PENTECOST 8, YEAR C, 7/1/08

Bishop Alexander is busily traveling around the Diocese ordaining our recent seminary graduates. One of those ordinands is a young man for whom I have been a mentor for the past few years. In response to his invitation to his upcoming ordination and, in light of this mornings lessons about discipleship, I am sending him a copy of a letter I received some years ago. It is entitled, The Perfect Priest.

A recent survey has compiled all the qualities that people expect

from the perfect priest. Here we share some of them with you. Results

of a computerized survey indicate that the perfect priest preaches exactly

12 minutes. She frequently condemns sin but never upsets anyone. He

works from 8 a.m. until midnight, and is also a janitor. She makes $ 60 a week, wears good clothes, buys good books, drives a good car and gives $50 a week

to the poor.

He is 28 years of age and has been preaching for thirty years. He is

wonderfully gentle and handsome. She gives of herself completely, but

never gets too close to anyone, lest she be criticized. He speaks boldly on social issues, but must never become politically involved. She has a burning desire to work with teenagers; she spends all of her time with senior citizens.

He makes 15 calls daily on parish families, visits shut-ins and the hospitalized,

spends all his time evangelizing the unchurched, and is always in his office when

needed.

If your priest does not measure up, simply send this letter to six other parishes

that are tired of their priest, too. Then bundle up your priest and send her to the church at the top of this list. In one week, you will receive 1,643 priests—and at least one of them should be perfect. Have faith in this letter. One parish

broke the chain and got its old priest back in less than three months.

Last week the first of the great prophets of Israel, Elijah, moved to center stage in our drama of God’s dealing with mankind. You will recall that Elijah lived at a time of shifting power structures on the political front, lax morality among the people, and a disregard for the old-time religion. When young King Ahab brought his new bride, Zezebel, to Israel and she began destroying the religious shrines, it was Elijah who confronted them and ultimately destroyed the pagan priests. As a result of that action Elijah was forced to flee to the desert. There, in a cave on Mt. Sinai, God shows Elijah that he has tried to take on the whole task of salvation and, that he, Elijah, has become the center of things and not God. As a result, Elijah is sent back to Israel to anoint new political leaders and, much to his horror, he must anoint a new prophet, a new man of God. It is there that our story begins for today.

Elisha is as much of a mystery to us as is Elijah, at least as far as background is concerned. We know that Elisha is a farmer and that his father is probably wealthy. After all, he owns twelve yoke of oxen. Elijah finds Elisha plowing in the fields and he walks up to him and throws his mantle, a scarf-like garment that was a symbol of the prophetic and priestly office. (We call them stoles nowadays). Elisha becomes a prophet-in-training and leaves farming behind. There is no way of telling how long Elisha was an apprentice to Elijah, but it was obviously long enough for him to become very devoted to the old man.

In the story for today we find Elijah at the end of his life, making one last journey to the religious shrines. He knows the end is near and he wants to spare Elisha the pain and grief of his death, so at every shrine he tries to get Elisha to remain behind. Elisha will have none of it. He will not leave his mentor. They make their way from Gilgal to Bethel and then down to Jericho. There fifty local priests who are intent on watching the old man die join them. They walk out from Jericho to the nearby Jordan River. At the edge of the river Elijah takes his mantle and throws it on the water and the waters part. They go across on dry land, leaving behind the astonished fifty priests. On the far bank Elijah says to Elisha, “The time of my departure is upon us. What can I do for you before I leave you?” And Elisha begs, “Give me a double portion, twice as much spirit, as you have!” Elijah explains that “spirit-giving” is God’s job, God’s gift, and not man’s. Never the less, trust God.

At that moment the fiery chariot descends and Elijah is carried away in the whirlwind. Now no one knows exactly what happened, Elisha’s description is obviously poetic language, but what is sure is that Elijah is gone and Elisha feels completely and totally alone. Listen to his cry, “Father! Father! The chariots of Israel!” Weeping, he makes his way back to the riverbank. There he picks up Elijah’s mantle and looks at it. On the other side stand the fifty priests. And then Elisha throws the mantle on the water and low and behold, the waters part! A new prophet has arrived!

Now there are three things about that story I want you to take home with you.

The first is that priests and prophets and everyday Christians are not born, they are made. They are fashioned by everyday living in the presence of those who believe and who share their belief. Elijah is not just an instructor to Elisha; he is a mentor, a companion on Elisha’s journey in faith. That is at the heart of all that we do here at Grace-Calvary.. This is a community of faith that shares that faith in order to make new Christians. I tell all our Christian Education leaders that they are not teachers, they are companions and mentors. If they never teach another lesson but are willing to share their own faith with those who are in their care, they have been faithful. The entire program we have instituted here is based on the principle that faith is caught from one another, not taught.You see Elijah had become a father to Elisha, not just a teacher

The second thing I want you to hear is that God’s Spirit is a gift that is given to the community for the purpose of making new children and men and women of God. This formative process is not dependent on our own resources. Notice in the Gospel accounts that Jesus seldom, if ever, tells anyone to do anything. Rather, he says, “Come and live with us.” That’s the way it has been since the day of Pentecost. The message of the Apostles has always been, “Come and live with us.” I don’t care if you have any faith at all; if you are here you are in the right place.

The third thing is to remember that faith means risk. Elisha took that mantle and cast it on the waters of the Jordan and he had no idea what would happen. The waters parted. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt with Pharaoh’s army in hot pursuit. They came to the Red Sea. The waters didn’t part until the first Jew threw himself into the surf.

David Collins, the former Dean of St. Philip’s Cathedral, tells the story of his wife becoming caught up in the power of the Holy Spirit. He didn’t understand what was happening and felt a little cheated. Nothing seemed to have happened to him. And then one day he read in Luke’s Gospel Jesus story about fathers who give gifts to their children and Jesus commented, “If you who are evil know how to give good things to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask?” David says from that moment on he began to risk with the assumption that God had already given him the Holy Spirit.

Beloved, take the risk. Risk your time. Risk your involvement. Risk your money. In the name of God, take the risk. Amen.