Good Morning Friends,
Today’s Gospel passage is about the old way of religion and the new. It is about giving up pride and claiming a dependent faith that makes a way for God’s generosity and a double helping of miracles. The Old Testament passage includes two-fifths of the answer to today’s question to help us understand the nature of transitions and how to finish well. The New Testament reading shares the key reality that we must give God the glory. So, we ask a very Greek question in the hopes of a revelation in a Hebrew answer. How Many Times Were The Waters Parted In The Bible And What Can We Learn From Them?
Scripture: Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” He responded, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.
2 Kings 2:1, 6-14 (NRSV)
“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 (NRSV)
Message: We all go through times of change that tend to humble us. The reality is that in a hundred years what we have accomplished in our lives will have been forgotten by people. Even today we confuse Elisha and Elijah and they are in the Bible. The reality is that most of us could not list three accomplishments of James Polk and he was a President of the United States. Regardless, social change is hard and the so too the transition of leadership is typically hard, and we are in an election year, so that type of change is possible. But in God’s timing some of these changes are less important than our egos might lead us to believe. Thankfully, whether it is pandemics or economic unrest or even violence or the fear of violence we can face it bravely and powerfully with God’s help. So, this morning, as we explore today’s question about the parting of waters, in the Bible, I am also asking you to pay attention to the transitions occurring in our lives and the grace God provides in them. Some of them are minor and some major. But there is a lesson here for us to learn. You see, the transition in leadership from Elijah to Elisha reminds us to pay attention to these times in our lives, to seek the Holy Spirit’s filling, and to bravely take up the task given us. So, here is the countdown of the five times in Bible when waters were parted. Meditate on them. The first is God in the creation of the world
recounted in
Genesis 1:6-7 and the separation of the water and the land. The second is the parting of the Red Sea by Moses recounted in Exodus 14:15-22. The third time was when Joshua and the nation of Israel crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land recounted in Joshua 3:5-17 through 4:1-18. And the final two times were when Elijah and Elisha in today’s scripture share in the miracle. But even as we contemplate these miracles of passage and even chariots of fire, or parting of a sacrifice we walk between, I for one am thinking about our parting of ways from this life to the next and the reality that this is the only transition that really matters.
And So, whether it is parting with money or the parting of relationships or the parting of water, and the change it symbolizes, transitions in life can be a very troubling experience. But in the end, they can also be very pleasurable too. You see, water equals life. God called Creation out of water, we begin our lives cushioned in the water of our mothers’ wombs, our lives are sustained through water. Jesus called our relationship with God “living water,” saying all who drank of it would never be thirsty again. The importance of water is threaded throughout the Bible, and often plays a prominent, if not the dominant role in stories. We think about creation and Noah and Moses and Jesus’ baptism and the woman at the well and the disciples on a boat in a storm and Jesus walking on water and they all are about life that is hopefully growing through the transitions. So later today I plan to take a walk on the beach along a line between the sand and the water and a swim in the Gulf of Mexico and contemplate the teachings of Jesus.
Pray we are not hypocrites.
Pray we ask God to help us when we face transitions in life. Pray that we acknowledge that we do not always embrace change well and sometimes need help. Pray we are filled by the Holy Spirit to overflowing. Pray we accept God’s grace. Pray we accept the help God provides us, and we embrace the changes and transitions of life we face. Pray we take up the assignments God give us, knowing God will honor us through our obedience. Pray we realize that Jesus, faced the greatest transition of the cross, and grave and resurrection so that he might provide a way for us to heaven and the parting of the veil. Pray we receive God’s strength to keep afloat and transition well. Pray we receive the reward of a relationship with God. Pray we remember God every time we walk through a door. Pray we rejoice when God parts the waters and makes a way for us in the power of the Holy Spirit. Pray we have a joy of giving that overflows from us and brings tears to our eyes to help us to see. Pray we think of God when we take a drink of water. Pray we take action to protect the clean water people need to live. Pray we marvel at the reality of just how amazing life is.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 