Feb. 15, 2009 - Faith, No Place for Wimps - 2 Kings 5:1-14
--------------------------------
Don’t you just love reading the Old Testament? It is absolutely true that truth is stranger than fiction. You couldn’t make this stuff up! Power, intrigue, conflict, suspense, irony, miracles and even humor - and all of that in just fourteen verses. Our scripture lesson this morning reminds us that we can't out maneuver, out-think, or out-plan God - no matter how rich and powerful we think we might be. God's ways are higher than our ways - God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts and we will never figure it all out. Of course, we don't have to figure it all out. I guess that’s one of the mysteries of Christianity. Of course, simply because we can't figure it out doesn't mean we can take it for granted either. God will not be put into a box. If we try to, we will discover that our Creator is likely to jump out at the most surprising times and in the most unexpected ways.
That’s why faith the life of faith is so exciting – so much of it is so unexpected, unplanned and so contrary to the way we might do things ourselves. This portion of scripture is full of the unexpected and full of examples of faith found in all the wrong places and among people whom we would not expect.
------------------------------------------------
Naaman the Syrian general is my kind of guy – he’s gutsy - a man of action - a general in the army and one accustomed to taking whatever action is necessary to accomplish a task. He is the general who led the war that conquered
-------------------------------------------
Naaman's wife hears news from a Hebrew slave whom Naaman has brought home from the war. This slave claims that there a prophet in
Naaman brings a lot of money with him also. After all, it you can't ask for a favor perhaps you can pay for the service. I really like his style – 750 lbs of silver and 150 lbs of gold and beautiful sets of clothing and who knows how much other ‘stuff’ he thought he needed just to keep body and soul together on the journey. And so Naaman takes off across the desert with a huge caravan of people and goods and goes to meet the king of
But wait – the slave talked of the prophet – and Naaman goes to the king. Naaman expects that adhering to the pecking order of the world will gain him his miracle.
Naaman goes to the king and presents himself and his letter. The original hearers would be laughing here. They know that this weak, conquered king can’t do anything except try his best to pay tribute money and that Naaman has come knocking on the wrong door.
The king of course knows that he can't cure leprosy - he thinks the whole thing must be a ploy to start another war. But then Elisha hears of the visit of Naaman. He sends a message to King, “Why you worried? Just send him to me so that he may learn there is a prophet in
------------------------
And so Naaman turns around and goes to the small house where Elisha the prophet lives. So here he comes with all of his camels and horses and chariots and gifts and ‘stuff’. It must have been quite a scene.
Sort of like the president pulling up to a single-wide trailer in his stretch limousine followed by the press corps and surrounded by secret service agents - and then Elisha and does something unexpected, courageous and even a little funny – he stays in the house.
Elisha doesn't even come out to meet his famous visitor! For Naaman, this must have seemed like going to the office of famous specialist and having an orderly come out with a diagnosis and a prescription.
Was unexpected turn of events! Naaman has no chance to look lordly. He has no chance to deliver the speech he has probably been practicing for weeks. He does not meet the great man of God. He meets only a servant.
Of course, Elisha could have come out of the house. Elisha could have listened to the words of Naaman. Elisha could have taken this opportunity to look very holy. Elisha could have used this opportunity to display some hocus pocus. He could come out side - stood before Naaman - listened to Naaman’s speech - made a big speech of his own - then making a big show for the crowd, he could have called on the name of the Lord - and waved his hand over the spot – healing him immediately - and, in fact, that is what Naaman expected.
--------------------------------------
That was the kind of miracle, the kind of miraculous activity Naaman expected from a prophet of a God. That was what he was used to. Priests and prophets in his own kingdom always made a big show. But that is not what Naaman got. Naaman got - a servant.
------------------------------------
What a disappointment! What a blow to his ego! After all, what he expected was just what priests of pagan gods would do and for him - it seemed a reasonable expectation - of course there were a lot of Pharisees in our Lord’s time and today there are a lot Christians who act like that. Jesus criticized the Pharisees for taking the best seats in the synagogue, for making long prayers and doing their alms before men – what would he think of some of us?
--------------------------
I'd guess Elisha wasn't taking any chances here. He stayed inside. But really, this was the smart thing to do because it focused everything on God and not on Elisha.
The servant tells Naaman to go and wash in the river
------------------------------------
Naaman’s servants convince him to try washing in the river – after all, they say, if the prophet had asked Naaman for something difficult, he would have done it, so why not try something that would be easy? Sound familiar? Wouldn’t any of us find it easier to accept God’s grace if it was instead God’s payment for work performed?
Naaman goes and washes in the river
Naaman returns to the home the prophet and confesses; “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in
----------------------------
This is the way God cleanses people - not through the dramatic performance of a human healer, but through simple acts of obedience and faith. The faith that leads to salvation comes mysteriously when we submit to God's way and not insist on our own.
God restored Naaman and cleansed him when he obeyed, without understanding anything of the mystery of that experience. In a few more verses when Naaman finally confesses faith in God, his theology is - simplistic, his notion of God's presence – inadequate, his allegiance to God - not without distractions. He even asks forgiveness ahead of time - knowing that he will need to attend pagan rituals when he returns home.
Finding faith in God does not require us to perform mighty deeds. To earn God’s salvation, we do not need to win mighty battles, witness miraculous signs, or even live austere, and somber lives. Salvation is God’s gift - unearnable and undeserveable - through the simple acts of obedience and faith – But it does require courage.
When I worked in the business world, we all decorated our cubicles with things from home, pictures of family and collections of cartoons that seemed to hit home. Many of our favorite cartoons were from the comic strip Dilbert and we secretly wondered if perhaps he had a cubicle of his own somewhere in the building because so many of his cartoons seemed to focus on things that were going on right in our building.
One of my personal favorites was one that pictured Dilbert sitting back in his chair as if a mighty wind is in his face and even his neck tie is flowing to the back of the frame. His computer monitor is on the other side of the picture and it is obvious that the great wind is coming from his terminal. The caption reads "Technology - No place for wimps". This morning's Old Testament text can also be called "Faith - no place for wimps" and for all the same reasons that technology isn’t.
Like technology, faith requires change. It is constantly moving forward. The kind of faith we have, our relationship with God and even our prayer lives, must grow and change over time. Like mastering a new technology, it may take – or rather test – our patience. It may make us feel uncomfortable uneasy and insecure.
Like technology, the life of faith takes courage. Naaman put his reputation on the line when he took his caravan across the sands to the prophet of a conquered people.
The prophet Elisha showed courage just as much courage in his faith. Rather than come out of his house and wave a wand and recite a few magic spells to make Naaman believe that it was Elisha who was great and that it was Elisha who performed the healing, the prophet stayed in the background and helped Naaman understand that healing is from God.
When Naaman returns to the home of the prophet and tries to pay for the miracle he has received, Elisha has the courage and the faith to refuse Naaman’s gifts – leaving Naaman forever in the debt of the God of this conquered people.
Naaman shows courage again when he asks for permission to take some of the earth of
Naaman may be ridiculed by this worship of a foreign God, but he is determined to do what he believes is right even if it means scorn from his neighbors.
Finally, perhaps firstly, there is the courage and faith of the young slave woman who served Naaman’s wife. Here is a woman who was taken by force from her own country – ripped from her village and her family and forced into servitude in a foreign land. Certainly, she had every reason to doubt the God of her ancestors – after all, her nation had been conquered, her town destroyed, her relatives murdered. Certainly, she had no reason to want to do a kindness to her captors.
Yet, even when it seemed that her God had either failed or abandoned her, she has the courage, the strength, the forgiveness, the faith to tell her mistress that Naaman can be healed. This young girl had nothing to gain and everything to lose when she declares the power of Elisha the prophet of God.
-------------------------------------
Grace - Obedience – Action - Faith. I can’t argue the relative importance of each of these - Grace - Obedience – Action – Faith. We know that God gives grace - but grace is not given to that we may keep it all to ourselves. Grace is given that we might work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Grace must lead to obedience - obedience must lead to action - and that action grows our faith.
If Naaman had been too proud to go to
The servants of Naaman were wise enough to understand that you cannot always expect the God of the universe to behave the way you imagine he will. Our creator will not fit neatly into any particular category we have, nor will our Lord be content to be measured with our yardsticks and we can never ever expect to put God in a box and anticipate that he will stay there.
The great “I am who am” is all-powerful, all knowing, and everywhere present. The glorious news for us is that, like Naaman, we have received God's grace. Like Naaman, we are called to faithful obedience. Like Naaman, we may discover that God does not deal with us the way we anticipate he will. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts - and what we receive will be what we need not necessarily what we want.
------------------------------------------------
Like Naaman, we may want hocus pocus. We may expect a great show - a ritual to reinforce our faith - fire coming down from heaven, great earthquakes, storms and lightning. What we receive will be that still small voice - the sound of sheer silence - that quieting of the soul that comes from a fuller awareness of God.
------------------------------
Faith, no place for wimps. The Christian life is not boring sameness, it is an adventure - a glorious journey toward a life lived in the presence of God and toward a heavenly goal. It can be hard work - like riding a camel across the desert. It can be dangerous – like returning to the country of an enemy. It can be humbling –like washing in a muddy river. But the journey of faith – however unsettling it may seem – will always be worth it.
Faith, no place for wimps. Let us go there together. Amen.
