2 Kings 5:1-14
Today, as we celebrate the Independence Day weekend, the Scripture lesson for this Sunday is a story about Namaan, who is the top general of the world’s superpower at that time, modern day Syria. I think this is a fun story, but it has a very serious message and the message is: God does not work according to our preconceptions. If you say “Amen” to that, I don’t have to preach any more. This is it! An one-sentence sermon! Can you say Amen? (Thank you. But not all of you said Amen, so I must continue, buy it will be brief).
First of all, I think Naaman can be compared to Mike Pompeo, theSecretary of State. But, the mighty general Namaan has a little problem – Namaan has a leprosy which was a (socially) fatal disease at his time. Namaan is scared. He searches everywhere, consults with the leading physicians, spends a fortune, uses all of his power and influence, but to no avail.
The mighty general finally surrenders. He is vulnerable and open. He takes the advice of a little Israeli slave girl. The girl tells him, “Go to Elisha, God’s prophet in Israel.” Before heading out, Namaan visits the mighty Syrian king who loads him up with priceless riches and an official letter to the king of Israel. The problem was that the letter was not like letters between Trump and Kim Jung Eun. When he reads the official letter, the king of Israel is terrified. He cried out, “How can I heal Namaan? It would take a miracle! But I must, or my country will face the wrath of the Syrian war machine.” Just then, the prophet Elisha steps in saying “No problem king, send him to me.”
Dressed in golden armor, the mighty Namaan arrives before Elisha’s little shack. He dismounts his glistening stallion, while his guards knock at the door. They wait, still expecting the red carpet to roll out, still expecting a trumpet processional with fireworks, chanting, and extravagant gestures. But, Elisha doesn’t even come out to meet Namaan. He sends his prophet-in-training out with instructions: “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan River.”
“What is this, some kind of joke?”says Namaan. “No chanting, no fireworks, just wash in the Jordan River? We have lots better rivers than that in Syria.” Insulted, Namaan packs to go home. But once again, the servants save the day. “If Elisha had asked you to do something really difficult like, say, fast for 40 days, you would have done it, right?” The truth of his servants’ words slaps Naaman back to reality. He stops being the military commander, the friend of kings, and instead acknowledges what he is: a leper who needs to be cleansed. He listens, follows his servants and follows Elisha. He washes in the Jordan. He emerges, cleansed, healed, his flesh restored, “…like that of a young boy” (according to the Scripture).
What are we to make of this story? Most of us here, by global and historical standards, live in Assyria. We live in the empire, the superpower, the first world. When I was a college student in Korea, we used to make a comment like the following: “if the USA sneezes, the rest of the world will catch the flu.” Yes, we are the only superpower in the world.
When Jonathan and I went to an orientation meeting before Jonathan took on his mission trip to Bolivia, we were advised not to show off the trappings of power and privilege to the Bolivians: smart-phones, laptops, wireless headphones, you name it. All the stuff that is supposed to secure our lives, but do they really secure our lives? Do they really make us happy? During his presentation after the mission trip, Jonathan said, “It seems that Bolivians are happier than most of us.”
On his pilgrimage to Israel, Namaan made sure that he had a convoy of power and wealth as many of us would do the same. But it was of no use. It hadn’t prevented the dreaded disease. It wouldn’t cure it, or even buy a cure. Something else was needed.
Despite our trappings of power and privilege that we have, we are not immune to the pain of accepting our own humanity. Even physicians get sick and therapists get divorced. Perhaps, the more “successful” we are, the harder it is to accept our human limitations. The more we know each other, the more we realize how much we all struggle. We all struggle with those we love and those we work with, we all struggle to let go of how we thought life was supposed to be.
Namaan came to a place and time in his life where he had to leave behind power and prestige. He had to walk humbly into the Jordan to seek healing. So too, each of us must walk into our own Jordan. Each of us, in our lives, must leave behind our illusion of total self-sufficiency. Each of us must lower ourselves into the transforming waters of our own baptism. Each of us, from time to time, must say, “I need help. I need you, Lord. I can’t do it alone.”
It is ironic that the possibility of healing – whether of a serious illness, or a broken spirit, or a destructive arrogance – can only begin when we admit our powerlessness, our inability to be in charge. Only then can we encounter a grace and power beyond our own. Only then can we yield ourselves to another kind of power. That’s why Paul said, “I am strong, when I am weak.” We learn to rely on unusual guides: in Namaan’s case, to be open to the unconventional voices of servants. God is always greater than our limited perceptions. God’s power is never limited to the official channels or the conventional methods. Namaan probably thought, “I have singlehandedly conquered armies, certainly, I can conquer this illness.” But he couldn’t. This illusion of total self-sufficiency was Namaan’s weakness to surrender. Perhaps it is ours as well.
Namaan’s new life began the moment he began to wonder, “Maybe this little slave girl from a tiny nation can help me: maybe a foreigner, living in a shack, from a poor country, who worships a different God can save my life.” He lowers himself into the waters, opens his heart and prays for his life.
This story is about another kind of power: a reality, a truth, outside of us, beyond us, coming at us – the amazing, unexpected power of grace and new life seeking us. It is the surprising energy of the exodus (coming out of self-importance or self-righteousness, if you will). To me this is a story about being open to a different kind of power. The greater our “self sufficiency,” the harder it can be to trust this different kind of power.
Opening ourselves to trust in something other than ourselves can feel like giving up. It’s not. It is, however, to surrender. There is a sharp difference. Giving up is lying down; believing it’s hopeless. Surrender-ing is going forward, not knowing the future, but trusting God to lead the way. It is being open to God in an anticipation God’s will be done. We all need to follow this different kind of power as we look ahead to the future. My brothers and sisters in Christ, cast your burdens upon the Lord, and be open to this power.
As you come to the Lord’s Table today, set everything aside…, your power and prestige, your wealth and strength; set aside your own agendas, plans, your control, simply be present in the presence of God. And be open and ready for some wonderful surprises…, gracious and unexpected gifts from our loving God. Amen.
