Humble Pie - A Sermon for Sunday September 29th 2024

FIRST READING: 2 Kings 5:1-14

A reading from 2 Kings.

1Naaman, 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 leprosy. 2Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. 3She said to her mistress, "If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." 4So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5And 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. 6He 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 leprosy." 7When 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 leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me."

8But 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." 9So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha's house. 10Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean." 11But 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 leprosy! 12Are 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. 13But 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'?" 14So 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.

Word of God, word of life.

Thanks be to God.

SECOND READING: 1 Timothy 4:6-12

A reading from 1 Timothy.

6If you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound teaching that you have followed. 7Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives' tales. Train yourself in godliness, 8for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. 10For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

11These are the things you must insist on and teach. 12Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

Word of God, word of life.

Thanks be to God.

GOSPEL: Matthew 19:13-15

The holy gospel according to Matthew.

Glory to you, O Lord.

13Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; 14but Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs." 15And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.

The gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

The message of Vacation Bible School this past summer

is this:

You are a treasured child of God,

you are fearfully and wonderfully made,

God made you to be you.

Sometimes it is life’s circumstances,

those things that are out of our control

that create barriers

not allowing people like us

to be the self

that God made us to be.

We see the word “Becoming” on the banner,

life’s journey is not just being who we are made to be

but becoming who God made us to be.

Like flowers or plants in God’s garden,

we all follow God’s pattern:

birth, growth, decay, death. Resurrection.

You, child of God, are a blooming flower.

With God’s breath in your lungs,

God is not finished with you on this land.

Yet sin becomes the barrier,

like weeds that pop up and choke the plant,

not allowing leaves and buds to sprout in the garden.

Systemic sin was the barrier for the children.

People were bringing children to Jesus,

the disciples wanted them sent away.

The culture said children were on the bottom rung.

They only had value as replacement adults,

and, frankly,

they didn’t have health care like we do.

Children died in infancy and childhood,

all the time,

child birth was far more dangerous than now.

I could say more,

but suffice to say,

we live in a culture

that adores children,

it was the opposite 2000 years ago.

I hope and trust that we are taking Jesus’ words seriously:

let the little children come to me

and do not stop them

for it is to such as these

that the kingdom of God belongs.

The culture didn’t value children.

Jesus held them and blessed them.

Trust that any who are not valued today,

any who are considered lesser-than today,

you are held and blessed by Jesus.

Now for Jesus to value, treasure, welcome, bless, hold

the children,

it means opening ears to children,

listening and learning from them,

even if part of the adult brain

doesn’t want to trust

the inexperience of young people.

In my experience,

we can learn and grow in relationship with God

in conversation with those

who differ from us the most.

God calls unsuspecting people

and God speaks through unexpected voices,

like the young girl in Naaman’s story.

Before we get into that story,

allow me to share an experience of God

at VBS.

At the story station,

The kids were sad to learn that

many people,

particularly women and children

are not named in our bible.

The kids wanted to name

the unnamed biblical characters.

We don’t know their names,

but God does.

God knows you by name.

God knows the billions of humans,

trillions of creatures and plant life and microbes

by name.

So children,

what should we name the unnamed young girl in the story?

Naaman was a commander for the Aramean army,

and though a mighty warrior,

had some kind of skin disease.

The young girl, who we’ve named ________

was captured in a raid,

and she served Naaman’s wife as a slave.

________ knew of God’s healing,

she knew of the prophet Elisha,

and told Naaman’s wife.

Think about this for a moment,

this young girl is captured,

becomes slave to her captor’s wife,

yet wishes for the health and healing

of her captor.

This is God’s work through an unlikely angel.

She had no reason to help.

Life’s circumstances were terrible,

she went from free to captive,

removed from family and land by force

And she blessed her captor

with a simple invitation to seek God’s prophet.

A little miracle,

Naaman listens to the young girl ________

and seeks out a cure.

The motivation, I think, was entitlement and desperation;

Naaman was out of options.

Like when Christ hung on the cross,

we might think we are out of options,

but God isn’t.

A massive financial gift is given to the king of Israel

along with the royal request for a cure.

This enrages the king of Israel;

Is he trying to start a war with me?

He tore his clothes and was ready to fight,

I get it - Aram and Israel were enemies.

But this gives me pause,

and a faithful tangent:

We are called to love our neighbour,

to love our enemies,

to pray for those who persecute us.

Perhaps we too are invited into mercy

for those times someone we might consider an enemy

might come to us for help.

This is what Elisha does,

an act of mercy:

“Send him to me.”

So Naaman comes to Elisha, the man of God,

packed with a king’s fortune and royal letter:

Naaman is 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 the Foothills 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 in the bow river,

you’ll be fine”

You’d be irate!

This is exactly what Elisha does.

He doesn’t even come out to see Naaman.

Go bathe in the Jordan River seven times,

Says Elisha’s messenger.

It’s not even some grand river.

It’s the narrow,

shallow,

meagre,

muddy River Jordan.

If Naaman remained at Elisha’s door

in arrogance and entitlement,

demanding a cure on his terms,

the skin disease would have remained.

Naaman had to humble himself,

and follow the guidance of Elisha,

the man of God,

and then he was healed.

For Naaman,

a leper, so to speak,

entitled,

arrogant,

fearful,

angry,

to be healed,

he had to humble himself.

Like Naaman,

we might have our own ideas for how God should operate,

or how people of faith should operate.

We might expect God to show up

in a grand manor,

in a grand river,

with a wave of the hand

and a miraculous cure,

or in a wave of revival

that looks like the church’s glory days

of the 50’s or even the 80’s.

We do not get to decide what God will do,

nor how God will do it.

But God will be with us.

When our hearts are filled with entitlement,

when we find ourselves closed to the other,

closed to ourselves,

closed to God,

when life’s circumstances get in the way

or when sin builds the barriers,

trust that God’s desire is new life,

healing,

our freedom in Christ.

but like Naaman,

God’s new life, healing, and liberty

might just be fruits found

in a piece of God’s humble pie.

The truth of God’s humble pie,

though that first bite might taste sour,

its fruits and grains nourish unto life everlasting.

So here’s what I think God’s piece of humble pie

looks and tastes like today:

It looks like the little children reminding us

that God knows us all by name,

young and old,

insider and outsider.

It looks like a little girl who cares for others

even those who hurt her the most.

It looks like turning away from

profane myths and old wives' tales,

and to set our hope on the living God

It looks like our Saviour welcoming the people

that disciples like us want sent away.

It tastes like bread and wine

freely given to any with open hands.

God’s humble pie looks like Vacation Bible School:

It looks like creating safe spaces

for people, young and old,

to be themselves,

and become themselves.

It looks like people of all ages coming together

listening together,

worshipping together.

It looks like Jesus of Nazareth,

the Word of God made flesh,

the hero of your story,

your Rabbi,

your Saviour,

your Friend.

My friends,

let us take a good look at God’s humble pie,

and don’t be afraid to take a big slice.

The first couple bites might taste sour,

but by God’s grace,

one day it will taste like life everlasting.