| July 29, 2007
You are Welcome to Reflect on this Message “When Following Directions is Hard” (2 Kings. 5:1-15; Luke 4:27-30) Dr. Dan Ivins, preaching
Our text is a fascinating story about miraculous healing. You could say it’s about National Healthcare and how it’s practiced in two nations. Nah, it won’t measure up to “Sicko,” but it comes mighty close. The healing institutions aren’t interested in money. And a patient tried his best to give lots of money! See what I mean? Ya’ll are gonna love this story...Jesus sure did. I’m guessing its because it’s full of surprises, and difficult remedies that rely on faith not power. I’m not sure what Jesus liked about it, but he chose it for his text the first time he preached in his hometown synagogue. I’ll tell you what I like about it, there’s no insurance or institutions involved! There’s money in it, but it played no role at all. And I love that! It’s kinda weird, as the Jews and Gentiles are dissing each other’s rivers.
It has an upside down character to it. Backstairs conversations, where a servant tells her master what to do. Enemy kings getting along for once. And the preacher in it has some moxie. A general swallows his pride because of a strong desire to get well by opting for a cheap cure. “So Naaman went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the man of God; his flesh was restored” (V. 14). Sometimes the hardest thing to do in life is to follow directions. But if you really wanta get well, you’ll try anything. Even Elisha’s unconventional Rx for healing. When Jesus retold an abbreviated version of the story, it made everybody mad and got him kicked outa church! So it’s a volatile story. The full rendition is found in the Book of II Kings, where Naaman shows up about halfway through the 9th century B.C. There was a lull in the fighting between Israel and Syria. There was no USA back then, so Syria had the better army and Israel knew it. They even knew the enemy commander’s name, because he’d beaten them so often in battle. Naaman means “pleasant.” It’s an unusual name for a warrior, perhaps. But think of somebody like Colin Powell, except with one big difference: Naaman had leprosy. And it ate away at the soldier every minute of every day.
The Syrian warrior was an important person of nobility, which in those days was interpreted to mean favored of God. He was used to hobnobbing with heads of state. But there was always that inevitable awkward moment whenever he met somebody for the first time. Those weren’t tatoos on his skin! I wouldn’t wanta shake hands with him. You know he got tired of seeing the questions on their faces. But the questions paled in light of his own. One of which had to be, OK if he’s so favored of God, then why is he sick? And why couldn’t he get well in Syria? Naaman’s help came from a source he least expected: a young Jewish slave girl taken captive from one of his raids. She’s not given a name in the story and was the unlikeliest of all to be of help to the general. But as the Good Book tells it, she’s the one who put Naaman on the path to a cure. She didn’t speak directly to him though. But to his wife she said: “If only my Lord could make an appointment with the prophet in Samaria!” “How’s that?” the wife responded. “Elisha the prophet could cure Naaman of his leprosy.”
When the king’s own physicians couldn’t cut the mustard, he’s expected to go hunting for some faith healer back in Israel on the advice of a slave-child? It sounded ridiculous to his wife, but Naaman didn’t think so. When you’re really tired of being sick, -- you’ll try anything to get well. “Nothing from nothing, leaves nothing,” right? You’ve tried everything else, so what’ve you got to lose? You’d be wise to leave no stone unturned, even if the rock turns out to be an Israeli holy man.
No sooner had Naaman’s wife shared what the Israelite girl had said, than he hurries to the king of Syria, who was more than happy to oblige his star general. “Go then,” said the king. And Naaman did. The king even sent along a “letter of introduction” and Naaman packed it with the rest of his stuff. Since he had no idea what a cure for leprosy cost, he emptied his bank account and loaded his chariots with 750# of silver, 150# of gold, just in case ... plus 10 new outfits for good measure! And set out for Israel; not for battle this time, but with hope of healing.
He took the letter of introduction to Israel’s king first. It just stood to reason that if anybody could cure leprosy the top guy should know about it. It’s a nice gesture but a waste of time, because Naaman’s boss didn’t understand real power. He just knew about the intimidating, military kind, where “letters of recommendation” from powerful people had clout. But kings, who’re at home with political power and military might, are out of their league when it comes to the art of healing and the power of God. The king thought it was some kind of ruse to be used as an excuse to attack him again. It was all politics to him because politics was all he knew.
When it leaked out that the king had torn his clothes, that’s when Elisha sent word: “Bring him to me, that he may know there is a prophet in Israel.” Naaman knows there’s a king. But what good is a king in the face of leprosy? Lord knows, he needed to know Israel also had a preacher. That might not have been an unusual message for that day and time, but who of us would even think of going to church to get cured? For a handout, or a prediction about the future maybe, the end of the world, or a hair-raising sermon against sin, perhaps. But for help with a skin condition?
Yet when you really, really, really wanta get well, you’ll try anything. So Naaman the general went to see Elisha the prophet. There he was, with his horses and chariots and his riches, waiting for the prophet to come out. And somebody came out all right, but it wasn’t the prophet. Only a lesser messenger with a short and sweet, but odd message: “Wash yourself in the Jordan 7 times and your skin will be restored.” Say what? Naaman was so stunned by it that he was enraged. He just expected more. What’s with this? Where’s Elisha? Couldn’t the man of God even come out and say ‘hello’ or good morning or something? The general was furious. He thought the prophet would pronounce some grand words over him that would cure the leprosy in a spectacle. Then he would pay the man and go back home well.
But here he’s got 900# of gold and silver in his trunk, being dealt with by a lowly intermediary, and then told to go dunk himself in the Jordan River! How many times? The man said “seven.” It was just too much. Too much. “Are not Arbana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” Then he turned and went away and pitched a hissy-fit! Somebody close to him recognized that he was more hurt than mad; because he tiptoed up behind him and suggested he go ahead and give it a try. I mean, since he was already there and all. What’s he got to lose? “If he gave you difficult directions, you would’ve done it,” they reasoned. “So he gave you something simple.” Why not?
And that was the beginning of Naaman’s cure. Not until he hit rock bottom and the only way he could go was up. He tried everything in the book to rid himself of the awful leprosy. And now this. Naaman was fresh outa options. He was loaded with money, but it got him nowhere. His royal connections were no good. His membership in the NRA didn’t help. Elisha woudn’t even bother to come out to meet him. And now given this stupid thing to do -- strip down in front of everybody and go baptize himself in a muddy river that barely came up to his knees?
But there was one thing. Because Naaman really wanted to get well, he did it. As crazy as it sounds, as dumb as it seemed, he did it anyway. He dropped his drawers and left his sandals on the shore, picked his way through the rocks to the deepest part of the river. There’s nothing even remotely sacred about it, and down he goes once. Each time he submersed himself, the one thing he didn’t do, and that was dare to look at his skin. Six times he made the passage from river to sunshine, he tried not to think about anything but the numbers. This was just sooooo foolish! Still counting. 5-6-7. And by the Sabbath time he was winded. He was also clean.
Well, whadaya know? As you might guess, the first thing Naaman tried to do was pay the prophet! But Elisha wasn’t in it for the money. Only because it was right. But it’s a cheap cure if there ever was one. The Syrian would have gladly paid the money. It was worth that much to him. But what he had to do was much harder -- follow the directions. It’s so hard to follow directions, especially when it doesn’t make sense. But that’s usually how you can tell God’s behind it. Because to do that, you have to empty yourself, abandon your pretenses, give up your semblances of control, and the silly notion that who the patient is, or what he’s worth was all he needed.
But all he had to do was strip down to his “birthday suit,” till his ugly flesh was exposed and go play in the river like a little kid. In mercy that’s what God did for Naaman. Something all his military victories and trophies, and kings and bags of money could never do. In the end, God restored his flesh and re-created Naaman all over again. And Jesus could spot a provocative tale when he saw one. He played a little politics with it when he preached, making good use of the perennial tensions that still exist between Jew and Gentile; us and them. That never goes away.
I could go on trying to explain the story, which is what everybody expects the preacher to do. But I don’t think I’ll do it. All I want y’all to remember is this: “Naaman, was a great man, BUT…he was a leper.” Even the greatest don’t have it all. “Naaman was a rich man, BUT... his insurance was useless in his search for what mattered to him most. “Naaman was a winner, a successful, highly decorated soldier, a hero to his people, BUT ... “he was a very sick man.” And don’t forget that he was ready to trade all of that in when God surprised him with a cheap cure that blew his mind!
I can see why Jesus used the Namaan’s story as a sermon illustration the first time he preached in his hometown though. Can’t you? Maybe he wanted us to see that what God did for Naaman, he can do for us. All that remains is, how bad do we want it? “Cause if you really want it, really, really want it…
Prayer: (7-29-07)
Help us to find ways to reach out with a spirit of gentleness to those who are alienated by their condition; to be a welcoming congregation, practicing hospitality, offering surprising healing and forgiveness to those who need it most.
Open our eyes to realize that our belief in you is a process, that has to grow and develop and mature; that we are all pilgrims along the journey of faith, in different places and stages. Save us from trying to shape other people’s understanding of God according to our own narrow specifications. Or thinking there is only one way. Or believing that the old familiar things are better than the new and different and never-before-tried-experiences.
Thank you for the fine example of the lowly servant girl, who had a caring heart, even for her captors. And along with it, the courage to share her faith in a foreign land. May we take every opportunity to spread our faith, even in places where it doesn’t seem like it will ever take root. With faith, we never know.
Grow us all in our faith this day so we can rely on it when difficult times come. For those in hospitals, in need of healing, for those grieving their losses, for all who need a Savior…we pray….through Christ our Lord. Amen. |
