A Heart for Healing
Belmont UMC—February 2-5-12, 10:30am service
Heather Harriss, preaching
Over and over again, God’s work is accomplished through people that society sees as powerless.
Our reading from 2 Kings introduces us to Naaman. Naaman is a commander in the army of King Aram. We are told he is a great man and a mighty warrior. A powerful man, when Naaman speaks, people listen, he says, “Jump!” and people jump. But for all his wealth and prestige, still he suffers from a terrible skin disease. He has sought every healing money can buy, explored every possible option and still he suffers.
Now Naaman’s army, on one of their raids had kidnapped a young girl from Israel. This young girl now works as a servant for Naaman’s wife.
This young girl says to Naaman’s wife, “If only Naaman could see the prophet in my land, then he would be healed.” Naaman, willing to grab at any shred of hope, makes plans to go. He takes with him 10 talents of silver, 6,000 shekels of gold, 10 sets of garments and a letter from his king to the king of Israel.
When the king of Israel receives Naaman, he is very distressed; he knows he can’t cure Naaman, what will this mighty warrior do?
Lucky for the king, the prophet Elisha hears about what is going on and sends a message to the king, telling him to send Naaman his way, so now, Naaman sets out for Elisha’s house. When he arrives, Elisha sends out a messenger with this prescription:
“Go and wash 7 times in the Jordan River. There your skin will be restored and become clean.”
So, here in the story, we might assume Naaman is going to take off running for the Jordan River, shouting his thanks as he goes, maybe even lifting that messenger up in an exuberant bear hug before he takes off at a sprint.
This is not what Naaman does. No, he is furious. He bellows at the messenger, “Elisha can’t even bother to come out of his house!!? Doesn’t he know who I am? I am somebody. I am important! Doesn’t he know I am brave and courageous? Why would he suggest something so easy? Any can take a bath in a river! I am special. And for that matter, I am from a big city, not some back water, we have rivers that are far more glorious than the Jordan River!”
Naaman stomps off in a rage. Cautiously, his servants approach, “My Lord, don’t be too hasty. Let’s think this through. If he had told you something difficult, we know you would have done it with ease. He has just said, ‘Wash and be clean.’ After everything else you have done, after how far we have traveled, you might as well...” Naaman eventually listens to his servants, goes down to the Jordan, washes, and lo and behold, he is healed.
Healing comes to Naaman through the initiative of a young girl and the calming words of reason from Naaman’s servants. God’s work is accomplished through people society all too often ignores and discounts.
Naaman accustomed to the trappings of wealth and power almost walks away from the very thing he yearns for the most. Reading Naaman’s story this week, I found myself thinking about the Wizard of Oz. He wanted to encounter what Dorothy, the tin man, the lion and the scarecrow saw when they were ushered in to see the wizard. They were terrified, speechless, something big was going to happen if they weren’t all first scared to death.
And then the curtain is pulled back. There is no all-powerful wizard; there is no magic, just a man. Crushed and filled with despair they believe all hope is lost. Naaman wanted the lights, the dazzle, the spectacle-- Outward signs to match both how he perceives himself, and also to equal the struggle he has endured with this terrible illness.
When all he gets is a regular man telling him to go take a jump in the river, like our visitors to Oz, he is crushed.
Hopefully, most of you are familiar with the movie the Wizard of Oz and I am not spoiling the ending. Dorothy, the Tin Man, The Lion and the scarecrow discover they already have within them what they need to have what it is they yearn for the most.
Naaman’s servants help him to see that this simple prescription is worth a go. There is no Oz, no wizard, no magic wand, but here, right here, there is healing. Here is the path you must take to discover healing; will you take this unexpected path? Will you trust God’s actions coming how you least expect it?
Our lectionary now takes us to another time and place. Introduces us to someone else who yearns to be healed. This man’s disease has resulted in him being separated. In the eyes of the religious community people with this skin disease are impure, unclean, a source of danger and contamination. For these reasons, when a priest discovers someone with this impurity, he must expel them from the civil and religious society. They can’t pray in the temple, go to the synagogue or live with their family in their house. This illness converts the people who have it into solitary persons, a separated species.
As I was reading different articles on these verses from the gospel of Mark, the writings of theologian Ofelia Ortega really captured my imagination. Jesus is in a deserted place, desolate, devoid of warmth, a place set apart, as he wanders here, this man with the skin disease, sees Jesus and comes to him, falling on his knees, he begs, “If you want, you can make me clean.” Then the scripture reads, “Incensed, Jesus reached out his hand, touched him and said, “I do want to. Be clean.” Incensed?? Was Jesus mad at this man? Annoyed at being interrupted from a prayerful reverie? Ortega suggests Jesus was filled with rage at the laws that resulted in this man being kicked out; isolated, cut off from the very people he needs the most. Enraged at a social system that demonized and excluded an entire group of human beings. The Rev. Jon Walton preached “this is a healing story with passion in it. Jesus is frustrated and upset when he heals the man; and in the process of healing him, Jesus breaks down walls that have been carefully built and tirelessly preserved by well-meaning people, when Jesus touches the man with the skin disease he dares to do the unconventional, in fact he does what is unlawful, so that he may accomplish the unlikely, what until then was inconceivable.
This healing set things in motion! Because Jesus has healed the man, the man can now return to his community, he can again be a part of his family, he can participate in the rituals of his faith, he can worship God with his community. As United Methodists, we would say, he is now again a member in good standing.
This is why Jesus wants this man restored to the household of God. Jesus tells him, “Go, and show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifice for your cleansing that Moses commanded. This will be a testimony to them.” But will they trust God’s action coming how they least expect it?
The healed man returns, people are amazed. How could God have worked through this man we had declared beyond the bounds? Why would God act through this person? And in this way? Isn’t this healing contrary to everything we know? The people want to know and the healed man can’t help himself, he cannot quit talking about the liberating action of Jesus. Through the healing love of Jesus the seeds of our church are being planted, a church that begins with outcasts, a church that seeks to overcome the exclusion system that currently reigns. Jesus’ radical invitation to the kingdom of God invades all social order and changes everything. The scripture tells us, “Jesus stayed in the country.” This no-mans land, this place beyond the boundary people only cross when they have no choice, when every option has been closed off to them, this is where Jesus stays.
There has been a reversal, the man with the skin disease is clean, and Jesus has touched what is considered unclean. What is going to happen? We know what happens, the people come to Jesus. The boundary that could not be crossed is now sought after, the social order disrupted. The place of exile has become the place of welcome; the place of separation the place of restoration, the place of brokenness, now the place of healing. Jesus is making things on earth as they are in heaven, where God’s household is big enough for everyone, where there is a place at the table for each and every one of us.
Naaman discovers healing when he heeds the words of those whom society values the least. The man with the skin disease, one whom society reviles and rejects, devotes his life to sharing about the liberating love of Jesus Christ, to being a part of God’s vision for us where none are reviled, none are rejected.
Some time this week on NPR I caught the tail end of an interview. They were talking with a man, he is a professional coach of some sport at a high level and he has two daughters who, while growing up, played on a lot of sports teams. He has written a book of essays and the interviewer asked the coach about watching his daughters play on a team. I was totally struck by his comment, he said, “watching my child play is like everything is in black in white, except my child, everything they do is in Technicolor.” I loved that he said this. One because it captures so well something that is so true, but also because I like to think this is how God sees each one of us.
How somehow in God’s economy God sees and loves Naaman, sees and loves the servant girl, Elisha, the servants. God sees and loves those who are cast out and those who seek justice and truth. God sees us all as our best and brightest selves and sets to work working through us. Through Jesus, God hoped that we each would know this, that we each would walk this path to healing and wholeness, emboldened to follow new ways, to go on unexpected journeys, to live boldly, knowing that the more we seek Christ in the faces of each person we encounter, the closer we come to being the household of God. We don’t get there by clicking our heels and saying, “There’s no place like home”, we get there by actively participating in God’s work, by believing in what seems not only unlikely but even inconceivable, Jesus Christ came that each of us will know we have healing hearts, that when we follow on the path where Jesus leads, we find we are on the way to God’s household and discover that after all we are already Home.
Amen!