this happens at Bethel, then at Jericho and finally at the Jordan.

2.      A company of prophets turns up and asks Elisha if he knows what is happening -  that this day his master Elijah will be taken away.

3.      Each time Elisha tells the company of prophets that he knows and that they should be quiet and go away.

They get to the Jordan, where Elijah parts the waters and both walk over on dry land; the company of prophets watch from a distance.

Elijah asks, since Elisha is determined to stay the course, what might be done for him before he departs. Elisha asks for x 2 of the power of the spirit which Elijah has. Elijah’s answer is very revealing – if you see what happens to me, your wish will be granted. If you don’t, it won’t.

And the meaning of all this? Elisha’s commitment is tested. When we are not really committed to God’s will, we may attempt a great many godly things, and they will fall through. Might even look ‘impressive’, but won’t achieve anything. It depends on how mysterious a way God might choose for the time and task.

Further, a servant needs to be equipped for the task. Enable me to do it and get it done! Elijah is saying that such a request depends on whether you are up to taking on the challenge and charge. To work with the power of the spirit that God gives, one must be able to receive and be able to wield such! If we are not ready, either nothing will happen or we will hurt ourselves in the process. This is actually where the walk of faith comes in! Why?  Blinded by the light. Remember Paul’s opening encounter with Jesus in Acts 9.

Then a chariot of fire appears, and the fire gets between Elijah and Elisha, separating them. And Elijah is taken up by a ‘whirlwind’ and is gone. Peace and silence reign in the dusty desert once more. As if it never happened. And the company of prophets inquire of Elisha -  shall we go look for your master? Perhaps the Lord has ‘traveled’ him to a nearby place for some purpose? But Elisha says no need, he’s gone. They search, nevertheless, for 3 days, but to no avail, and Elisha says I told you, didn’t I? He’s gone. Departed this life. Remember Elijah’s word to Elisha – if you see…the prophets did not see.

Where does this leave us – this most unusual passing from this life? Certainly not a matter of death, as we know it. For starters, think on how the Christian faith has been shared to many. Some of us were born into ‘Christian’ families and grew up just going along with everything for the longest time. But for others, it was the imperative of ‘Won’t you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior? You will gain eternal life.’ Okay. But what exactly does ‘eternal life’ mean? Those who attempt to answer this mostly talk of what they think it is or believe it to be. Lots of words. Terms of discourse once again. So convenient. But no chariots, no fire. Just believe. Have faith. So easily said, no? And the other side of it? The scary side of threat language. Refuse to accept and you’re damned for eternity. Get spiritual insurance! If you do, you won’t go to hell. And what does THAT mean? Once again, no real answers. And so people come along and say it’s this, or it’s that, and many follow, as blind men in a ditch. Find out for yourself. Start with the basic sayings of Jesus which show that it ain’t talk, it ain’t faith, it’s all in how you treat others. And how you will ascend accordingly. Or descend. Once again, it is the choices that we make that determine how God works with us, one way or the other. And when we do grow, it is God who gives the growth, and we will know it.

Then consider how we see and approach death. There are several notions working. Most common is the worldly notion of the physical body and its limits, linked with that of this world being all there is. We start at birth, we end at death. That’s it, No more. All gone. Then there’s the ‘change of form’ notion. We die the physical death, but the body is recycled into new life forms, and so life goes on. We might be buried and a tree planted over us. Cool.  Green and nice. Then there is the Elijah – Jesus notion. Weird, magical, scientific, atoms assembling and disassembling. Elijah disappears, Jesus walks through walls. Or over the water. How to try this sort of movement in life? And yet, we begin to do this when we face every challenge that needs to be overcome and figure out what God is calling us to do! And how we should do it!! We need to figure this one out without asking anyone. The world and its structures give us neither time nor opportunity. But God will help. For all who truly seek, will learn how to find! We will struggle and fight our way, step by step. And it all starts with that little bit about ‘Be STILL and KNOW’….because in total stillness you will shut the world out and shut even your body awareness out. Comes down to Jesus, the eye of the spirit, and a being filled with light. All self-discovery stages.

Just remember, that when the imago dei is talked about, it is mostly from a physical body perspective. Don’t accept that. Can’t be tied to a gender, nor a color, nor a set of physical features! We cannot be short, tall, thin, fat, pretty, ugly, and conflate all such differences and say ‘image of God’. It is much beyond the physical! It is about the image of the Spirit of God! That is the true reality for each human being. Spirits in a material world, a spirit in a physical body. Souls on this earth for a little while. We know the limits of the body. We exult in its sports and entertainment capabilities. Why not go beyond that and start learning the limits of the spirit and soul and then begin to find that in goodness there aren’t any limits?

This entire life is preparation for leaving it. And we need to learn new skills. But we have been molded by this world’s limitations and so are have been stuck in a rut, static in growth, for a long time. We have not grown. We have just made a comfortable exception of Elijah. Remember Jesus said, what I have done you will do, and more. If you need to, read last week’s post again. But there are specific tasks of each aspect of human living that we must isolate and work on.

The body is like an engine - take care of it and it will serve you well. From birth the human heart does not stop beating. It is the hardest working muscle in the body. And many folk do not give it much rest, and we are not talking about inactivity. Work that one out. Identify your physical weaknesses, with no euphemisms that deny reality, from diet to ailments, and work at improving them as best you can. Use what works, not what you believe in. And keep at it. It becomes more of a challenge as we age, because the body has its limits in this life, and the essentials gradually begin to wind down. But you can change that quite a bit. Some of us have to accept unwelcome limits for varying reasons. Nevertheless, we must still do the best we can.

The mind is an incredibly powerful organ, but it has been sadly misused and abused by dominating worldly ide ntity and purpose, whose accompanying requirements have been imprinted on it. This we need to break free from. For the longest time we have behaved as though knowledge is power but that is hardly an accurate statement. Our learning systems and the ‘knowledge’ that most impart are obviously determined by economic and political goals. Insufficient for our children. For us adults, we have a different ball game to work with. Knowledge must become an instrument for positive change, personal and social. But mostly, individual.

The soul, which manifests as spirit, is just about unknown. It is mostly treated as a reference point now and then as a religious notion. Very insufficient for me. I’ve baptized many, buried many. RIP doesn’t quite cut it. It’s not about faith or belief, but about experience. And that, is knowing.

Our basic notion is that we are powerless in the face of death. Not good enough for me. When Jesus said I have overcome the world did he not mean I have overcome all of the limits of the human condition? We get to commit, follow, and find out! We are not powerless. But that ‘power’ does not come by structure, corporate org, or mucho talko, no matter how “passionate” it might seem to be. It is the power to change that which seems unchangeable, beginning with ourselves!

Basic biblical premise is clear – there is life beyond this one, so Jesus says ‘I go to prepare a place for you’. ‘Place’ of course, is huge…….. and unknown; and an entire newness of experience. To begin to discover this, you gotta walk hand in hand with the Lord, vine and branch. Strange walk, one that enables as you go. Keeps you humble, quiet, but working. Gives weird clarity in what and whom you encounter, so you know how to keep to the path. It’s the 3^rd line of Psalm 23 that ends ‘he leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake…’ . Walk, and be set free, step by step. Then run, as I begin to do, and discover for yourself! And every blessing of the Lord Jesus be upon you! Always, G.

PS: We have just begun to talk about stuff like eternal life; we will look at what all Elisha does as of next week, and then from Thanksgiving to Christmas and maybe a little beyond we will look at Christian characteristics as Jesus taught – honesty, humility, integrity and more. And then come back to Isaiah et al.