Sermon Archive

"Chariots of Fire", 2 Kings 2:1-12

Date: February 22, 2009, Transfiguration of our Lord
Author: The Rev. Dr. James D. Kegel

GLORY TO THE FATHER AND TO THE SON AND TO THE HOLY SPIRIT, AS IT WAS IN THE BEGINNING, IS NOW, AND WILL BE FOREVER. AMEN.

            “Chariots of Fire” was one of the best movies ever made. It won the Academy Award for best picture in 1981. As you may remember, it is the story of the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris and two of Great Britain's fastest runners—Harold Abraham and Eric Liddell. Both showed great endurance and strength and both overcame distinct handicaps. Harold Abraham was Jewish back in the days when England 's leaders were often anti-Semitic, and for all his money and prowess, he was considered not quite acceptable. Eric Liddell ran with an even greater impediment. He was an evangelical Christian who was born on the mission field in China and would one day return as a missionary there himself. Liddell died during World War II serving his Lord. One of the themes in the movie was whether one could be true to one's deepest values and still win. Eric Liddell refused to race on Sunday—not even for the Prince of Wales and his pleas of patriotism. God came first in his life. It is an inspiring film of people who were true heroes, who races like “chariots of fire.”

            Our text for this morning is taken from the Old Testament. It is a wonderful passage of the love of a teacher for his student and a young man for his mentor. Elijah and Elisha went to the River Jordan and it parted to let them cross. Elijah, the great prophet of the Lord, was taken into heaven on a chariot of fire, one of only two men in the Scriptures who never died—the other was Enoch who “walked with the Lord and then was not.” Of Elijah we know that the prophet opposed King Ahab and his evil queen, Jezebel and her religious zeal for Baal. Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel and showed the power of the Lord—those of us going to the Holy Land in a couple of months will see the sight of this great victory for our God. Yet Elijah had to flea the wrath of the queen and went into the wilderness. She had killed the other prophets of Yahweh; only Elijah was left.

            Israel remembers Elijah as its great prophet and the young man, Elisha, as one who carried on Elijah's work. Our text is appointed for this Sunday, Transfiguration, in large part to explain who Elijah is and why he is able to descend from heaven to converse with Jesus on the mountain top. Because he had not died but ascended in a fiery chariot, he is able to descend to be with Jesus. Many Jews believed that Elijah did return at times—a place is always set for Elijah at the Passover Seder and a glass of wine poured for him. Elijah would return as forerunner of the Messiah. Our New Testament text tells that he returned as a representative of the prophets along with Moses representing the Law at the Transfiguration of our Lord.

            As I read this passage over again, I was struck by the relationship between the younger and older man, the teacher and his student. It was the time appointed for the Lord to take Elijah. The older man said to the younger to stay put in Gilgal rather than go with him to Bethel . Elisha responded, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” The company of the prophets in Bethel warned Elisha that Elijah must leave, but this did not deter Elisha. Again the same thing happened as they left Bethel and came to Jericho . Then they went to the River Jordan and finally Elisha asked his mentor for some of his spirit to come upon him. And when Elisha saw Elijah ascend, he receives a double dose of the spirit. When Elisha could see Elijah no longer, he rent his clothes as a sign of mourning and loss.

            Many of us can think back upon mentors who helped mold and shape us. One of the most helpful things for a young man or woman is to have an older person as encourager and model and friend. In studies of successful people, the importance of a mentor can not be overstated. I had one—I don't think I knew it at the time, but the first pastor I served with, Pastor Gordon Nasby, became my mentor. From the way I cut illustrations out of articles and put them in a notebook, to my style of preaching, to how I make hospital calls, to how I view church, I still reflect the man I worked with and learned from more than thirty years ago. I know I do—when Pastor John first heard me preach he said I must have sounded just like Nasby—he had read some of his published sermons, apparently. Many of you have had mentors, teachers, encouragers who were special in your lives and I am sure that you are thankful for them as I am thankful for mine.

            Hilary Clinton wrote a book entitled, It Takes a Village to Raise a Child . She took it from an African proverb that says the same thing. What the proverb says is true, it takes more than a mother or even mother and father to rear a child. Children need grandparents, aunts and uncles, teachers, Girl and Boy Scout leaders, camp counselors, pastors. Young people need mentors. Perhaps the greatest tribute in literature from a young man to an older mentor is what Plato wrote at the death of Socrates who drank poison hemlock after having been condemned to death by the Athenian authorities for corrupting young people. Plato watched him drink the cup and recalled, “Hitherto most of us had been able to control our sorrow. But now, when we saw him drinking, and saw too that he had finished the draught, we could no longer forbear and in spite of myself, my own tears were flowing fast so that I covered my face and wept, not for him, but at the thought of my own calamity in having to part from such a friend. Nor was I the first…” And the rest of Plato's life was a tribute to his mentor and friend.

            Elisha would not leave Elijah but followed him. When the end came, he asked for Elijah's spirit to carry on for him and when Elijah left in a whirlwind and fiery chariots and horses, Elisha mourned for him. His life was as tribute to his teacher.

            James Michener, the great novelist, was invited to the White House by President Eisenhower—it was at the beginning of what would be a long and fruitful career for the writer. He turned the president down. Michener wrote, “Dear Mr. President: I received your invitation three days after I had agreed to speak a few words at a dinner honoring the wonderful high school teacher who taught me to write. I know that you will not miss me at your dinner but she might at here.” President Eisenhower wrote back to Michener, “In a lifetime, a man may live under fifteen or sixteen presidents, but a really fine teacher comes into his life but rarely.” Gerhard Frost my Christian education professor at Luther Seminary and fine poet wrote:

            When I think of teaching, I see an arm around a child, for teaching is embrace—
            But without the throb of love, an arm is nothing
                        a child senses caring and knows unfailing when an arm is dead.
            We blossom under praise like flowers in sun and dew;
                        we open, we reach, we grow—
            Teaching is a look, a word, a smile, a gesture;
                        an ear, an eye, a hand but most of all,
                        an arm around a child.

            The runners in “Chariots of Fire” could not have competed and won in the Olympics without those training and coaching and giving encouragement. Harold Abraham acknowledged his trainer, Sam Mossimbini, as the man who made him great. For Eric Liddell it was the faith of his Scots parents and those praying for him, not just to run a race in Paris , but for his life's race. We too are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses encouraging us on—people around us who comfort and console and challenge us; people who are gone from us now, but not from God. We give thanks for these our teachers and mentors and friends. We give thanks for those who set a Christian example for us, praying for us and urging us to be strong in faith, to endure and finally to overcome. We race for a victor's crown of everlasting life.

            Take time to be a friend, encourager, mentor . Help children grow in the way they should—be part of a village raising the child. Be an example of hope and faith and love. Amen.

 Read other Sermons