2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14 and Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20

or
1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21 and Psalm 16
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Luke 9:51-62

2 Kings 2; Psalm 77

Again, I’m not particularly happy about the lectionary’s choice to omit verses from the narrative in this passage.  For one thing, it loses one serious exegetical note - properly, Elisha says “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you,” three times.

We also lose Elisha’s knowledge that Elijah is going to leave.  His commitment to Elijah seems far stronger when we realize that Elisha knows he is going away.

Elisha’s reaction, watching and crying out and tearing his clothes, are a great expression of grief.  Knowing that a loved one is leaving does not lessen the response of grief.  Ask anyone who has lost a loved one to a terminal illness.  As a counselor I even know a term for that one - “anticipatory grief” - the grief that comes when you realize you’re losing someone before they’re truly gone.

The image of Elisha rending his clothes and taking up Elijah’s cloak is a wonderful image of shedding an old life and taking on a new one.  His old identity is gone, a new creation takes his place.  Of course parting the water is a Moses image - and this connection is huge.  Elisha is not only the new Elijah, but also the new Moses - a voice of God’s liberating spirit for God’s people.

Psalm 77:19 Your way was through the sea, your path, through the mighty waters; yet your footprints were unseen.  

God, through Elisha, again made the impossible possible - making a way when there seems to be no way.

1 Kings 19

Here is the beginning of the Elijah-Eilsha story, in which Elijah knows he is naming and training his own successor.  He takes on a student, knowing that one day the student will become the master.  This has great implications for church leadership today - are pastors really shepherds leading a flock of sheep, or shepherds training apprentices who are to become shepherds themselves?  Faithful churches are largely lay-driven.

Galatians 5

Paul once again contrasts, in my opinion,  the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law.  If you really love God and love neighbor, you will not engage in the actions of the “vice list.”   Following the rules never saved anyone, following the Spirit saves us.

I love 5:15 - If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.  Very similar to Gandhi’s “an eye for an eye and soon we are all blind.”

Luke 9

Luke 9:62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

My grandfather was a farmer.  I was always intrigued how a farmer could plant so many straight rows on so much land.  When driving the tractor there is really only one way to keep your rows straight.  You find a point ahead of you and stay focused on that point.  The moment you look back to see if your rows are straight, your hand moves on the wheel and the row you’re planting becomes crooked.  Oops.

I have always liked this verse as an illustration that running away from one thing is not the same thing as running toward another.  Running away from evil is not the same as running into the arms of God.   Focusing on the goal is always better than focusing on the obstacles.

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1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a and Psalms 42 and 43
or
Isaiah 65:1-9 and Psalm 22:19-28
Galatians 3:23-29
Luke 8:26-39

I Kings 19:1-15

I’m not really the best Old Testament exegete, having studied the Gospels most closely in seminary. But I’ll throw this one out for discussion, especially since I’m preaching on prayer this week. Here are my initial thoughts.

I am bewildered as to why the Lectionary considers verses 5-7 optional. To me, it is part of the crux of the narrative. Elijah, now under a death threat from Jezebel, decides he has had enough and prays to the Lord that he may die. And God answers in an unexpected way. Instead of granting Elijah’s wish, God provides food, water and strength for a forty day journey. So much for the whole “if you have enough faith you can get whatever you ask for” thing. Elijah instead had to have enough faith to accept what God gave him. That reminds me of a line from Bruce Almighty when Jim Carrey’s character saw the unfortunate consequences of giving everyone what they prayed for and God responded, “since when have people known what they really want?”

I love the imagery when Elijah responds to God’s call to stand on the mountain. There was a mighty wind, but God wasn’t in it; then an earthquake and a fire, but God wasn’t in them either. The wind, earthquake and fire are definitely theophany images but Elijah had the discernment to know that what appeared to be God wasn’t really God.

Then silence. And God was encountered in the silence. (Contemplative prayer, anyone?) Standing on Mt. Horeb (like Moses) Elijah encountered God (like Moses) and covered his face (like Moses). And just as Elijah had turned inward, God sent him outward into mission (to anoint Hazael and Jehu, and to pass the torch to Elisha).

Preaching points: Prayer doesn’t get you what you want, but it opens you to God’s will; what seems to be God isn’t always God; God is often encountered in the silence; Prayer strengthens us for mission.

Psalms 42-43

The psalmist goes from blaming God ( 42:9 I say to God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I walk about mournfully because the enemy oppresses me?”) to realizing the problem is with himself, not God (42:11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?) to praising God (43:4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; and I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.) Isn’t that a familiar process?

Isaiah 65

Isaiah 65:8 Thus says the LORD: As the wine is found in the cluster, and they say, “Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,” so I will do for my servants’ sake, and not destroy them all.

Psalm 22

22:27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.

22:28 For dominion belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.

Galatians 3

An interesting exegetical note: in verse 24 (Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith) the word translated by the NRSV as “disciplinarian” is really the Greek word (paidaggos) from which we derive the word pedagogue. The Free Dictionary defines pedagogue as “A schoolteacher; an educator,” or “One who instructs in a pedantic or dogmatic manner.”

So what does Paul mean? The law was our guideline, our “gold standard?” Or was it a harsh taskmaster?

Luke 8

Luke tells the story of the healing of the Gerasene Demoniac in a way that is quite different from Mark’s version.

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