Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, if I did not have respect for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not pay any attention to you. – 2 Kings 3:14

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 4, 2013): 2 Kings 3

A number of years ago I was on the golf course with a couple of friends when a sudden storm came up. As we were putting out on the fifteenth green the lightning seemed like it was constant and right on top of us. So it was an easy to decide that this golf game was only going to last fifteen holes. But we also had the scary task of making our way across the open golf course to the club house – and our cars. It was Saturday, and at one point in the journey, in the midst of all of the thunder and streaks of light in the sky, one of my friends decided to ask if I was preaching the next day. I replied that I was and he started to walk closer to me – after all, if I was preaching the next day, God was unlikely to strike me down with lightning on this Saturday afternoon.

As ridiculous as the suggestion might have been, it is almost the same suggestion that Elisha is making to the three kings. He has no interest in their battles. He does not care which one of the kings live or die, or even if they prevail over the armies of their enemies. He has served the God of Israel for all of his life and he knew that as for these kings, they did not even care which God was approached, as long as they received the answers that they wanted. In this moment Elisha makes it clear that he would prefer now that they go and ask the prophets of Baal to answer their questions   - that is, except that Jehoshaphat was with them. The King of Judah was a follower of the God of Israel, and for that reason he had the respect of Elisha.

In any other circumstance, Elisha would have never spoken to the King of Israel. And he makes it clear that the only reason he is speaking now is because Jehoshaphat is present - for his sake only would he answer their questions.

We are called to be salt and light. Too often we seem to think that that means that we need to exist in a light convention where all of the other lights hang out – or maybe salt in the salt shaker. But change only happens when our presence is shared by those who keep themselves outside of the presence of God. Jehoshaphat had the opportunity to change the situation that he was in and the lives of two kings because he was the one that followed the God of Israel – and because the prophet of God honored him for doing exactly that.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 4

The VantagePoint Community Church message "Loose Love" from the series "I Married a Prostitute" is now available on the VantagePoint Website. You can find it here.