Sunday: Epiphany 6

Texts: 2 Kings 5:1-14; Mark 1:40-45

During WWII there was a B17 bomber nicknamed "Leper Colony." All the misfits in the squadron, all those that no one wanted in their crews, were put on this plane. A general's son was then challenged to whip these misfits into a sharp bombing crew, which they proved themselves.

In both, the Old Testament and Gospel lessons for today, we encounter a leper. Those afflicted with leprosy were often considered outcasts. In Biblical times, lepers were required to call out "Unclean! Unclean!" whenever anyone came within their proximity, so that contact would be avoided. Besides becoming a social outcast, the leper was constantly reminded of an un-wholeness within them that was more than skin-deep. For if one is rejected by people, it is easy to also feel rejected by God.

But God proves this false as Jesus enters the scene. He does not retreat from an approaching leper, but compassionately reaches out and touches him. Touching a leper automatically makes one unclean. However, we see that God is not afraid to share the social stigma of a leper. So whenever you feel rejected or ostracized by others, then, and especially then, remember that God does not turn his back on you, but that he reaches out to you with healing in his hand.

Naaman, the Syrian army commander in our Old Testament lesson is one such person who experienced this healing touch of God, though perhaps not as he had expected. What did he expect to find when he came to Israel in search of a cure? He arrived with a pile of money and gifts, and proudly riding on his horse. It looks to me that he was expecting to hire the best professional healer money could buy, who could perform an impressive and elaborate healing ceremony. I suppose he was expecting to meet the equivalent of Benny Hinn.

However, the prophet of God has no interest in his money, or the fact that this is the second most powerful man in Syria. Elisha does not even bother to come out to meet him. Instead, he sends his servant to tell him to go and dip 7 times in the Jordan river. Now the Jordan river is somewhat like the Don river after a good rain shower: Not the kind of river you go bathing in, at least not if you expect to come out cleaner than you went in. Understandably, Naaman feels slighted and is outraged. Fortunately, his attendants have the good sense to encourage him: "If the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!"

I suppose Naaman thought that God's favour needed to be bought with money and won with earnest prayer and elaborate ceremony. But the God Naaman encountered in Israel is not to be won over by such antics. Instead, the psalmist tells us: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." (Psalm 51:17)

As Naaman took off his clothes his leprous condition was exposed to all who were gathering on the Jordan bank to see this mighty general of Syria. Then he stepped into the Jordan river once, and back out. Then a second time. Then a third, a fourth, a fifth and a sixth time. Naaman wasn't feeling anything special yet. But believe me, he was beginning to feel more and more humiliated. This was perhaps the most humbling experience the great Syrian general has ever been through in his life.

To help you understand this, allow me to put this event into a contemporary perspective. Syria and Israel were enemies and often at war with each other. Syria was usually the stronger power and except for the times God intervened, maintained an upper hand against Israel. It was somewhat like the relationship between the U.S. and Iraq today. Then imagine that Chief of Staff, Colin Powel, gets word from his doctor that he has an incurable cancer. But somehow he gets word that this form of cancer can be cured by dipping in the waters of the Euphrates River in Iraq. Now, can you imagine Colin Powel, who is preparing the world for a war with Iraq, going to Saddam to ask for permission to travel to Iraq in order to go dip himself in the Euphrates so he might be healed? And as the eyes of the world are turned on him, he strips off his uniform and dips himself in the river. Talk about humiliation!

That is what it took for Naaman to be brought to the place where he could get healed. Believe me, it wasn't easy. But Naaman wasn't just healed. As we read on we find that this general of Syria also became a believer in the God of Israel.

One of the take-home lesson we have here is: Don't waste your money on healers or healing performances in order to gain God's favour. For if God wishes to heal you, he will certainly grant you your request. And if not, then no amount of money will make him change his mind. Instead, if he chooses not to heal you, he promises to give you the grace necessary to bear your affliction. For when God does not grant you your request, it does not mean that he hasn't heard your prayer. It is because he has something better in mind for you. Instead of physical healing he wishes to give you spiritual blessings, such as patience, endurance and a strong faith. Remember that every physical blessing or healing is time-limited: Eventually we all get sick and die. But God's spiritual blessings are forever. As we endure painful trials in this life, God is preparing us for a new life, a new body and an everlasting home.

There is another important take-home message for us in this story: We get what God promises us only if we follow his instructions. Naaman was told to dip in the Jordan river. What about us? What has God told us to do when we a person is sick? God tells that person to:

"Call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." (James 5:14-16).

This is the prescription: Call the elders, pray and be anointed with oil, confess your sins, be forgiven and healed. It is very simple. That is all you need to obtain God's favour.

Last week I was called to the Hospital for Sick Children. A mother was here from B.C., expecting a baby. The problem: As soon as the child was born, it would need a new heart in order to survive. The child was overdue and no heart had yet been found. Following the visit I was away for a week-long church conference. When I returned I was told that a miracle had happened. After I had offered a prayer and left she started getting contractions and a couple of days later she gave birth. Just at that time a heart became available, but it was too small. As the days wore on, and the parents' nerves wore thin as the child began to turn blue, a second heart became available that was the right size. The operation was done and the baby is now doing well. What made the parents even happier was that another, smaller baby girl had since been born who also required a heart transplant, and the heart that didn't fit Aaron ended up saving her life! Talk about divine providence! Once again, I am amazed at how God answers a simple, humble prayer of faith. He certainly answers it beyond our wildest expectations.

I have come to believe that God prefers the prayer of a simple, humble person than the elaborate prayers of the professionals. Why is that? It's because prayer is meant to be the communication between God, our dear heavenly Father and us, his beloved children. When we were baptized, God adopted us as his children and washed away all our sins. There we received the right to address him as "daddy" and to expect him to answer our prayers. That is ours in Baptism.

And that's not all. As Jesus reached out his hand to touch the leper, so he continues to reach out with his healing hand to touch you. But you may wonder: "When was the last time Jesus touched me? " Then consider these words of Jesus to his disciples: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven…. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him." (John 6:51, 56)

When Jesus invites you to his Table, there he comes to you to touch you and to be with you. There he comes to feed your soul and heal your body. The forgiveness we receive there begins to undo the effects of sin and death in our lives. This food Jesus offers us has been described as the "food of immortality." After all, Jesus said: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:54)

These are amazing promises Jesus gives us. Now if Jesus promises to raise us from death and to give us eternal life, don't you think it can't also include physical healing? Isn't it ironic that we often find it easier to trust God to provide for our eternal life, but we don't feel so sure when it comes to our daily problems like our health? Part of the problem is that it is often easier for us to simply rely on our own resources, like the doctors and medications, than to examine ourselves spiritually and to confess our sins to God. That will mean stripping ourselves of our pride and humbling ourselves.