2 KINGS 5:1-15ab
PSALM 42:1-7
1 CORINTHIANS 9:24-27
MARK 1:40-45
Sermon – 2/16/03
God heals – and in remarkable ways and with remarkable consequences: such is the message of our Old Testament and Gospel passages today as I share with you the second of three sermons on healing.
Our
first story from Scripture is another healing miracle which God worked through
the great prophet Elisha in the 9th Century B.C. Israelite prophets were vehicles for God’s
influence on the world, most often known as the bringers of God’s inspired
directives for an immediate situation, secondarily as predictors of the future,
and sometimes also as instruments of divine power in other ways, such as
healing. Elisha was the heir of the great
prophet Elijah, and like his mentor was a power in the nation independent of
the King in a way that did not exist in pagan Ancient Near Eastern countries.
This
story focuses on Naaman, the commanding General of the Army of Aram, modern Syria, then (as now!) a long-time
enemy of the nation of Israel. However,
the crucial initiator of action in the story is an unnamed person described as
a young Israelite girl captured by the Syrians who is now a servant to the wife
of General Naaman.
In
ancient times the terms young, girl,
captive and servant all were low status terms, certainly compared to
Naaman, who is older, male, captor and owner.
Yet it is the “low status” person who has priceless knowledge and faith:
that God does heal people through the prophet Elisha and could heal
Naaman. This remarkable girl seems to
be following the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount over 800 years before
Jesus gave it, for she is indeed praying for those who oppress her. This is not a case of a captive becoming “converted”
to the ways of her captor, for her efforts on behalf of her captor come from her
faith in her God, and ultimately results in converting Naaman!
Both
Naaman and his King, however, initially miss the point that healing could come
from the God of Israel through the prophet, and assume that all power
comes from the holder of political power – the King of Israel – so
Naaman goes to him for healing, bringing with him a Kingly payment for
the expected healing. The King of
Israel thinks that Syria is simply creating an excuse to pick a fight with
Israel, and (for some reason) does not even think of Elisha. Others, however, do send Naaman to
Elisha. Naaman goes to him, where he
expects the prophet to come out and perform a miracle with special effects
worthy of the magician David Copperfield.
Elisha
does not even come out to see his important visitor in person, but sends a
message instructing him to dip himself seven times in the Jordan River. Naaman feels insulted and is furious, but
finally his aides persuade him to give it a try. To his astonishment, he is completely healed of his leprosy,
whereupon he stands before Elisha and declares, “’Now I know that there is no
God in all the earth except in Israel.’”
Wow.
From
this ancient story, we learn some timeless truths. God heals, often through people, and not
necessarily through the established powers.
Instead, a young girl who is a captive and a servant is the bearer of
the powerful Good News of God’s love and power, and God’s prophet is the
instrument of healing.
Second,
God’s healing is free, and is beyond price. As I’ve said after some healings we’ve experienced here, there’s
no deductibles, no referrals, no co-payments, no paperwork, no
bureaucracy. Third, God’s healing does not
require a big show or necessarily involve specific rituals: the Author of Life
can heal anyway God wants to. Even
through someone bathing in a muddy stream.
Fourth, God’s healing is available for foreigners and non-believers
– even the commanding general of the traditional enemy of the people of Israel!
And fifth, God’s healing is a means of self-revelation for God and can
be a vehicle for converting others.
There
are a couple of charming touches in the rest of this story, not read this
morning. Naaman asks Elisha’s pardon
because he, Naaman, will still have to “go through the motions” of
participating in pagan worship when he accompanies his master, The King of
Syria, to such events, even though Naaman knows that only The Lord is “The Real
Deal.” Elisha acknowledges that. Then Naaman asks for two mule loads of dirt
– so that he can, in private, kneel down and worship The Lord literally “on
Israelite soil.” This was in keeping
with the ancient idea that every nation had a god or gods who were local to its
territory.
We,
happily, know that the soil of New Jersey – or Mexico or Nigeria or India or
Iceland or anywhere else – is just as much God’s as the soil of Israel. God does indeed “have the whole world in his
hands.”
In
the Gospel lesson, Jesus also heals a leper – while deliberately touching him,
something no one else would have dared to do.
Just like Naaman, the healed man could not help but proclaim the Good
News of what God had done for him, so that, as the Gospel says, “people came to
Jesus from every quarter.” They still
do.
The
theme of the season after the Epiphany is God’s self-revelation to “the
nations”, which means everyone except the Jews, to whom God revealed God’s self
first. So it is that we at St. Barnabas
celebrate “International Sunday” on one of the Sundays after Epiphany, and I
chose this one because the story of Naaman was appointed for this day.
Our
International Sunday service draws on Anglican Prayer Books from all six
inhabited continents, plus particularly diverse music and a unique coffee hour
spread. But it’s really about more even
than the worldwide nature of this parish family, or of the Anglican Churches,
or of the Christian Church as a whole. International Sunday reminds us, yes,
that we at St. Barnabas are one family drawn from 26 countries on five
continents, but this Sunday also reminds us that all people, of whatever
faith or nationality, are made in the image of God and are precious to
God. All life comes labeled “fragile:
handle with care.”
It
is particularly important for us to remember all this at this point in the
world situation, with dangerous crises with Iraq and North Korea, and anxiety
beginning perhaps to be laced with hysteria over the threat of terrorism here.
In
the Baptismal Covenant (page 302 of The Book of Common Prayer), we as
Christians are called on to “renounce the evil powers of this world which
corrupt and destroy the creatures of God.”
To do that, we need to be aware that they exist and are real threats and
not “bury our heads in the sand.” Few
people do that any more in this country. But second, in our responses (as individuals or as a nation) we
need to guard against, by our very actions, increasing the forces we
oppose.
To
be specific and to offer my personal opinion, I certainly agree that Saddam
Hussein is a dangerous, unscrupulous thug who has a long record of attacking
his neighbors, savagely oppressing his own people, menacing peace generally,
and lying. I am not, however,
personally convinced at this time that a unilateral invasion of Iraq by the
United States at this time would, in fact, reduce the dangers to world peace or
to ourselves. Such an invasion might
instead do more to recruit members for Al Quaeda than anything Al Quaeda could
do on its own, which would affect us for sure.
When
threatened by malaria-carrying mosquitoes, the ultimate solution is draining
the swamp, not just getting high-tech flyswatters. America needs to make a
commitment for a generation or more
to justice, mutual understanding, freedom and peace at the most profound level
in the Middle East whether or not there
is a war.
War
is a last resort and is sometimes necessary; I agree with that. But war is never a solution. The most complete American military victory
imaginable would not “solve the problem” of violence menacing us.
Rather,
we need to invest ourselves in building peace with justice for the long term.
Too often, as a nation, America has behaved as if it had Attention Deficit
Disorder. Remember Afghanistan? Rebuilding Afghanistan is not a one-year
project; it is a decades-long project, and our commitment there will tell other
peoples in the area how serious we are about supporting freedom for the long-term.
Getting
back to home, we are now officially on a “High” level of alert as a nation – a
level which may have been set in response to bogus information from a captured
Al Quaeda suspect who has flunked a lie detector test. As a member of the Community Resource Team
of South Brunswick, I was briefed by the Police Department last Tuesday, and I
commend the Red Cross website to you (www.redcross.org)
for more information. I think certain precautions are reasonable: having
bottled water, extra food, a battery-operated radio and a little extra cash on
hand, not letting the car’s tank get close to empty, having a family plan for
contacting each other in an emergency, keeping emergency contact information
with your children’s schools up to date.
All this would be helpful in a blizzard or other natural disaster, too.
However,
Elda and I are not duct-taping our home.
None
of us can be 100% prepared for every possible terrorist act, and trying to be
would drive us all nuts. Let’s not go
there. But we shouldn’t sit home
feeling vulnerable, helpless and depressed either.
All
of us are in stronger positions than that young, captive Israelite servant girl
in the Old Testament reading – and look what she did! Let us remember that God is Lord of all and offers healing and
new life to all people, so in God’s Name let us reach out to all people,
seeking to build understanding, justice, healing, safety and peace.
Want
to do something in this crisis atmosphere? Learn something more about someone very different from yourself:
older, younger, different national heritage or race, or religion,
whatever. Come to the Interfaith
Dialogue Group St. Barnabas will be hosting Sunday evening, March 16. Read a biography or a book of history in an
area you’ve never explored. Stand up
against paranoia and xenophobia. Reach
out ahead of time with friendship to any people who might be especially
vulnerable in a crisis: perhaps the disabled or isolated or elderly or new in
town or the bereaved (who are emotionally vulnerable) or those whose color or
religion might make them key targets of bias crimes. Share a story with someone of how God helped you through a
difficult time in the past, and how that gives you confidence for the future. Carry out your normal family, vocational,
church and community responsibilities with grace, patience, and faith in the
loving God who is present and powerful no matter what happens.
And
finally, expect miracles. And celebrate
whatever ones you see, no matter how small, or how large. God lives,
God loves. God heals. Spread the news.
(The Rev.) Francis A. Hubbard