I think that we are in a battle for the soul of the church. I'm not just talking about my Presbyterian denomination, although it cer­tainly has its problems. I'm suggesting that we are in a battle for the soul of the whole church in our time.

Wherever you turn, the church is changing and evolving to­ward something new, though it is not yet clear what that new form will look like. Our forms of worship are being challenged by re­peated experiments to appeal to a new generation. Denominational loyalties are falling apart and many churches are trying to distance themselves from their own denomination. Many churches have even removed the denominational identity from their name and speak of themselves as a community church.

At the time of the Reformation, there was an attempt to define what made for a true church. Their basic definition was that a true church was where the word of God is truly preached and the sacra­ments are rightly administered. The battles were over a doctrinal understanding of the faith. Today the battles within churches are largely over ethics rather than doctrine. We are greatly disturbed about issues surrounding abortion, divorce, or sexual orientation but do not worry so much about predestination, atonement, the definition of filioque, or the meaning of sanctification.

Consumerism has so infected us that the first question for many church programs is what will please people rather than what will please God. We are moving through a time of change and as it says in 1 John 3:2, "Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed." The question for Christians is how to remain faithful when it is hard to tell what it means to be faithful.

I direct your attention to our lectionary passage about that great prophet Elijah. Elijah is only one of two people in the Hebrew scriptures that we are told did not die. We don't know much about the other one, but we do know a fair amount about Elijah. Elijah didn't die but was taken up to God in a chariot of fire. We sing about him in that old spiritual, "Swing Low Sweet Chariot."

Because he did not die, the tradition developed that Elijah would return to prepare the way for the Messiah. If you are fortunate enough to be invited by Jewish friends to celebrate the Passover with them, you will note that there is a vacant chair at the table. That is the chair for Elijah. In what we call the New Testament, it is suggested that John the Baptist was Elijah returned to prepare the way for the Messiah, which in Greek is called the Christ. John even dressed in garments reflective of how Elijah was described in the Hebrew scriptures.

Elijah, as a transitional figure, shows us how we are to act in times of great change. Elijah prepares the way for us when things have grown chaotic. In our scripture lesson, Elijah and Elisha, his presumed successor, knows that things are about to change. What will happen is unclear but that something significant will happen is quite plain. In preparation for whatever is going to happen, the two prophets go on a journey.

Like the church, when we experience great changes taking place, Elijah and Elisha tried to revisit the great touchstones of their faith. They wanted to get back to fundamentals. First they went to Bethel where their ancestor, Jacob, had this strange dream of a ladder extending between heaven and earth. It had been a time of critical change in Jacob's life. He named that place Bethel, which is Hebrew for house of God. Like a church that wants to return to the way things were when all seemed right, so Elijah and Elisha wanted to return to where heaven and earth seemed well connected. Surely if Elijah was being taken up to heaven, it would happen here. But nothing happened.

Next Elijah traveled to Jericho, the place where the walls came tumbling down at the sound of the trumpet. This was the great turning point in the battle that enabled Israel to enter the promised land. Elijah and Elisha wanted to relive the moment of great vic­tory when Israel had felt strong in the faith and God had clearly been on their side. It was like a pilgrimage to a great religious shrine. Surely this is where they could be close to God but nothing happened.

So they travel on to the Jordan River, that greatest of all rivers in Israel's existence. When they arrived, Elijah struck the water and it parted just like Moses parted the waters of the Red Sea. This recalled the great moment of liberation of the people of Israel. As a church we often seek places where we can experience clear signs of God's presence, signs of great spiritual awakening on the part of members. But even when we have traveled to the spot, like Elijah's protégé, Elisha, we still face an uncertain future.

Elijah asked Elisha, "Tell me what I may do for you before I am taken from you" (v. 9). Elisha responded, as we might respond, "Let me inherit a double measure of your spirit" (v. 9). Let me have a faith that can endure all the challenges of the future. Let me grasp the truth in a way that cannot be challenged.

Elijah responded, "If you see me as I am being taken from you, then it will be granted to you but if not, it will not" (v. 10).

Here we enter the great mystery of the church on which the soul of our faith rests. Here is where we have been journeying all along. The test of Elisha's faith is whether he can see the invisible framework behind the visible reality of life.

This is what I mean. When Elijah had walked with Elisha a little further, suddenly there was a chariot of fire that separated them and Elijah ascended into heaven in a whirlwind. If anyone else had been standing there, they might have seen a great whirl­wind pick Elijah up but only Elisha saw the chariot of fire behind the whirlwind. Only Elisha could see the power of God made vis­ible in the chariot working behind the scenes to transport Elijah to heaven.

When you look at the church, what do you see? Many see a building, people, and an organization. All these things are visible and measurable. How big is your building? How many people at­tend worship? How many joined last year? What type of programs do you offer? But if you look through the obvious and the visible, can you see the invisible and the incredible presence of God?

As Christians we affirm the words recorded in Ephesians 1:22-23 that God "has put all things under (Christ's) feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." Behind the visible signs of the church as an organization of people who join together on their jour­ney of faith, there is an invisible force that is shaping the people of God as the church.

I recognize that there are lots of storms swirling around the church as we move forward into God's future. From the outside, it may appear that the church is caught in a whirlwind that may de­stroy it. When Elisha saw the real presence of God behind all that was visible, he knew that whatever the future held, God held the future. Christ is the head of the body we call the church, and Christ is not going to lose that with which he has been entrusted.

As Jesus promised Peter, Christ will build his church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). Behind the visible organization that will inevitably change as it has in a variety of ways in the last 2,000 years, there is an invisible pres­ence. For those who see it, they will not be afraid. Amen.