Sermon

February 14 and 15, 2009

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

   

This is Valentine’s Day weekend.

            A time to celebrate love.

    And the love we remember today

                        is more than just romantic love.

            We remember a God who loves us.

                        In good times and bad.

                                    No matter what.

                        Loves us forever and always.

   

And that same God

            is a God who has power.

                        Power in life and death.

            Power to make a difference.

                        To make a difference in your life and mine.

   

It is good news to know that God loves us.

            It is good news to know that God has power.

  But there is still mystery.

                        There are still a lot of things we don’t understand.

   

Why is it

            that I stand with family around Sarah’s bed

                        in the Intensive Care Unit

                                    and pray for health and healing and wholeness—

            --Sarah, who the doctors say could die at any moment.

                        And 2 days later,

                                    Sarah is out of the ICU.

                        And a week later,

                                    she’s home from the hospital

                                                and doing well?

   

And yet,

            I stand with family by Warren’s bed

                        and pray for health and healing and wholeness—

            --and Warren dies soon after.

 

Why?  I don’t know.

Why does God heal some—

                        --through seemingly conventional means,

                                    doctors and medicines?

            Why does God heal others—

                        --through miraculous ways

                                    that we just can’t understand?

    And why do some remain sick and die?

 

And the same questions could be asked

                        about all areas of life.

            Nor just physical health,

                        but also emotional health.

                                    Mental health.

                                                Health in relationships.

 

Why?

            I don’t know.

  I want to be in control.

                        But I’m not.

                                    And you’re not.

                                                God is.

            And that’s a good thing.

     

Because in the midst of the unknown,

            I do know that God cares,

                        that God loves you and me.

            And I do know that God has power.

                        In the things of ultimate value and need,

                                    God has ultimate power.

   

And the stories of healing we hear in the Bible

            give testimony to that love and that power.

     

We have two parallel healing stories today.

            One from the Old Testament.

            One from the New Testament.

  Listen for God’s love.

            Listen for God’s power.

                        Listen…

   

In our Gospel reading from Mark,

            we hear about a leper that came to Jesus.

  Now,

            when the word leprosy is used in the Bible,

                        it could actually mean any of a number of skin diseases.

            But, when someone had leprosy,

                        whichever form,

                                    they were outcast.

                        They were considered unclean.

                                    They couldn’t live in the city.

                        They couldn’t touch anyone or be touched.

            The laws from Leviticus said that lepers were to:

                        “wear torn clothes,                                     let their hair hang loose,                                                 and cry out ‘unclean, unclean’                                                             when anyone approached.”  

This particular leper instead,

            came right up to Jesus

    and said:

                        “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

   

Did Jesus care?

            Even for this outcast?

  Listen.

   

Verse 41:

            “Moved with pity.”

  In the Greek,

            the word is splagchnizomai.

                        That literally means to have one’s intestines turn.

            This is not just a little care Jesus has.

                        His guts are churning because he cares so much.

                                    His insides are turning

            He really does care.

 

And then what does Jesus do?

            He stretches out his hand

                        and touches him.

            What’s one of the things you can’t do with lepers?

                        What’s forbidden with the ritually unclean?

  You can’t touch them.

            But what does Jesus do?

                        He touches him.

 

Does Jesus care?

            He touched him.

                        He broke the rules.

            He put himself in a situation

                        where he, too, could be outcast.

                                    And eventually, on the cross, he was totally cast out.

            But he cared enough

                        to reach out and touch.

   

The leper had said:

            “If you choose, if you are willing,

                                    you can make me clean.”

  And Jesus said:

            “I do choose, I am willing.

                        Be made clean!”

  Jesus cared.

   

But that’s not all.

            Verse 42:

                        “Immediately the leprosy left him,                                     and he was made clean.”    

Not only did Jesus care,

            but Jesus had power.

  Not only did Jesus touch,

                        but Jesus healed.

            Not only did Jesus choose to make the leper clean,

                        but Jesus did make the leper clean.

   

Does Jesus care?

            Yes.

Does Jesus have power?

            Yes.

               

How about the Old Testament reading?

 

Again,

            there is a man in need.

  “Naaman,             commander of the army of the king of Aram.                                     A mighty warrior.”

            This isn’t even a Jewish person.

                        But powerful.

 

And Naaman has leprosy.

 

Now, the Arameans

            went out on military raids.

  And on one of those raids,

                        they had captured a young girl from Israel.

            And she served Naaman’s wife.

 

And she said:

            “If only my lord                         were with the prophet                                     who is in Samaria!                         He could cure him of his leprosy.”  

And Naaman’s wife told Naaman.

            And Naaman told the King of Aram.

                        And the King of Aram said:

                                    “Go to the King of Israel.”

   

And Naaman went.

            But he didn’t go as one asking for a favor.

                        He went, ready to pay.

            He took 10 talents of silver—

                        --that’s worth about $120,000--,

                                    6000 shekels of gold—

                                                --that’s worth about $280,000.

                        Plus 10 sets of garments.

                                    I don’t know how much that’s worth.

            But let’s say he brought between $400-$500,000 dollars.

  He was ready to pay plenty

            if he could be healed.

       

Problem was,

            the king of Israel

                        thought this was just a political, military ploy.

            He thought Naaman was asking the impossible

                        and would then attack him because of it.

           

 

But Elisha, the prophet, said:

            “Let him come to me.”

  And Naaman came,

                        with his horses and chariots,

                                    his full entourage,

                                                to Elisha’s house.

   

Elisha doesn’t even come out.

            He sends a messenger who says:

                        “Go, wash in the river Jordan seven times,                                     and you shall be clean.”    

Do you know what Naaman thought of that?

            He was mad.

                        He said:

                                    “I thought for me                                                 he’d come out here,                                                             and call on the name of the Lord his God,                                                 and wave his hand over the spot,                                                             and cure the leprosy.”    

Wasn’t he important enough to deserve

            special treatment?

  He was a warrior.

            He was a powerful man.

                        He’d brought half a million dollars.

                                    He was in control.

                                                Or—he thought he was.

            The rivers in his region were better than the River Jordan.

  Why should he go to the Jordan and take a bath?

                        He went away in a rage.

         

But fortunately,

            he had some wise servants,

                        who said to him:

            “If he’d asked you to do something difficult,                                     you’d have done that, wouldn’t you?                         Just go wash.”  

And he did.

            And he was healed.

                        And his skin was like the skin of a young boy again.

   

That’s where our reading ends,

            but the story goes on a little longer.

  He came back to Elisha.

            He knew that Elisha’s God,

                        our God,

                                    was the one, true God.

            And he offered to pay Elisha for the healing.

   

You see,

            in Naaman’s way of thinking,

                        and all too often in ours,

                                    you earn what you get in life.

            You pay your way.

                        With your power,

                                    or the sword,

                                                or money—

                                    --you get what you pay for.

                                    --you get what you deserve.

   

And this healing messed with his way of thinking.

            He’d been healed.

                        But he wasn’t in control.

            And he wanted to take back control.

                        To pay.

                                    And you know what?

                                                Elisha wouldn’t let him.

           

This was something new for Naaman.

            There was something he couldn’t earn.

                        Something none of us can earn.

            This is a gift.

                        This is grace.

            Wholeness—by grace through faith.

                        What a gift.

   

Did God care for Naaman?

            Even Naaman.

                        Not even a believer—at least when he was healed.

                        Not even a Jew.

                        A foreigner.

                        Someone who thought he was in control.

            Did God care even for Naaman?                   

                        Yes.

            Does God care even for me?

                        Even for you?

   

And did God have power?

            Yes.

                        He healed Naaman of the leprosy.

            A gift.

                        Grace.

       

I once heard a pastor tell a story

                        during a sermon.

            And after the service,

                        I asked if I could tell that story sometime.

            And he said that was fine

 

He told a story—a true story—

            --probably 20 years ago now.

  About a woman who had cancer.

                        And wanted so badly to be well.

            And she listened to a TV evangelist

                        who was offering

                                    for a contribution,

                        a blessed pillowcase,

                                                that she could take to the hospital

                                                            and it would give her healing.

 

And she sent some money.

            And got the pillowcase.

                        And took it to the hospital with her.

 

And it didn’t seem to be helping.

            So she sent more money.

                        And still the cancer got worse

            She wanted to be in control.

                        And she wasn’t.

   

And when she contacted the TV evangelist about it,

            he just said she just didn’t have enough faith.

   

Then she called my friend,

            the pastor.

  And by this time,

            not only was her body devastated by cancer,

                        but her spirit was devastated as well.

  And he came.

            And listened to her story.

                        And shared in her grief.

            And then said to her:

                        “Let’s not start with what we don’t know.                                     Let’s start with what we know about God.”  

And he shared with her

            God’s never-ending love

                        and God’s amazing power.

   

The cancer eventually took her life.

            But that didn’t change God’s love.

                        That didn’t change God’s power.

            And that didn’t change God’s ultimate victory,

                        giving life everlasting.

               

And that’s all there for you, too.

            Does God love you?

                        Yes.

            Does God have power for you?

                        Yes.

            Does God give ultimate health and wholeness?

                        Yes.

   

We don’t always understand how God works.

            We have a hard time giving up control.

  But we know that God has the final victory,

            through Jesus’ life and death and resurrection.

   

May you know God’s love

            and God’s power

                        at work in you.

   

In Jesus’ name,

            Amen