The Message, June 29: "Picking Up the Mantle," 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14

Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
July 01, 2025

 

“Picking Up the Mantle”
A Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14

            I was minding my own business that day. Actually, I was minding the family business. I was in the field with the others plowing. We had the whole team of oxen at work, all twelve of them. I was on the twelfth. It was hard work, but familiar work. We had done it for generations.

            Suddenly, it seemed as though the earth went still while at the same time it was not still at all. It was humming … or buzzing like a billion cicadas. There was an indescribable energy that made us all stop what we were doing. That was when I noticed that people were running and pointing. Someone was coming.

            There had been rumors. Stories. But there were always rumors and stories. That was what we did to entertain ourselves. We had heard that he might be passing this way. He might be the most famous man in the country … and the most infamous. As I said, we had all heard the stories.

            He was a hero and a villain. He was loved but also despised. He was a champion and also defeated. He was a warrior and a refugee.

            We had heard stories about what had happened at Mount Horeb. Stories like that can travel like the swiftest gazelle. We had heard about a wind so strong that it tore the stones of the mountain apart. We had heard of an earthquake so violent that the loose stones tumbled down the mountainside. We had heard about fire burning but not consuming. And then we heard that he had emerged from his hiding place.

            Yes, we had heard that he might be coming this way, heading to Damascus. Of course, the problem with rumors is that the truth often gets lost along the way, or buried under a mountain of exaggerated events. Certainly, what we heard about Mount Horeb was fantastic, perhaps too fantastic to be true.

            Was that really him walking down the road? Of course, I had never seen him before, but he walked with purpose. He walked with confidence. And as I said, there was something powerful about him.

            We all stopped and watched as he walked. Honestly, we could not look away. And then my whole life changed. As he walked, he took of his cloak … his mantle … and he tossed it across my shoulders! I know what it meant. He wanted me to follow him. But, why me?! There were a dozen other people in the field! Why me?!

            There was no way that I could have known then … how could I possibly have known … that Yahweh God had spoken my name to him! MY name!! Yahweh told him to look for me, to call me. ME!!

            But why me? Yes, I loved the Lord, my God, with all my heart. Yes, my family had remained faithful when others had fallen away. Of course, I was honored. After all, this was Elijah! Elijah threw his cloak around my shoulders. How could I not feel honored.

            With all of those questions in my head, I went and kissed my family goodbye. We had a feast … a celebration … with the whole village, and then I left. I answered the call. I left everything I had ever known and stepped out in faith.

            I am not going to lie, it was not easy. The king’s wife hated him! The king, King Ahab, said that he was nothing but trouble. And I suppose to some degree he was, if being zealous and faithful to God troubles someone that is a weak and cowardly individual. Yes, Elijah spoke the Word of the Lord. He did not do as those other so-called prophets did and simply tell Ahab what they thought he wanted to hear.

            We went to Damascus because Yahweh God had told Elijah to go and anoint the new king. The surrounding kingdoms all sensed the weakness of Ahab. The people of Israel were constantly being called upon to rise up to defend their king. Elijah tried to show them. Elijah tried to tell Ahab, but Ahab would not listen. Ahab appealed to the gods and goddesses of his wife’s people. No matter how many times Elijah revealed the power of the Lord our God, Ahab was not convinced. Or he was too weak to stand up to Jezebel. In the end, Ahab fell in battle. Yahweh God had given him every opportunity to be a good and faithful king, but it was not to be. His shame shall hang over Israel for generations.

            And this is where my story really begins. Elijah’s time with us … with me … was coming to an end. He had been zealous; he had been faithful. He had spoken God’s truth when the truth was hard. He had spoken God’s word to those who did not want to hear it. God worked powerfully in him and through him. He was busy in those final days.

            Now, I have to admit that I am not really certain about this next part. As we travelled the countryside, going from village to village, he kept telling me to stay behind. “You stay here, Elisha … wait here … while I go on to Gilgal, and Bethel, and Jericho.” Was it a test? Did he want to try me to see how faithful I was? Was he giving me the chance to go home? Was he giving me the chance to bow out gracefully? To return to my family farm? Was he allowing me to decide my fate? My destiny? Did he need to be certain that he had compelled me somehow?

            I can assure you that I had not been compelled or manipulated. I was not a star-crossed groupie that had latched onto his fame … or his infamy.

            Actually, as I have thought about it over the years, I realized that there were times when I was in the family fields when I felt something. I always thought that it was my imagination … or exhaustion. But there were times when I thought that I heard a voice, or felt a tug, or a pull. It is hard to explain. It is difficult to describe the feeling.

            So, no, I was not going to walk away, Elijah. That tug … that pull … was not you. It was something more, something … beyond.

            Whatever Elijah’s motivation … a test, or a chance at freedom … he realized that I was not going anywhere other than where he went. I was going to remain at his side because that feeling that I felt on my family farm was only growing stronger. “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”

            I knew my destiny. I knew that I had to follow. He had invited me to follow, and I only hoped that I could be half as faithful and steadfast as he had been. I only hoped that I could be half as strong as he had been.

            As we walked, we both knew that the end was coming. I tried to walk slower, as if that could somehow change the outcome or delay the inevitable. As we talked, I could feel my heart growing weaker and stronger at the same time. I knew that my heart would break when he left me, but I knew that I would do everything that I could live up to his legacy, to make him proud.

            When we had crossed the Jordan, he asked me, “What would you like me to do for you before I am taken from you?” The question hit me like a hammer blow. I answered straight from my heart. I answered as if I were his son and he was my father, “All I ask Elijah, is that you give me the inheritance that is due a first-born son. Please give me the double portion of your spirit.”

            I cry, and I smile, at his response, because he answered in the most Elijah way possible. He said, “What you ask of me is a difficult thing, because it is not really mine to give. It is God’s to give. But, when the time comes, if you see what is happening, if you truly understand what is happening, then it shall be granted to you.”

            The end did not come as I expected that it would. I do not know if Elijah saw it happening that way either. I thought it would be quieter. I thought that maybe I would embrace him as he drifted off to sleep. But God has a habit of surprising us. Chariots of fire and horses of fire … of course! A whirlwind … naturally! In retrospect it made sense. Elijah’s ministry had been powerful and dynamic. He had been a war-time prophet. The wind and flame and power of Mount Horeb came once more … it made perfect sense. It was the perfect ending.

            And as he ascended, the mantle that he had flung around my shoulders on the day we met fell from the chariot.

            I could have walked away, but I knew that was not going to happen. I could hear his voice speaking to me, “Pick it up, Elisha. Pick up the mantle.”

            God spoke to me through Elijah one last time. “Pick up the mantle, Elisha. We have work to do. I need your heart, Elisha. I need your strength. I need your faithfulness.”

            I picked it up, but you already knew that.

            God’s beloved community is still being built. King Ahab’s son was even worse than his father! Sadly, there will always be corrupt kings. There will always be faithless leaders that will rise up. Greed and avarice will always work against the ways of kindness and compassion. The powerful will always want more.

            I will do my part to speak for God. I will follow the way that God places before me as long as I have breath. May God give me strength. I will pick up the mantle. I will help build God’s beloved community.

            Amen.

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