The advert in the Samaria Times might have read something like this.
“Situation Vacant: prophet of God, to lead a band of prophets. Must be diplomatic and useful in battle and famines. Miracles, especially raising the dead, an advantage.”
Of course, Elisha didn’t become one of the most influential prophets in Israel’s history by answering a newspaper advert. So how did he end up “in the hot seat” as Elijah’s successor and God’s representative to Israel for 50 years in the ninth century BC? It all started with Elijah calling Elisha to follow him.
1 Kings 19 “19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.”
Elijah’s cloak was a symbol of his gifting and calling as a prophet. When Elijah went and put his cloak on Elisha’s shoulders, he was symbolically inviting him to become a prophet too. Elisha responded to the call as we would hope we would when God calls us. He said yes.
“20 Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. ‘Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,’ he said, ‘and then I will come with you.’”
Elijah’s reply at this point may appear confusing.
‘Go back,’ Elijah replied. ‘What have I done to you?’
Different translations can help us see the meaning here. The New Living Translation says, “Go on back, but think about what I have done to you.”
The Message reads, “Go ahead,” said Elijah, “but, mind you, don’t forget what I’ve just done to you.”
With Elijah’s blessing, Elisha said goodbye to his family. And then he did something else.
“21 So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the ploughing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.”
Elisha’s response to God’s call gives a perfect example of how anybody should respond when God calls them to serve him.
It began with the CALLING
Elisha didn’t become a prophet because he woke up one day and thought, I’d like to be a prophet. He became a prophet because Elijah called him to. In turn, Elijah only did that because God told him to. Just a few verses before in 1 Kings 19 verse 16 God had said to Elijah, “Anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.” So actually it was God who called Elisha to become a prophet. And that’s the way it should always be in God’s service. Ministers don’t become ministers because they want to – but only because God calls them into pastoral ministry. Missionaries only become missionaries when God calls them to the mission field. Deacons and Home Group Leaders and people working with children and young people and indeed anybody who is serving God should only do so when God calls them to. God’s call to Elisha came through Elijah. Sometimes God’s call comes to us when ministers or church leaders or wise friends say, “have you ever thought about doing so and so.” I wonder, what might God be calling YOU to do today? Elisha heard God calling him through Elijah, and he responded to it. But he didn’t become a prophet immediately. Before he could become Elijah’s successor, Elisha had to become his assistant.
“Then Elisha set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.”
Elisha became Elijah’s attendant, his helper. The same word was used of Joshua’s relationship with Moses. Delivering God’s unpopular messages of judgment to Israel would not be easy. Elisha needed a period as an attendant, a time of training, of growing, of learning from his Spiritual Elder before he could take over the role of Prophet to God’s people.
A very biblical word for this process would be
DISCIPLESHIP
Elisha became Elijah’s disciple. The idea of discipleship isn’t very fashionable in the church today. Many people want to get stuck into a job straight away – they don’t like the idea of spending time as an apprentice or an assistant. On the contrary, the truth is that whatever the role in the church or in the world, everybody benefits from an opportunity to learn from somebody more experienced, being trained and encouraged and supported. As a chemistry teacher I was so grateful to learn from senior colleagues, and starting a minister I spent five years as Assistant Minister before I had my own church. Whatever the task in church life, Deacons, Home Group Leaders, Youthwork and Children’s Work, it is good to learn from those who have been doing the job for years. Passing on the baton of service in the church. If the great prophet Elisha needed to start off as an apprentice, so do we.
God called Elisha to a period of years of discipleship. And that took
COMMITMENT
“21 So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the ploughing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.”
When the Romans invaded Britain 2000 years ago, the emperor Julius Caesar famously said, “if you want to take the island, burn the boats.” With no way to retreat, the soldiers would have no alternative but to march forward. Elisha didn’t burn his boats or his bridges but instead he did burn the plough and the oxen which were his livelihood. No turning back. For Elisha this was a radical break with the past. He was giving up everything he knew, to follow God’s calling to a new destiny, with a new lifestyle, and new priorities.
Calling, discipleship, commitment. Elisha would need one more very important thing before he could step into the hot seat as God’s prophet to Israel. But I’m not allowed to talk about it today because that is next week’s subject, so you’ll just have to come back for that. No spoilers.
So what does this story of how God makes a prophet have to say to Christians today? Elisha was CALLED. In the church it is not only prophets and ministers and missionaries who are called. All Christians are called by God. We are called from darkness to light and from death to life. We are called to be God’s children. We are called to be holy, set apart for God. We are called to tell other people about Jesus. Supremely, we are called to follow Jesus – just like Jesus called his first disciples.
Mark 1:14 “… Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 ‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’
16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.”
“Come, follow me.” DISCIPLESHIP is not just for Old Testament prophets and ministers and missionaries. Christians are called to repent and believe the gospel and we are also all called to become disciples of Jesus. The Bible only uses the word “Christian” three times and the word “believer” only 30 times. Much more often, around 100 times, the Gospels and Acts talk about people being followers of Jesus, and following Jesus. That is what God calls Christians to do. To be the people who obey that simple command. “Follow me.” And then the New Testament word which is used over 300 times to describe followers of Jesus is “disciple”. Jesus was a Rabbi, a teacher, and those who followed him and learned from him and whose lives were shaped by him were called his disciples. All Christians are called to be disciples of Christ.
Discipleship is about learning. It is about obedience. And it is about passion. Somebody once said, “If one tenth of what you Christians believe is true, you should be ten times as excited as you are!” So the church needs to be making disciples. That is precisely what Jesus commanded his followers to do in Matthew 28:19. Make disciples. Part of that process is learning from older and wiser and more experienced Christians. There are many things in life which we learn by watching others. The piano teacher, the driving instructor, the personal trainer and the life coach all show us HOW TO do what we want to do. The best way to learn to speak French is to spend time with a Frenchman. So also in the Christian life there are individuals who inspire and encourage us by their passion in prayer, their boldness in evangelism, their commitment to holiness and their complete devotion to God. From their examples we learn skills, attitudes and character. We learn hospitality, patterns of prayer and devotional reading. We learn how to cope with life. We seek to imitate their work/life/church balance. We are fired by their wisdom, zeal and love. They are our role models. We catch their faith. As other people share their lives with us, we learn from them how to share our own life with other people. So much in the Christian life is better caught than taught! We need to be making disciples.
Older Christians – is there a young Christian you are supporting and teaching and encouraging in the early years of their faith? By your word and example?
Younger Christians – is there an older Christian you look up to and are learning from and sharing with and praying with?
Making disciples, one-to-one. The late Jascha Heifetz was a child prodigy. He became the highest paid virtuoso violinist in the world by the age of 18, and was widely regarded as the greatest in the twentieth century. When he retired from performing he became a professor of music. Heifetz explained his change of career like this: “Violin playing is a perishable art.” “It must be passed on as a personal skill; otherwise it is lost.” Living the Christian life is the same – it is a perishable art which must be passed on. We need to be making disciples.
And discipleship demands
COMMITMENT
Commitment is not just for prophets and ministers and missionaries. When Jesus said “Follow me” to Simon and Andrew, we read, “18 At once they left their nets and followed him. They left their nets.”
“19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.”
Like Elisha, those first disciples gave up everything they knew, they left their nets and their lives behind to follow Jesus on the road. They were completely committed. Some people are only involved in following Jesus – others are committed to him. It was the great tennis player Martina Navratilova who once said, “The difference between involvement and commitment is the difference between ham and eggs. In ham and eggs the chicken is involved but the pig is committed.” Being a true disciple of Jesus requires commitment. As Billy Graham said, “Salvation is free, but discipleship costs everything we have.”
Commitment is for every Christian. Remember what Jesus said to his disciples. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross (daily) and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24). And another saying is even more challenging: “those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.” (Luke 14:33). Jesus deserves nothing less than our total commitment to him.
We just sang Stuart Townend’s hymn:
“I will feed the poor and hungry, I will stand up for the truth;
I will take my cross and follow To the corners of the earth.
And I ask that You so fill me With Your peace, Your power, Your breath,
That I never love my life so much To shrink from facing death.”
God calls every believer to follow in the steps of Elisha the prophet: calling, discipleship, commitment. Dedication, devotion, sacrifice. If this all sounds very hard, very costly, very, demanding, that is exactly what it is. But don’t be discouraged. Let me leave you with some inspiring words from the missionary martyr Jim Elliott. “That man is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.” Calling. Discipleship. Commitment. Because Jesus is worth it!