Open-ended,
Life-centred,
Gospel-Focused Explorations of Hebrew Bible Readings from the
Australian Prayer Book.
1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21...5th S. after
Pentecost
(C)... For LK 9: 51-62 scroll on site.
NOTES: 1]Always read
the Hebrew Bible in the light
of our understanding of God revealed in Jesus.2] Read from v.1 for the
context. N.B. vv.9+, where, when Elijah tries to opt out from being
Prophet because he's 'burnt out', God confronts him
in one of the great passages of the Heb.Bible. 3] In 19-21 Elisha begins his
apprenticeship for succeeding Elijah. Compare the events of 19-21 with
today's Gospel (LK 9:51-62). 4] If
Elisha's family owned the oxen mentioned, he seems to come from a
wealthy
background for those days. WARMING UP: Do pictures /
paintings of teams of oxen evoke nostalgia or relief that those days
are gone?
TREASURES OLD & NEW:
Identify God at work in anything this week?
ENTERING INTO THE STORY:
15-16 Do we ever want to opt out from some role we play -
in employment, community, church, etc. - because we're 'burnt out'? Is
it ever a contributing factor that we aren't / weren't sure whether we
ought to be playing that role in the first place? Is 'pressure' ever in
itself enough reason for wanting to opt out? In our eyes, or God's?
Does God ever ask anything unreasonable of us? Is that God's
prerogative? Would the God we recognize in Jesus ever expect us to do
anything He doesn't equip us to do? Does today's church ever pay a
penalty for relying on volunteers, rather than discerning who is being
called by God to do some important task? How do we discern who's called
&
who's not? Do we have any 'outward & visible sign' equivalent to
anointing for people called to play particular roles in today's
church? Given we usually anoint the newly baptised these days (as
the early church did) do we make enough of the 'calling' aspect of this
sign of grace used in the Sacrament?
In the light of God's
instruction to Elijah to anoint both a king & a prophet, was that
just an ancient way of looking at things, by-passed now by 'democracy'
(except say in a British coronation service)?
Should God have any role in making appointments to office today? Is God
really a democrat after all, & they had it wrong all those years
ago?
How much have we lost the connection between sacred & secular
today? Why do we, for the most part, insist on separating them? Is
there anything we can / should do about that, or is it up to God to
restore the connection if He
wants it restored?
19-21 Has physical hard
work (like driving a team of oxen back then) become a matter of
division today between those who work with their hands & those who
work
with their head (or their money!) in society? Do we have
enough respect for those who do still earn their living by the sweat of
their brow? Or is that just something for the less educated, the
unfortunate, & migrants? Have we ever 'cast our mantle' over
someone in any sense, religious or otherwise?
Given Elijah's response to
Elisha is enigmatic when he asks to say goodbye to his parents, is
Jesus unreasonable in his response to the would-be-follower in LK9? Or
is He simply being enigmatic too? Don't we all have the right to make
up our
mind whether we answer anyone's call, even God's? How do we personally
cope with enigmas, people or situations? Does Elisha's action in
killing & sacrificing the pair of oxen on a fire from the wood of
their yokes give a whole new (ancient?) meaning to the finality of
becoming a disciple (cf. the disciples leaving their nets & boats)?
Have we ever had to do that in some
way? Are there 'oxen' of some kind we still need to slaughter, nets
& boats to leave, bridges still to burn, before we are free to
follow God more fully?
Can we see a connection between Elisha sharing his sacrifice with his
friends & our sharing with Christ & each other in the
Eucharist? How important is it to us to eat together with others? Would
we see a change in outlook if we were to see every meal as a sacrifice
in God's honour? Maybe sacrifice in that sense wasn't / isn't such a
bad idea? How do we feel about being someone's servant, even
God's?
