"If You Are Willing"
2 Kings 5:1-14;
2 Kings 5:1 Now
Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the
sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given
victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy. 2 Now bands from
Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she
served Naaman's wife. 3 She said to her mistress, "If only my master would
see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." 4
Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5
"By all means, go," the king of Aram replied. "I will send a
letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents
of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing. 6 The letter
that he took to the king of Israel read: "With this letter I am sending my
servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy." 7 As soon
as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, "Am I
God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me
to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with
me!" 8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn
his robes, he sent him this message: "Why have you torn your robes? Have
the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel." 9
So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's
house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven
times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be
cleansed." 11 But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he
would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God,
wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and
Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel?
Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a
rage. 13 Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, 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'!" 14 So he went
down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told
him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
Mark
1:40-45
Mark 1:40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees,
"If you are willing, you can make me clean." 41 Filled with
compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am
willing," he said. "Be clean!" 42 Immediately the leprosy left
him and he was cured. 43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44
"See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the
priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a
testimony to them." 45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely,
spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but
stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from
everywhere.
My dear Brothers and
Sisters in the faith, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our
Lord who is the Savior Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Touching someone you are
familiar with, such as a friend or relative when they have a fever can be
helpful and even healing. As you may
recall the last week's sermon Jesus took the hand of Simon's mother-in-law who
was ill with a fever and lifted her up.
But touching someone that you've never met before, and who is considered
by religious custom and society in general as being unclean and therefore
untouchable is, of course, quite another matter.
The summer before I
entered the seminary I worked for a computer company in Fort Wayne. I was sent
out on a service call to a Lutheran Elementary School. I assume they figured if
someone was going to make these people happy a Lutheran Pastor in training
would. On my way back I decided to have my lunch and stopped by a convenience
store to buy a soft drink and an apple. As I brought my merchandise to the
counter I noticed the clerks neck, arms and face were covered with large white
sores. As much as I wanted to look away I couldn't. I'd never seen a skin
ailment like this before. I stood there wondering was it Aids or leprosy or
some other malady? Was it contagious, had I put myself at risk by letting him
sack my foodstuffs? What are the rules concerning dealing with someone that has
a contagious disease?
Our
Scripture lesson today is about those rules and the breaking of them.
Both the leper and Jesus have stepped out of bounds. It’s a story that
says when God sends us a valentine, God colors outside the lines. Why does the leper come
to Jesus? By doing so, he breaks the rules of Leviticus 13, which says:
"As
for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of
his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and cry, 'Unclean!
Unclean!' "He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the
infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside
the camp. (Leviticus 13:45-46)
This leper doesn't cry out, "Unclean,
unclean," -- the cry to have people stay away -- he quite literally he
"is calling Jesus to his side" (parakalw/n). The word in Greek for "calling" means a
continuous non-stop calling, without ceasing. It makes it clear that this leper
wasn't going to be quiet until the Lord answered him. This same word is also
used as a summons, a prayer or a plea for help. This leper is the first one to
cross the ritual boundaries. He approaches Jesus. He calls on him to come and
help. By breaking the Levitical laws, he faces the most severe penalty, death.
But
this probably wasn't a great fear for the leper. The leper
was already a “dead man,” haunting the edges of his community. He would
be dressed like a corpse, in a shroud of rags, and wouldn't cut his hair.
A healthy person could become unclean just by touching a leper, so the shouts
of TAME, TAME in the Hebrew, or Aka-thar-ton, Aka-thar-ton in the
Greek or Tel-AL, Tel-AL in the most likely language of this leper,
Aramaic," Unclean, unclean were the words to warn others to stay away,
death is approaching!”
Because
people believed that leprosy was God’s punishment for sin, only prayers to God could
release a person from the disease. The priests had the authority
to declare a person clean and to receive an offering for the seven-day
cleansing ritual that would allow one to reenter community life. But a
leper could never approach the temple; could never approach the man who could
allow him to reenter life. He could yell at a distance to anyone willing to
listen, send for the priest but never go himself to the one that could declare
clean. When a leper recovered from the disease it was the same as being raised
from the dead.
This leper breaks all
the rules by asking Jesus to heal him. Remember, the only cure for
leprosy is prayers to God. But the leper looks at Jesus and says, “If
You are Willing, you can make me clean.” It was blasphemy to imply
that Jesus can do what only God can do, that is of course, unless Jesus is God.
Notice what happens
next. Jesus doesn’t just speak the words, “Be clean”—he touches the
leper. Jesus has healed before with His words. He didn’t have to
actually touch the man. This was the same as touching a dead body.
The Greek word in this text means more than a light touch of the hand. It
means to take hold of something. It’s like Jesus grabbed him by the
shoulders and hugged him and embrace that would kindle compassion and
friendship. Imagine how healing that must have been to someone who hasn’t
been touched or held in such a long time!
In the Gospels, Jesus is
always touching the untouchable. He reaches out to people and takes hold
of them. He crosses over the boundaries to embrace people on the margins
of society. As important as that physical healing might be, the
social healing is just as life changing. Healing includes being restored
to the community of other people. The man’s cure enables him to get close
to others. Close enough to tell them about Jesus and His healing power.
When Jesus chooses to
touch this leper, He identifies himself with all lepers. And when the
news gets out, His ministry is disrupted. Jesus can no longer go freely
into a town. He must stay in the out-of-the-way places.
Today’s
gospel lesson is full of boundary violations. An unclean man begs a holy
man for help. A clean man breaks the law to touch one who is
unclean. Instead of going to the priest, as one declared clean, and
keeping quiet, like Jesus told him to, the healed man proclaims Jesus’ good
work. And people come from everywhere to see Jesus. Many of them
probably have to cross some kind of boundary to find Him.
In our Old Testament
Reading we see another leper named Naaman. Naaman
learns that God’s ways don’t always meet our expectations. We read that
Naaman was a great man and a mighty warrior. He came to Israel to be cured
by a famous prophet. He brought a fortune with him, to pay for the cure.
And not only that, he had a letter of reference from his king.
Elisha tells
Naaman through a servant to wash seven times in the Jordan River. But
Naaman is insulted. He has gold and silver enough to pay for the best
treatment money can buy. This prophet doesn’t even have the courtesy to
come out to meet him in person. Naaman expected a grand and dramatic
miracle cure. But Elisha just sends out a lowly servant with a
prescription: "Wash seven times in this foreigner’s river" It’s
not only an insignificant little river; it’s brown and smelly. It doesn’t
look like one could get very clean in that water.
In his
anger, Naaman turns away, intending to head back home. But he remembers
that he's a leper. Where else can he go? What kind of a life does
he have to look forward to? Naaman decides to humble himself and to
follow Elisha’s instructions. Sure enough, God heals him. The story
says that his skin became as soft as a baby’s skin. It’s like Naaman was
born all over again. I suspect that he was healed of a lot more than just
his leprosy. Imagine his joy and gratitude as he returned to his home
with a new life.
It didn’t
happen the way Naaman expected. With all that money, all those expensive
clothes, the chariots and horses, the impressive resume with the king’s
seal. None of it mattered. God can choose to heal anyone, 'anyway
God wants to!' God erases our uncleanness for free, no charge! A
price was paid all right; Jesus paid it on the cross.
Jesus came
to remove those boundaries. He did it by forgiving, healing, and casting
out evil spirits. He did it by becoming human like us, and identifying
Himself with our human weaknesses. Jesus bridges the gap between God and
us through His humanity, His suffering, death, burial and resurrection.
The healing that God offers is not just for VIPs who can afford the most
expensive medical care. It’s for everyone. No matter who you
are. No matter what sin needs to be forgiven! God chooses to heal us in
the most important way, spiritually. We too had a form of leprosy; one unseen
by the human eye, we were spiritually dead. But Jesus died to give us the cure.
Like Naaman the water cleanses us and gives us life. Through the mystery of the
waters of Baptism, Isaiah says: "Though
your sins were as scarlet, they will be are white as snow; though they were red
like crimson, they will are like wool."
You have been covered in a gown of righteousness and made white as snow. You
have been given new life, in Jesus Christ. What a wonderful gift of love.
Valentine's Day is just around the corner, it's one of those days we try
and remember true love. The beautiful flowers, fancy chocolates and precious
jewelry we like to give on Valentines Day. But they don’t even come close to
the love of God shows us in Christ Jesus. God doesn't accept us because
we are beautiful or unblemished. Christ reaches out to heal us; the
boundary between clean and unclean is erased. With His hand He touches us
sinners, with that touch we are made new and declared clean. We like the
leper call out to Jesus, "If you are willing, You can make me
clean." Jesus says "be cleansed and it is so." Know
that you too have been cleansed; that all your sins have been forgiven, in the
name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Though you were once like scarlet you
are now white as snow, for Jesus sake and in Jesus holy name, Amen!
May the peace of God, which
surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus,
Amen!
In Christ's Service, Pastor Spencer