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Fifth Sunday After Epiphany
Light of Christ Anglican Church
The Rev. Michael Moffitt, February 4, 2018


Returning to the Source of Hope


Text: 2 Kings 4:8–37

One of the most powerful Christian non-fiction books that I have ever read was by a Ugandan pastor, Kefa Sempangi. The name of his book, A Distant Grief, is a true story chronicling the escape to freedom of Kefa and his family in the 1970s from Idi Amin’s assassins who were brutally and systematically eliminating thousands of people in Uganda, especially Christians. In the early 70s, Kefa was a university professor, artist, and pastor in Uganda. His story is a firsthand account of the suffering and triumphs of people who have been persecuted because of their faith.

I mentioned him to Bishop Stephen when he was here last and he and Rev. Sempangi were acquainted with one another. He tells one story of a woman in the community who came to him at his church and asked if his God could provide her with a mattress because she had terrible back problems. Sleeping on the hard earth within her home was making it worse. He assured her that God could and asked her to pray with him and a group of elders who had gathered in prayer. As they were standing in front of the church praying, a pick-up truck loaded down with household items came barreling down the road in front of the church and hit a bump but kept going. When they hit the bump, a mattress came flying off the truck and landed on the church yard in front of them. The woman was very impressed, but no more so than Kefa and his elders. He learned that day that God was willing to provide whatever was needed, and for my money God showed that he had an awesome sense of humor, too.

One of the most important lessons from the book was that often God builds our faith through trials but that he is always faithful to bring us through stronger than before. At one point in the story Kefa was smuggled out of Uganda and brought to the United States to go to seminary. He left after one year and returned to Uganda, even though it was then more dangerous than before. The reason was that he felt his faith was weakening in the comfort and safety of America and he decided it was better to return to Uganda where every day was a lesson of faith in God.

Today, I want us to see that lesson in our Old Testament reading from 2 Kings 4:8–37. In our bulletin I left out verses 22–31 but we will read those in a moment because it is primarily from those verses that I want to speak this morning.

Before I do that, let me set the context in order to more fully understand the importance of our passage. Chapter 4 begins with the story of a widow of one of the sons of the prophets who came to Elisha for help. Her husband had died and left her in considerable debt. The creditors were coming to take her children as slaves in lieu of the debt. All that she has is a small jar of oil, so Elisha has her borrow many large vessels from her neighbors and tells her to pour from her small jar into those vessels until every one is full. Then she is to go and sell the oil to pay her debt and then have enough to live on. The small jar does not run out until every vessel is full. This is an important story as a prelude to our story this morning.

Our story begins with Elisha going to Shunem. A wealthy woman there recognizes that he is a man of God and invites him to come into her house and join her family in a meal. She not only does this once but has him eat at her house whenever the prophet comes through their town. She has her husband add a small furnished room on the roof of the house for the prophet to stay in while in their town. What was it about Elisha that made her recognize him as a man of God? He was most likely very different from the prophets of Baal, or others who pretended to a life of piety but were often degenerate. This was a time when a righteous man was not often found, and I suspect that the spirit of Elijah—that had come upon Elisha when the chariots of fire had taken Elijah away—were manifested in the demeaner of the prophet. It could be that word had gotten around about how Elisha had assisted the widow, and people assumed that the prophet could have himself been wealthy if he could perform those kinds of things, but clearly, he lived modestly. Because of this the wealthy woman wanted to be a blessing to this godly man of humility.

Elisha decides to try and understand the motivation of the woman and asks her what she would like him to do for her. Is she receiving him in honor as a prophet or is she seeking to benefit from the fact that he is a prophet? Again, perhaps she has heard how Elisha was a blessing to the widow. So, he offers to speak to the king on her behalf or to the commander of the army if she needed protection. Elisha, although not very popular with King Jehoram, the son of Ahab, the king of Israel, had helped the king defeat the enemies of Israel and therefore would have the right to ask for the king’s favor. Elisha could have arranged for the Shunammite woman and her family to come up in the world socially and to possibly eat at the kings table or benefit from the power and authority of the king.

She responds with humility that she is content with what she has and prefers to live among her own people and requires nothing additional, even though she lacked the one thing that would bring her the greatest happiness, a son. Elisha’s servant informs him that she is barren and has no son. This is not only a matter of shame in that culture but would also mean that if her husband were to die she would have no son to care for her and could end up in poverty like the widow at the first part of chapter 4.

Elisha hears from God and goes to the woman and tells her that she will have a son by that same time next year and her response shows the sensitivity and shame of being barren. She asks Elisha not to raise her hopes of something that could never happen, but she conceives and the next year she does indeed give birth to a son.

When the child grew to the age where he was able to accompany his father in the fields, perhaps to play or help, he cries out, “My head, my head.” He was most likely suffering from the intense heat of that area, so the father carries him into the house and gives him to his mother and then returns to the field thinking that the child will be fine. Instead he dies while being cradled on his mother’s lap. She carries him up to the room of the man of God and places her child on the bed of Elisha and closes the door. It’s what happens next that for me is the most amazing part of the story. Let me read to you 2 Kings 4:22–31,

22 Then she called to her husband and said, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may quickly go to the man of God and come back again.” 23 And he said, “Why will you go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath.” She said, “All is well.” 24 Then she saddled the donkey, and she said to her servant, “Urge the animal on; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you.” 25 So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.

When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, there is the Shunammite. 26 Run at once to meet her and say to her, ‘Is all well with you? Is all well with your husband? Is all well with the child?’” And she answered, “All is well.” 27 And when she came to the mountain to the man of God, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came to push her away. But the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for she is in bitter distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me.” 28 Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me?’” 29 He said to Gehazi, “Tie up your garment and take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not reply. And lay my staff on the face of the child.” 30 Then the mother of the child said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So, he arose and followed her. 31 Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. Therefore, he returned to meet him and told him, “The child has not awakened.”

The Shunammite woman did not let on to her husband or the servant that the child had died, but instead asked for a camel and the servant to go with her to see the man of God. The husband was confused because it’s wasn’t time for Sabbath worship or new moon festival, but she assured him “all is well” and headed for Mount Carmel. When Elisha saw her approaching he recognizes her and sends his servant Gehazi to find out if something is wrong. Like her husband, Elisha could see no reason for her to be coming to him. She assured Gehazi that “All is well” and that she needed to speak with Elisha personally.

It’s when she approached Elisha and fell down and wrapped her arms around his feet that the truth could come out. In the ancient Middle Eastern culture when someone wrapped their arms around the feet or knees of someone it was a sign of intense distress and was saying, “You’re not going anywhere until you help me.”

I believe that she was unwilling to tell her husband, their servant, or Gehazi the truth because she knew that they could only grieve with her but could never provide the comfort that she was seeking. Like her, they were powerless to solve the problem that confronted her. It was Elisha the prophet who had promised her a son from God and she felt that it was only the prophet who could make this right, no one else.

She didn’t feel that she had the time for explanations to her husband or anyone else because the promise of a son had been made and delivered but now he was dead. She would only confront the one who made the promise because she knew that he alone would be able to make it right again. The prophet of God could make intercession to his God on her behalf and she was not going to settle for anything less. She had not asked for the son but had received him with unsurpassed joy. Her shame had been removed and her future was more assured because she was given the gift of this son. She had been content to live in quiet humility, accepting her barrenness, never thinking that anything could be done about it. This prophet had promised her this great blessing that now lay dead on the bed of the prophet back at her home and this was not something that she would accept.

I absolutely love this story as an example of great faith. In the midst of the shock of the sudden and unexpected death of her precious child she declares that “All is well” and then goes about moving in faith towards the only solution to the tragedy.

As I considered this story I realized that God wasn’t simply dealing with the life and faith of the Shunammite woman, but he was teaching and dealing with the faith of Elisha his prophet as well. Remember that Elisha told his servant to not stop the woman from holding on to his feet but said, “the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me.” Elisha is being tested, too, and I can only imagine the concern that welled up within his own mind. Elisha seemed mystified that this woman (whom he presumably often prayed for) was in a crisis that was hidden from him. In this circumstance he was likely more surprised that God didn’t speak to him than if God had spoken to him.

I love the fact that Elisha had the humility to admit that he had no idea what was going on because God had not shown him yet. Even though the woman does not tell him directly that the child is dead, Elisha could tell from her distress that the situation is dire and demanded that he act quickly. So, he sent his servant to take his staff and lay it on the face of the child. The Shunammite woman let him know that she wasn’t going to leave him until the situation was resolved, so he decided to go to the woman’s home and deal with this directly.

Elisha usually didn’t go to deal with situations himself but gave instructions as to what needed to be done. In the story of the widow in the beginning of chapter 4, Elisha told her to go and gather vessels and by faith pour the oil from her small pitcher, thereby teaching her to trust the word of God through the prophet. The Shunammite woman was putting her faith in the word of the prophet instead of the God who was the only giver of life, but in her defense, it had been the prophet that foretold the miraculous birth of her son. Sometimes the man/woman of God is the face of God and his prophetic voice until people come to know him personally.

Elisha goes into the room and closes the door and follows the same pattern as Elijah, his mentor used when he raised the son of the widow of Zarephath in 1 Kings 17:20–23. He cries out to the Lord and stretches himself out full length upon the body of the child, twice and life is restored. The child is given back to his mother who bows at Elisha’s feet in thanks and honor, then departs.

It is worth noting that Elijah and Elisha were both types and symbols in their prophetic office of what Jesus would be as the Great Prophet like Moses. You will notice that when the prophets raised the dead they cried out to God, but Jesus, as God, commanded the dead to be raised.

I love the stories of Elijah and Elisha in the Books of 1 and 2 Kings, which were originally one book. Prophets played a very major role in the history of Israel. The historian wonderfully captured the message and ministry of the prophets as those who proclaimed God’s word and revealed his power and authority in demonstrable ways. They always passionately and uncompromisingly insisted on total and undivided allegiance to the Lord, and strongly opposed any alliance or political posture that would put in jeopardy the distinctive relationship that Israel had with God.

This insistence on covenant faithfulness often put the prophets in opposition to the kings and queens who were willing to compromise politically and religiously with Israel’s neighbors. The prophets spoke and showed what could happen when God’s people were faithful to the word and law of God, like in our story this morning. However, they also clearly revealed and showed what would happen when they were not faithful. The prophets spoke the commands and promises of God while demonstrating God’s power and authority through physical manifestations but time and again the hearts of the people grew hard and they turned aside to other gods and to the cravings of their flesh.

In our Epistle reading this morning the Apostle Paul, a mighty prophet, models the heart of the prophet in 1 Corinthians 9:16, “For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” The Apostle was following after the example of the prophets who could not help but speak the word of God that burned in their hearts. In Jeremiah 20:9 the prophet cries out in complaint after once again he had been beaten because he spoke God’s word, “If I say, ‘I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,’ there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.”

The Apostle Paul, like Jeremiah could not keep the word of God within himself no matter the cost. In verses 22–23 he shows that nothing is more important to him than the proclamation of the Gospel,

To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

He had found out that the reward of faithful obedience to the gospel far outweighed the costs.

In our gospel reading this morning from Mark 9:30–39, Jesus again tells the disciples what awaited him in Jerusalem,

The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand the saying and were afraid to ask him.

Mark had already recorded Jesus telling his disciples this same thing in 8:31 but still they don’t get it. Rather than being concerned with the fact that they were heading to Jerusalem where Jesus would be arrested and killed they are arguing with one another about who was the greatest. They are showing that they are totally clueless about what is about to happen to Jesus and to them. They were jockeying for position in the kingdom that they believed would be established in Jerusalem shortly. Jesus would be King, and they would be his entourage and already they were dreaming of the good life and affluence.

Jesus sat them down and revealed to them the kingdom principle that every prophet had discovered, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” I doubt that they really understood what he meant by that, but it wouldn’t be long before Jesus modeled what it meant to become last in order to become first, as he gave up his life for the sake of everyone else. It also wouldn’t be long before the disciples learned that their lives would be given to the proclamation of the gospel and it would cost them everything.

Why would they do that? For the same reason that Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, the disciples and apostles, and all the scores of those before and after—they had encountered the living God and fallen in love. Have you encountered Jesus, and have you fallen in love with him? How far are you willing to go to proclaim his word and build his kingdom?

There are two questions that God has laid upon my heart for each of us to ask ourselves. We each must prayerfully consider these questions for ourselves before we ask them as a church.

  1. Does the Word of God burn in your heart? If it does are you holding it in and if it doesn’t what are you prepared to do about that?
  2. Why did this church decide to build this building? What did you feel that God was calling us to do in this community? How have you lived up to that calling or have you quit?

Kefa Sempangi felt that it would be better to return to Uganda and the brutality of Idi Amin but grow in his faith than to stay here where he observed our faith as dry and lifeless. We are living in a time where we must ask God to give us a heart like the prophets so that we can reveal the power and authority of God’s word, no matter the cost. It will not happen by accident, but we must intentionally cry out to God to bring us to the place of surrender because we hunger to be used as an expression of our love and gratefulness. The world needs to be able to see authentic godliness like the Shunammite woman saw in the prophet Elisha. Perhaps then we will return to demonstrating the power of God in our midst.

Let’s pray.

©2018 Rev. Mike Moffitt

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