Passing on the Mantle of Love

 II Kings 2:1-2, 6-14; Galatians 5: 1, 13-25

 Do you know where the expression of “passing on the mantle” comes from? It comes from our Old Testament passage where Elijah passes on his mantle to Elisha. So, it’s become known as passing on a responsibility to someone else. Here we have the passing of the office of prophet passed from Elijah to Elisha. The mantle of the Elijah story is a piece of cloth like a cloak. When Elisha picks up this mantle of Elijah’s he is empowered to part the Jordan River.

This is the account of Elijah being taken into heaven on a chariot of fire. He is one who never died so the Jewish people today still keep a chair open for Elijah at the Passover meal.

This got me to thinking of the people in our lives that we have been separated from by death or by distance. A popular term today is “influencer” and I think of those who have influenced my life and ministry – my mother, my mentors, and former pastors.

So, what is the mantle they passed down to me that I can still grasp hold of even though my influencers are gone? It is the gift of love. Galatians 5 tells about the new covenant commandment of loving your neighbor as yourself. In order to do so, we are to live by the Spirit.

Paul then contrasts the works of the flesh which are not based on love of neighbor but on love of self. These are selfish traits such as strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissentions, envy, and factions.

The works of – called the fruits of the Spirit are all based on love for each other: peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

When we’ve had this mantle of love passed down to us, we know it is possible and we’ve had examples to follow. We can continue to express the love given to us to others. But where does the power of the mantle of love come from? It comes from the Spirit which empowers us to live out these fruits of the Spirit.

May we in our lives today continually pass on this mantle of love which will still influence those we touch in this life, even after we’re gone.  Amen

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Join Me on a Lenten Journey

For those of you not familiar with Lent, it is a season of forty days, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. Lent comes from the Anglo Saxon word lencten, which means "spring." The forty days represents the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, enduring the temptation of Satan and preparing to begin his ministry. Lent is a time of repentance, fasting and preparation for the coming of Easter. It is a time of self-examination and reflection. Today, Christians focus on their relationship with God, often choosing to give up something or to volunteer and give of themselves for others. Easter comes early this year. Many of us not brought up in this tradition can still embrace its emphasis of focusing on the gifts Christ has brought into your lives and finding ways to share the love of Christ to others. This emphasis of love goes along well with the beginning of Lent this year, Ash Wednesday, falling on all days – Valentine’s Day. So whether or not you plan
Read more

Setting Your Hope in God

 Disclaimer: Paul talks about the Rapture in this passage a concept I still struggle with. I believe that once you die you go direct to the Lord, so bodies awaiting till the rapture to rise is hard for me to grasp. I can see how Paul was comforting the Thessalonians here but was his concept correct? Add any comments you wish to this bafflement of mine. That said, I wrote this per the text. What do you all think? Psalms 78:1-7; I Thessalonians 4:13-18   The psalmist in Psalms 78 is not only telling his current audience to listen to his teaching but to pass it on from one generation to the next. Just like he has heard it from his ancestors, he asks the Israelites to teach them to the coming generations. They are to teach them to the children yet unborn so that these children will teach their children. Why? So, they should set their hope in God, not forgetting God’s works. Fast forward to the New Testament where Paul is passing on this hope to the Thessalonians. The question these bel
Read more

Do What they Teach, Not What they Do

  Matthew 23: 1-12; I Thessalonians 2:9-13   Jesus when he talks about the scribes and the Pharisees in Matthew 23 basically says: “Do what they teach but not what they do.” What he questions most is their motivation. They do what they do to be seen by others. They wear fancy robes and love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues. They love to be greeted with respect. All this Jesus sums up in the word pride or not being humble. He states then that those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Years later Paul writes to the Thessalonians telling how he did what Christ had instructed. That he was humble leading a life worthy of God, his motivation being for God’s glory not his own. He tells that not only are the Thessalonians his witnesses of this but God also. They have seen how pure, upright, and blameless his conduct has been. He encourages the Thessalonians to do the same. To live a life worthy of
Read more