Sermon Nuggets week of March 29 2010
Sermon Nuggets Mon March 29, 2010
Theme- Pass it On
Verses- 2 Kings 2:1-15
Mantle Carriers
Two quotes: “The error youth is to believer that intelligence is a substitute for experience, while the error of age is to believe that experience is a substitute for intelligence.”
Secondly, from Edgar Master’s Spoon River Anthology: “In youth my wings were strong and tireless, But I did not know the mountains. In age I knew the mountains But my weary wings could not follow my vision-- Genius is wisdom and youth...”
As one grows older there are lessons of life that are understood differently from those who have never gone through them. I can know truth by reading the Bible. I understand truth by living through experiences when those truths are applied to life experiences in many ways.
We transition today from the life of Elijah to the life of Elisha. God instructed Elijah, the fiery prophet of God to mentor and prepare Elisha for the position of being a prophet. Nothing is said about who was helpful for Elijah in his earlier days. But we learn lessons of life from others in direct or indirect ways.
When I came to Stanchfield and asked people how they came to the church the names of Melvin and Amy Christenson were mentioned as folks to took them in, made them feel welcome, visited them and introduced them to others to get to know them. Even when I met them in their older years I found they invited people in their home for meal.
Amy’s stroke kept her from cooking or cleaning, so all of this responsibility fell on Melvin. It would have been easy to just stay at home and use his energy to care for Amy but that was not their heart. They prayed for people, had Bible studies, gave some money. I wondered after they passed away who would take up that mantle. In one sense no one could be Amy and Melvin. But in another sense that spirit of serving the Lord and reaching out to others is a needed ministry in every church. That attitude of serving instead of being served is a sign of spiritual maturity. The culture has moved in years to pay people to do ministry instead of the emphasis that we all do ministry together for God.
In our passage today we see a great saint being taken from earth and the continued ministry fall upon his servant, Elisha. Elisha takes the mantle, or cloak, of Elijah and continues the ministry to which God had called him.
This week we will look at characteristics important in passing that ministry to another.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Tues March 30- Perseverance
Verses- II Kings 2:1-6 When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.
2 Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel." But Elisha said, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel.
3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, "Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?" "Yes, I know," Elisha replied, "but do not speak of it."
4 Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho." And he replied, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So they went to Jericho.
5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, "Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?" "Yes, I know," he replied, "but do not speak of it."
6 Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan." And he replied, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you."
Demonstrating Perseverance.
Elisha was a student for 8 years and also a servant. He was from a wealthy farming family He had servants himself as a foreman of work detail, but when the call of God came upon his life, he left it all to follow God's will. He was willing to be a servant himself and give up his inheritance and money. But after a while the novelty of doing something easily wears off for most adventuresome spirits. There is a time when what seemed excited to do is no longer fun. That is when persistence and perseverance to complete and carry on a worthy task makes one effective.
Living out the Christian life in a church setting for years is an illustration of the perseverance of the believer. So many new converts quit. They drop out of church, and their faith is no longer important to them. People want to know: Is this stuff really true? Does it really work in the tough situations of life?
When a couple's child dies, does their faith carry them through, or is it based on happy results to prayer requests? When financial struggles come, or marital difficulties arise perseverance is a characteristic developed when one matures in the Lord.
The gospel is a life-long proclamation, not a half-hour message. It is the persistent and patient walk with the Lord in the good and the bad
times that add to one's effectiveness.
Part of Elisha's training was to be patient and persistent. Each time Elijah instructed Elisha to stay in the town, Elisha was not to be dissuaded. He was persistent in following him to the end. He was persistent in his learning in his love and in his service, even through difficulty and inconvenience, and grief.
A Moravian missionary named George Smith when to Africa. He had been there only a short time and had only one convert, a poor woman when he was driven from the country. He died shortly afterward on his knees, praying for Africa. He was considered a failure.
100 years later his mission counted more than 13,000 living converts who had sprung from the ministry of George Smith and the way God used that poor woman who turned her life over to the Lord. It is not important what we accomplish with our life, as it is that we be faithful to God and persistent in what we know his will to be. It is God that gives the increase. It is God who moves in the hearts of others. That is what makes one effective to the Lord.
Part of persistence is obedience to what you believe is God's will and task for you and not to quit.
Elizabeth Elliot says, "Throughout the Bible..when God asked a man to do something, the methods, means, materials and specific directions were always provided. The man had one thing to do: obey."
Elisha stayed with Elijah since he was called to be a servant and a student. He knew that the Lord was going to take his master from him. He knew as did all the rest of the seminary students, these sons of the prophets that Elijah’s work on the world was done. Who was going to carry it on? God had picked Elisha. Elisha was willing to obey, and persistent in the tasks before him.
One doesn’t have to be preparing for full time Christian service. I have been ministered best by the persistent commitment laymen and women at Stanchfield who love the Lord and use their gifts year after year. It is a witness to our community. It is not always fun or easy. But it is godly to be persistent in doing His will when we feel like it or not.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Weds March 31
Verses- II Kings 2:7-10 Fifty men of the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan.
8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?" "Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied.
10 "You have asked a difficult thing," Elijah said, "yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours-- otherwise not."
Demonstrates Desire
There are many in ministry, or with church responsibilities, that look at their service as a job and many who look at it as a calling. Elisha knew his position was a calling from God. But he also knew that he needed to learn some things from his mentor, Elijah. It was his desire to be an effective servant of God.
What is in the heart of a person? Is it advancement, is it performance, is it money, is it fame? We not only saw the commitment of Elisha at the time of his calling, but the desire of his heart to be passionate in service.
“What is it I can do for you”, the older asks the younger.
Elisha had just witnessed a miracle. He knew about the parting of the sea in the wilderness wanderings. He knew about the parting of river Jordan when the people entered into the promised land. Now in this passage Elisha watches as Elijah takes his cloak and rolls it up and touches the river and watches it part. They walk across on dry ground.
How do you teach someone how to do that? What skills does one learn about parting water? Never has that been taught in seminary or Sunday School class. That is only given by God as a gift.
But what we see in the student is not a desire to be better than Elijah but the passion to service with the same zeal for the Lord and to do ministry with excellence. There are skill we learn and abilities and gifts that one does not learn. It is given by God. Likewise it is important to learn lessons in church, mission or ministry. We can learn how to teach better, use study skill to understand the Bible, how to send out cards of encouragement or make visits. But the touch of the Spirit of God on a life desiring to be used is not something to be taught, but to be caught.
What do people do to improve in their jobs? There are those who learn all they can and seek to apply what they see in others that are doing it well. They learn by example.
When people have coaches in some sport they want to improve their skills but realize they have something the other doesn’t have. There are God given gifts and there are fundamentals and advanced techniques that one learns by watching those he or she admires.
What does Elijah see in Elijah? A power from God to be certain, but a desire to be all God wants him to be. He sees a relationship that Elijah has with God that Elisha wants with all his heart. To walk and talk with the Lord is beyond books and lectures. It is vital in witnessing the intimacy and living it out in the spirit.
Elisha's heart desire is to have a double portion of his spirit. A double portion does not mean twice as much power as Elijah but rather to be considered as his son who will receive his spiritual inheritance. He is asking for the blessing and for the spiritual power that his mentor had. He knew he had more to learn. Elisha felt that there was yet something he needed if he was to face the task alone. Till then his only comfort and hope was to stay by Elijah.
The desire of the heart of Elisha was to have the Spirit of God like he had seen in Elijah. It wasn’t for personal advancement or envy, but to be a tool effective for the service of God.
To learn all we can is important in any job or responsibility. To do things well and with excellence is admirable when one applies himself or herself. But spiritual desire comes when you realize God is God and you want Him more than anything else, not for what you can do, but for who He is. It comes not by our choice nor by our training but by the grace of the Lord responding to the desires of our heart.
That is what Elijah tells his student. This is a gift from God. Ask for it. Desire it. And let God give you what God wants to give you. Be ready and willing to receive whatever God has for you while you continue your journey with the tasks at hand. And what it is God gives to you, do it with excellence and let Him take it from there.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Thurs April 1- Faith
Verses- 11 Kings 2:11-14 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
12 Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart.
13 He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.
14 Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. "Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.
Demonstrating Faith
The Spiritual power of God is not something one obtains by teaching or learning certain principles. One does not observe another and practice what he does and automatically receive the supernatural infilling of the Spirit of God. God doesn't work that way. However the example of faith is something people can see in others and evaluate in their lives as others are living in believing God and His word and power. Does one perform duties and techniques learned from men, or trust in what God chooses to do in His people?
The important thing about growing in faith is not so much how much faith someone has, but rather the object in which faith is placed. There comes a time in Elisha’s training when he moves from what he can learn from Elijah to what he learns from God.
When I went on my first airplane ride I was quite nervous. I had seen others fly. I had heard their experiences. I would watch as planes would go up and down, but this idea of being in mid air with something that weights tons didn’t seem to make any sense, since I also understood about gravity.
However, learning a bit about aerodynamics helped in my growth of understanding. But the time came when I needed to get on the plane. I did what I could to help lift the plane in the air by pulling up on the arm rests on the seat. I thought about the point of no return where it is too late to turn back- one either flies or crashes. I prayed to the Lord for safety.
After awhile people were walking about the plane and standing and visiting with friends. The stewardess was delivering drinks and then passing out food (this was a number of years ago).
The more I started to understand about planes and experience them the more my faith in them grew. I trusted it with my life. It is now an enjoyable experience. If I had no faith in planes, regardless of how safe they were I would not have experienced their benefits personally. If the plane I was to get on was faulty and had no gas, no matter how much faith I had in it I would be in danger for the object of my faith was deficient.
Elisha learned about God by watching Elijah live out his faith. He trusted in God. The time came when Elisha did not just go through the motions but took that step from the faith of his friend to his own commitment of trusting in God and learning along the way more about Him.
The Bible says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” Rom 10:17
The more we know the Lord the more faith grows until we trust and obey, not based on our good works, but relying on the power of God to work through us His way and in His timing.
People can go to classes, Bible study groups and training seminars for many years and some do. But that does not assure anyone of the power of the Holy Spirit. One learns more about God, but the time times to exercise faith in not one knows but in the person of Christ and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit since Christ dwells within. One is far more likely to discover God's power while on your knees and in personal communication with the Lord from the Bible.
We see in a most dramatic manner that Elijah is translated in a unique and different way than anyone else on this earth. He was a fiery personality, and in that same bold manner the Lord takes him to heaven in a whirlwind separated by a fiery chariot with horses. Elisha tears his clothes, expresses grief and picks us the mantle of Elijah and returns to the river Jordan believing God has place His hand upon him. He exercises his faith by taking this clock of Elijah and God parts the water just like he did with Elijah.
Elisha was not to go in the power of Elijah, or in the wisdom of Elijah, or in the intelligence of Elijah, or in the experience and training that he had, but in the power of the Lord and the wisdom of God, and the leading of the Spirit. He knew Him whom he trusted.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Fri April 2
Verses- II Ki 2:14-15 Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. "Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.
The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, "The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha." And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.
Participation
There is no indication here that Elijah died the human and normal death of the rest of us. The Lord translated him from his life to the next. When the prophets looked for a body, they found none. His resurrection came much earlier than the rest of the world. But the mantle was left. Elisha picked it up and continued the ministry. Now that he had been called and trained, it was time for him to participate and get involved in the ministry to which God called him. He went boldly on.
Many can come up with excuses not to serve by thinking they don’t have enough training, they don’t have the gifts of their predecessor, they aren’t smart enough, or talented enough, but God uses those who are willing to participate.
I recently spoke on Moses and the burning bush last fall. One pastor entitled his sermon, “Any Ol’ Bush Would do”. It wasn’t about one of our former presidents. It was about God meeting Moses in the wilderness through a burning bush. There really wasn’t anything special about the bush as it was the power of God through the bush. Any ol’ bush would do if God chooses to show his wonder and miracles through it.
The same would be true of people God chooses. Any person would do if God chose them for some task or purpose. People in our society would run back that bush and charge admission to look at it in some museum or possibly charge $1,000 for a sliver of it. They would make it into an idol. God is desirous of glory for Himself alone.
The Bible says that the Spirit gives gifts as he wills to whomever he wills. Such power is an act of grace. God only can answer such a prayer. The power that Elisha sought was not for Elijah to give. Elijah does tell him that if he can witness his departure then God will grant him his prayer.
Indeed God's plan was to empower Elisha. A willing and humble spirit was what God wanted from Elisha. That would be one difference between a bush and a human. We can disobey and be filled with selfish and evil desires. An inanimate object is as God created it to be.
God came upon Elisha as he returned to the same Jordan river and touched the water with Elijah's cloak. Like before, it separated. There was nothing magical about the cloak or mantle. Interestingly, God did not give to him the special power of Elijah until he needed it. He often makes men wait in faith for a gift until the very moment that it is required.
As a minister I admire many people God had marvelously used in different areas. I wish I could evangelize like Billy Graham, or be involved with social concerns like James Dobson, or be as astute to political and Christian responsibilities like Chuck Colson, but that is unrealistic and that is not want God wants of Dale Cope. He has not given me their ministry and has not given them my ministry. He has not given you my ministry or given to me yours. He wants us to use all of our interests today and together in the power of the spirit.
The world ranks people one way, God ranks them differently. He doesn't rank by occupation: Rahab was a hero of the faith and she was a prostitute. He doesn't rank by notoriety; the protagonists of Jesus' parables were unknowns.
Just as in a relay race one passes the baton to another as they all run their course for their team. The concept of discipleship is for a time one takes the baton given to them by God, usually from someone who went before us, and carry it with faithfulness and humility until we pass it on to another. Get in the race. Do so with the willingness to do our best and watch what God chooses to do in and through us. God is not calling you to do everything, but I believe he is calling you to do something.
There are those who have gone on before us that have influenced us in ways that God used. There will be those who follow us for whom God want us to invest time and ministry to will be a blessing to the next generation. Carry the baton with a willingness to glorify God. Then pass it on.
Pastor Dale
