I have an expression that I use when I’ve encountered someone who impresses me with her or his faithfulness or wisdom or sense of humor or patient perseverance. I say, “I want to be Myrtle or Fred (or whatever the person’s name may be) when I grow up.” I guess that’s a reflection of the question so often asked in childhood, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

     But, the person really was not asking what you wanted to BE, but what you wanted to DO. There’s a big difference. As a child it seemed I had three options for doing – teacher, nurse or secretary. Of course, that changed as time passed and society altered. But, the options for being were always unending. I could be kind, or witty, or task oriented, or introverted … the list could go on and on. But this is about more than personality; as baptized children of God, we are filled with the Holy Spirit and that leads to many other opportunities for being, some of which seem unlikely for “run-of-the-mill” people.

     So, perhaps that’s why it’s not surprising that Elisha in today’s Old Testament lesson want to BE filled with a double portion of the Spirit of God that empowered his mentor Elijah. A cynic might say that the reason Elisha stuck so close to Elijah in the story of the prophet’s last day on earth is that he wanted to be twice as powerful as Elijah. Scholars say that’s not the case, but instead his request for “a double portion” related to the custom of the firstborn son being entitled to a double share of his father’s estate, while the young sons would get only a single share. So, with his request Elisha is requesting that he be designated as Elijah’s rightful heir in the hierarchy of prophets, that he would be the “lead prophet.”

     That makes sense, but I think there is more to his refusing to leave than that. It seems like he’s having a hard time letting go. Three times in six verses he proclaims, “I will not leave you.” Samuel Wells jokes about the insensitivity of the other prophets who keep rubbing it in to Elisha that this is the day to say goodbye to Elijah. Each time Elisha says, in essence, “I know: shut up.” He is close to his mentor and dreads their separation.

     So, when Elijah says, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you,” a thousand responses must have been running through his mind. “What do I need? I need to know how I can carry on. I need to know how I can be a prophet, when everything I know I learned from you and you are about to leave. I need to how to be a leader, because all I know is how to follow. I need to know what to stay when people turn to listen to the prophet of the Lord, and they mean me. I need you to stay! What Elisha ends up saying is, “Please leave me a double dose of your spirit.” Martin B. Copenhaver writes that because Elisha assumes he is half the man Elijah is and that he will need twice his master’s spirit just to break even. (1)

     When the dreaded moment arrives and Elijah is swept up in the whirlwind, with the chariot and horses of fire, Elisha is overwhelmed by grief and tears his robe in two pieces. As Pastor Wells points out, if you do not have many clothes, that’s a big deal: read instead “tosses away the photo albums” or “smashes up the computer” – whatever is your gesture of finality and despair - that’s where Elisha is at this point in the story. (2)

     But, there is hope in the midst of the loss. Elijah left behind his mantle and a double portion if his spirit. Elisha returns to the Jordan River and strikes the water saying, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” The answer, which is implied by the miraculous opening up of the river, is that God is with Elisha as he was with Elijah. And, in chapters two through six of 2 Kings we read one account after another of Elisha’s miracle-working power. So it is the Elisha moved beyond his role as Elijah’s apprentice to a completely new place.

     Would we like that to happen to us? What would it be like to move beyond our current ways of being to a completely new place? While we usually do not think of it in such dramatic terms, that is the intention of Lent, which begins on Wednesday. Traditionally, Lent is a time for focused spiritual growth in preparation for the celebration of Easter. So, I encourage all of us to do something more in Lent (rather than give something up) that will enhance our spiritual well-being.

     There is a “ready made” way to do this here at the church. We can worship more, learn more, serve more and build more Christian relationships by participating in the Ash Wednesday service and the Wednesday evening activities that follow. If you cannot come every evening, make it priority to come at least once or twice. If that’s not possible, set aside some time at home to read and reflect on the Lent devotions that reflect the faith of people sitting with you today.

     Or, if neither of those options seem to fit, in the most recent edition of The Lutheran there is an article titled, “Addition, not subtraction: 10 things your family can add this Lent.” The focus is on adding to the season of preparation for Easter without adding unnecessary stress. You can:

1. Pray together as a family. I know of a Mom who always prayed with her son as they waited in her car at the end of their long driveway for the bus to arrive, before they both went their separate ways. The article suggests focusing morning prayers on: “Where will we see God today?”
2. Designate a consistent time for “family night” each week. Take turns picking an activity and selecting the meal. Consider going “technology free” during that time, and focus on each other.
3. Collect coins during Lent; drop all lose change in a container at the end of the day. Then, as a family, decide where to send the money.
4. Rediscover the art of writing letters. Choose someone with whom the family has not been in touch; write a letter or card that everyone signs. I make it a point to send cards to my elderly uncle and aunt at every holiday, but what if I surprised my cousin, who cares for them, with an “I’m thinking of you” card?
5. Serve in the community. In the OPEN M newsletter I received this week there was a list of ways people could support that ministry by serving, and that’s just one option. No doubt children who do this with their parents will remember it after Lent and ask to help at other times of year.
6. Begin planting fruits and vegetables inside with seeds, in preparation for transplanting them outside, perhaps in the church’s community garden.
7. Visit those who are homebound or lonely; take time to talk, to listen and even to record (with their permission) the experience.
8. Read something as a family, taking turns reading out loud.
9. Make time to share the arts; visit a museum or attend a concert, remembering the many gifts of God that we receive.
10. Keep a family Lenten journal with daily entries, perhaps answering the question, “Where did we see God today?”

     While all of these ideas fall in the “do” category, they impact who we are. Like Elisha we have received God’s Spirit, and the gift of faith. We are spirit-filled, faith-filled people and that empowers us to do things in unlikely, life-giving ways. But, it’s our choice whether or not we cultivate the Spirit’s presence and gifts to us. So, I’ll reword that childhood question. Not, what do you want to be when you grow up, but how do you want to be (because of what you did) when Lent ends? We could, like Elisha, end up in a new place. AMEN

1. “Chariot of Fire” by Martin B. Copenhaver, The Christian Century, February 21, 2006, pg. 20
2. “Inheriting the Mantle” by Samuel Wells, May 9, 2009, www.faithandleadership.com
3. “Addition, Not Subtraction: 10 Things Your Family Can Add This Lent” by Lynne M. Morrow, The Lutheran, February 2012, pg. 16