Rev. Reed Lee Pedersen's
Have you ever been told to respect your elders? Have you ever been given some sort of horror story about why it is important to respect your elders? The Bible is full of wacky and fun stories that don’t seem to make sense. I want to lift one up today about a story in the Bible that tries to teach a lesson about respecting our elders and not making fun of bald people. (I admit this article may be self serving.) Elisha, not to be confused with his mentor, Elijah (although he always is), just witnessed his mentor be carried off into heaven. Elijah, not to be confused with his understudy, Elisha (seriously it is so confusing!), actually is one of only two people who did not die. Enoch along with Elijah were instead carried off into heaven to be with God. Before Elijah is carried off to be with God he instills Elisha with power to perform miracles that God gave him. Elisha goes on and performs miracles in God’s name. Then he goes to Bethel: “[Elisha] went up from there to Bethel; and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go away, baldhead! Go away, baldhead!” When he turned around and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.” -2 Kings 2:23-24 Woh!!!!! That escalated quickly. My first intuition of this story is to laugh; other’s intuition is to be appalled by Elisha (and God’s) ruthlessness. This story may seem strange, but it serves two points in my mind:
I realize that there are nicer ways to show power and teach a lesson on respect than to maul forty-two young boys with she-bears, but at the same time it’s the amazing tales that stick around in your head. I hope you enjoyed this story! If a younger person doesn’t give you the respect you deserve you can tell them the story of Elisha at Bethel. ;-) Points to Ponder:
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AuthorPastor Reed is a first call pastor at Augustana Lutheran Church in Andover, Illinois. Archives
July 2019
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