What's Your Leprosy? 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15 - 21st Sunday after Pentecost

¹Naaman, 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. ²Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. ³She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” ⁷When 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.”
  ⁸But 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.” ⁹So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” ¹¹But 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! ¹²Are 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. ¹³But 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’?” ¹⁴So 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.
  ^15a-cThen 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.” (NRSV)

Leonard Harrison State Park.  Photo by author.  

I cannot remember a time, for at least the last two decades, when there hasn’t been at least one high-profile infectious disease in the news…

Today, it’s the Zika and the Ebola viruses.  Before, we had the bird flu, H1N1, SARS, and the measles… 

I don’t know about you, but anytime I cough or sneeze out in public, there’s someone glaring at me with complete and utter disgust, like I’m patient zero, carelessly infecting the unsuspecting public…

In biblical times, there was no infectious disease more feared than leprosy.

Now there’s a widespread consensus that biblical leprosy is not the same thing as modern leprosy, more properly known as Hansen’s disease…  That being said, leprosy was just about the worst thing that could ever happen to a person. 

Your body would be covered with disgusting reddish or greenish boils that would sting, itch, and peal with excruciating pain. And leprosy was extremely contagious.  You could contract the disease simply by touching a piece of clothing or furniture that had been exposed to a leper.  Old Testament Laws mandated that lepers be expelled from their communities and live in isolation. Let’s not forget that people thought they could speak for God in those days—meaning that if you contracted leprosy, God must be punishing you.

No one was safe from this scourge, including a wealthy and powerful Syrian general named Naaman.  He commanded an army that had just raided the Holy Land and taken a number of Israelites captive, including a young girl who’s now his wife’s slave.

You’d think she’d be glad to see her captor suffering for what he’d done…  Perhaps that God was giving him what he deserved…

Nevertheless, the girl tells Naaman’s wife that there’s a prophet in Samaria who can cure him. 

Subsequently, Naaman shows up at Elisha’s door—with vast sums of silver in gold in tow.  Elisha sends his messenger to tell Naaman to simply wash himself in the Jordan seven times, and he will be clean. 

Now this doesn’t satisfy Naaman.  In fact, it’s the stupidest thing he ever heard—and here’s why:

Naaman is a man who’s used to getting his way.  There’s nothing that his wealth and power haven’t gotten him, until now.  He’s ready to give Elisha wealth beyond his wildest dreams, but he won’t even come out of his house to greet him.

God is telling Naaman what he doesn’t want to hear.  And nothing’s going to change for Naaman, until he acts on God’s Word. 

Naaman’s dilemma is not uncommon in the Christian life. How often do you think God isn’t answering your prayers—when, in fact, God is answering them—but you don’t like the answers.

It usually starts with denial… You say, “I can’t have leprosy.”  “I’m not in trouble.  I’m fine.”

When denial fails, pride and stubbornness take over: “I don’t need help.  I don’t need medicine. I want to deal with this my way.  I shouldn’t have to change.”

Then there’s the problem of arrogance.  Naaman thought the rivers of his homeland were far superior to the muddy Jordan.  He’s too rich, too powerful, too intelligent to have to be treated like this…

Fear is another obstacle to God’s healing.  When something’s difficult to do, you put it off; you make excuses; you talk yourself out of it. You say, “Now’s not a good time.  Support groups aren’t for me.  I don’t need a flu shot!”

Then there’s shame: you’re flying so high, only to be cast down so low…  You can’t help yourself…  Your wealth is gone…  You’ve done something you hate…  You’ve hit rock bottom…  You are a leper…

God’s healing is not a fix.  It’s a process.  Healing cannot begin until you own up to the fact that you need what you can’t buy and what your strength and intelligence cannot attain…  You will need to face the most difficult truths about yourself and your reality.  You must get off your high horse, swallow your pride, take that painful first step, make that change.  You will need to accept that God’s healing will seldom come in your time or on your terms.

So what’s your leprosy?  As you pray for that ailment or that pain, make sure that you’re not telling God how your prayers should be answered. You will need to let go of something; be it material possessions, or your determination to have things a certain way.  God’s answers will humble you; they will challenge you; they will change you.  God’s answers will come in the grace to face and overcome what you find to be impossible and unimaginable.  God’s answers will mean being with and among God’s people, often doing good for others and being a part of their healing.

You don’t need to have the faith of Jesus in order to be healed.  Naaman was a bloodthirsty tyrant, and God healed him.  Just act on God’s Word, and God will give you grace to go through the healing process. 

You will experience God not by avoiding your struggles and pains, but by facing them and therefore meeting God in the midst of them.