Pastor Tim Patoka
God’s Zoo: Two Bears
August 1, 2021
Bear Respect for God’s Called Spokespeople 2 Kings 2:19-25 1) Due to the Good God Works Through Them 2) Due to the One They Speak For What are some hardships you’ve endured because you failed to bear respect to someone you should have? Perhaps it was as a child when you failed to bear respect to your parents. Even if you did and said everything they told you, if it was done in a disrespectful way, you probably faced some hardship from them. When you get pulled over by a police officer, you’re strongly encourage to treat them with respect and politely answer their questions. Because if you don’t, you’ll probably find yourself suffering from miscellaneous laws you never knew existed. Or if you speak with customer service, there too a little respect goes a long way in your complaint be heard and addressed in the way you want. But have you ever had a wild animal set loose on you because you failed to bear respect where it was due? I hope not! Yet that is exactly what we have going on in our verses this morning from 2 Kings chapter 2 where we see the prophet Elisha curse a gang of young boys who were disrespecting God and his called spokesperson. Although we are not under the threat of 2 female bears, we too are expected to bear respect for God’s called spokespeople. Not because of who they necessarily are in and of themselves, but due to the good that God works through them and due to the one above that they speak for. 1) Due to the Good God Works Through Them When I talk about God’s called spokespeople, I’m referring to what we usually define the public ministry, that is, our pastors, teachers, and staff ministers who work full-time to share God’s Word in their respective ways. Because I am part of this group and it is the main topic of our sermon this morning, I first want to give a disclaimer about what I am not saying. I’m not here prop myself up, but rather to share with you what God’s Word says about how we treat God’s called spokespeople. Nor was this topic chosen in response to or to head off anything in particular. Rather, this is part of our usual pattern to teach the wide variety of what God’s Word says to his people today in our weekly Sunday worship services. As marked by the robe and stole I wear, I am speaking to you today as one of God’s called spokespeople who works fulltime to share what God’s Word has to say to his children today, even in potential areas with conflict of interest. Having hopefully made that clear, let’s get into what God’s Word has to say for us today. We find the prophet Elisha fresh on the job as God’s primary spokesperson after Elijah has been taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. And God is having Elisha do a number of miracles to gain 1
Pastor Tim Patoka
God’s Zoo: Two Bears
August 1, 2021
credibility among the people and to bring respect to his own name. And one opportunity is the newly rebuilt town of Jericho. Although destroyed ~700 years earlier, Jericho’s location was ideal for a thriving city. The only problem? Its water supply was tainted and thus prevented natural population. As we know from the city of Flint water crisis, a tainted water supply will undo any city. Asked by Jericho’s residents for help, Elisha throws a pan’s worth of salt into the natural spring and calls upon God’s name. And just like that, the water is cleansed! Jericho can now become a thriving city! We know this was a miracle. If you add salt to water, what happens? The water becomes salty and, if there’s enough of it, becomes as powerless to quench your thirst as ocean water. We also know this was a miracle because the water spring remain cleansed long after the initial salt had dissolved and gone away. God worked immensely good things through Elisha by cleansing Jericho’s water supply. Not only did he help the people there, he also beefed up Elisha’s credentials as the called successor to take over for Elijah. God also brought respect and honor to his name from Jericho’s happy inhabitants. If you were among Jericho’s residents that day, who would you first thank for this cleansed supply of water? Probably Elisha! He’s right there in front of you and the one who performed the miracle. How long would it take you to also thank the Lord who ultimately did this miracle? In the next breath…the next day…maybe never? How many newcomers to Jericho or future generations would even know that their water supply had once been tainted or that God cleansed it through Elisha? As humans, we have a tendency to forget the source from where our good things come, including when that source is God. Like Jericho’s inhabitants, we can sometimes forget about God because we bear our respect solely to the called spokesperson he worked through. For those of you who remember coming to faith, how dearly do you hold the pastor who was instrumental to that? How often do you thank God for what he worked in your heart through that pastor? Or perhaps like Jericho’s future inhabitants, we forget God entirely. For those of you like me who were baptized and raised in the faith, how often do we thank God for the good that God has worked in our lives for longer than we can remember? While I agree with you that God’s called spokespeople are blessings to his believing children, God gives us greater blessings than these individual men and women. In fact, he works these good blessings for us through them. It is through his called spokespeople we hear of Jesus, our Savior, and what all he did for us with his life, death, and resurrection to save us from our sins and eternal suffering in hell. It is through the we hear God’s extensive Word that guide us how to live for him in our 21st century world in a number of ways. Through them, we hear of God’s almighty power that strengthens our faith in his promises and tightens our hold 2
Pastor Tim Patoka
God’s Zoo: Two Bears
August 1, 2021
onto his blessings. Through them, we hear God’s guarantees of being with us, working all things for our good, and an eternally happily ever after. While it is expected to bear respect for God’s called spokespeople, we don’t do so because of who they necessarily are. It’s because of the good that God works through them for all his believing children. 2) Due to the One They Speak For We also bear respect for God’s called spokespeople due to the one they speak for. After Elisha cleansed Jericho’s water supply, he set out for Bethel. Along the way, a gang of at least 42 young boys (probably in their teenage years) started heckling him. In a mocking tone, they said to Elisha, “Go up, baldy! Go up, baldy!” (2 Kings 2:23 EHV) In saying, “Go up!” they were referring to how the prophet Elijah had recently been taken up to heaven and essentially telling Elisha to do the same thing – go on up to heaven and get out of our sight, because we don’t want you or care for you here. We see how cold and callous these young boys’ hearts were. By calling Elisha “baldy” they were playing on the cultural mark of shame that we also have – baldness is not something we strive for. It’s not respectful to call someone “baldy.” And remember how many young boys there were – at least 42! If you had 42 people mocking you and calling you names, you would feel uncomfortable, wondering if you would become the next headline of a protest gone wrong. But what truly made the young boys’ insult despicable wasn’t just because it was directed against Elisha, but also as God because Elisha was God’s called spokesperson. In essence, they were heckling God himself. Knowing that God’s reputation was being smeared in the mud, Elisha asked God to make things right. As our verses tell us, “So he turned around and looked at them and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two female bears came out of the woods, and they tore forty-two boys to pieces.” (2 Kings 2:24 EHV) 42 young boys paid the dreadful price for being completely disrespectful to God and his called spokesperson. Not only that though, these two bears brought about the same result as did Jericho’s cleansed water supply – Elisha’s credentials as God’s called spokesperson were validated and God’s reputation was preserved. There is a connection between what people think of God and his called spokespeople. Your pastors and teachers at Grace know this and try to live up to it. But no one sinner can be a perfect role model for God, not even your pastors and teachers. And when they aren’t, it’s easy to devalue God’s reputation as such. Such as when we compare one called spokesperson to another. As you probably know, God distributes different gifts to each of his children, including your pastors. preaching, teaching Adult Bible Study or small-group classes, counseling, administrative skills, and so on. While a person will usually gravitate toward one, it can go too far when we start comparing one to another. To be overly critical so as to be disrespectful, to wonder if God knew what he was doing in calling that person to be his spokesperson. 3
Pastor Tim Patoka
God’s Zoo: Two Bears
August 1, 2021
We also tarnish God’s reputation with baseless accusations against his called spokespeople. While everyone is a sinner, some accusations are simply not true. But just as easily as a beloved figure can fall from grace, so can a single false allegation sink a called spokesperson, and by extension, God’s reputation. However, those accusations are sadly true, serious harm is done to God’s reputation in the community. People who are turned off from God or hostile to him. And they can’t separate a person’s sinful behavior from God’s perfect and wondrous love. Despite their fallacies and personal struggles, God continues to use sinful humans as his called spokespeople to share his words of everlasting life to sinners in need of a Savior. God hasn’t told us why he does it this way. But who better to share the good news of sins forgiven than a sinner who knows what it means to be forgiven? Who better to stress the need for faith in Jesus than the sinner who also needs Jesus? Who better to help you grow in your faith and live for him than the Christian who does the same in their preaching and teaching? While we may not fully understand God, there is wisdom to why he continues to use sinners to be his called spokespeople. But not only that, but God promises to uphold his reputation among the nations through his called spokespeople. When we look at those 2 female bears and why they tore 42 young boys to pieces, we see how God promises to defend his called spokespeople from those bear them disrespect, even if God waits till they pass away. God makes it clear to his called spokespeople that they are to live up to his name’s sake and be held accountable for those under their watch in Hebrews chapter 13(:17). God also lays out the path for his children to constructively criticize their called spokesperson in a way that still bears them respect in our 2nd Lesson and Matthew chapter 18(:15-18). But through it all, we see the connection between God and his called spokespeople. And it’s because of who they speak for that we are to bear them respect, despite the inevitable room for growth and constructive criticism they will need. Conclusion Although we are not under threat of 2 female bears, God expects his children to bear respect for his called spokespeople. One reason is due to the good that God works through them. As God worked good through Elisha to miraculously cleanse Jericho’s water supply, so he works good through our pastors, teachers, and staff ministers today: faith in his promises of a Savior and forgiveness, guidance to live for him in our current day and age, power over everything and everyone, and guarantees of what will be ours regardless of his called spokespeople.
4
Pastor Tim Patoka
God’s Zoo: Two Bears
August 1, 2021
We secondly bear respect to God’s called spokespeople due to the one they speak for. There is a connection between God and his called spokespeople, even when they fall into sin. However, we still bear them respect and help them improve so their calling as spokespeople for God. I pray that God help us always thank him for the good he works in us and the truths he makes known to us so we may always bear respect to his called spokespeople. Amen.
5