As I packed up my office my last week at Christ the King, I found my very first sermon I preached. Shocker. It was on the Old Testament. And my final sermon was no different. I love the Old Testament and loved that I was a part of a faith community that welcomed these ancient stories and allowed them to shape our lives.
It’s
So Hard to Say Goodbye
When I was in fifth grade, a boy named
Andy, stood on the stage of our elementary school auditorium and sang the Boys
II Men classic, Its So Hard to Say Goodbye.
It seemed so poignant as we were about to leave the safety of elementary
school for the complicated, hormone-infused, and dramatic halls of middle
school. The goodbyes didn’t stop
there. There were goodbyes at our HS graduation,
from summer camp, from college. Our
stories are littered with goodbyes. Some
goodbyes are welcomed, some are painful, some goodbyes are too soon and others
seem to be in perfect time.
On this Sunday, on which I say my goodbyes
to you, our Old Testament lesson recounts a poignant goodbye as well. I swear I didn’t pick this lesson. I admit that if left up to my own devices, I
would have probably chosen an easier passage, one that didn’t name the goodbye
so clearly. Yet, the ironic Spirit of God
had different plans. And today, we enter
into goodbye, not only for us, but for Elijah and Elisha.
Elijah had a storied history in Israel, marked
by the swing from great highs to hiding in caves fighting off depression. Along the way Elijah recruits Elisha as his
successor. Elisha becomes student,
friend, servant, sidekick. Regardless
of the journeys that proceeded this morning’s text, today’s journey is
different. It is laced with the reality
of goodbye. And Elisha seems the only
one unwilling to name it.
Elijah mentions three times, “I am only
supposed to go this far.”
The prophetic community remarks three
times, “You know your master is leaving you.”
And with each remark Elisha responds the
same, “Shh. We are not talking about this.”
Although he is a prophet, a well-respected
religious leader, a spokesperson for God, he is so much like you and I. He is more comfortable avoiding goodbye,
focused on the hole that is left, wondering where God is in all of this.
This story isn’t only Elisha’s story. It is Peter’s story too. Remember the conversation around the dinner
table at the Passover meal. Jesus, much
like Elijah, says, “I am only going this far.
This is the end.” And Peter, much
like Elisha, answers with a bold and naïve, “No. I will never leave you.” “Shh…We’re not talking about this. “
Although on Elisha’s journey, he could only
find the words, “Keep Silent.” Elijah
knew that the silence would not bring about the work of God. And so Elijah and Elisha journey. It is the same journey that Moses made. The same trek that Joshua made before
entering the Promised Land. A journey
that takes them through the anointed place known as Bethel,
the site of the great battle in Jericho
and then ultimately to the waters. And
like Moses, Elijah parts the seas. And
on dry ground they walked to the other side of the Jordan.
Having walked through a miracle itself,
Elijah asks his student “What can I do for you?”
Rev. Martin Copenhaver muses, “Elisha must
have been tossed into a whirlwind of possible responses:’ What do I need? I need to know how I can carry on. I need to know how I can be a prophet, when
everything I know I learned from you and you are about to leave. I need to know how to be a leader, because
all I know is how to follow. I need to
know what to say when people turn to listen to the prophet of the Lord, and
they mean me! I need you to stay.’ What
Elisha ends up saying is ‘Please leave me a double dose of your spirit.’ Elisha
assumes that he is half the man Elijah is and that he will need twice his master’s
spirit just to break even.”
Rev. Sam Well, former Dean of Duke Chapel,
writes of Elisha adds, “There isn’t a large vocabulary for such goodbyes. And
Elisha isn’t just facing the loss of Elijah.
He’s facing the inheritance.” Elijah's leaving would mean something new for Elisha. Yet, Elijah knows something that Elisha
lacks. Elijah knows that God moves
through goodbyes to empower a new generation in ministry. Elisha is looking back and wondering, “how
can it possibly get better?” Elijah is
looking ahead knowing that the best days are yet to come.
It is no different with the disciples. Jesus, Peter, Andrew and John climb a
mountain together today. The experience
a miraculous encounter with resurrection and the voice of God. As many have called it, it is a mountaintop experience. One of the moments you find yourself longing
to return. As Jesus hung on the cross
and disciples were scattered and locked away in fear, I can’t help but wonder
if they said, “Now what. How could it
possibly get better than the mountain?”
And Jesus is looking ahead and knowing that the best days are yet to
come.
Back in the early years of email, when
everyone had an AOL address, I used to receive lots of inspirational stories
and email forwards and this week I kept thinking about an email that was circulating about forks.
A woman was diagnosed with a terminal
illness and given three months to live. She asked her Pastor to come to her
home to discuss her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at
her funeral, and what scriptures she wanted read, and which outfit she wanted
to be buried in. Then she said, “One more thing… I want to be buried with a
fork in my hand.” The pastor was surprised.
The woman explained, “In all my years of
attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the
dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably say to
everyone, ‘Keep your fork.’ It was my favorite time of the dinner, because I
knew something better was coming, like velvety chocolate cake or deep dish
apple pie – something wonderful. So, I want people to see me there in that
casket with a fork in my hand and wonder, “What’s with the fork?” Then, I want
you to tell them, “Keep your fork, because the best is yet to come.”
The pastor’s eyes welled up with tears of
joy as he bid the woman goodbye. He realized she had a better grasp of heaven
than he did, and knew something better was coming. At the funeral, when people
asked him why she was holding a fork, the pastor told them of the conversation
he had with the woman before she died. He said he could not stop thinking about
the fork, and knew they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it
either. He was right.“Keep Your Fork. The
best is yet to come.”
That is what transfiguration Sunday is all
about. It is a glimpse to this weary
world that the best is yet to come. Elisha
disappears in a whirlwind and gives his mantle to another, who will speak, lead
and be apart of new life in Israel. Jesus takes the disciples up the mountain to
give them a glimpse of the overwhelming glory of God. A reminder that the painful goodbye of the
cross paved way to the never ending welcome of heaven.
So, God’s beloved children, if we are going
to say goodbye to anything. Let it be to
the ordinary. Let us say goodbye to our
need to be in control. Goodbye to our
ingrained thought that the past was better.
And let us hope and live as if the best is yet to come.
Live like there's no tomorrow. Love
extravagantly. Lead a life to be
followed. Oh and keep your forks.
God's Love and Mine,
Danielle Kathryn
