2 Kings 2:7-10 “Fifty men of the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Tell me, what can I do for your before I am taken from you?’ ‘Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,’ Elisha replied. ‘You have asked for a difficult thing,’ Elijah said, ‘yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours–otherwise not.’”

In an ancient Israelite inheritance, a double portion of the inheritance went to the true successor of the one who died. It was a way of saying, “This is the new leader in the family.” It had as much to say about position and leadership as it did about money or property.

Elisha wasn’t interested in Elijah’s stuff. We don’t know that Elijah owned much. Elisha wanted to be a courageous, faithful, powerful prophet like Elijah had been. When God builds a faith that produces fruits like courage, faithfulness, service, and power in a person, that happens in our soul or spirit. It is a spiritual thing, more than just information in our head or physical strength in our bodies. Elisha wanted these things like Elijah had them so that he could serve God’s people the way Elijah had.

More than that, he wanted the double portion. He wanted to be the true successor, the new leader of the prophets and people of God. And in order to do this, he would need a spirit of faith like Elijah had.

This wasn’t a greedy or prideful request from Elisha. It wasn’t going to get him anything materially speaking. It was an invitation to rejection, persecution, and heartache. But he asked for it because he loved God’s word, his people, and his work. It was an important thing not so much for him as for the people he would serve.

It was also something only the Lord himself could give. “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said. You don’t “inherit” someone else’s faith. You don’t “inherit” someone else’s ministry. God gives them through is word, and through his call. Elijah had taught God’s word and preached God’s word to Elisha, the thing that would make it possible. But the rest was up to the Lord himself.

Most of you aren’t called to a prophetic ministry like these men. As a pastor, my life might be a little closer, but I am not a leader of exactly the same type either. A double portion of Elijah’s spirit may not be so much what we need. But to have the same kind of priorities, the same kind of love for God’s word, the same kind of desire to serve God’s people, the same kind of faith–that would be as useful and dear a gift for you or me as it ever was for Elisha.

As a parent, I would like to leave a nest egg for my children after I am gone. I hope that we have passed along a little of their mother’s work ethic, and my interest in learning and education. These would all serve our children well. But what I desperately want them to receive above all else is a faith in their Lord Jesus as their Savior from sin. I want them to see him as the very center of their lives and their purpose for living. I want them to live every day in the certainty and peace that God sees them washed clean in Jesus’ blood and claims them as his very own. I want Jesus to be the very highest priority in their lives, and for this to show itself in the way they live their lives and their devotion to their churches. Then, when my last day comes, I can face death like Elijah, and so can they, because we share the most important things.

2 Kings 2:1-3 “When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Stay here: the Lord has sent me to Bethel.’ But Elisha said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elijah and asked, ‘Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?’ ‘Yes, I know,’ Elisha replied, ‘but do not speak of it.’”

This scene plays itself a second time. Elijah leaves and goes to Jericho. He tells Elisha to stay behind. Elisha won’t do it. When they arrive the prophets in that place come out and tell Elisha that this is Elijah’s last day. Elisha doesn’t want to talk about it.

There are a lot of things going on here. Everyone knows something big is about to happen. No one seems to know exactly what to do about it. Should Elisha leave, or should Elijah and Elisha stay together? Should we be talking about what’s going to happen, or shouldn’t we?

It’s hard to tell what everyone is thinking. Does Elisha want to stick close to Elijah for himself, because he can’t bear to leave him, because he wants every last moment with his friend he can get? Or does he stay with Elijah to support him, because what is coming seems a little scary, and he doesn’t want Elijah to face it alone? Does Elijah ask Elisha to stay behind because he wants to spare Elisha the trauma of thinking about this all day long, and having to see Elijah’s final moment? Is he trying to help him get started on resolution and closure? Or is he personally burdened by the grief he senses in Elisha, and he doesn’t want to drag this around with him his last day? “Just leave me alone.”

I don’t know that I can answer those questions for you. It may be a mixture of all the above. How to act as death approaches confuses us. Family members get on each other’s nerves. Selfishness often rises to the surface. The emotional pain makes some people bossy. Others withdraw into themselves. We are tempted to believe the worst about others. An elderly woman to whom I was close believed that the rest of her family was interested only in her money as her last days approached. The truth was, no one I knew even cared about an inheritance. But sometimes that is a big issue in a family. It’s sad that at a time when both the dying and those around them may need each other the most, we easily end up pushing each other away. Just when “Love your neighbor as yourself” is most needed, it suddenly becomes all about me.

If we are going to face death like God’s people, this is what we can take away from this part of the story: This is the time to support each other. Maybe that seems too simple. But this involves a facet of the gospel we don’t talk about so much. It is important at a time like this. Regardless of the current condition of our earthly families, God has made us part of a family of faith. Jesus died to cleanse us of our sins and to make us his brothers and sisters by faith. That makes us brothers and sisters to each other as well. One of the prayers in the funeral liturgy reminds us of the blessing when someone dies. “In our earthly sorrows, help us find strength in the fellowship of the church…You give us family, friends, and neighbors to help us when there is loneliness now and in the days to come.” We are not alone. That’s good news.