These past couple weeks,
We have been hearing stories
about life under the covenant.
God promised the people Israel
Land, Descendants and blessing.
God always keeps God's promises.
So what does life under the covenant look like?
We heard about David and Bathsheba.
Life under the covenant means confessing our sin.
It means trusting in God to receive forgiveness.
It means making things right
when we have hurt others.
It also means looking to the margins
for the victims of abuse and oppression
that are not so easily seen.
We heard some of Solomon’s wisdom,
Life under the covenant is a call to wisdom,
to pray for discernment and understanding.
Wisdom leans on God’s guidance
and God’s laws.
God’s Spirit helps us in our own sticky situations.
Today’s reading takes place
as the kingdom of Israel has been divided,
approx. 80 years after Solomon’s reign as king,
about 850 or so years before the birth of Jesus Christ.
Solomon was known for his wisdom,
but he was fallible.
Solomon used forced labour and high taxes
to build his projects,
including the royal palace and the Temple.
I can imagine the people Israel have some thoughts
on forced labour.
The people in the north had significant burdens
Perhaps worst of all,
Solomon ushered in the worship of foreign gods.
He had many, many wives and concubines,
who influenced him.
It goes to show you that even the wisest among us,
the most faithful,
those in leadership,
we can easily turn to other gods,
we can easily ignore God’s teaching,
When we curve into ourselves,
forsaking God’s Word,
we can each easily get it wrong.
Invite Reader Forward
Rehoboam succeeded Solomon as king,
and he made things worse.
From 1 Kings 12: “My father made your yoke heavy,
but I will add to your yoke.
My father disciplined you with whips,
but I will discipline you with scorpions.”
No wonder the kingdom was divided.
Israel in the North, Judah in the South.
Today’s story involves the King of Aram,
that’s north and east on this map,
taking place in modern day Syria.
Today we consider life under the covenant
in a multi-cultural setting,
insiders and outsiders,
and healing is found
in the river that Jesus will be baptized in.
So let us open our hearts and minds
to hearing God’s Word for us today,
to better understand how we too
might live under God’s promises.
Narrative Lectionary Reading: 2 Kings 5:15
A reading from 2 Kings.
1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from a skin disease (understood to be leprosy). 2 Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his skin disease.” 4 So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5 And the king of Aram said, “Go, then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.”
He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. 6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his skin disease.” 7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his skin disease? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.”
8 But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” 11 But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God and would wave his hand over the spot and cure the skin disease! 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.
15 Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant.”
Word of God, word of life.
Thanks be to God.
Sermon
The assembly is seated.
(Slide 1 - Jack)
Jack is a beloved child of God.
Jack went to the Timmie’s drive thru
saw two lines of cars,
took his spot in the right side.
The cars to his left get through quickly.
But he waits. And waits.
He finally gets to the order window
and rips into the cashier
for serving all those other people first.
There’s probably a reasonable explanation,
but he’s sure they’re just out to get him.
Jack took a vacation and returned to work
after two weeks away.
While he was away,
the boss made a couple changes to their process,
and Jack took them personally.
His boss is out to get him.
Jack’s been dealing with a knee problem,
going back and forth with physiotherapy and specialists.
He says just give me a knee replacement already.
The doctors say he needs to rehabilitate his knee
and Jack rips into the doctor
for just making his life miserable.
Jack is angry,
he feels like the world is out to get him.
It’s pretty easy for us to feel like Jack,
especailly when things aren’t going our way,
or when we suffer.
Deep down,
he doesn’t know it, but Jack is afraid.
His anger at the drive thru,
was rooted in fear that he’d be late for work,
and you can’t exactly blame being late
on Timmie’s drive thru.
His anger at the changes at work
were rooted in his fear that he’d be fired,
that he would be a failure,
that all his hard work and input was for nothing.
His anger at his doctor
was rooted in various fears:
fears of decline of physical health,
fear of not being able to walk,
and maybe even a little despair
at the long work ahead of knee rehabilitation.
Often the anger that we feel
is a secondary emotion,
to the primary emotion of fear.
Do not be afraid - our Saviour encourages us.
Sometimes we aren’t even aware
of what we are really afraid of deep down.
(Slide 2 - yoda)
Fear easily leads to anger,
anger can lead to hate,
hate leads to suffering.
Just ask Jedi Master Yoda.
Naaman had a skin disease.
It was understood to be leprosy,
though it was probably a different disease.
If you had leprosy,
you would be cast outside of regular society.
People would be afraid of you.
The disease can kill you.
People who have leprosy today
may be afraid to receive treatment
because of fear that they will become outcast
when it is found out.
Whether it is your skin or your heart
that is covered in sores
people are eventually going to find out.
(Slide 3 - washing)
Naaman’s story,
on the surface about a cure for leprosy,
is really about arrogance
and entitlement
and fear
and anger
and hate.
In arrogance and entitlement,
he contacted the unnamed king of Israel
to receive a cure.
He is an important military commander,
worthy of an expensive cure.
This unnamed king of Israel was mad.
Is he trying to start a war with me?
He tore his clothes and was ready to fight.
How easily fear can lead to hate!
The unnamed king is just like Jack!
Anger - fear - hate
The world is out to get him!
He presumed the worst out of his enemies.
I wonder - did he even read the letter?
The unnamed king of Israel broke the eighth commandment
Thou shall not bear false witness agsint your neighbour.
Luther explained the eighth commandment this way:
Do not bear false witness -
avoid telling lies, don’t slander,
don’t betray confidence,
do not tear down another’s reputation.
Instead,
come to your neighbour’s defence
speak well of your neighbour,
forgive their shortcomings,
interpret everything your neighbour does
in the best possible light.
Neither Naaman nor the Israelite king
interpret their neighbours actions
in the best possible light.
Do you interpret your neighbour’s actions
in the best possible light?
You could argue that
What we have here is a failure to communicate!
One side making assumptions about the other,
and you know what happens when you assume!
Maybe that’s another necesity for healing,
humility and good communication,
but that’s a sermon for another time.
Thankfully the prophet Elisha steps in with an act of mercy.
“Send him to me.”
So Naaman comes to Elisha, the prophet,
packed with ten talents of silver,
six thousand shekels of gold,
and ten sets of garments,
not to mention a letter from his king.
Like Canadian men travelling to Istanbul
for hair treatment
Or Canadians travelling to Lithuania
for knee replacements,
Naaman is on the road,
ready to purchase his cure.
You might be able to buy a cure
but you cannot purchase healing.
Picture this,
You have a terrible disease,
and you are invited to a renowned hospital
to see a renowned specialist
for your disease.
You arrive at the door,
you await the doctor
and the receptionist brings you a note that says
“Go take a bath, you’ll be fine”
You’d be irate!
This is exactly what Elisha does.
He doesn’t even come out to see Naaman,
just sends a note.
You might be able to buy a cure,
but you cannot purchase healing.
Go bathe in the Jordan River seven times,
Dr. Elisha’s hand written presciption note says.
It’s not even some grand river.
It’s the narrow,
shallow,
meagre,
muddy River Jordan.
We know the importance of this meagre river,
Naaman, from Aram, would not.
Naaman had to humble himself,
and follow the guidance of Elisha, the man of God,
then he was healed.
For Naaman,
a leper,
entitled,
arrogant,
fearful,
angry,
hate-filled,
to be healed,
he has to humble himself.
This is true for us all - healing only comes with humility.
Sometimes healing means trusting the experts
trusting the doctors and nurses
who are God’s vessesl of healing
even and especially when we might not agree.
Often to be healed means extending compassion,
even to those who are filled with hatred and fear
and cause the suffering in the first place.
Healing for Naaman only happened
because of the Hebrew slave girl,
whom had been captured in war,
now forced to serve the wife of the winning commander.
She is not with her people.
She has no voice,
no say in her future,
apparently not even a name.
She has every reason to be bitter
and angry
and fearful
and hate-filled.
Yet she displays what it is like to be healed.
She is the one who knows what it means
to live under God’s covenant.
She extends the invitation for her captor, Naaman
to be healed.
Sometimes to be healed means to extend healing,
This unnamed young slave girl
humbles herself,
puts even her captor forward,
and extends hope of healing.
She too receives healing
as she extends healing.
Healing cannot be bought.
But healing is not cheap.
Healing comes at the expense of arrogance.
Healing comes at the expense of entitlement.
Healing comes at the expense of hate.
Healing comes at the expense of fear.
Healing costs humility.
If you want to know
what life under the covenant looks like:
living under God’s promises;
the God who blesses us to be a blessing,
the God who keeps God’s promises,
following the Saviour who has
claimed us in baptism
and sends us out with the Holy Spirit -
Life under the covenant means
loving your enemies:
loving even those who capture you.
Living under the covenant means
caring for people who are filled with hate,
even if they want you and your kinfolk killed.
Living under the covenant means
being a vessel of God’s healing
and God’s mercy
and God’s love
even when you are the one who needs it the most.
Living under the covenant means
healing is yours in the name of our God.
You are blessed as you are a blessing to others.
It is so tempting to fight anger with anger,
hate with hate,
vitriol with vitriol.
Let the slavemaster suffer and die,
presume the invitation for healing
is a call to war,
rage over Naaman
boycott that Timmies,
clog the process at work,
skip the rehab and limp into your airplane seat.
Maybe like Jack,
like Naaman,
like the unamed Israelite king,
we can easily find ourselves with spiritual leprosy,
we can find our hearts filled with anger,
fear,
hatred,
suffering,
vitriol,
and sometimes we just want to stay there,
in anger -
as though my anger punishes the one who hurt me.
No - that anger only punishes myself
and then those aroud me.
We don’t always have the full picture.
We often lack perspective.
The world isn’t out to get Jack,
but fear and ignorance are.
Jack didn’t see inside the Timmies
to see that cashier 2 was just in training
and needed some help to get through his line.
Jack didn’t know the new process at work was necessary
because of a new supplier.
Jack didn’t believe the doctor,
that the injury was something
that his body could heal itself in time
along with the right physiotherapy.
Jack knew he was angry -
he didn’t know that deep down,
he was afraid and ignorant.
The world isn’t out to get Jack.
But God is out looking for Jack.
Should you find yourself with spiritual leprosy,
if your heart is covered
with anger-fear-hate-suffering-filled sores,
May you humble yourself,
and wash in the River Jordan,
wash in the waters of baptism.
Trust and believe that you will
come out clean by God’s Spirit.
These waters are filled with the Holy Spirit,
that forgives us,
set us free for newness of life in Jesus’ name.
(Slide 4 - MLK)
When you find yourself
wanting to say that word of hate
or engage in that act of revenge,
May God give you courage to defeat hate with love,
to conquer fear with peace.
In the words of Martin Luther King Jr,
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness,
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate.
Only love can do that.”
When you find yourself assuming the worst of your neighbours,
May we remember Luther’s invitation to interpret them
in the best possible light.
May God’s Spirit move us to receive the neighbour
in compassion and love.
Life under the covenant - being the people of God
following Jesus,
being a Christian
means healing is yours in Jesus’ name,
but it’ll cost you humility.
Healing only happens when we humble ourselves
and by God’s Spirit,
we choose love.
Thanks be to God - healing is yours in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
