This Sunday’s message took off in a different direction when I decided we should all do some traveling. There’s a lot of traveling in the scriptures—people walking great distances for one purpose or another. What we want to find out is if there is something to be learned from all this traveling. Our inspiration is the story of Elijah, the greatest prophet of Israel
Elijah takes Elisha on a road trip of their faith. From their homebase of Gilgal, the place of prophetic learning, the great prophet and his reluctant successor head to Jericho, the site of that great battle Joshua fought, with walls all tumbling down. Then it’s on to the River Elijah gives Elisha one last gift to build his confidence—his mantle, or scarf—the instrument and symbol of his prophetic authority. With this last gift Elisha is ready to serve as prophet.
This journey of prophetic sightseeing is not unlike our own journey of faith. We have our place for learning and community, here in the church. We have our place for receiving God’s strength—not a remembered battlefield, but the communion rail where we receive the Body and Blood. Finally, we have a place to remember our identity—the altar where we remember our story and give thanks for the call and promise that are ours.
It’s not Elijah we follow, of course, so it wouldn’t be his scarf we would be wearing. Like Elisha, we need something to remind us of our identity, and of the power given to us in living out our faith. In church, the priest is normally the only one to wear these “Jesus scarves,” but that’s deceptive. The priestly role is to represent Christ, and that’s a job for all who follow Christ. Wearing our “Jesus scarves,” today we prayed for the world as Jesus would have us do. With our “Jesus scarves,” we celebrated the Great Thanksgiving that reminds us of our identity. We received communion, and finally, with our now-blessed scarves to take with us, we went out into the world to do our job—representing Christ in the world. So now what? Let’s think about that this week.
This representing Christ in the world—not an easy job—how do you do it? Where do you find the inspiration? What happens if you make mistakes? So many voices are out there claiming to represent Christ—is there a way we can recognize him when we see him?
The scarf, or stole, that the priest wears is meant to be the “yoke of Christ,” which all Christians bear. Jesus assures us that it is a light burden—but it doesn’t always seem that way. How do we remember—how can we help each other remember—that it’s good news, and nothing less? Our world could use some good news. Maybe we can figure out some ways for sharing it this week.