The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, Feb. 15, 2009
BCP: 2 Kings 5:1-15b; Psalm 42 or 42:1-7; 1 Cor. 9:24-27; Mark 1:40-45
RCL: 2 Kings 5:1-14; Psalm 30; 1 Cor. 9:24-27; Mark 1:40-45
 
Naaman was a prominent general in the army of the King of Syria. People looked up to him and admired him and envied him. But Naaman was also sick. He had leprosy. Unless he could do something about it, Naaman’s leprosy put his high social standing at risk. So
Naaman needed help.
 
Many of us, like Naaman, want literally to be healed from a physical disease. Others are aware of ill health that is rooted in emotional and behavioral and moral issues. Or it could be that we see disease as a metaphor for a troubled marriage, or another relationship that seems to be falling apart; a symbol for lost hopes and dreams, or for that inarticulable angst that does not flow from any apparent cause, but which tells us that all is not particularly well with our souls, or with the world.
 
There was within Naaman’s household an Israelite slave girl. She saw her master’s distress over his leprosy, and told him that she knew a prophet in Israel who could cure his leprosy. If it were not for the enormity of his problem, Naaman probably wouldn’t have even noticed her. But he listened, and he acted. But when Naaman arrives at Elisha’s house, the prophet merely sends a servant with instructions: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River.”
 
Naaman is highly insulted. “I’ve come all this way, and this two-bit Israelite prophet won’t even come out and meet me? Take a bath in that slimy Jordan River? Is there something wrong with our rivers in Syria that I had to come all the way down here to do this?”
 
So Naaman is confronted with a critical decision. Would he follow Elisha’s “unacceptable” instructions? His first response is “No way!” But one of his servants intervenes with some common-sense advice: “Look, boss, there are all sorts of harder things he could have asked you to do. Here’s the river; what have you got to lose?”
 
God spoke to Naaman through Elisha, and Naaman obeyed and was healed. God speaks to us in various ways. He calls us to order our lives in ways that flow in the same direction as his own loving energy flows, and he calls us to discern his activity in our lives. When we attend to what God says to us, we will probably hear a great deal that strikes us as unacceptable. But that unacceptable path is the route to the wholeness we seek. See you on the riverbank.
 
Look It Up
Naaman probably would have been happier with Jesus’ approach to healing leprosy. See today’s short gospel passage: Mark 1:40-45. How did Jesus’ response differ from Elisha’s?
 
Think About It
Losing weight, quitting smoking, breaking any bad habit — God can be a healing presence as we struggle with these needs. But the way out is likely to terrify us more than remaining stuck in the negative pattern. How have you found God’s provision for you “unacceptable”?
 
Next Sunday
The Last Sunday after the Epiphany, Feb. 22, 2009
BCP: 1 Kings 19:9-18; Psalm 27 or 27:5-11; 2 Pet. 1:16-19(20-21); Mark 9:2-9
RCL: 2 Kings 2:1-12; Psalm 50:1-6; 2 Cor. 4:3-6; Mark 9:2-9