Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Sermon
Light in the Land of Shadows
Cycle B Sermons for Advent, Christmas, And Epiphany, First Lesson Texts
Object:
Many scholars view this narrative as one occasioned by the fear of an uncertain future followed by a sensation of great joy. Indeed, the narrative resolves the transfer of leadership from one generation of prophets to another. There is anxiety over the death of the great Elijah. How will his power be transferred? Who will have the authority when the great man dies?
Certainly the scene is one of crisis. Elisha asks for a "double share" of Elijah's spirit. In Hebrew families the eldest son received a double inheritance. Consequently, Elisha is seeking the firstborn's share of power so he can follow Elijah in the prophetic office. In that day and time a prophet of Israel had to be powerfully equipped to combat the power of the false god, Baal. The scene is one of joy as Elisha has the vision of Elijah's cloak that falls. This passing of Elijah's mantle has often been used in our churches to symbolize the passing of leadership from one person to another.
That a crisis was averted in the death of Elijah is unmistaken. Elijah had exercised tremendous power in behalf of Yahweh (God) in the midst of a dangerous time in Israel. The marriage of Ahab to Jezebel had introduced into Israel the Baal cult which threatened to destroy the very existence of the God of Israel.
The Baal worship was a worship of mere power. And this worship of power became literally the worship of evil. Moral standards fell to an all-time low and the religious life of Israel fell into total disarray. The prophets of Yahweh were killed and most followers were compelled to hide in caves and holes. Consequently, the symbol of Elijah being swept up to the skies in a fiery chariot by a power acting on him from without and Elisha's receiving a double portion of Elijah's spirit meant that enough power was in evidence to fight the false god (Baal) of power.
In many ways the prophet's end was like the man himself. Elijah versus Baal had truly been "fight power with power." "Fight fire with fire." Remember Mount Carmel when Elijah had a fire lighting contest with the prophets of Baal?
It was only fitting that Elijah should be swept up in the skies in tempest and fire. The stormy energy of his career had been symbolized in bloodshed, earthquake, storm, and fire. Certainly nothing could have been more appropriate than a quick lifting to the skies in a fiery, royal chariot in whirlwind and storm.
The Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ has often been juxtaposed with the Translation of Elijah, to contend that the former is but a "variant" of the latter.1
Actually, the epiphany for us may be seen not in similarities but in contrasts. Elijah and Enoch are the only Old Testament personalities taken up into heaven without passing through a human death. God took them. They did not ascend. They were carried up.
Like Elijah, Christ's whole life was characterized by the contrasted manner in his end. No blaze of fiery chariot nor agitated tempest was evident to bear Christ heavenward. Christ's whole life had evidenced a power unlike the world recognizes power. His silent gentleness marked him even in his hour of lofty triumph. He moved slowly upward through quiet air. The origin of his ascent was his own will and his own power.
Another striking contrast concerns the transition of authority. Elisha receives a falling mantle, the transference of unfinished business, so he can be fitted for continuing the work which Elijah left undone. An office is passed on so the functions would be the same. That's the way worldly leadership, even religious leadership, tends to operate. Preachers and teachers die and their sons and daughters bow before the new effective preachers and teachers. New arms grasp the mantle to fight fire with fire.
But no one is hailed as Christ's successor. He has left no work unfinished which others may perfect. He has done no work which another may do again. The whole of human nature is taken up to the throne of God in him. His parting is a happy greeting and the portent of an inseparable reunion for us all. It lets us endorse our lives and rise above our miserable time and place. It is the light in our land of shadows.
Perhaps few groups caught the Christ/Elijah contrast more thoroughly than those who sang the old Negro spirituals. They embarked upon these shores called America and to them it was a valley as dark as Jezebel's world in ancient Israel. They were the ultimate victims in a society's worship of power. They stood in the valley of the most serious crisis in American history. The marriage of American society to a system of slavery threatened to destroy the very existence of our civilization. The worship of power over the dignity of human life came from the most hideous immorality imaginable. It was our time to encounter Baal. In their valley of slavery, these victims had not thought of ever having a chance to ride in one of the great chariots or surreys that they saw their bosses riding in. Some cried and died. Some grew angry and festered and boiled inside. Some grabbed the mantle of Elijah and fought fire with fire. Eventually more Americans were killed in that civil war than have been killed in all other wars combined to this very day. Truly the whirlwind and the storm of power descended in greater intensity than ever before. Power battled power.
But still others stood in the fields of North Carolina and Alabama and Mississippi and other places and sang: "Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home."
In that one verse the whole Judaeo-Christian theology was summed up: a new kind of power. The fiery chariot of Elijah, the heavenly pickup from outside, was transformed into a sweet chariot.
Perhaps life at times greatly restricts us as to movement, function, and opportunities for leadership. If we live long enough we will no longer have the physical capacity or energy to powerfully affect our own vocational and physical future. Corroding bitterness can enter even the most resilient of hearts, trying to convince us that we are of little significance. We will not be able to fight fire with fire or see the whirlwind. But we can discover that which our Lord insists is the ultimate truth about our destiny. We can validate our spirit as a child of God. Our ability to see the sweetness, to embrace the gentleness, and to look out on the world with quiet eyes will bring forth light into the shadows of our existence. So be it!
__________
1. See the excellent work by Alexander Maclaren, The Secret of Power (New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1902), pp. 174-186.
Certainly the scene is one of crisis. Elisha asks for a "double share" of Elijah's spirit. In Hebrew families the eldest son received a double inheritance. Consequently, Elisha is seeking the firstborn's share of power so he can follow Elijah in the prophetic office. In that day and time a prophet of Israel had to be powerfully equipped to combat the power of the false god, Baal. The scene is one of joy as Elisha has the vision of Elijah's cloak that falls. This passing of Elijah's mantle has often been used in our churches to symbolize the passing of leadership from one person to another.
That a crisis was averted in the death of Elijah is unmistaken. Elijah had exercised tremendous power in behalf of Yahweh (God) in the midst of a dangerous time in Israel. The marriage of Ahab to Jezebel had introduced into Israel the Baal cult which threatened to destroy the very existence of the God of Israel.
The Baal worship was a worship of mere power. And this worship of power became literally the worship of evil. Moral standards fell to an all-time low and the religious life of Israel fell into total disarray. The prophets of Yahweh were killed and most followers were compelled to hide in caves and holes. Consequently, the symbol of Elijah being swept up to the skies in a fiery chariot by a power acting on him from without and Elisha's receiving a double portion of Elijah's spirit meant that enough power was in evidence to fight the false god (Baal) of power.
In many ways the prophet's end was like the man himself. Elijah versus Baal had truly been "fight power with power." "Fight fire with fire." Remember Mount Carmel when Elijah had a fire lighting contest with the prophets of Baal?
It was only fitting that Elijah should be swept up in the skies in tempest and fire. The stormy energy of his career had been symbolized in bloodshed, earthquake, storm, and fire. Certainly nothing could have been more appropriate than a quick lifting to the skies in a fiery, royal chariot in whirlwind and storm.
The Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ has often been juxtaposed with the Translation of Elijah, to contend that the former is but a "variant" of the latter.1
Actually, the epiphany for us may be seen not in similarities but in contrasts. Elijah and Enoch are the only Old Testament personalities taken up into heaven without passing through a human death. God took them. They did not ascend. They were carried up.
Like Elijah, Christ's whole life was characterized by the contrasted manner in his end. No blaze of fiery chariot nor agitated tempest was evident to bear Christ heavenward. Christ's whole life had evidenced a power unlike the world recognizes power. His silent gentleness marked him even in his hour of lofty triumph. He moved slowly upward through quiet air. The origin of his ascent was his own will and his own power.
Another striking contrast concerns the transition of authority. Elisha receives a falling mantle, the transference of unfinished business, so he can be fitted for continuing the work which Elijah left undone. An office is passed on so the functions would be the same. That's the way worldly leadership, even religious leadership, tends to operate. Preachers and teachers die and their sons and daughters bow before the new effective preachers and teachers. New arms grasp the mantle to fight fire with fire.
But no one is hailed as Christ's successor. He has left no work unfinished which others may perfect. He has done no work which another may do again. The whole of human nature is taken up to the throne of God in him. His parting is a happy greeting and the portent of an inseparable reunion for us all. It lets us endorse our lives and rise above our miserable time and place. It is the light in our land of shadows.
Perhaps few groups caught the Christ/Elijah contrast more thoroughly than those who sang the old Negro spirituals. They embarked upon these shores called America and to them it was a valley as dark as Jezebel's world in ancient Israel. They were the ultimate victims in a society's worship of power. They stood in the valley of the most serious crisis in American history. The marriage of American society to a system of slavery threatened to destroy the very existence of our civilization. The worship of power over the dignity of human life came from the most hideous immorality imaginable. It was our time to encounter Baal. In their valley of slavery, these victims had not thought of ever having a chance to ride in one of the great chariots or surreys that they saw their bosses riding in. Some cried and died. Some grew angry and festered and boiled inside. Some grabbed the mantle of Elijah and fought fire with fire. Eventually more Americans were killed in that civil war than have been killed in all other wars combined to this very day. Truly the whirlwind and the storm of power descended in greater intensity than ever before. Power battled power.
But still others stood in the fields of North Carolina and Alabama and Mississippi and other places and sang: "Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home."
In that one verse the whole Judaeo-Christian theology was summed up: a new kind of power. The fiery chariot of Elijah, the heavenly pickup from outside, was transformed into a sweet chariot.
Perhaps life at times greatly restricts us as to movement, function, and opportunities for leadership. If we live long enough we will no longer have the physical capacity or energy to powerfully affect our own vocational and physical future. Corroding bitterness can enter even the most resilient of hearts, trying to convince us that we are of little significance. We will not be able to fight fire with fire or see the whirlwind. But we can discover that which our Lord insists is the ultimate truth about our destiny. We can validate our spirit as a child of God. Our ability to see the sweetness, to embrace the gentleness, and to look out on the world with quiet eyes will bring forth light into the shadows of our existence. So be it!
__________
1. See the excellent work by Alexander Maclaren, The Secret of Power (New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1902), pp. 174-186.
