Passing the Mantle

We use the phrase “passing the mantle” to describe transitions in leadership quite frequently.  Coach So-and-so inherits the mantle of the university football program.  Sue passes the mantle of the department to Joe.  Things like that.  But seriously, when was the last time you talked about mantles in regular conversation?  And what is a mantle anyway??

Well, Sunday we meet the prototypical instance of passing the mantle: when the prophet Elisha picks up the cloak of his mentor, Elijah, and becomes himself the prime prophet of God in Israel.  Elisha literally picks up the mantle.

But the thing about mantles (the heavy cloak or vesture, not the thing above the fireplace or on your camp lantern) is that the transfer is not really about the cloak but about the person who has worn it and the one who begins to wear it.  And much more depends on the people than the sign of office.

Sure, sometimes the next person is just not up to the quality of the first person, which can be a big disappointment.  But more often the next person is different from the mentor, which can be confusing or disorienting or simply causing a new way of doing things.  A coach and his or her successor may have radically different ways of running the team or of training, but have the same win-loss stats.  Since

Steve Jobs died, Apple watchers have been writing endlessly that Tim Cook, the new CEO, “is no Steve Jobs,” but the company continues to make and sell a lot of products and make money.  Sure, there are differences in management, but the overall corporation continues.

There probably a bunch of Israelites complaining that “Elisha is no Elijah,” but God kept speaking to Israel, even if Elisha had a markedly different way of doing prophecy.  The overall faith continues!

Furthermore, those differences in management and prophetic leadership might just be part of God’s overall plan!  Moses was prophet provocateur; his subordinate, Joshua, when he took over the leadership of Israel upon entry into the promised land proved a powerful general and manager of the settling of the land.  If Moses was the instigator, Joshua was the consolidator.  Likewise, in our turn, we have pastors who possess different gifts and skills, so when a congregation “passes the mantle onto” the next pastor it should expect differences in organizational approach even if the overall mission of the church continues.  Part of the interim self-study is to understand the leadership here over time and to become clearer on what is the best sort of pastoral leadership for the future.

Come Sunday to hear how God transferring the mantle of Elijah to Elisha tells us something about change and continuity— both— at First Congregational.

                                                                                       In Christ,
                                                                                     
                                                                                               David

Texts For Sunday Worship:
From the Hebrew Bible      2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
From the Gospels             Luke 9:51-62