No Looking Back
19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. 20 Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,” he said, “and then I will come with you.” “Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?” 21 So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.
(1 Kings 19:20-21)
The prophet, Elijah, was led by God to call Elisha to succeed him. Elijah found Elisha tending to the work of his family's land. Even though Elisha was busy, when Elijah threw his cloak onto him - signaling Elisha's call - Elisha immediately ran after Elijah and stated his intention to follow him. Elisha asked only that he be allowed to say goodbye to his parents. Not seeking to bind Elisha, Elijah freed him to return home. But, in a show of extreme faith, Elisha killed and cooked his oxen over a fire made using his own equipment as tinder. The cooked meat was then given to the people of his community to eat. There was absolutely no turning back for Elisha.
Jesus found that, while people responded to his call with the apparent good intentions of Elisha, their actual commitment faltered. We are called to follow Jesus as whole heartedly as Elisha followed Elijah - leaving in the past anything that does not serve our calling. This requires difficult discernment. We often like to collect things and people, and we try to hold them all tightly - but sometimes we must let go. As Elisha essentially had a block party with his community before going off to follow Elijah, we can celebrate what we've had and who we've been - intentionally freeing ourselves of its grip - while looking forward to where God is leading us. Memories of the good times can stay with us and encourage us without binding us. May the love of God, and our trust in God's goodness, free us for all that God calls us to do and to be.
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” 62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
(Luke 9:57-62)
