The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

Saint Naaman
2 Kings 5:1-14

The Old Testament story we heard today is a great story, full of lots of interesting characters. Most of them—with the exception of Elisha—are minor within the sweep of the whole Bible. We never hear of them again. But they are fascinating in this story. We get little psychological insights into their characters and they are complicated, full of mixed motives. For me this makes this story real and timeless. It speaks just as powerfully to us today as it did when it took place. The people and issues are contemporary.

Just to review. Naaman is a prominent military leader in the nation of Aram. Aram is present day Syria. The people of Israel and the people of Syria did not get along any better then than they do now. “War was a way of life at that time.” As it is now. In the Middle East and throughout the world.

Naaman is an important man in his own nation and society. But he’s sick. A young girl from Israel suggests that Aram might find healing in Israel. She’s a girl. A captive slave. From an enemy nation. Suggesting that an enemy prophet of a foreign God might heal Naaman. Remarkably, Naaman is willing to pursue her suggestion.

He goes to his king. The king of Aram sees a political opportunity in the situation. He appears to have no interest in Naaman’s health. The king of Israel is in a no-win situation as the weaker political leader. He’s consumed by political angst. A contemporary story….

Elisha, the prophet of the Lord, apparently seizes upon this situation as an opportunity for religious one upmanship. “The Syrians may have defeated us in war,” he implies, “but I’ll show them there’s a real prophet in Israel.” He doesn’t seem at all concerned about Naaman either. Through a servant Elisha asks Naaman to wash seven times in the Jordan. Naaman’s ego is severely bruised is reluctant, but ultimately his own servant persuades him. He washes in the Jordan and is made whole.

In this story leprosy is a symbol. It is a physical illness, yes. But it also signifies sickness of the soul, the brokenness of a human spirit. To seek healing is to seek wholeness, cure of the soul as well as the body.

There’s a lot going on in this story.

There are oversized egos all over the place, especially among political leaders. It is about a world at war, where enmity between peoples is the context for all that happens. As I said, it’s a contemporary story.

People have mixed motives. The need to maintain social standing or prominence motivates the kings and even Elisha. Naaman struggles with his desire for cure and the complexities of seeking that cure among an enemy people. The maid’s motives seem pure. She is an extension of God’s unqualified desire and ability to heal. And that is certainly one very important lesson in this passage…. God’s unqualified desire and ability to heal, even in the midst of the complex and messy human sitution.

But the message that I hear in this story, at least as I read it now, is an affirmation of the human ability to overcome immense difficulty in our striving for God’s healing. This story begins with Naaman’s desire for healing. And that’s where the story begins for us. The story begins with a desire, a longing for wholeness and healing. The journey from desire for healing to fulfillment was very difficult for Naaman. It was hard. He had to overcome a lot in his world and within himself. But he made it. And if Naaman can do it, so can we.

Maybe Naaman’s journey does not seem so hard to us. But think first what he must have had to overcome within in himself before he accept the words of the maid—an enemy slave. His journey to Elisha may have been facilitated by his power, but once he got there, what Elisha asks him to do is very difficult. Why? What does he have to lose? Why is this so hard? It may seem like there’s nothing to it, as his servant points out, just a dip in the Jordan. But Naaman had to risk a lot of who he was to take that bath in the Jordan.

Elisha tells him to wash seven times in the Jordan and he will be made whole.  One writer describes why this might be a difficult decision for Naaman.

“If Elisha is right, then this Syrian military commander, who has led his troops into both pitched battles and smaller raids against Israel, will have to acknowledge that his healing could come in Israel, but not in Aram. While he was willing to allow that Israel might have a prophet connected to God like no other, admitting that Israel was uniquely blessed by God was a lot to ask.

At the same time, if Elisha is wrong, then this military leader will be publicly embarrassed by abasing himself in a ritual anyone could have known would never work…. Everyone knows that river water cannot wash away leprosy. If it could, Naaman would not have traveled to see the man of God. Elisha’s simple request requires great risk. Naaman could have traveled all this distance to be made a fool.”

It’s complicated. It’s hard. He’s risking his reputation, his self-image, much that he has worked for in his life. But he wants to be cured. He yearns to be made whole.
 
And God offers wholeness. God offers wholeness. But it doesn’t just land in our lap. We have to seek it. Naaman had to seek God’s healing and wholeness in enemy territory at considerable personal risk. The journey to wholeness and healing takes work. It can be hard. But it is never too hard. Do you want wholeness? We, as human beings, do have the strength and courage and guidance we need to come to the place where we can receive God’s healing. Naaman teaches us that. The journey may be hard, but it is never too hard.

In today’s collect we pray: O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you. It’s a matter of putting our trust in God. Getting to that place where we can truly put our trust in God.

Probably everyone here would acknowledge God’s desire and ability to heal. But we want God to come to us on our own terms. We would just as well stay put and have God come to us. And we’d like God to come to us within our own social group, keeping a low profile, and at a time convenient to our busy schedules.

Naaman would undoubtedly have preferred that, too. But he made the difficult journey to the place where he could accept God’s healing.

It can be hard to whole-heartedly trust God today. We life in a word, as did Naaman, where everybody is divided up. Group loyalties are hard strong and the boundaries that divide us are hard to cross. What if God’s healing is to be found in a group other than your own?

We also live in a world that often labels it weak or fooling to trust in God. Can you risk your reputation or self-image to place your trust in God? Naaman did.

Do you seek the healing and wholeness that God offers? That’s what matters. That’s all that matters. If you do yearn for your soul to be healed and made whole: Do not say to yourself… it is too hard… or God is too far away… or my life is too complicated to put my full trust in God… The journey to wholeness may be hard, but it is never too hard. If Naaman made it, so can we.

We don’t name Old Testament figures as saints. We study and admire them but do not name them saints. But I think of Naaman, the Syrian, as a saint. For me, he is an encouraging example of godly living. He is a witness to who we can be and what we, as human beings, can do.

God offers us healing and wholeness. And by God’s grace, we do have the strength and ability we need to make our own journeys to God, the strength of all who put their trust in him.