What does it mean to follow Christ?
1 Kings 19:19-21
Sunday, June 22, 2025
It was not a great me to be a prophet or a follower of the Lord by earthly standards. Elijah was the main prophet of the Lord at this me in Israel, and Israel had been on a streak of evil kings. And King Ahab was the worst yet. Ahab did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of the kings before him. And then he married Jezebel, a woman from a foreign land who brought the worship of Baal, a false god, into Israel. Now, if Ahab was bad, Jezebel was even worse. One of her main goals as queen was to kill off all of the Lord’s prophets to make room for her prophets of Baal. And frankly, it was the job of God’s prophets to bring bad news to the kings of Israel and Judah, to be the bad cops to straighten out God’s people.
So, Elijah was given some work to do, but the Lord was with him. He had a faceoff with 450 prophets of Baal. Elijah produced a sacrifice, and the prophets of Baal did the same. The goal was to see whose God would send down fire on the sacrifice. The prophets of Baal begged their false god and cried out to him even cu ng themselves, but 450,000 prophets would have brought the same result: their false god could never produce the miracle they were looking for. But the Lord, the one true God, heard Elijah’s prayer. And he answered it with an amazing display of power, and the people who witnessed were reminded who the one true God of Israel was.
But Jezebel didn’t care. In fact, now her anger was pointed toward Elijah specifically, she threatened to hunt him down and kill him. So, Elijah fled and hid himself and pre y much had himself a pity party. He was in despair because he felt that all hope was lost for God’s people. The other prophets were dead, and even a er this amazing display of power, it didn’t look like anything was going to change in Israel.
But out of love, God gently reassured Elijah that he was and is true God, that God had a plan and there was someone who would join Elijah and ul mately replace him as prophet, and that was Elisha. God told Elijah that it wasn’t me to roll over and quit, but to see God’s perfect commitment toward Elijah and to mo vate Elijah in his commitment and trust in God. He told Elijah to go and anoint the next prophet of God, and that’s were our text picks up this morning.
19So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. Elisha was doing the plowing with twelve teams of oxen in front of him, and he himself was driving the twel h team. Elijah crossed over to him and threw his cloak over him. 20Then Elisha le the oxen and ran a er Elijah. He said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother good-bye! Then I will follow you.” Then Elijah said, “Go back! For what have I done to you?” 21So Elisha turned back from following him. Then he took the team of oxen and slaughtered them. Using the equipment from the oxen as fuel, he cooked the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he got up, followed Elijah, and served him.
Perhaps this isn’t the amazing event you would expect as Elisha was being called to be the prophet of the Lord. But make no mistake, this is an event we can learn a lot from. Elijah put his cloak on Elisha’s shoulders, his cloak which could be also translated to “mantle,” the origin of that phrase “passing the mantle” and the successor knew exactly what this meant.
Elisha and his family were well-off, this wasn’t some poverty-stricken farmhouse. The text says there were 12 sets of oxen, Elisha drove the 12th while assumedly 11 servants drove the rest. He would have been taken care of if he stayed home, but he immediately answered God’s call.
Of course, the natural ques on we ask ourselves is: would I be able to do that if it were asked of me? To leave my comfortable life and my family to follow the Lord? Now, God doesn’t ask us to do this, but what if he did?
Or rather, what about the things he does ask of us? What about the things that Jesus asks us to do as his followers? He asks us to make him and his Word number 1 in our lives, above all things. How are we doing with that?
Do our full wallets become more important than Jesus? Making sure I have my luxuries first instead of offering back to him?
Is our reputa on more important than our status as Chris ans? Are we worried about being known as the Bible thumpers to our neighbors, friends, and family? Are people going to judge me or look at me differently if I don’t join in the sin that they are indulging in?
Or are our earthly rela onships more important than our rela onship with Jesus? Do we fear losing friends if we are Chris an? Do we fear that our rela onships will change depending on how much I live my faith?
And God doesn’t command us to become hermits, isola ng ourselves from any and every earthly blessings, everyone we know and love, but he tells us to take a long, realis c look at our priority list and see where Jesus is.
And as we look at where Christ falls on our priority list, and the expecta on to put him and his Word first, it may seem daun ng. We may like the idea of a part- me op on for being a Chris an, a no-commitment free trial that we can opt out of any me. A type of Chris anity that we wear like a shirt, able to take it off or cover it up whenever we want. Where we can obey God’s laws only when it is convenient. Where being in God’s Word is great when I’m in the mood for it. Where I can say whatever I want to whomever I want because everybody else does it. But Jesus calls us to be complete followers, to give him undivided a en on, to make him our number one priority. And as sin-stained humans, by nature dead in our transgressions, we cannot do this on our own
And it was through his work, his buying us back with his own blood making us redeemed children of God, with hearts of faith being created in us by the Holy Spirit, we answer that call. And when we follow Christ, we see more clearly how much greater his blessings are. The spiritual blessings he gives us are far more valuable than money or the material things of this world: he forgives us our sins, he gives us a home in heaven. The only aspect of our reputa on that ul mately ma ers is our iden ty in Christ: that we are saved, holy in God’s eyes. And the rela onship that Jesus offers is a perfect one. One where he never lets us down or disappoints us, but one where he loves us perfectly in a way that no human rela onship can ul mately imitate.
Elisha answered the call and reorganized his priori es where God was first, and he was showered with blessings beyond comparison. And all these things he gives us as his followers, as he calls us to be his.
It was not a great me, by earthly standards, to be a follower of God, at the me of the gospels. The Jewish religion had become corrupt with high priests being more of poli cal figures than religious ones. Legalism had worked its way into religious life where what you did became the determining factor of how good of a Jew you were, and how they thought they were ge ng into heaven.
And it was into this world that Jesus took on flesh. Jesus knew the plan before him as Savior, and he was commi ed to it perfectly. He was commi ed to us perfectly. He took on flesh and came to earth with the sole purpose to save mankind. He was so commi ed that he would die on the cross and suffer the punishment of hell that mankind deserved- never wavering. He faced real tempta on, but in his perfect commitment, he never fell into sin
Elisha knew God’s commitment to his people, how God provided and protected them, how he was faithful and loved them from the crea on of the world. Elisha knew God’s commitment to him, that he would be with the young prophet every step of the way. And he knew God’s commitment to the promise of a Savior, reaffirming that promise me and me again that a Messiah was coming to destroy the devil’s eternal power.
And Jesus calls us, a humbling invita on that he would ask a sinner like me to be his follower. A call for commitment that he far surpasses in his commitment he has for us. That is ul mately why we follow him, it is what our faith is in, the commitment he has for us.
And that call may look different to each one of us. Elisha was called to leave everything behind and dedicate his life toward ministry. His job was to travel around as God’s representa ve to the people.
God calls pastors and teachers and vicars to a specific roll in his church, to serve God’s people in various ways: out of his undeserved love he calls sinful people to be public ministers. And he promises to be with called workers too, giving the tools that are needed and forgiving them when they fail.
But the similarity is that he calls all Chris ans to be his followers. This call to be a Chris an weaves its way into all of our lives: as parents, as spouses, as children, as employees, as students, all of these specific voca ons that our call as a Chris an touches. As parents, we get to share God’s Word and the gospel message with the next genera on. As employees, we get to be faithful to our jobs and our bosses. In all of our rela onships, we let our light shine in words and ac ons, reflec ng Christ’s love to all those around us. And in that calling to be his follower, he promises to be with us as we go through this life ba ling against sin and tempta on. He promises free and full forgiveness when we fail at this call as his follower. And he promises to give us the things we need to follow him closely in his Word, the whole Bible explaining what it means to be his follower.
Sanc fica on Jesus invites us and calls us to follow him as our Savior. He says, “see how much I have loved you, I want you to love me in the same way.” And the way to do that is found in his Word. He
tells us the things that are sinful, the things that his followers stay away from. He tells us about faith, what it means to put our trust in him and his Word. And he tells us me and me again about the blessings that belong to his followers and his commitment to them.
Conclusion
Maybe you would be surprised that, by earthly standards, it s ll wasn’t a great me to be a follower and prophet of God when Elisha began his ministry. Ahab and two of his sons a er him ruled Israel and did evil in the eyes of the Lord. But God was with Elisha, just as he was with Elijah. He did mul ple miracles through Elisha. He gathered more prophets under Elisha. He even tasked Elisha with anoin ng Jehu as king of Israel to overthrow the descendants of Ahab. His work was difficult, but Elisha followed God with undivided a en on. He was forgiven when he failed, he found his strength in the Lord, and he was mo vated by the commitment God had for him and the promise of a Savior. So really, it has always been a great me to be a follower of God, commi ed to Christ, because our God has always been perfectly commi ed to us.