Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Old Testament Lesson just read, from 1 Kings. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- Vacillation is our theme for this morning. Vacillation is turning around, going from one side to the other, back and forth. Elisha turned back from following Elijah. Elijah didn’t turn back from following God’s Word – but he had his moments of doubt and weakness. Paul tells the Galatians not to turn back by submitting to a yoke of slavery. Jesus told His followers: “no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” There are other examples of people vacillating in their service to God recorded in Holy Scripture – some returning after a time, and others leaving God and His people forever. It is somewhat of a sad topic.
- We have also had our times of “turning back” – when our loyalty to God, our commitment to being His disciples, has waned and eroded away. I suspect that we all kind of settle in at times to what is “comfortable” for us – even though we know that God, our Lord Jesus Christ, calls us to full and complete commitment to Him. Our sinful nature – whether it is lustful sins we can’t seem to give up, or laziness, or selfishness, or loyalties to other people – always seems to be dragging us back and turning us from full loyalty and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. Thankfully, we are all still here – so we have not turned back away from Jesus for good.
- Still, this is a topic of concern for each of us, and we do well to consider our own direction in life – whether we are oriented toward Jesus or away from Him, just how much vacillation we have in our lives. For it is clear what Jesus’ will is for us in this matter of following Him. It is important for us to see that:
I. Elijah Had Great Difficulties In His Ministry As A Prophet
A. He Had Loneliness As He Spoke God’s Word To Rebellious Hearers
Text: “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”
B. Still, He Remained Faithful To God And Would Not Renege On His Ministry
Text: “So he departed from there and found Elisha.”
C. He Received Assurance That God Would Always Prevail
Text: “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. And the one who escapes the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death.”
Statement: It is somewhat difficult for us to contemplate the mixing of roles and responsibilities that prevailed in Elijah’s life – that he was not only responsible for the religious life of the nation, but also for political changes. What we should understand is that God is in control of everything – both within the church, and also world politics. This is helpful when contemplating the difficulties and challenges of discipleship, of following and serving Jesus, in the midst of a culture that seems perversely committed to wickedness and godlessness.
Application: It is helpful to remember, but it doesn’t change the realities that we have to deal with in our daily lives. There is so much that is contrary to God’s Word, contrary to faith in Jesus Christ, contrary to discipleship all around us in the world we live in. At times it is lonely – as if we alone remain faithful to Jesus and His Word. We are often tempted to turn back, to compromise, to go with the flow, to settle in and duck our heads so that no one will notice us. Sometimes our loved ones urge us to do the same. But the Lord Jesus bids us not vacillate, and to not “look back” – but rather to continue following Him.
Transition: This is difficult – as we are all aware, and we read in our text that even:
II. Elisha Had A Temporary Turning Back – As Some Followers Of Christ Do
Text: “Then he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, ‘Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.’”
A. But We Surely Cannot Leave Or Forsake Our Faith
John 6:68,69 “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God.”
B. Neither Can We Leave The Way Of The Spirit, Going Back To The Ways Of Our Sinful Flesh
Gal. 5:13,14,16 “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ . . . Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
C. Nor Can We Renege Our Calling And Commitment To Serving Christ
Text: “As for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God. . . . No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Statement: We should understand the point of comparison Jesus is making. When plowing the farmer keep his eyes focused on a point ahead, so that he keeps his furrows straight. This is essential for irrigation and for proper planting and for ease in the harvest. To this day agricultural fields have straight plow lines. How can one accomplish this if he is constantly looking back? Imagine what the fields would look like if farmers were to be looking back and not focused on straight plowing!
It is the same for us, in our spiritual lives, when we allow things that are past, the things of the flesh, to draw our attention away from Christ and His calling, so that we are looking back rather than forward. The apostle Paul contrasts the results – the fruits of the Spirit versus the fruits of the flesh. What do you want in your life? Which set of fruit? Did you hear what he wrote toward the end, that “those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God”? There is danger in looking back and turning back!
Application: So Jesus urges us to keep moving forward, to continue in our faith and trust in Him and in our commitment to living by the Spirit – cultivating love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
And He also urges us to continue following Him – to be His disciples, His servants, to do all that we can to proclaim the kingdom of God, to support the preaching and teaching of the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. In so doing we are “making disciples” of all nations – and also casting our cloak upon them, that they too may serve and follow Jesus. Hopefully they will learn to do so from us – how to plow straight rows for God’s kingdom.
Conclusion: I always love realism in God’s Word. When Elisha asked to go home to say good-bye to his parents, Elijah responded: “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” Elijah knew what lay ahead for Elisha – and felt some guilt and remorse for having called him. But it was not Elijah but God Who had called and chosen Elisha.
Should I feel remorse now for calling you to deeper faithfulness and loyalty to Jesus? Yes, perhaps so – but understand it is not me who is calling you, but rather the Lord Jesus Himself, through His Word. He has chosen you – and it is He Who does not want you to be turning back away from Him.
So let us give consideration to where we are at in our discipleship to Jesus. Are we fully committed, or have we vacillated back somewhat and settled into a comfortable compromise? Are we allowing our sinful flesh to hold us back from fully following Jesus? If so, let us repent and return to Jesus for forgiveness. And even as He assures us of His forgiveness, let us reconsider where we are looking as we go through our life in this temporal and fallen world of sin! Where do we really want to end up, and what do we really want to accomplish?
May the Lord Jesus imbue us with the Spirit of Elisha – that we also arise, and go after Jesus, and remain forward looking in our service to Him! Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.