Kingdom Building

June 24, 2019

Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 2:1-2,6-14

Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.’ But Elisha said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’ So they went down to Bethel.

Then Elijah said to him, ‘Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.’ But he said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’ So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground. –2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-8

When I first began working on justice issues that required not only faith-based action but also civic action, I was told by a mentor that it takes ten years of work to introduce a new concept into law or change practices well ingrained in the culture. Medicaid and Medicare were implemented July 30, 1965. I had just graduated from high school. By the late 1970’s attempts were being made to improve the services of these programs and fifty years later we still strive for adequate, affordable, accessible health care for all*.

Elisha’s story is the story of persistence. While it is always good to have the best and brightest input on how to do things well, most justice issues are accomplished through persistence and hard work. Jesus highlighted this fact in the telling of the parable of the persistent widow found in Luke 18:1-8.

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.” ’ And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’

This scripture ends with a good question, when the Son of Man comes will he find faith on earth or will he find that we did not persist in our quest for justice and let the principalities of the world take control?

Prayer: Lord, grant us the persistence of Elisha and the widow who longed for justice. Amen.

*The last measured percent without health insurance for Oklahoma was 21.70% in 2014. Oklahoma experienced an average growth rate of -2.31% from our first statistic recorded in 2008. If past trends continue, we forecast the percent without health insurance to be 18.78% by 2019. See more information at https://www.opendatanetwork.com/entity/0400000US40/Oklahoma/health.health_insurance.pctui?year=2014&age=18%20to%2064&race=All%20races&sex=Both%20sexes&income=All%20income%20levels

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.