PROPER 9 Pentecost 4C Year C July 3, 2022
Today we
look at some really great Bible stories.
Naaman, who was not even an Israelite, received a divine healing, but he
almost missed it due to his pride. This
is an amazing story about someone, blessed by God, even though he belonged to
the people who were often enemies of Israel.
Our first reading
tells us: “Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great
man and in high favour with his master, because by him the LORD had given
victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy.”
Do you notice
that it is was God who had given victory to Aram? No doubt that some of those victories were
against the Israelites and in one of those raids a young girl was taken as a
slave. This is a stark reminder that we
are dealing with a story where the culture was so different to our own. What was considered the norm, and considered
honourable, was different. Certainly,
the young girl appeared to hold no bitterness.
Much like Joseph who, when he was sold into slavery by his brothers, saw
God’s hand of provision for the future, perhaps this girl, aware of the story, held
a similar view.
In this
story, we tend to look at the great warrior, Naaman. And the great prophet, Elisha, but we should
perhaps make definite note of this young, un-named girl, who became the
instrument of God – the missionary – the evangelist. She declared that the leprosy, suffered by
Naaman, could be healed by the prophet.
Naaman was
obviously someone of importance to the King of Aram, as the King sends Naaman
to the King of Israel with a glowing letter and a great deal of money. The King of Israel received the letter, and
though his relationship with the prophet Elisha should have been a close one,
it was not – and so he misinterprets the letter as the Arameans picking a
fight.
Elisha sends
word to the King and Naaman is sent on his way to the prophet. After all this drama at the palace, and then
finally arriving at the prophet’s house, a servant is sent and Naaman is told; "Go,
wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall
be clean."
Naaman might
have been a great man, doing the work of God… an honourable man, cared for by
his slaves and servants, but to be sent away without an audience with the
prophet, messed with his ego. He left
angry and was not going to do as the prophet said, simply because it wasn’t
done in the way he expected. And that
expectation of course, included being treated as the important person he knew
himself to be.
Have we ever
been guilty of the same? Have we missed
the blessings of God because of our pride, and an expectation that things would
only be done in a certain way? Pride and
this expectation of how things would be done was a stumbling point for the
Pharisees of Jesus time also.
Naaman’s
pride, however, was not so immovable that his servants couldn’t speak with him
and convince him to heed the word of the prophet. And so Naaman was healed.
Ego might
not be a dirty word, but it has been said that pride comes before a fall. In our Gospel, Jesus makes a comment about
seeing Satan fall from Heaven. Satan fell
because of pride, and the Biblical connection to this statement is found in
Isaiah 14:12, “How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the
dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!”
Jesus is
saying that he saw Satan fall like lightening, in response to the excitement of
the 70 who were sent out in his name.
Often, we hear about the Twelve apostles, but it is important to
remember that we are also, all called, and these 70 were a large group who were
sent with a specific mission; They were to heal in Jesus’ name and to declare
that the Kingdom of God was near. Jesus
was sending these people to places where he intended to visit. In many ways they had a mission a bit like
John the Baptist, of preparing the way.
I can’t help
but wonder how this would look in our community today. Would there be 70 people who would be
prepared to travel to the surrounding areas, not just praying for the sick, but
healing, and declaring the kingdom of God?
It sure would create a buzz of excitement. If it were us, would we return proud and a
little full of our own importance?
These 70 were
excited that people were miraculously healed and also that the demons submitted
to them. What power they must have experienced? But then Jesus says this perplexing thing. “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightening”.
The
implication of that one statement holds plenty for discussion. Firstly, Jesus is saying that he saw that
event. He is standing there before them
as the Messiah, but also as a completely human being and declaring his
pre-existence and therefore his divinity.
In the same
statement, Jesus is declaring a warning.
Satan was once a shining Angel of light, but he became so convinced of
his own importance that he fell.
No matter
who we are and what we are called to in this life, we can easily cross that
line between confidence and self-importance.
Pride can hinder our own blessings and healings, and pride can even
cause complete rejection of God. Not
that he ever rejects us, but that we, in our pride, reject him and the good
that he has for us.
The letter
to the Galatians also has somethings to say about pride and self-importance; “Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will
fulfill the law of Christ. For
if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. All must test their own work; then that work,
rather than their neighbour’s work, will become a cause for pride. For all must
carry their own loads.”
I want to break
this down a little because it might seem a bit confusing with the talk of
burdens and loads. In the past I have
witnessed judgements from people about people.
And before I go any further, we all know, that we all make judgements, ….
All the time, in fact! And THAT is
simply a fact… But sometimes these judgements impact our actions.
I’m sure you
have heard people complain about our taxes going to the unemployed. It seems that some work while others “SEEM”
to get hand-outs.
We who have
resources, might feel that we are “something.” We might feel that our job and our wealth
mean that we are someone important. And in
that sense of importance, we might judge these receivers of the handouts, who
do not have jobs or finance, as people of less or no value.
The
scriptures tell us very clearly about how love is the fulfillment of the law
and the law of God is to care for others… to have mercy and act with
compassion, and it is stated again in our Galatians reading that when we bear
one another's burdens, we fulfill the law of Christ. But then the reading tells us we must carry
our own load.
Our loads are
our own day to day responsibilities, and we all have them. There are times when we or others fall on
hard times and those hard times, grief, financial hardships, disasters, etc… are burdens that we are not meant to carry
alone. I suspect disappointments and disillusions are burdens that many people
have sought to carry alone. These then
cause bitterness which comes between people and God. We need to be carrying these burdens with each
other… acknowledging the burden that they are and therefore sharing the weight of
them, until there is enough relief.
Burdens and
loads are all about healthy boundaries… you don’t take the burden – you share
the weight of it, but we are all responsible for our own loads.
We can’t actually
bear another person’s burden if we are full of pride and think we are better
than them. It is the difference between
empathy and sympathy. To actually bear a
burden is to feel the weight of it yourself, just a little…. Not so much
that we become overwhelmed.
To bear
another’s burdens is to understand the heart of God and have that heart for
others. Jesus, who knows of eternal
life, who healed the sick and raised the dead, still wept for Lazarus when he
was in the tomb. Jesus felt compassion
for the widow whose only son had died and raised him to life.
We are now
the hands, feet and heart of God on this earth and we are called to fulfill the
law of Christ by bearing each other’s burdens, but there is more…. The revelation
of how we can bear each other burdens, is in that commission that Jesus
gives his followers.
Our Gospel
reading tells us that Jesus had given authority to the 70 followers to heal and
declare the kingdom of God. Authority to
tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. But it all came with a warning about pride and
to instead rejoice that our names are written in heaven.
The cross is
the great equalizer, because none of us has been perfect and therefore none of
us had the power to save ourselves…. We need Jesus and his redemption. Our safe-guard against pride is knowing who we
are in Jesus. In Jesus we are so, so
loved and treasured, but we are nothing compared to him and all of us mere
humans are in the same boat there. When
someone is hurting, we should all be hurting and interceding for them. In doing this we not only fulfil the law of
God, but we really do declare that his Kingdom has come.
