The Double Portion Challenge – Sermon 30 June, 2013

The Double Portion Challenge

2 Kings 2: 1-12   Luke 9:57-62

In the scripture portion we read this morning we find one of the most interesting stories which we have probably heard as a young child in the Sunday School. It is the story of Elijah, the great prophet who was taken away in a whirlwind and chariots of fire, and Elisha, the student of Elijah, who was determined to get God’s best for his life. He was willing that God would grant him a double portion of the Spirit that was upon Elijah. He wasn’t concerned with the earthly possessions of Elijah. He wasn’t concerned with houses, land, wealth or any such thing. What Elisha wanted was the power of God that rested upon Elijah to be his when Elijah was taken away.

Elisha had already received so much from Elijah. He had been under Elijah’s training for some time. He had seen God move upon the old prophet to perform mighty miracles of deliverance. He had seen God answer Elijah’s prayer with fire from Heaven to consume the altar and the offerings. Surely God was with Elijah.

Elisha wasn’t satisfied just being a prophet but he wanted to become a great prophet like Elijah. As Elijah began the journey toward the time when God would take him away, he knew that the road was long, hard and filled with dangers. Most probably in his heart, Elijah hoped that Elisha would be willing to follow him to the end, but he also knew that it had to be by choice. He could not and would not force Elisha to walk the path with him. Therefore he said to Elisha: “Stay here, the Lord has sent me to Bethel”. But Elisha answered: “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you”.

Usually people went to Bethel (House of God) in trouble times to seek counsel of God. So Elijah offered Elisha to stay behind. But Elisha was ready for the challenge. Twice the company of Prophets told Elisha that the Lord was going to take Elijah; it was time for Elijah to complete his journey, but Elisha was ready to follow in the steps of his master and for that he needed a double portion of his master’s spirit.

Interestingly the company of prophets at Bethel and Jericho told Elisha about Elijah’s departure and Elijah on three occasions told Elisha to stay behind. In the three instances the answer of Elisha was the same: “I will not leave you”.

Elisha was determined to go all the way with Elijah. He knew that his God was still alive and he still had work to do and he wanted the Double Portion of His Spirit. He was not willing to settle for anything less than absolutely the best that God has in store for him.

Elisha’s decision to follow his master Elijah was not a one-time decision. After every part of the journey Elisha was challenged by Elijah whether he would continue on the journey or find a place of comfort and stay there. Elijah knew that it would not only take commitment and dedication but it would also take perseverance in the face of discouragement and opposition to get the Double Portion that Elisha would seek for.

There will come a time when we must decide whether to take the road less travelled and step out of our comfort zone, go beyond the walls of the church and step out into the unknown and dangerous road ahead. We as a church have our challenges. We could easily stay where we are and with what we do or what we like and forget about the needs and expectations of others. We should be ready to take the challenges that are before us. Those could be from the simple things such as the way we conduct our church services, the hymns we sing, and following the tradition which we love. All that are good, but they will keep us where we are with no progress.

We can’t afford to get too comfortable. We must continue on the journey of faith and leave the comfort, safety and familiarity of our environment and step out by faith and do some changes.

Elisha committed his life to follow his Master to the very end asking for the Double Portion of the Spirit of God. We will never experience the power of the Double Portion if we never step out of our comfort zone!

This story reminds us the call of Jesus to follow Him in Luke 9. A man said to Jesus that he wanted to follow Him. Jesus’ response clearly shows the challenge and the need to understand that following Him means to leave a comfort zone and accept the uncertainty and the demand for complete commitment. Following Jesus means to take the risk of not having a place to lay our head. “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head”.

There should not be any excuses to follow Jesus. It needs total commitment 100%. We cannot go a mile following Him and then go back two. It does not work that way if we want to imitate him. He is our perfect example. He went all the way to the cross for our sake. He paid a big price; he gave His life.

To follow Jesus is costly. You have to deny yourself and take the cross to follow Him. And in this case leave the dead to bury the dead and put your hand on the plow without looking back. If you have similar excuses, it means that you are not suitable for the task or fit to serve in the Kingdom of God.

The key to have the Double Portion and doing the “greater works” is this: We must have faith that Jesus is the Son of God. We must have faith that He will give us God’s best. We must have faith that He will keep that which we commit unto Him. We must believe that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.

We must continue to follow Him to the end and keep our eyes on Jesus! He is our great “Prophet”! He is the one who is seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven! He is our Double Portion!

Remember the words of Elisha: “I will not leave you”. We too should say: “I will not leave you; I will go to the end of the journey”. We need the double portion of the Spirit to face the challenge and totally commit ourselves to Him. It is not an easy challenge, but we have the promise that He is and will be with us all the way to the end of time helping us to do our part for His glory. Amen.

Krikor Youmshajekian