I Will Not Leave You


Sunday, February 26th, 2006
Epiphany/Ordinary 8B
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton
2 Kings 2:1-14

1 Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3 The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent.” 4 Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here; for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. 5 The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; be silent.” 6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. 7 Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. 8 Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground.

9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” 10 He responded, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” 11 As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. 12 Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. 13 He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

“Aren’t you excited about your trip?”

“What trip?”

“The one in April – to see your brother in Chile.”

“Oh (pause) THAT trip … yes, I suppose I am, but I haven’t given myself permission to think about it much, there’s too much other stuff to do between now and then.”

The conversation took place on Friday in Towson, after Lucy Armetta’s funeral. It was odd in a startling way. Though I’ve been aware of the trip for several months now, it’s been on a back burner pretty much the whole time it’s been in the works.

(insert – from The Princess Bride, Prince Humperdink talking to Tyrone (the six-fingered man) “… you know how much I love watching you work, but I’ve got my country’s 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder, and Guilder to frame for it, I’m swamped!”) -- if you haven’t seen the movie, I STRONGLY encourage you to rent it, or borrow it from us.

But, similarly, the daily responsibilities of serving you and the Latino Community have kept the trip on that back burner, and rightfully so.

What was startling about the conversation, I suppose, was that, first, it was on someone else’s mind, and second, that it WASN’T on mine. The last time I traveled to Chile, 15 years ago, it was the biggest thing on my mind for the full year prior to my departure.

The purpose of the trip, to perform my brother’s and his fiancée’s wedding ceremony, is in some ways just as significant as attending my parents’ last National Baptist Convention of Chile meeting before they retired from active missionary service, in some ways more so.

The trip 15 years ago was mostly a look back, over the previous 27 years. This trip is a look forward, towards a new life together for two people who found each other again after nearly two decades apart.

My Father sent me the wedding ceremony (in Spanish) that he used during his time in Chile. He performed several weddings over the years, and reading over it after I opened the envelope on Thursday, I could hear his voice in my head speaking the words.

What we find in the text this morning are words that echo, on one level, sentiments similar to those we hear in a wedding ceremony. Elijah and Elisha, Senior and Junior, so to speak, are walking through the story of succession whereby the mantle of authority that rested on Elijah’s shoulders ends up on Elisha’s. The story is marked by three’s. Just a few verses earlier, in the first chapter of 2nd Kings, we see Elijah praying for – and receiving – fire from heaven to destroy 100 soldiers sent by King Ahazia – two sets of fifty, and the third set is led by a captain who pleads with Elijah to come with him to answer the King’s request, and Elijah is told by an angel to go with THAT man, and that company of soldiers, to deliver God’s message – of judgment – to the King.

The second set of Three’s is here, in our passage. Did you hear it in the reading? Three times Elijah tells Elisha to wait for him while he goes somewhere – to Bethel, Jericho, and the Jordan River. Each time, Elisha’s answer is the same -- “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”

The story is a powerful portrayal of the bond between a father and son, a master and student, a mentor and his disciple … the faithfulness – and even stubbornness – with which Elisha doggedly sticks by Elijah, speaks to a love and a commitment to remain with the beloved – even knowing of the impending separation.
Another ‘three’ we find is in the men who come out to meet Elijah and Elisha as they approach each place – it bears noting that there is not only geographic significance to the places mentioned, but there is also spiritual significance as well – in light of the fact that the point of the story is prophetic succession – the three places, Bethel, Jericho, and the Jordan, were centers of learning – schools, as it were, for prophets … for the spiritual and religious leaders of the day. In the act of going to each of the schooling places, Elijah is setting the stage, in a way, for Elisha, his successor, to take his place. And the men with whom they come in contact KNOW what is going on. They know what is getting ready to happen … apparently someone had leaked the news that Elijah was getting ready to be … translated … is the term the commentary used. He was going to go from earth to heaven and ‘not taste death’, and it seems to have been common knowledge!

I can just picture a few of them sidling up to Elisha a few minutes after he and Elijah have arrived, and asking him out of the sides of their mouths, “Don’t you KNOW he’s going to be taken from you today??” Elisha’s answer is, of course, another affirmation of loyalty … and on repetition, I think, acceptance.

The “translation” itself is bookended by a picture of Moses. It is a way of connecting Elijah to Moses. A way of telling the people of Israel “this man, this prophet, is important in the same way that Moses was important”.

After having visited the three schools, as they are walking away, they come to the River Jordan. Elijah takes off his Mantle, rolls it up, and strikes the water. What happens? The water separates. The two walk through without getting wet. Hmmm … where have we read that before? J

The last conversation Elijah and Elisha have is a final request for wisdom; the rising pupil stepping into his master’s shoes. And the event happens. This ‘translation’ – the chariot of fire that separates the two men, and Elijah gets carried up, up into heaven.

The picture of the grief of Elisha in the wake of Elijah’s departure rings true to anyone who has lost someone deeply admired and loved.

“He grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces”

This past week has been full of both unexpected as well as expected separations due to death. The extended Schools family suffered the loss of three of their own.

As humans, we live in the knowledge of our own mortality. Sometimes events conspire to make us especially aware of it, as they did this last week. Most of the time, the death of an older sibling or family member is, whether expected or not, understandable. And though we may be shocked by its suddenness, we can wrap our brains around the idea that there is a sequence of events that take place in our lives, and the final event that takes place here on earth is death. That understanding, that foreknowledge, may or may not ease the pain of the loss. Sometimes relief overpowers the sorrow, sometimes not.

Even knowing in advance that the separation was going to happen, even expecting it, part of Elisha still fought against the knowledge, still mourned the loss of his friend and mentor to the point of causing him to ask “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?!” and to tear his clothes in two, just as he probably felt his soul had been torn in two when Elijah was taken.

After that, we have a beautiful scene of moving on.

Before the translation, before Elijah is taken, the statement made by the parting of the waters of the Jordan is to make the connection with Moses. But in repeating the parting of the water after the parting of his master, Elisha is portraying for us what it means to move ahead, to move into the new existence, the new reality without Elijah to guide him. The waters of the Jordan are just as surely separating the time Elisha had WITH Elijah from the time he would have WITHOUT Elijah, just as they were separating from each other, if only temporarily, to let him pass between them.

The trip in April will be a relatively quick one – seven days. I’ll be leaving on a Wednesday evening and returning the following Wednesday morning. In that space of time, my family and I, along with Marianela’s family (Mane for short), will be marking a starting point, a turning point, a crossing point as well – in both Jimmy’s and Mane’s lives, where they will be stepping into a future – a new reality in which they move forward together.


“As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”

It is what they will be telling each other, in front of God, family and friends, witnesses of a joint commitment – a promise and a vow that reflects the promise made to us by Christ himself, before HE ascended, the words are recorded at the end of the Gospel according to Matthew, shortly before HIS ascension:

‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

Let’s pray.