RECOVERY OF LIFE'S CUTTING EDGE
Roger T. Forster
Reading: 2 Kings 6:1-7
THE background to this story is that Elijah and Elisha in their spiritually unified ministry, reflecting Christ and His Church endowed by the Spirit, had seen something of revival begin amongst the apostate Northern Kingdom of Israel. One major feature of this was the rise of the sons of the prophets and their wives -- men and women who wished to embody the prophetic word of God and relate to Elijah and Elisha as children learning God's way of family living.
In 1 Kings 20, the days of Elijah, there seemed to be just a few of these sons of the prophets in evidence. In 2 Kings 2, when Elijah was translated, there appear to have been fifty or so near at hand. In 2 Kings 4:1 mention is made also of their wives, and 4:43 indicates that there were over one hundred present in the community's life. Now in this sixth chapter of 2 Kings, we are told that the place where they were living was too small for such a growing community. It was this growth that occasioned the event of the building of a larger campus, with the subsequent loss of the axe head into Jordan in the course of the building operation.
One wonders if some modern Elisha, if appealed to under such circumstances, might have urged the workers not to worry about the loss of the cutting edge but to press on with God's work. As if to suggest that they should keep chopping with the axe handle, persevering and perspiring in their efforts to keep things going at all costs. Before we ask what the lost axe head represents, what the cutting edge of growth and church building is all about, it is important to remember that spiritual revival and growth is connected with the Biblical principle of community life. This is a truth not only illustrated [79/80] by the sons of the prophets in the days of Israel's apostasy, but throughout the whole church age. We are all aware of the beginning of the New Testament church in Jerusalem, with its spontaneous, voluntary, communal living, so that "All that believed were together and had all things common. No man called what he possessed his own, and there was none who had need" (Acts 2:44-45 and 4:32-34).
The Irish Missionary movement was made up of small communal bands, both from Catholics and from theUnitas Fratrum, a pre-reformation Biblical movement. Anabaptists, Moravians and Methodist class meetings are all in the same stream of those who saw the need of some form of living and sharing together. Going back to the New Testament it seems from Romans 16 that the church in the great metropolis of Rome certainly had house group cells, five of which are mentioned in that chapter.
It is in the smaller congregations that body life can most adequately be experienced. Many churches are inspirational in their singing, free and fulfilling in their worship, profound in their teaching and active in their organised outreach, all essential elements in the Christian life. Too often, however, the factor that is missing is the life-changing business of becoming more like our Lord Jesus, that is, "being conformed to the image of his Son". Yet this is really the heart of God's purpose in the churches. Failure in Christ-like growth among believers is a serious hindrance to Church growth as a whole.
IF we return now to our story[, one] of the sons of the prophets [was] standing by the Jordan, bewailing the loss of his axe head. His concern was not just over the loss of the tool, but that it was borrowed or, "asked for as a gift" (the Hebrew word means either). It represented a valued relationship. A present is a way of giving yourself; on the other hand, if something is borrowed, it means that you owe to another and are valuable to him. This kind of relationship was now at the bottom of the river of death. He could not afford to leave it there, and nor can we, for we all grow into Christ "from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love" (Ephesian 4:16).
Consequently Elisha had to recover what had been lost in Jordan. Firstly he 'put in' a stick and then the man concerned 'put in' a hand to take hold of the axe head which 'flowed' (Hebrew) within reach as a result. The miracle was one of resurrection. It reminds us of Christ's death as He "bore our sins in his body on the tree". That stick in Jordan was perhaps a picture of Christ's baptism in Jordan, which itself pointed on to the reality of Calvary. By His resurrection power, the Lord is able to raise my lost relationship with my Christian brother into a life with a renewed cutting edge.
IF we are to be effective in a building work for God in this world, we need each other, and we need each other in the closeness of shared life in Christ. Our relationship in smaller groups exposes us to one another in a way which is often not possible in the large celebration gatherings. It is in this kind of related life that we discover how much we need Christ's death and resurrection to make and maintain the flow of the love of God towards each other. When functioning on my own I can easily forget how much I need the life-giving experience of fellowship in the Spirit. As in the process of fellowship some experience of death comes in, then I am made aware of my own powerlessness and am driven to turn to the Lord of resurrection who alone can provide the answer. He alone can raise the iron, but I must put out my hand and grasp His resurrection miracle.
By means of this discovery of need and appropriation of Christ's answer through His cross, I am able to have a new relationship with my brother in the community of Christ, and by this means to grow into deeper Christ-likeness in the love of the Spirit. That is why Jesus said: "First be reconciled to your brother" before you offer your service (Matthew 5:24). Your service in building for God will then have a new cutting edge.
Can this story explain why some of us may have grown so little during the years of our Christian lives? Ignorantly we may have laboured on, leaving the axe head of relationship with our brothers at the bottom of Jordan and trying vainly to get on with God's work of building while it lies there in death. This is one realm in which we may be failing to experience Christ's resurrection power. We are meant so to discover that resurrection life in our contacts with one another, that each ministers the life and virtues of Christ to the other. If we think such harmony of fellowship is impossible, let us remember that 'the iron did swim'! [80/ibc]
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