To Infinity and Beyond: that’s this Sunday’s theme for our final wrap up of the 75th anniversary series and the Stewardship campaign. We’ve been looking back and looking forward, but “to infinity and beyond” kind of implies we’ve got one direction: ahead … way ahead!
Our scripture passage for Sunday is the story of Elijah and Elisha. The moment when, after six years of following Elijah and learning all he could, Elisha assumes Elijah’s mantle.
To be a prophet is not to be a solitary figure standing at a distance predicting the future; to be a prophet is to enter deeply into the realities and relationships of the people to whom they are sent. It is also to serve. One of the most important things we can do with our one precious life is to serve another. In serving we learn humility and empathy; we see the bigger picture of God’s creation; we begin to connect to the soul of another and in so doing, we encounter God much more often.
To be a prophet is also to pass the torch. The bible is full of stories of succession. Isaac follows Abraham, Solomon follows David, 12 disciples follow Jesus and more. What this helps us understand is that God’s work doesn’t end with any one person, it continues.
Our work doesn’t end. It continues. We do our bit, as best we can, with as much passion and love as we can, in service to those known and unknown to us.
More pieces of the model we’ll leave as our inheritance to those coming next: the model of service. The model of succession.