To understand the story of Naaman and Elisha it’s important
to understand something about who these two characters were. First Elisha. Elisha was Elijah’s successor, bold enough to ask for a double share of his
spirit. We also know he had a bit of a
temper. Elisha was bald. We’re not sure why. Maybe he shaved his head [a popular look among
prophets] Maybe he had a bad case of MPB
– male pattern baldness. He was more
than a little sensitive about his lack of follicles. In 2 Kings 2 there’s a legend, let’s hope it’s
a legend, Elisha who may have been feeling particularly grumpy that day being
taunted by some small boys who shouted ‘Go away, baldy’. Elisha
cursed them and two she-bears suddenly mauled 42 of the boys. May t be the
ultimate revenge of the over sensitive balding male. Interesting character. And
Naaman, he’s a most interesting character as well. Take a look. Show the opening monologue from ‘Patton’.
George C. Scott's Patton, he was just like tough old General Naaman. Naaman was rained by the Aramean military - one of
their great leaders. Definitelly a no-nonsense kind of guy. Not for him was any new-age kind of
healing, no crystals. Why he
wasn’t even one to take vitamins. Thought
they were sissy things. He opposed whole-grain foods on principle. “A mighty
warrior” the bible says of him. Used to giving orders. Exerting
his might. But he had this problem –
leprosy – a skin disorder of some kind. Probably not Hanson’s disease, the kind of leprosy we think about with
fingers falling off, etc. But still a skin
disease that made him a risk to others. And so he is cut off from much social contact. Barred from the best golf and country clubs.
Maybe he’s tried different ointments, talked to different
doctors. Nothing helped. Then this young servant girl - no stature at
all in his eyes, just some little Jewish servant girl working for his wife -
she comes up with this idea (and here’s how we already get a clue that God is
at work, because the idea is germinated in one of the most unlikely of places)
and she starts to talk to Mrs. Naaman about getting Mr. Naaman to go see the
Israeli prophet Elisha. Now we don’t
know what happened behind their closed doors - but I like to think it had
something to do with twin beds. These
skin diseases were infectious so maybe Mrs. Naaman had ordered twin beds and
old Naaman didn’t like it too much, and so she says to her husband ‘ You want
to go back to that double bed, well you get over to see that prophet in Israel’
Or maybe it didn’t happen that way at all, and Naaman
himself, sick of being seen as unclean, sick of being cut off from so much
social interaction by his disorder that he just wants to be rid of it, he wants
to be clean again.
Perhaps this is where we can begin to relate. Not many of us today physically have leprosy
.... but sometimes there is a kind of spiritual leprosy that we experience -
parts of our inner selves that feel unclean, unworthy, parts that separate us
from the kind of intimacy with others that we really seek, a psychological
leprosy. The scars are not on our skin but in our souls, wounds from the past
that time didn’t heal. Maybe Naaman
knows too well the pain of being excluded, disconnected from others. Stuck. Have you ever felt like that?
And somehow, out of some spark of hope still alive inside
him, old Naaman lets himself be vulnerable
just one more time. He has to go and ask
someone for help. Have you ever had to
do that? I did. It was at the end of a number of years of
working in another culture, quite an intense time of ministry, and I had lost
my boundaries. I didn’t know who or
whose I was. I was badly burned out and
wounded and I couldn’t fix myself. Asking for help was about the hardest thing I’d ever done. I am terribly stubborn, and it felt like I
was crawling on my belly over broken glass to have to ask for help. And people were there for me. They held me,
prayed for me, loved me back to some kind of health.
So Naaman however he got to that point, now in the story is
taking responsibility for seeking his own healing. This is a critical step in the process of
anyone seeking healing. You’ve got to
take responsibility for your own need, admit just how incomplete you are.
Naaman goes with lots of money and clothes [why clothes? was
he hoping to offer the prophet a silk tie?]. He goes with money and clothes still clinging to the idea that he’s
going to be able to control some part of the process, he’s going to buy the
favour. He starts with the King of Israel. And the King, lacking the
sensitivity we would like to see in our leaders - responds with a kind of
self-referential paranoia - a paranoia we sometimes see in our own political
leaders. He figures this is going to mean political trouble for him. He misunderstands. He doesn’t get it. And if you are going to be intentional about
seeking your own healing, then you need to know that lots of folk around you
are going to misunderstand too - it happens - and if you are not ready for it,
their negative reaction can dissuade you. But if your quest is true, don’t let yourself be turned aside. God wants you whole, unblemished, freed of
all that limits you.
Elisha hears about this big stir over in the palace and
sends a message to the king saying, “Send this Aramean fellow over ....” The
healing process now has really begun. Elisha knows he’s going see the prophet.. Maybe he can feel the process moving,
something stirring. Maybe he’s already
thinking of the freedom, or maybe the double bed, Maybe he’s already dreaming
of really being able to hug his kids, and kiss them goodnight.
He’s got his sights on healing. He’s got his objective clear. But then it doesn’t go at all the way he
expects. Elisha doesn’t even see him
face to face - he just sends a messenger. Tells him to wash in theJordan seven times. Naaman is ticked. “I
thought at least he would come and lay hands on me or something.”
Have you ever felt like that in your relationship with
God? Things just aren’t going the way
you expected, the way you wanted.....
The issue here is control. When we offer God our lives, if we are honest, then we no longer
have control - and that can be frightening. How we respond to this lack of control is critical to our spiritual
lives. We can’t make our wills be done. We
can’t force, cajole, coerce or trick God into doing what we want. No matter how good the thing is we want, no
matter how unselfish, how motivated by love.
So what do you do with this lack of control? Some
folk focus on order and rules, they try to give God a constitution, a set of by
laws to abide by. They try to control the Spirit with their rule book - whether
that is the bible itself, church policy, or some dogma. This is the heart of phariseeism - and it is
just as alive today as in Jesus day.
Some folk give up on the dream - they stop hoping, stop
believing in the possibility of wonders - this makes them like the Sadduccees
in Jesus day - reductionists, these folk have lost the ability to hope
again. Some have been so hurt they just
close up, carry their hurt as best they can, protect themselves by distance
from others... wounded, they no longer
dream
Living with this lack of control in our spiritual lives is
tricky. With God surprises are
many. God’s humour is great, but a bit
bizarre, and God delights in ironies: young
jewish servantgirls advising great Aramean military leaders. The most erratic disciple is nicknamed The
Rock. The first evangelist is a woman,
and not just any woman, a woman regarded as trailer trash who happens to be at
the well one noon hour. A messiah born to an unwed peasant girl. God literally breathes this stuff.
Our real strength lies in understanding that we cannot
control anything – not events, not God, and certainly not other people. All we
can control is our reaction, our thoughts, our words. One of the Hebrew names for God was Shaddai –
which literally means ‘who-enough’, the One who is enough, the One who is
complete. If God is the One who is
enough, who does that make us? The ones
who are not. Not enough. Not complete. Not on our own at least.
The key to spiritual health is knowing that our value as
humans is in our identity as God’s children - not in anything we can or cannot
do.
Our abilities such as they are come from God. We are, by
nature, like Naaman, clutching his
little treasures, his money and clothes, thinking these are the essentials. It
is only human self-aggrandizement that considers our competencies to be a more
worthy offering to God than our incompetencies. God is as likely to use some incompetency of yours than some competency –
maybe more so, because you are less likely to get hurt clamouring for the
credit.
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