Made New

2 Kings 5:1-14            Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. And the king of Aram said, “Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.” He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.” But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.”

So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.

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Usually, the book of Kings takes itself pretty seriously, but this story provides a bit of comic relief. 

I was thinking about an old Huey Lewis and the News song the other day.

I want a new drug,
One that won’t make me sick,
One that won’t make me crash my car
Or make me feel three feet thick.

A magic pill that will fix everything – who wouldn’t want that?  Wouldn’t it be great to have a miracle cure with no side effects?  A new drug –

One that won’t hurt my head,
one that won’t make my mouth too dry
or make my eyes too red.

Naaman wanted a new drug.  One that would cleanse his skin, take away his shame, make him feel brand new. 

He suffered from a skin disease that they called leprosy, but more likely it was eczema.  The scriptures seem to lump all skin diseases together under the same name.  Clearly, his condition wasn’t too awful, or he wouldn’t be commander of the army.  But just as clearly, Naaman’s condition caused him some distress, and he wanted relief from this affliction.  A new drug –

One that does what it should,
one that won’t make me feel too bad,
one that won’t make me feel too good.

And when he heard that there was a prophet in Israel who could take away his affliction, that sounded like just the wonder drug he had hoped for.  So Naaman did what any sensible bureaucrat would do.  He asked his king, the King of Aram to address a letter of recommendation to the King of Israel, so the King of Israel could arrange for Naaman to be seen by his prophet.  And promptly cured of his ailment.

They made the appropriate preparations.   They went to the royal storehouse and loaded up about 500 pounds of silver and 3000 pounds of gold.  Also ten outfits, which were probably designer outfits.  And off went Naaman and his entourage:  horses and chariots and slaves, laden with extravagant gifts.  Only the best.

Now when they arrived in Israel the comedy of errors unfolds.  Naaman presents the King of Israel with the letter from the King of Aram: “I have sent you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy.”  Written on the king’s parchment.  Embossed with the royal seal.  Laden with the royal threat. 

The King of Israel goes into a panic.  “Who am I – God?  I can cure a man of his leprosy?  What is our old foe, the King of Aram, up to now?  Is this an excuse to raid our land and brutalize our people again?”  They’d done it before.  They’d do it again.

But it was all a misunderstanding.  Apparently, it would never have occurred to kings and queens and high commanders that the power they were looking for was not under royal authority, did not reside in a palace, was not in the employ of the King of Israel. 

Well, Naaman’s rather large entourage did not go unnoticed by the common folk, and the nature of his business got around.  So Elisha sent word to the King, “Keep calm and send this guy to me.”

So Naaman and all his horses and chariots and slaves and consumer goods turned and made their way to the house of the prophet.  A servant of Elisha came out to greet them and give them clear instructions from the prophet: Go wash in the Jordan River seven times and your flesh shall be restored; you shall be clean.

Was Naaman pleased? By no means!  There are certain protocols that must be observed for individuals of such high rank as Naaman is.  There is the matter of respect for ceremony and ritual.  Forget about the leprosy, something bigger is at stake here.  Naaman demands to be treated with deference!

I want a new drug,
one with no doubt.

Deeply offended, Naaman turns around to take his leprosy, and his gold and silver and designer outfits, and go home.  But clearer heads prevailed, and Naaman took the cure.  He deigned to lower himself into the Jordan River, seven times.  And his flesh was restored and made new.

His arrogance almost got in the way of his cure.  The foolishness of pride almost caused a war between the nations.  You wonder why God would find an arrogant, thankless fool like this deserving of the cure. 

Naaman is a fool, and not just any fool – he’s a destructive fool.  He’s a man of such self-importance, we know how he stomps all over the little people who get in his way, how he and his king would carry out a raid on Israel now and again, just for fun, just to remind them who is boss.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t like people like this Naaman.

No one at the roundtable this week liked him either.  We’d rather not have to deal with this kind of attitude.  But you know what?  We continued reading.

Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will accept nothing!” He urged him to accept, but he refused. Then Naaman said, “If not, please let two mule-loads of earth be given to your servant; for your servant will no longer offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god except the Lord. But may the Lord pardon your servant on one count: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow down in the house of Rimmon, when I do bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord pardon your servant on this one count.” He said to him, “Go in peace.”

Naaman returned to Elisha and professed his faith in the Lord.  He extended an offering of thanks, and he was not offended when Elisha refused the gift.  He said, “Then let me take a bit of the land of Israel home with me so I, too, may bow down and pray to the God of Israel.  And may you pardon me when, in obedience to my master, I accompany him into his house of prayer.  In all other ways, I am Yahweh’s servant.”

At this moment we realize that Naaman has, indeed, been made new.  This “drug” made him a new creation, and the side effect?  it cured his leprosy.  Perhaps our judgment of Naaman showed a lack of faith on our part in the power of the Almighty God of Israel, who can truly make all things new. 

Perhaps our anger toward Naaman our lack of faith in Naaman, shows our need for this same healing.  Perhaps my suspicions, my resentments, my annoyance, are a reflection of the leprosy that afflicts my soul.  I, too, want to be cured.  I, too, want a new drug –

One that won’t make me nervous,
wondering what to do.
One that makes me feel like I feel when I’m with you.

When I’m with you, O God. 

And we don’t need a piece of the land of Israel or a bit of water from the Jordan River.  As Paul says to the Galatians, in the end none of these things matter – neither circumcision not uncircumcision. Neither protocols nor ceremonies.  All that matters in the end is a new creation – a new creation through the cross of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

All glory and honor and thanksgiving to you, O Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.