“Passing the Mantle”
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
Sandpoint United Methodist Church
June 27, 2010
Stan Norman
Every year, one of my favorite moments at Annual Conference is when one of the retiring pastors passes the mantle to one of the pastors about to be ordained. Every year this Scripture story from Second Kings is read and a cloth symbolizing both the authority and the responsibility of the office of pastor is passed from one generation to the next. But, you don’t hear the word “mantle” used very much in 21st century America – it’s one of those “religious” words you normally only hear in church.
For people who are, as Bill Hybels says, “far from God”, the special language we use in church can be confusing:
During Sunday school the teacher decided to give a little quiz to her students. She wanted to see if the children would be able to write out the Golden Rule. The teacher walked around the classroom to see how the children were doing. She was pleased to see that many of them got it exactly right. She was shocked, however, to see one little boy’s rendition. He had written: “Do one to others before they do one to you.”
Please pray with me. May the words of our mouths, the meditations of our hearts, and the conduct of our lives, be always acceptable to you, O God, our strength and our blessed redeemer. Amen.
The Bible is just packed with stories about the passing of leadership from one generation to the next. Abraham passed the mantle of family leadership to Isaac and Isaac passed it to Jacob and Jacob passed it to Joseph and the family of Jacob became the nation of Israel. God heard the cries of the people in bondage in Egypt and placed the mantle of leadership on a reluctant Moses. Moses passed it on Joshua and so on. The names of those who have picked up the mantle or had it placed on their shoulders reads like a “who’s who” of the Bible: Ruth, Samuel, Deborah, David, Esther, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah…and that is just part of the roll call of leaders in the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible.
This month we have been talking about prophets and their relationship to the community of faith. We have seen how Elijah called the Israelites to be a community of healers, a community that transforms the world by serving those outside the community with compassion. We have seen how Elijah held Ahab and Jezebel, king and queen of Israel accountable for their sins against God and others; how Elijah called the Israelites to transform the world by speaking out against oppression and injustice, by being the conscience of the culture they lived in. This week we hear how God always provides new leaders to the community of faith as authority and responsibility is passed from one generation to the next.
Before we talk about leadership in today’s church and today’s world, let’s look at the leadership of Elijah and Elisha. First, Elijah and Elisha did not seek the office of prophet and leader. God chose them. Unlike other great prophets like Moses and Samuel, Isaiah and Jeremiah, Elijah’s “call” story is not recorded in the Bible. Elijah arrives on the scene full-grown and speaking for God, just like John the Baptist in the New Testament. On the other hand, the story of how God hand-picked Elisha to succeed Elijah is recorded in 1st Kings.
Elijah is hiding out from Queen Jezebel’s assassins in a mountain cave when something tells him that he should step outside the cave because God’s dropping by for a visit. Then there is that transforming moment when Elijah experiences earthquake, wind, and fire; and God is not in any of those powerful forces of nature. God arrives as a still, small voice speaking out of the silence…gives me goose-bumps just thinking about it. What does the still, small voice of the Lord of the Universe say?
God said, "Go back the way you came through the desert to Damascus. When you get there anoint Hazael; make him king over Aram. Then anoint Jehu son of Nimshi; make him king over Israel. Finally, anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.
So, God personally selected Elisha to take over from Elijah. Elijah didn’t pick Elisha, and Elisha didn’t seek the job. Sometimes I think that anyone who actively seeks a position of great authority in Christ’s church should be automatically disqualified. I worry that the still, small voice they hear urging them to seek more authority is their own ego, and not the voice of God.
Second, the prophetic leadership of Elijah and Elisha is founded in God. God is the sole authority for everything that they say and do. Biblical prophets speak for God. They don’t speak for themselves, or their family, or even for their nation; they speak God’s Word to God’s people.
Third, the miraculous power that Elijah and Elisha exercise is God’s power, not their own. When Elijah raises the widow’s son from the dead and when Elijah and Elisha part the waters of the Jordan River, it is not because they are powerful prophets, it is because they serve an all-powerful God.
In summary, God chooses leaders, they don’t choose themselves. God’s leaders lead from God’s authority, not their own. When God’s leaders are successful, it is because they have relied on God’s power, not their own. It seems that God deliberately chooses ordinary people to be leaders. Then God equips them, empowers them, and sends them out into the world.
With that “recruiting and training” plan in mind let’s look at the mantles of leadership that we are called to shoulder as Christ’s church in 21st century America. We’ll start with the Church universal. Christ’s church is called to lead the world to God – no more and no less. It is a call that we have inherited from God’s first Chosen People, the Israelites.
There are many metaphors for this calling: be a light on a hill, be the salt of the earth, be Christ’s hands and feet and voice. But, personally, I prefer the prophetic voice of Christ himself – no parables, no metaphors – just the clear and unmistakable voice of the Lord: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
There were twelve tribes of Israel, yet they were all called to serve God by leading other nations to God. There are hundreds of denominations in Christ’s church, yet we are all called to serve God by leading others to God.
Now, let’s look at the United Methodist Church. Has God called us to a specific role within Christ’s church? I believe so. I believe that God is calling us to live into our Wesleyan heritage, because it is as relevant today as it was in the eighteenth century. Methodists have a rich history of combining social justice and personal holiness.
Public opinion polls have clearly shown that those born in the 1970s and 80s, the Gen-Xers; and those born since 1990, the Millennials; are looking for two things in a religious experience. They want to make a difference in the world. Methodism’s ministries of compassion and justice answer that need. And, they want a moving and transforming spiritual experience. Methodism’s focus on personal holiness through public and private spirituality speaks to that need as well.
There are two other attributes that make Methodists best-suited to pass the mantle of leadership in Christ’s church to the next generation. Methodists have always been the “think and let think” church. We believe God gave each of us a brain for a reason. We believe that it is not only all right to ask questions, it is our duty. And, we are an inclusive church, we pitch a large tent so that there is plenty of room for everyone. Our doctrine of open Communion is one way we live out this call to welcome all in Christ’s name.
The United Methodist Church is uniquely positioned to appeal to the generations of Americans who call themselves spiritual, but not religious. I believe that the United Methodist Church is called to lead Christ’s church in America in recovering the so-called lost generations.
So…..where does that leave us? We are the people of the Sandpoint, Idaho, clan; of the United Methodist tribe; of God’s Chosen People, Christ’s church. The mantle of leadership has slipped from the shoulders of our parents and grandparents. It lies here at our feet, waiting for us to pick it up and respond to God’s call. God has chosen us, you and me, to feed and lead our community. God has equipped us and empowered us for the tasks of prophetic ministry that lie ahead. As Bishop Grant says, “We have all we need.”
God is calling us to be a community of healers, to be our community’s conscience, and to speak God’s Word to all God’s people in Sandpoint and in Bonner County. Feeding and leading is in our Methodist DNA. My friends, this is our time, this is our place, this is our purpose and this is our destiny. Let’s get to work!
Amen.
