Loading...[sing] As I went down to the river to pray,
studying about that good ol’ way
and who shall wear the starry crown.
Good Lord, show me the way
O sisters, let’s go down....
The big, important, Aramean army general had a skin disease.
In those days, it was called “leprosy”, but it wasn’t necessarily what is commonly called leprosy, or “Hansen’s disease”. It could have been eczema, psoriasis, or even acne!
Whatever it was, the real problem was that Naaman, the general,
was kind of an outcast.
And that got in the way of his work, and his family and community.
Then a young slave-girl speaks up.
She’s the servant of Naaman’s wife, and she’s Israelite.
This means she was captured during some battle in Israel and brought back to Aram to be a slave.
She has no power or standing in community.
But, she has moxie.
She says something to her mistress. I imagine that she’s fixing her mistresses hair or helping her dress, or some other domestic task like that when she says, “You know, it’s too bad that my lord [Naaman] is not in Israel where the man of God could heal him.”
She may not have any power in society, but she knows her true worth!
The message gets passed on to Naaman,
and he packs his bags (including a letter of introduction from his king to the king of Israel) and goes.
There is a wonderfully comedic moment when Naaman gives the letter of introduction to the king of Israel who panics because he knows that he cannot heal Naaman, seems to forget that there’s a prophet around who maybe could do that, and jumps to the conclusion that the king of Aram has sent his best general with this request in order to pick a fight and start another war. The king of Israel knows that despite his rôle as “king” he really doesn’t have any power.
In steps the prophet Elisha and he sets everyone straight.
Naaman comes to see him for healing,
except Elisha sends a servant to give instructions for cleansing:
dip seven times in the Jordan River.
This sends Naaman into a rage!
“Where is the ceremony? Where are the magic hands? The incantations? Instead, you expect me to go into this muddy river?!? Bah! There are better rivers at home. I should’ve stayed there.”
[sing] As I went down to the river to pray,
studying about that good ol’ way
and who shall wear the robe and crown.
Good Lord, show me the way!
O Brothers, let’s go down....
Naaman’s servant (notice a theme with the servants going on here?)
points out that the task that Elisha gives is super easy.
It’s not skin off his nose to dip into the Jordan seven times.
So, Naaman goes down to the river and gets in.
His flesh is made new, like the skin of a young boy.
He is clean.
We skip over the next bit in our story today (although you can keep reading the rest of 2 Kings 5), but after some conversation that makes it pretty clear that Naaman has a conversion experience, Elisha says to him: “Go in peace.” Naaman is sent with a benediction.
[sing] As I went down to the river to pray,
studying about that good ol’ way
and who shall wear the starry crown.
Good Lord, show me the way!
O Fathers, let’s go down....
~~~~~~~~~~~~
One day, as Jesus is
on the edge
in the in-between area,
on the fringes –
he encounters ten people who are also
on the edge,
in the in-between area,
on the fringes.
They are known as “lepers” because they have some sort of skin disease that makes them “unclean”.
And, they cry out from a distance, “Lord Jesus, have mercy!”
“Yes,” Jesus says (I paraphrase). “I do have mercy.”
He tells these lepers to go see the priests (which would be the final step in the healing/cleansing process. The priests are the ones who say, “yep, these guys are clean. They can be part of society again.”).
And off they go.
You may wonder, do they notice that they’ve been healed?
The only answer I can come up with is, I have no idea, but I suspect that they did notice. But, they were going to the priests, as they were told to.
But, one guy turns back and throws himself at Jesus’ feet and thanks him.
And this guy was a Samaritan:
an outcasts amongst the outcasts,
a guy who was even more on the fringe than all the other lepers.
This guy was a Samaritan who recognized Jesus as the healer
as Savior
as God.
And Jesus tells him,
“Get up and go on your way;
your faith has made you well/saved you/made you whole”.
Jesus sends him with a benediction.
[sing] As I went down to the river to pray
studying about that good ol’ way
and who shall wear the starry crown.
Good Lord, show me the way!
O Mothers, let’s go down....
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our circumstances may vary.
We may be outsiders or insiders;
We may be on the edge, or firmly ensconced in the middle;
We may have power, or no power;
We may be crabby (or angry!), or eager;
We may doubt (or, even be a non-believer), or feel secure in faith,
yet we turn to Jesus. We turn to the man of God.
And healing is given freely.
Jesus does not withhold the healing, life, freedom, and hope that you need.
And we are filled with gratitude, with faith, and with life.
You and I –
we need healing. We need healing from Jesus.
Maybe not today.
Maybe we don’t have “leprosy”, or some other disease that is visible, or makes us feel like an outcast, or that brings about rejection from others.
Maybe our dis-ease is more subtle.
And, maybe we need our healing from Jesus another day.
But we all need God’s mercy.
We need God’s love.
We need God’s shalom.
And we are given the forgiveness, healing, and life that we need.
[sing] As I went down to the river to pray
studying about that good ol’ way
and who shall wear the robe and crown.
Good Lord, show me the way!
O Sinners, let’s go down
Let’s go down, c’mon down.
O Sinner, let’s go down
Down to the river to pray!
Amen
