THE COMMEMORATION OF ELISHA, PROPHET
17 June Anno + Domini 2009 (Observed)
"I Will Not Leave Youâ€
2 Kings 2:1-14; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 5:17-20
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
"As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.†Three times, the prophet Elijah tells Elisha to stay put and all three times this is Elisha's response. Elisha will not leave Elijah. He will cling to him, for he recognizes that Elijah is the LORD's prophet. Thus, in clinging to Elijah, Elisha is really clinging to the LORD. He is faithful. He loves the Lord and wants always to be in connection to the Lord and His Word. He will not depart from the Lord and His Word, for he desires to remain steadfast in the faith.
So it is that Elisha's name fits him well, for it means, "God is my salvation.†Elisha recognizes that he needs salvation and will cling steadfastly to where that salvation can be found - in the Lord. And, it is fitting as well that Elisha is chosen to carry on the prophetic ministry of Elijah. Who better to do so than Elisha, who will not allow the Word of the Lord to depart from him even for a moment? Who better to do so than Elisha, who, when asked by Elijah what he could do for him before he was taken into heaven, responded, "Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me� He wants only to serve the Lord as faithfully as Elijah did.
And, serve the Lord faithfully, Elisha did. He preached the Word of the Lord to the people, never flinching from the task given him, no matter how dangerous things were for him. He was unafraid to stare down kings or to rebuke false prophets. And, it was given him by the Lord to perform many miracles - he purified bad water, brought down curses upon those who chastised him, aided Israel's defeat of Moab, provided a widow with unending oil, raised a Shunammite woman's son from the dead, purified bad food, fed 100 men with a little food, healed Naaman's leprosy, made an axhead float, and so on. Elisha continued in the spirit of his response to Elijah, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you†all the days of his life.
Elisha, like all the prophets, foreshadowed the Prophet to come; the Prophet through whom they were given the power to preach and perform miracles; the Prophet about whom they preached. That Prophet is Jesus Christ, who came not to abolish the Law and the prophets, but to fulfill them. All that the prophets prophesied was fulfilled by Jesus. He is the One who came to live and die for sinful mankind, to reconcile the Father to the human race. He is the One to whom we must cling, saying with Elisha, "I will never leave you.â€
Our problem is that we have left Him time and time again. We are right to confess that we have sinned in thought, word and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not kept the Law and the prophets as we should. We are guilty and deserve God's wrath and punishment.
But, thanks be to God, the Prophet of prophets has come to take what we deserve upon Himself; to take our place on the cross and suffer Hell on our behalf. He comes now not to judge and condemn us, but to shower us with love, mercy, and grace. The Law has been fulfilled. The punishment for all sin has been met in Jesus' Blood. And we - we are cleansed from our leprosy of sin in the same way Naaman was cleansed of his leprosy, for we are washed in the water sanctified by the Word of the Lord. What's more, the same Lord who worked through Elisha to feed a hundred hungry men with a very little food; the same Lord who fed the multitudes Himself during His earthly ministry with a few loaves and fish; He comes to feed us today with His Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist.
Dear friends in Christ, there are so many who do not realize the miraculous things the Lord continues to do in His Church. Let it not be so with you. Here, in His Holy House, the Lord does the unthinkable, using simple water, combined with His Word, to wash away sin and make children of God, using the simple words of a sinful man to place His Name upon His people and absolve them of their sins, and using simple bread and wine to gift His people with His very Body and Blood, that they may be well fed spiritually. Let it be said of us that we will never depart from these miracles; that we will always flee to the Word and Sacraments our Lord so graciously bestows upon us; that we will continue in the spirit of Elisha, our faithful brother who has gone to his reward, saying to Christ, our Lord, "As surely as You live, I will never leave you.†Lord, grant this unto us all. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Now the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting. Amen.