Home > Sermons > July 8, 2007

Intro to the Elisha Tale

This morning I want to share with you one of those stories from the Old Testament book of II Kings. The story is a bit longer story than the assigned lectionary reading for the day.  But there is something to be said for hearing the whole tale.  

With these old Hebrew stories I often have to ponder: Just why is this one preserved as scripture?  Then I catch little flecks of light – like little ripples of silver in the sunlight in rapidly moving water. Then I marvel at the sophistication of meaning that suddenly flashes out of these rather simple stories.  

This story is one of a whole cycle of stories. The prophets Elijah and Elisha are a pair. Recently we met the older Elijah in his time of depression.  He experienced God in the voice of gentle stillness.  A few weeks ago, we read of Elisha accepting the mantle from his spiritual father Elijah.  Today’s story comes much later. Elisha is very well established as his own person. He is a prophet in Samaria – not far from Jerusalem. 

This story is the 5th Chapter of II Kings (which you will find begins on page 336 in the Old Testament section of your pew Bible).  It tells of the healing of Naaman – an officer in the army of Aram which we know as Syria, today.  Not hard for us to imagine today, the state of Aram was an enemy to Israel.  This tension an important part of the story.   

The story begins (II Kings 5):     

1 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. (All of the Scripture  reading is from NRSV © Division of Christian Education National Council of Church of Christ in United States.)

The translation is that Naaman was a victorious military leader of Syria who had

recently successfully conducted raids against Israel, which had made him great at home.  But...

The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy.

Now leprosy was any one of a number of contagious skin disorders that were very troublesome at the time, although not necessarily what we know as leprosy in modern times.

2 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. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my lord [Naaman] were with the prophet [of Israel] who is in Samaria! He would heal him of his leprosy.” 4 So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5 And the king of Aram said, “Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.” 

How desperate Naaman must have been to listen to the slave girl’s advice.  Surely he had tried every remedy in his own country.  So what the King of Aram think?

[Naaman] went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. 6 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.” 7 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.” 

The King of Israel, a political animal, couldn’t imagine any peaceful reason for the King of Syria to send Naaman to him!  How could he deal with such a request?  He anticipated the worst.

8 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.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house.  

Consider this picture: The powerful foreign military leader with all of his retinue parked in front of the modest house of the prophet!  And Naaman is one of those guys who says “Jump,” and those around him say “How high?”  Is Elisha impressed? 

Elisha, the prophet of God, was an Israelite, and he shared some of his people’s contempt for Arameans – especially the proud ones.  So, Elisha isn’t much impressed.  Instead of coming out to welcome or greet Naaman ... 

10 Elisha sent a messenger to [Naaman], saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” 11 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! 12 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.

13 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’?” 14 So [finally Naaman] 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. 

      15 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.” 16 But [Elisha] said, “As the LORD lives, whom I serve, I will accept nothing!” [Naaman] urged him to accept, but he refused.

Naaman cannot pay the prophet for the healing. He has no physical way to express his gratitude.  So Naaman turns his attention to the worship of the God of the prophet. 

17 Then Naaman said, “If [you will] not [acccept anything], please let two mule-loads of earth be given to [me, Naaman] your servant; for your servant will no longer offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god except the LORD [YHWH]. 

Naaman is acting out of a widespread ancient understanding.  According to the beliefs of the time, any god would have his own specific territory.  It was presumed that you could only worship a god in the territory of his own power. So being a man of power and action, Naaman comes up with a solution: take enough of Israel back with him that he can worship Israel’s God there.  He asks for permission to take two mule-loads of soil from Israel – enough for Israel’s God’s presence.   

But Naaman is, also, thinking about difficulties he will encounter back home. 

[And Naaman asks to Elisha]  18 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 [the temple in Damascus], when I do bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the LORD pardon your servant on this one count.”

Naaman is a politician who understands the dilemma he will be in, trying to worship Israel’s God.  It will be his duty, as a servant of his own king, to continue to go to the house of the king’s god, and to bow his head there.

      19 [Elisha] said to him, “Go in peace.”

The God of grace and mercy will make it possible even for this Syrian man to worship in spite of his unusual circumstances.   

I pause the story to think a little about the flashes of wisdom in the story so far.  Let’s look briefly at the various characters who invite you to join the story yourself.     

Slave Girl

First, the slave girl.  We don’t know her name.  She had no status.  Kidnaped from Israel, she was living in Aram in the home of the powerful military man. Any status she had would have been borrowed from her master. She must have been lonely.  She missed her homeland. Was she often sad?  Did she cry a lot?  Was she bitter?  What did she think about the Arameans?  Did she think about revenge?  

Or had she settled comfortably into this role?  Had she begun to forget her home and people?  Were her days gifts of God?  Or were they a drudgery?  We don’t know, but she was steadfast in faith.  She cared enough about Naaman to advise him to go to Samaria.  Thus she became the key person to Naaman’s successful quest.  In the story, that is her true status.  Associated with the God of Israel, she was a witness pointing to God’s power! 

As a devout Israelite, she still had the best interests of Naaman at heart – even if she had been forced to work for him.  And she had faith: “If only, my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him.”  With those words this brave girl steps out of the story.  But she has become the anticipation of God’s grand cross-cultural activity.   

Do Christians today – especially those in humble circumstances – anticipate God’s cross-cultural activity? 
 

The Kings

Now think of the story from the point of view of the two Kings.  As soon as desperate Naaman tried to follow up on the slave girl’s idea, it became a political event. His own king sent him with a letter to the King of Israel and it nearly provoked an international incident. 

Both Kings were far too filled with themselves to think of God’s power. 

Are politicians today any different?  Can people of faith expect political solutions to real problems?  Do not the real solutions still grow out of the people on the margins instead of from the top down? 

Elisha

Now, think of the story from the point of view of the prophet.  Elisha didn’t live too far from the King of Israel, but he was in a different world When he got wind of the political crisis, he sent a message to his King to send this Aramean visitor his way, “So he’ll know there is a prophet in Israel!”  The visitor from Aram needed to know of God’s presence, but perhaps the Israelite King needed a little reminder as well! 

Elisha didn’t go jumping for joy when this enemy visitor showed up.  Was Elisha testing Naaman? Did Elisha know what miracle God was going to work?  It was to be a miracle far greater than the curing a skin problem. It was a miracle of making an unlikely disciple – the miracle of God moving in a Gentile officer. Elisha had to be patient, but in his patience, Elisha became the channel through which God’s boundary-crossing miracles took place. 

What kind of cross-cultural miracles is God offering the world today?  

Naaman’s servants

And a mention of Naaman’s servants: Like the slave girl who started this all, it was Naaman’s personal slaves, who interceded. Were they, also, Israelite? Did they know something about the ways of God?  Or were they just cool heads who didn’t relish taking Naaman back without trying the cure?  “If the prophet had asked you to do something hard – wouldn’t you have done it?”  These servants are prepared for God to step over the boundaries. 

Naaman

Think of the story from the point of view of Naaman. He was a desperate and ready to go almost anywhere or do almost anything. But this prophet Elisha had his nerve!  He didn’t even take Naaman’s rank and prestige seriously – sending him out to the inferior Jordan river! Naaman couldn’t imagine what God was going to do.

      Do we ever get so stuck in our own ways that we don’t leave room for God to do anything new?  

The New Naaman

Naaman had been encouraged by the slave girl to go to Israel in the first place to find the true God.  And when he got there, Naaman did not want too accept the God of that territory by washing in the Jewish River.  But, now, he has been changed.  He is converted!  Naaman is so grateful for what the God of Israel has done for him, that he promises to worship no other god.  He intends to be exclusive.  He came back to Elisha not as a supplicant, but with thanksgiving. He was no longer trying to buy a miracle or impress with gifts.  He came offering his thanks. Naaman was ready to worship God and to consider the very serious implications of trying to carry that out. 

God crosses cultural boundaries – always works in new ways.  Whoever feels they have God all boxed up will miss the wonder of God’s next great miracle. 

God chooses to offer miracles and hope through the most marginalized – the servants and the prophet.  Is God still speaking on the margins?  Among the  immigrant populations?  Among those of other faiths?  Among the new Christians in the world?  Are we open to the wonder and hope God is offering?  

Gehazi, Elisha’s Servant

I am going to close today by reading the last part of the story –  beginning with the end of verse 19.   It offers a warning that even those closest to God’s miracles can miss the point and get priorities out of order.  This is about Gehazi, Elisha’s servant:

19b But when Naaman had gone from [Elisha] a short distance, 20Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, “My master has let that Aramean Naaman off too lightly by not accepting from him what he offered. As the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something out of him.” 21So Gehazi went after Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he jumped down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is everything all right?” 22He replied, “Yes, but my master has sent me to say, ‘Two members of a company of prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim; please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.’” 23Naaman said, “Please accept two talents.” He urged him, and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and gave them to two of his servants, who carried them in front of Gehazi. 24When he came to the citadel, he took the bags from them, and stored them inside; he dismissed the men, and they left. 25He went in and stood before his master; and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” He answered, “Your servant has not gone anywhere at all.” 26But he said to him, “Did I not go with you in spirit when someone left his chariot to meet you? Is this a time to accept money and to accept clothing, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, and male and female slaves? 27Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you, and to your descendants forever.” So he left his presence leprous, as white as snow.  

The story ends in irony.  The haughty enemy of Israel is miraculously cured and worshiping God.  But the wayward servant is condemned. 

The story leaves us wondering – are we ready for God’s miracles? 

Amen.