Eagle Harbor Congregational Church, UCC

Sermon preached by Rev. Emily Tanis-Likkel

June 27, 2010

Pick Up the Jacket

2 Kings 2:1-14 and Luke 9:51-62

              I loved the new Karate Kid movie.  In it are many references to the first one.  Has anyone seen that one?  In the first movie, the master teaches his student “wax on, wax off,” having him spend hours upon hours waxing his car for him.  It was not the kind of martial arts lesson he was hoping for.  His annoyance at his teacher swelled, until it was revealed that the fruit of his labor went well beyond a waxed car.  The motions of “wax on, wax off” were the basic moves he needed for karate.  In this third movie, the story is told with new characters and different circumstances.  The end goal is the same:  to make peace with one's enemies.  That, the teacher (played by Jackie Chan) is the essence of Kung Fu.  Twelve-year-old Dre, the “student,” has been challenged to enter a Kung Fu tournament.  On his first day of individual training, his teacher instructed him to “pick up your jacket, put on your jacket, take off your jacket, hang up your jacket.”  You see, he had a habit of leaving his jacket on the floor.  His mother was sick and tired of saying, “Dre, pick up your jacket.”  And so his teacher had him pick his jacket up over and over and over.  Every day he hoped to learn something new.  One time he hid his jacket outside before entering the house, but the master told him to go and get it from where it was hidden.  Dre finally got fed up with the jacket routine, and was ready to quit.  His teacher sprung to his feet and went in for a strike, yelling, put on your jacket—which blocked his strike, take off your jacket—blocked another strike—pick up your jacket—avoided getting kicked—hang up your jacket—went in for a strike.   Dre looked at his hands in shock as he realized the fruit of his labor—it was all Kung Fu.  His teacher had empowered and equipped him without him even being aware of it.

              I wonder how often this is the case for us on the journey of faith.  We plod along, practicing the ways of Jesus and forming Christian community, and we may wonder at times—does it make a difference?  Where is God in all of this?  We trust that the Holy Spirit is at work,  transforming the world through us—imperfect though we are.  But what is the Spirit empowering us and equiping the church for?  What is the mission?  What is God doing?  It is the heart of Elisha's question, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?”

              In this age of post-modernism, post-denominationalism, post-everything, including post-Christian, we know that we can't hide the jacket.  We can't pretend that it doesn't make a difference that the world is changing at a rate it never has before.  The Spirit empowers us and equips us for adapting to our changing world, and we cannot set that call aside.  Spreading the love of Jesus in new ways may not seem like we're making much of a difference.  A boy came upon a girl who was painstakingly picking up sea stars that had been washed ashore, and asked why she would bother bringing them back to the water.  She answered him,  I made a difference to that one.  Mission in this time is much more dependent on relationships and intimacy than impersonal revivals.  It takes time.  Many yearn for the kind of community that Jesus formed.  Jesus' band of disciples practiced prayer and healing, shared meals together and traveled light. Mission isn't about us – it's about God.  It's about putting one foot in front of the other and let the Spirit guide.  We are on a journey, but the maps are always changing.  Postmodern people may not know what a Narthex is or care about the burning issue that we're talking about in Council.  What do they know about?  What do they care about?  May we have the courage to strike up that conversation with our neighbors.  If we are not engaging in that conversation, then we are missing something crucial.  

              We meet Elijah and Elisha at an in-between time.   Elijah's ministry is coming to a close, Elisha is preparing to take his place.  They are moving through this in-between time, not exactly sure what is going to happen next, but Elisha was ready to put on that jacket.  He knew that he needed strength, and a blessing in order to be Elijah's successor.  He couldn't will himself into the kind of prophetic ministry that Elijah practiced.  He knew that it was a gift to be received, and he asked for it.  It was up to God to provide it.  Elisha wants the best of what Elijah has.  Give me a double share of your spirit!  He sensed God was preparing him, empowering him to carry on the ministry after his mentor died.  When the jacket fell to the ground, Elisha knew that in picking it up and putting it on, he was embarking on an endeavor much larger than himself.  This story of transition demonstrates the importance of passing on the core of the tradition.  You see, the core of the tradition of our faith is not systematic theology or ecclesiology.  It cannot be contained in a magnificent cathedral or a country church.  It is not  denominationalism or doctrine.  What has been passed to us and what we are to pass on is trust in God's presence.  God incarnate in Jesus Christ, God as renewing Spirit, God parent--creator, the still speaking one is with us.  Elisha cried out, Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?  Mission is about having the confidence to be a witness to God's presence.  Pressure abounds to leave the sea stars where they are, to hole up in the beach house where all is comfortable and familiar.  But God has made a path through the river.  Throughout the Biblical narrative, people of God are on the move.   Will we join them?

              Christian faith is a journey.  In the Gospel text, Jesus told his followers to keep moving ahead, to not dwell on the past, but to press on in their witness.  They were not insular.  May we not be insular.  Next weekend is a great opportunity to be a witness in our community.  On the morning of the fourth, come to the time of meditation in the Town Square.  Join with your neighbors of various faiths to pray for peace.  Stay for a time of song and story.  We'll hear the Lord's Prayer in Aramaic, listen to Buddhist poetry, a Sufi tale, and sing songs of peace.  Then in the afternoon, come and join your neighbors in the parade.  We'll celebrate and express our gratitude to the community and share the God is still speaking message.  The animal blessing at the end of August will be another great opportunity to invite your neighbors.  We'll gather in the backyard with our animal companions that afternoon, give thanks for animals and bless them.  The emerging worship gatherings the second Sunday evenings of July and August will be downstairs in the youth room, and particularly informal and non-traditional.  So perhaps that friend who you haven't invited to church, who may be wondering why you haven't, might be interested in checking out those gatherings.  Then there is the stranger who you get to talking with, and you sense an opening to talk about faith--Pick up the jacket.  The Spirit of God hovers around your shoulders and inspires your speech and stirs your heart. 

              May we take opportunities to make God's presence known in the community.  The way this is done may not be predictable, controllable, managable, or programmable as it was in the time of modernity.  It may be fluid and organic, emerging and incarnate.  God is opening a path through the river.  The Spirit empowers all of us to travel the path, to witness to the fact that God is still speaking among us, within us, and through us.  May we pick up the jacket, and ask, where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?  What is God doing?  May we be ready to receive the power of the Spirit, and put that jacket on.