PICKING UP THE MANTLE

by the Rev. Susan R. Andrews
March 30, 2008
South Salem Presbyterian Church

It was a memorable moment in a most memorable day. The occasion was my ordination into the Ministry of Word and Sacrament - 33 years ago. Family, friends, colleagues, and church officials were gathered to participate in this ancient ritual of the church. Just before the service began, my minister father gave me a gift. He handed me one of his well used preaching robes - which he had carefully redesigned to fit a 25 year old woman. Yes, in that moment, Dad passed on the mantle to me - laying upon me not only the well-worn fabric of office - but also the blessings and responsibilities of a family tradition and a spiritual value. And so I became the third generation of the Andrews family to claim a pastoral calling.

Which is why I resonate with today's Hebrew scripture reading - the final chapter in the Elijah story - Elijah, who was the first great prophet, the miracle worker, the super star who shaped so decisively the early history of the people Israel. Today we meet Elijah the mentor and Elijah, the wise old man - the one who knows that the final task of living is to leave behind a legacy. And we also meet the younger man chosen by God to succeed Elijah - Elisha - who on behalf of all of us - picks up and puts on the mantle of God's presence in the world.

As my mind has wandered around inside Elijah's story, a central revelation has stayed with me. This is more a story about Elisha - the younger man - than it is about Elijah, his mentor. It is a succession story, assuring a continuity of leadership and vision within the community of God's people. As such this story is more about the future than it is about the past. And it is the older man's wisdom that makes it so. Rather than resting on his laurels and polishing all the trophies of this past successes, Elijah realizes that his accomplishments and his prophecies are all ephemeral. In the words of the psalmist, our days are like grass - they flourish like the flowers of the field. And then the wind passes over them and they are gone. It is only God who is eternal. It is only God's steadfast love which is from everlasting to everlasting.

And so Elijah's task, as he begins to wither and fade, is not to worship himself - or to worship his own history. No, his task is to gracefully remove himself from the picture. And, to point Elisha toward God - to teach Elisha how to carry God's vision, how to speak God's word, how to build God's kingdom. Yes, my friends, the best legacy any of us can leave behind is not our ego - but our faith and our values and our commitments. Our best hope is that the God in us can encourage the God in others - so that the generations of God's people can stay connected to the ongoing work of the Spirit.

You, the saints here in South Salem, have had first hand experience with the meaning of our scripture texts for today. For the past decade and a half your Elijah has been an elegant, passionate woman named Nadine who shaped you, nurtured you, loved you, and changed you with her creative mind and tender heart. And in loving your children and molding your spirits and breathing fresh energy into the stodgy words of scripture she has helped you to realize the very purpose of your lives - which is to love kindness, to do justice, and to walk humbly with your God.

Yes, your Elijah for the past fourteen years has empowered you and partnered with you to help you become a vital community of God's people. And like the older prophet in our story today, Nadine, in her final weeks intentionally tried to turn the focus away from herself toward the future, toward God's vision, toward a gospel vision of community and church that would focus on your future without her. Which means that you, the elders and members of this community, are modern day Elishas. The mantle - the ministry of this community - has been fully passed on to you. And whatever sadness or bitterness or division that remains in your hearts must be lifted up, expressed and worked through in order for God to continue to live in the community that Nadine loved and served.

Though Nadine did not disappear into a dramatic whirlwind of supernatural fire - like Elijah did - she did leave - physically and emotionally and emphatically - just a week ago. And like Elisha - your temptation in the weeks and months ahead may be to continue to look up - or look back - yearning, wishing, wanting the past to reappear - longing for Nadine or some other of the 28 installed pastors you have had in your 250 year old history to comfortably, lovingly, predictably be with you. But heed the words of today's lesson. Don't look up. Don't look back. Look forward. Pick up the mantle of ministry - and carry forward the rich legacy that your history has left behind.

Yes, Elisha picks up the mantle - Elijah's robe which is a symbol of power and authority. Then, immediately trusting in a strength beyond himself, the younger man begins the work again - parting the waters of the river Jordan just as leaders before him have done. It is then that Elisha learns a final lesson. Though the mantle, the purpose of the vision is the same - the work must become distinctly his own.

Thirty three years ago when I put on my father's robe I felt blessed and empowered by a tradition and a purpose far beyond my fragile self. But it wasn't long before I took that robe off and hung it in a closet - glad to have it as a reminder of the past - but instinctively knowing that I needed to design a robe and a style uniquely my own. Yes, I realized that the continuing and universal vision of God needed to be acted out in the particularity and freshness of my own story.

Dear friends, Nadine's legacy lives and breathes in many of the stories and programs of this congregation. She has modeled for you a passion for the gospel and a vision of the church that embodies the Spirit of the Living Christ. And she has laid upon you the mantle of discipleship -clothing you with both blessing and possibility. But now you must pick up that mantle and make it your own - not only as Elijah people, but most importantly as Jesus people.

Our gospel text for today is the perfect companion for this Elijah text. And it is my most favorite of all the resurrection accounts. So much about this story rings true to our experience as Christians. We mouth the words of Easter - that Christ is risen - that new life has come - that we are changed and changing creatures through the power of this new creation. But we don't really believe them. We have not "given our hearts" to this radical, rich, rare good news - "given our hearts" which is what the word believe really means. Like the disciples on that first Easter, we are locked up in the rooms of our doubt and fear and confusion - clueless about what to do with an empty tomb.

Like you, I don't understand resurrection. But I do believe it. My heart trusts that Jesus simply appeared - pulsing, passionate, powerful - a new kind of body, made of light and life, slipping through that locked door to unlock the future of the world. And what did he do? He didn't preach, he didn't pray, he didn't push them or us to do or dare or decide anything. He simply breathed on them - recreating them and re-creating us - and then he sent them - sending them and sending us - to BE Jesus in the world. And he still sends us - to BE a juicy, just and joyful presence of God in every place and every time.

You know, as a lifelong asthmatic, who spent many nights as a child in an oxygen lung, nothing is more precious to me than breath. And so it is for those of us locked up, locked in, locked down this day - gasping for a breath of possibility and promise for this community of faith and for our own lifeless souls. Friends, Jesus is here today - breathing spirit and power and hope and possibility and future into this congregation and into your individual lives. And Jesus is here sending you into your future. You don't have to understand it - you just need to believe it - give your heart to it - gasp for and grasp this Good News and then take it deep into the very heart of who you are. How hard is that?

The world of South Salem, and the world of New York State, and the interconnected world of the 21^st century is changing at a pace faster than at any other point in history. The mainline Protestant church is a rapidly diminishing minority in a secular, materialistic culture - where more people frequent soccer fields and shopping malls on a Sunday morning than fill sanctuaries like this one. And in our denomination alone, we have lost 50 of our membership in the last 50 years - almost 20% of our membership in this presbytery in the last ten years. If ever we needed the breathing and the sending of the Risen Christ it is now.

You know there are some myths we Christians harbor within our souls:

Myth #1):If we stay the same, we will grow. - cells in the body every 7 years - world is now changing as fast in 5 years as used to in 200. If we stay the same we will die. And so we have a choice - slow, painful death or deep painful change-it is simply the way our ever creating God works.

Myth #2) The church is called to separate itself from the sinful ways of the world. May be good for the Amish, but not for us - steeped in the reformed tradition. We are called by our baptism to engage the culture in order to transform the culture - embracing the holy in the ordinary and taking the ordinary and making it holy. If Martin Luther, the great 16^th century reformer could take a tavern drinking song and turn it into "A mighty Fortress Is Our God," what is holding us back from embracing our secular world and transforming it with God?

Myth#3) The church is about us - the primary purpose of the church is to comfort us, to heal us, to challenge us - the sentiment of 91% of all Christians. But that assumption is perhaps the most sinful, the most ignorant, the most disobedient of all. All the studies about churches that grow - grow spiritually and numerically - indicate that these congregations are more focused outward than they are focused inward.

During the last year we have had a public conversation within the bounds of Hudson River Presbytery as to where God is leading us in these challenging and chaotic times. What has emerged is an Easter identity:

As members of the Body of Christ
Hudson River Presbytery is called
to live resurrection
with passion and partnership
in a changing world.

And among our 91 congregations, faithfulness to this identity as resurrection people is beginning to take shape:

In Middletown, two Presbyterian congregations are "living resurrection" by merging - taking a new name - agreeing to sell one building, and creating fresh mission and worship traditions out of the ashes of their two predecessor congregations:

In Ulster County, the number of clients at the local food bank have gone from 200 a month to 2000 a month, and despite their shrinking budget, the Marlboro and Highland congregations are "living resurrection" by stepping up their financial support for the pantry;

The Otisville congregation has created three distinctly different worship experiences, speaking to heart as well as head with diverse music, "living resurrection" through fresh passion and service in the community, and joyfully expanding numbers;

The Yonkers South congregation decided to "live resurrection" by calling a bi-lingual pastor - and their joint Spanish/English worship attendance has doubled in just three months;

The Poughkeepsie congregation - once 1600 strong and now down to 70, mostly older members - are soon to vote on selling their stunning sanctuary to a Pentecostal, Caribbean congregation, nesting with another Presbyterian Church and sharing some of their 3.5 million dollars in assets with the larger presbytery, so that their legacy of witness and service can become "living resurrection" throughout the Hudson Valley;

And how about here in South Salem? Your ten year trends show that you have lost 30% of you membership in the last ten years and that your giving is down by 15%. And yet there are wonderful signs of life here. Your strong Nursery School and Summer Program, your unique focus on health ministry, your continuing witness through prison ministry, Habitat for Humanity and interfaith partnerships. And the percentage of your membership in worship - 75% on an average Sunday is one of the highest membership/attendance ratios in the presbytery. Friends, a part of your past is now over. But we have a God that continues to breathe and send you. How will you "live resurrection" in the years to come?

Dear saints of South Salem, as you begin to let go of your years with Nadine, as you focus on the Spirit calling you to the future, my prayer for you is that you find the courage to pick up the mantle of ministry and to breathe deeply of Christ's resurrection promise - honoring the past by vigorously embracing the future.

May it be so. Amen