In the Shadow of

 

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me, begins a well-known poem by Robert Louis Stevenson.

When I think of Elisha the prophet this poem comes to mind. The second verse especially:

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow---Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;

For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball, And he sometimes gets so little that there’s none of him at all.

 

Elisha was a protégé of the prophet Elijah, picked by Elijah to be his servant. Elisha followed Elijah as a disciple, to the very end of Elijah’s life on earth, when Elijah was swooped up in a chariot of fire. Elijah’s mantle fell to Elisha. The prophet Elisha had big shoes to fill. The funniest thing about him was the way he chose to be prophet, not at all like proper -or other- prophets. Elisha shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball, with what today would be tik-tok worthy antics. Elisha’s medium is not words but a whirlwind of wonder-inducing feats. The book of 2 Kings begins with a barrage of miraculous moments:

Elish parts the waters of the Jordan river; adds salt to a spring to make bitter water sweet; conjures bears that maul 42 who tease him for being bald; uses music and word to fill a dry river bed with water; tricks the Moabite army with a mirage of blood red water; multiplies cooking oil enough for a widow to sell and pay off debts; prophesies that a barren woman (too old to have children) would have a son within the year – and she does; restores life to a child by breathing into his mouth and lying on him; throws a little potion of flour into poisonous stew making it safe to eat; feds 100 men with 20 loaves of bread and collects leftovers; heals a leper by commanding him to dunk in the river 7 times; recovers a lost axe head by making iron float; predicts the death and crowning of specific kings and movement of enemy troops; casts enemy soldiers into blindness; and repeatedly rescues King Jehoram from ambushes.

Elisha is an amazing sideshow that accompanies the rise and fall of kings during a time of ongoing conflict between Israel and Syria.

 

In, ‘The Message,’ Eugene Petersen writes this about the Books of Kings:

In the midst of the incredible mess these kings are making of God’s purposes, God continues to work [God’s] purposes and uses them in the work--- doesn’t discard them, doesn’t detour around them; God uses them. They are part of God’s sovereign rule, whether they want to be or not, whether they know it or not. God’s purposes are worked out in confrontation and revelation, in judgement and salvation, but they are worked out. God’s rule is not imposed in the sense that [God] forces each man and woman into absolute conformity to justice and truth and righteousness. The rule is worked from within, much of the time invisible and unnoticed, but always patiently and resolutely there. The books of Kings provide a premier witness to the sovereignty of God carried out among some of the most unlikely and uncooperative people who have ever lived.

Have you noticed these past four weeks in our discussion of prophets, that it is in the midst of incredible mess when they show up? The stories have prophets in their own unique ways addressing justice, truth, and righteousness, in their surrounding society. The prophet’s understanding of God’s rule and God’s kindom, is at work from deep within them and is made present, juxtaposed with the chaos in the world. At times their presence, God’s presence through them, is invisible and unnoticed because society has chosen not to look or listen.

 

What we learn in the Books of Kings is that God’s work is counter-cultural, assumes alternative forms of power, and offers a variant perspective on effective rule and practicing of kindom. Despite the flawed actions or inaction of human beings, God is not deterred. Continuing to work in the shadows of human power, God often seems silent and hidden. God’s power remains at constant work in the chaotic history of human empires and governments; prophets are present with words, actions, or the miraculous.

 

After the whirlwind of miraculous signs and wonders, Elisha’s fast growth as prophet, he disappears into the annals of history. Like the poem: And he sometimes gets so little there is none of him at all. Elisha is mentioned only once in later scripture, in Luke 4. In this instance he is spoken of in the shadow of Elijah. Jesus is speaking of prophets not being welcome in their hometowns and mentioning Elijah and Elisha doing wonderful works not among Israelites. Jesus mentions Elijah providing substance through a drought for a foreign widow, followed by Elisha providing healing for a foreign leper. Elisha is mentioned just this once; whereas Elijah is a prominent figure mentioned 29 times and alluded to a few more in Greek scripture; later yet Elijah is revered as prophet in Islamic tradition.

 

Elisha, despite all the amazing miracles he did, he remains in the shadow of Elijah. Perhaps this is the greatest part of story; the very thing we need to hear and digest. Elisha remains in the shadow of. Elisha’s name means, “God is salvation.” Readers are pointed to the fact that ‘God is salvation’ by the very name of the prophet. The prophet is working God’s work, not making a name for himself. The miracle is that God finds a medium, in this case a prophet, to be present among the people and the foreigners; bringing reprieve, hope, justice, and salvation. The prophet is in God’s shadow.

 

In the midst of the incredible mess the world is in today, patiently and resolutely present, God is at work. Although oft times invisible and unnoticed when beside the chaos of society, God’s kindom is in the state of coming. Reprieve, hope, justice, and salvation --- the miraculous --- are ready to be carried out by the most unlikely and uncooperative of people. I don’t know about you, but, I find it easy enough to label myself as ‘the most unlikely and uncooperative of people,’ especially if asked to entertain the notion that I carry the miraculous --- salvation, justice, hope, and reprieve. As a congregation, are we an unlikely and uncooperative bunch in bringing the coming of God’s kindom?

 

Elisha, as Elijah before him, lived a coming of kindom brought in the miracles of an abundance of water and food and healing and resurrection, present amid all peoples; resident and foreigner, us and them.

 

Elisha’s story reminds us: God is salvation. God is at work.

The Gospel account of the feeding of the 5000 has a coming of kindom, handed out by the disciples in the shadow of God – Jesus. Jesus is present in a continuing story of miraculous signs and wonders; bringing to resident and foreigner an abundance of water and food and healing and resurrection. In the midst of the incredible mess of 1^st century Judea and the Roman Empire, Jesus is not invisible or hidden to a group of disciples and a band of followers. Jesus is the coming of kindom --- carrying and working reprieve, hope, justice, and salvation. Miraculous!  This gift from God sits and works in the depths of the disciples and Jesus’ followers who work in Jesus’ shadow after his death and resurrection; into the early church and so on to today.

There were countless generations of unlikely and uncooperative people who carried life and God’s purposes working through them. It wasn’t about them and it not about us, God uses us -with our personalities and idiosyncrasies and talents – we are mediums for God’s message and agency. We carry reprieve, hope, justice, and salvation --- God’s very presence.

 

God under the shadow of your wings, in the shadow of Jesus,

Work the miraculous through us. Use our personalities, idiosyncrasies, and talents to be prophets – bearers- of reprieve, hope, justice, and salvation. We open ourselves to the coming of your kindom. May your kindom grow in midst of the incredible mess of society, grow with an abundance of water and food and healing and resurrection for all.

Amen.