Hosea 1:2-10, Colossians 2:6-19, Luke 11:1-13 Have Faith and Pray

At first glance, the reading from Hosea 1:2-10 doesn't seem to make sense. Would God really ask a prophet to marry a prostitute? Well, the answer is yes he can, and yes he did. You see, this was part of God's plan, and we all know that God's ways are not our ways, and sometimes God's ways don't make sense to us because we can't see the overall plan God has for someone or something.

God wanted to teach Israel a lesson, so he told Hosea to marry Gomer the prostitute. When God used the word whoredom, he was not necessarily referring to prostitution. The word translated as whoredom is a broad term that refers to various types of sexual misconduct. It only refers to prostitution in certain cases. In the case of Hosea, it refers to a married woman being unfaithful to her husband. This was a metaphor for Israel's unfaithfulness to God. Hosea's marriage began well and ended badly, just like Israel's relationship with God began well and had become bad by the time of Hosea.

Hosea probably asked God, "Why are you doing this to me? I am a good man, I try to be a godly man. All I want to do is have a family and raise children. Why should I be married to the wrong woman? Why should I be forced to raise strange children?" God's likely answer was, "It is because you are my prophet that you are living through this situation. Who else could suffer like I suffer, grieve like I grieve, and understand what I understand? Israel abandoned me just like your wife abandoned you. You can grieve for Gomer like I grieve for Israel."  

God knew that Gomer would be unfaithful and he used that knowledge to teach Israel a lesson. He used the names of her children as statements of prophecy. The first child, Jezreel, was a reflection of 1 Kings 21 where Ahab's wife Jezreel planned to murder Naboth so that Ahab could seize Naboth's vineyard.  The licking of Ahab's blood by the dogs was a metaphor for God's future judgment of people who follow other gods.

The name of Gomer's second child is translated as "No Mercy". Scholars suggest that Hosea was not the father. He did not have the natural affection that a father has for his children. This was a metaphor for the lack of love that God had for Israel at this point in time.

The name of Gomer's third child is translated as "Not My People", and again scholars suggest that Hosea was not the father. It represents the breaking of the natural bond that God made with Israel at Mt. Sinai; however, this breaking of the bond did not nullify the promises God made to Abraham. Like Abraham, Israel's salvation was by grace through faith and not through works of the law. The salvation would be offered through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus.  

God used Hosea's family to call Israel back to him and his teachings. Paul said the same thing in Colossians 2:6-19. Both the Colossians and the Israelites had been led away from God. In the case of the Colossians, they were led away by false prophets. They were deceived. They forgot that in God and Jesus they were living new lives after being forgiven of their sins. They were united with Christ and shared his power over all earthly rules and authority. The only way they had to gain spiritual maturity was to hold fast to their faith in Christ and not to the man-made rules of the Pharisees.  

The story of Hosea and Gomer is really a story about God and the covenant people. Hosea used his family struggles as a way to speak to Israel about its unfaithfulness to God. Israel paid a heavy price for its unfaithfulness. Reconciliation would not be easy, just like it was not easy for Hosea and Gomer to reconcile. Israel had to learn a hard lesson. We as Christians have to learn the same hard lesson when we forsake Christ for other worldly ambitions. Thank goodness God is stubborn and pursues us even when we turn from him in sin. This is Hosea's ultimate message: God is faithful to his promises and can't let us go. His faithfulness to us overcomes our faithlessness to him and to each other.

We as modern Christians are also called to faith in Christ as a way  of gaining spiritual maturity. It is not gained by the liturgy of the church. It is not gained through hymns, prayers or the minister unless they are true expressions of faith. It is not gained through the Book of Common Prayer or the Book of Alternative Services. It is only gained through faith. Faith allows us to withstand life's challenges. Faith will guide us to the end of our life's journey. It will guide us into the time of Judgment Day when God will say "Welcome Home!" Without faith, we will quite literally go to hell.

God can't give us up as his children regardless of how unfaithful we have been.  He loves us too much. At the same time, he can't overlook our sins because of the damage sin does and will continue to do as long as we hold on to our sins. Our closeness to God is broken because sin offends God. Sin hurts us because sin always has negative consequences and cuts us off from others, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ.  God had to find a way to comfort us and heal us-and the way he found was through Christ's death on the cross.

Jesus came into the world for a purpose, and that purpose was to die on the cross, the just for the unjust. When Jesus died for us, he took away our sins and nailed them to the cross. He provided the redemption referred to in Hosea 1:2-10. We must not take that grace for granted like Israel did. We must not drift so far from God that we can't cherish his grace. That's what happened to Israel at the time of Hosea. When we accept Christ, our condition is changed from condemnation and death to forgiveness and life. We are given a new nature-one that wants to please God. We are then adopted into God's family, but that adoption requires us to submit to Christ's authority. He paid for us with his blood, and since we are now his, he has the right to rule our lives. We have to let Jesus have complete control of every area of our lives-every decision, every action, every word, every motive, every attitude and every thought.

Hosea's family provided juicy gossip for Israel. It was the Old Testament version of our modern tabloids. If the National Inquirer had been around during Hosea's lifetime, the story of Hosea's family would likely have made the front page. As Israel listened to the gossip about Hosea's family, they learned about God's undying love for his people. God's faithfulness combined with our faith in him gives us hope that we can be changed, forgiven and saved. He wipes the slate clean and renews the relationship he has with us. We are restored as children of God. 

In the Letter to the Colossians Paul encourages us to be rooted in Christ. Israel in Hosea's time didn't have those firm roots, so it's no wonder that they drifted away from God. Once we have this firm foundation, Colossians teaches us to continually renovate ourselves so that we become more Christ-like, but we must not become rigid. We do not have to follow a rigid set of rules. All we have to do is come to Christ in humble faith and prayer. Jesus gives us a good example of a prayer to use in Luke 11:1-13.

There are two forms of prayer: quiet contemplation or thanksgiving and petition. Jesus used both forms of prayer to seek God's presence, guidance and provision for both body and spirit. His prayer life reflected the life of friendship with God. God met Jesus' needs when Jesus prayed, and he can meet our needs when we pray.

When Jesus said, "Give us this day our daily bread", he was referring to the manna that the Israelites received every day when they wandered in the wilderness. It reminded them of their daily dependence on God for the basics of life. Bread serves the same function in a primitive, agricultural society where hunger is never far away. This might seem to be trivial in our modern, affluent society, but the term "daily bread" represents the modern essentials of our lives- for example, a car or medical care. God out Father listens to our requests but he does not blindly grant every one of them, just like good parents do not grant every one of a child's requests. To do so would please us in the short term, but it would also hurt us in the long run, just like granting every one of a child's requests would hurt the child in the long run. Instead, God provides what is needed, including limits and discipline.

When I was doing my research for this homily, I found this prayer, which I thought tied in quite nicely with the homily. It's a prayer we should all pray when we don't get what we pray for. It goes like this:

I asked for strength that I might achieve;
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy;
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I had asked for,
but everything that I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself my unspoken prayers were answered;
I am, among all men, most richly blessed.

When we turn to other people and things to meet our needs, we turn away from God just like Israel did. There are so many people today who believe that if they can simply do this or that, then their lives will be fulfilled. They are very disappointed when they reach their goals and discover that the view from the top isn't as great as they thought it would be. They try to hide their disappointment with drugs, alcohol sex or material goods. They reached their goals without asking God if their goals were compatible with his plans for their lives. We only have to look at the recent death of Canadian actor Corey Monteith to see the painful truth. He seemed to have it all: fame, a starring role in the hit TV Series "Glee" and a relationship with one of his co-stars. These signs of success hid a painful secret-an addiction to drugs. This addiction combined with alcohol to cause his death in a Vancouver hotel room a couple of weeks ago. God wants us to seek, ask and knock and in return he promises to answer our prayers. We need to plant our roots deep in the faith of who Jesus is and what he did for us. That way, when the storms of life hit us, we will remain strong.  

If we are to be like Christ, we must also forgive others like God forgives us. We as Christians are to be faithful reflections of the image and values of God. How can the world learn of God's forgiveness if we do not forgive others?

The story of the man who loaned the three loaves of bread is a metaphor for God's promise to save his people. People in that area and culture took hospitality seriously at that time. Failing to show hospitality would bring shame on the host family because the traveller would go to other homes for help and tell everyone about the person who refused to show hospitality. God refuses to allow his name to be brought to shame, so he saves his people. In other words, he keeps his promises and shows his own version of hospitality.  

So how do we keep our faith strong in the face of our modern, secular, godless society? One way is through studying the Scriptures and through prayer. Jesus said that genuine prayer depends on knowing God instead of on our own efforts. When we pray, we become God's warriors in our battered world, and our main duty is to serve him. We fight our battles by being kind to people we come in contact with, being godly to those who are non-believers and by being an upright witness to the world for the glory of Christ who lives in us. Once we are alive in Christ we must be and do for others what Christ has done for us. In other words, we must be like Christ.

Society is filled with people like Hosea and Gomer-people whose lives are messed up, who don't have it together, who make poor choices and live with the consequences. I know, because I'm one of them. When I was in university, I made the poor choice of listening to a "sales letter" from a department head and majoring in Economics. I've been paying a heavy price since then-unemployment, underemployment, a return to school and now part-time work that pays me an income that is well below the poverty line for a single person. We might pretend that we are prefect, but behind our perfect appearances lie deep flaws that exist in spite of our appearances to cover up our sinfulness.

Our Christian life is not to be confined to a closet. Our belief must be revealed in our practice. If we walk in Christ, then we must act as Christ would act because Christ is in us-our hopes, our love, our joy and our lives. We are the reflection of Jesus, and people will say of us, "They are like their Master. They live like Jesus Christ".

 Bibliography

      1.            ESV Study Bible. Part of Wordsearch 10 Bible software package.

      2.            Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher's Commentary Series, Vol. 22: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1990)

      3.            Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible NASB (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson inc.; 2009)

      4.            Daniel Clendenin, PhD, "Lord, Teach Us to Pray". Retrieved from www.journeywithjesus.net

      5.            John Shearman's Lectionary Resource, Pentecost 9, Year C. Retrieved from www.seemslikegod.org

      6.            Ron Hutchcraft, "Life-Saving Pain". Retrieved from www.hutchcraft.com

      7.            Dr. Charles Stanley, "Eternally Secure in Christ". Retrieved from www.intouch.org

      8.            Dr. Charles Stanley, "Salvation and Lordship". Retrieved from www.intouch.org

      9.            Dr. Neil Anderson, "Walking by Faith". Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com

  10.            Billy Graham, "If Jesus Forgave our Sins, Why Do We Ask God's Forgiveness?" Retrieved from www.billygraham.org

  11.            Kelly McFadden, "Rooted in Christ". Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com

  12.            Joni Eareckson Tada, "The Devil's Real Weapon". Retrieved from www.joniandfriends.org

  13.            Alistair Begg, "The Practice of Walking". Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com

  14.            Lee Ann Dunlop, "A 'Somebody Done Somebody Wrong' Song". Retrieved from www.esermons.com

  15.            Chrysanne Timm, "A Marriage Made in Heaven?". Retrieved from www.esermons.com

  16.            John W. Wurster, "A Match Made in Heaven". Retrieved from www.esermons.com

  17.            James McLemore, "God Needs to Save This Family".  Retrieved from www.esermons.com

  18.            Charles L. Aaron Jr., "When God Adds Insult to Injury". Retrieved from www.esermons.com

  19.            Clayton A. Lord, Jr., "Changing Our New Life to Christ". Retrieved from www.esermons.com

  20.            The Rev. Edward F. Markquart, "The Prophet and the Prostitute". Retrieved from www.sermonsfromseattle.com

  21.            Howard Wallace, "Hosea 1:2-10, Year C, Pentecost 9". Retrieved from http://hwallace.unitingchurch.org

 

 

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 Separating the Wheat from the Weeds

When I worked at a local lumber mill several years ago, part of my duties included grading lumber. By that I mean separating lumber according to its qualities as determined by both the National Lumber Grading Authority rules and common sense. In other words, I was separating good lumber from bad lumber. Some of this was done before the lumber was planed, and some was done after.

The parable of the weeds and the wheat is a similar situation. The weeds and the wheat are growing up together, and the servants want to pull the weeds. This is understandable, because according to Leviticus 19:19, weeds made a field unclean, along with sowing more than one kind of seed in a field. The master tells the servants to wait until both are fully grown and ready for harvest, because until that time the weeds and the wheat are identical in appearance. Also, because the roots of the weeds and wheat are intertwined, pulling up weeds would also mean pulling up wheat. At harvest time, the weeds are to be gathered separately, bundled together and used for fuel, while the wheat is ground into flour.

The parable has some grain of truth (no pun intended!). In Palestine, a type of weed called darnel grass grows. In its growth and form it strongly resembles wheat, but it produces either an inferior kind of grain or none at all. Because of its similarity, it is extremely difficult to separate from genuine wheat. Also, its taste is very bitter and when eaten either separately or when mixed with ordinary bread, it causes dizziness.  

Jesus and the disciples sowed the good seeds of the Christian faith in their time, and true Christians are to sow the same seeds today. In Jesus’ time, as is the case today, the devil and his cronies sow seeds of evil among the good seeds. In both cases, good and evil produced fruit together in the same spot.

This parable outlines the course of history from Jesus’ time to the Day of Judgment. It explains why evil persists all over the world. It emphasizes the proper way to think about the world and the course of human history. It also suggests how we as Christians should be investing our time, talents and energy until Jesus returns. We are to continue sowing the good seeds of the kingdom until the kingdom begins to be seen wherever we raise Christ’s banner

We are like the farmer who carefully sows good seed in the field of our lives. We work hard to raise a good family; make good relationships; help a loved one battling with a disease; fight for better schools, healthcare, peace and the environment. If the world was fair, the good we do would always yield good results, but in many cases the good we work for looks like it is going to have the life choked out of it by the reality of our world.

We live in a world where good and evil coexist, and there’s not much we can do about it. Sure, we can resist evil and temptation, and we must resist them, but we can’t get rid of them. In fact, it isn’t even our job to get rid of them. That will be God’s job on Judgment Day. If we try to get rid of evil on our own, we will fail, because the standards we use to separate good from evil are much lower than the standards God uses. Also, evil and good are intertwined in our society. In addition, good is often disguised as evil, and vice versa. 

In the 1600s, the Puritans made a concerted effort to purge the church of all those who weren’t of pure faith, and so, didn’t belong. They also tried to remove pagan symbols from celebrations of Christmas and Easter. In both cases, they failed. After all, if there’s no place in the church for sinners needing to be accepted and loved, there’s no place for us. The church needs constant reformation and positive action, including the quest for holiness, but it must avoid unrealistic purism---what is needed is that elusive thing called balance. No one is so useless that they can’t be used as a bad example.

A man was stopped at a traffic light, waiting for the light to turn green. When the light changed, he was distracted and he didn’t budge. The woman in the car behind him honked her horn. He still didn’t move. She honked again, and by this time she was pounding on the steering wheel and blowing her horn non-stop. Finally, just as the light turned yellow, the man woke up and drove through the light. The woman in the second car was beside herself. Still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her car window. She looked up to see the face of a police officer. “Lady, you’re under arrest,” he said. “Get out of the car. Put your hands up.” He took her to the police station, had her finger printed, photographed, and then put her in a holding cell.

Hours passed. The officer returned and unlocked the cell door. He escorted her back to the booking desk. “Sorry for the mistake, lady,” he said. “But I pulled up behind you as you were blowing your horn and cursing out the fellow in front of you. I noticed the stickers on your bumper. One read “Follow me to Sunday School.” The other, “What would Jesus do?” So, naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car.”

Many people claim to be followers of God, and they often fool others into thinking they really are. They speak pretty words---or at least words that sound pretty to others---and they mislead many. Any follower of God with experience in the real world, however, knows that talk is cheap. Only those who produce fruit that is consistent with their claims to be followers of God can be trusted. Are we walking the walks or merely talking the talk? What about those who put themselves up as leaders? Think back to the cases of evangelists such as Jim Baker and Jimmy Swaggart. In both cases, these so-called men of God were brought down by the evil weeds of greed and lust.

Sometimes even so-called experts and people who should know better can’t predict how things are going to turn out. An expert evaluating a potential football coach said of him, “He possesses minimal football knowledge and lacks motivation”. He was talking about Vince Lombardi, who, though he lacked motivation, was the successful football coach quoted for saying, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” Eighteen publishers turned down a story about a seagull written by Richard Bach, but “Jonathan Livingston Sea Gull” was finally published in 1970, and in five years it sold more than 7 million copies. After Fred Astaire’s screen test, the evaluating director wrote, “Can’t act, slightly bald, can dance a little.”

Even parents can’t always judge their own children’s abilities. Louisa May Alcott, known for the classic “Little Women,” was encouraged by her parents to find work as a servant or seamstress. Parents today are sometimes the same, even if their intentions are good. Then again, parents are human, not gods. They don’t always know if their children will turn out to be angels such as Mother Teresa or Desmond Tutu, or a mass murderer.

The Kingdom of God is a mixed bag in which weeds and wheat grow together, side by side, and we can’t always tell them apart. We will always have evil among us. It is not our job to weed evil out because we don’t see the hearts of people we judge as being evil. Our job is to take care of ourselves, to take heed and make sure we are true believers and not hypocrites. Good and evil will both grow stronger until God judges the world and all evil is destroyed. God answers to no authority, but he will deal gently with people until Judgment Day in order to set an example for his people. On the Day of Judgment, God will deal with the counterfeit Christians and those he judges to be evil and unrepentant at the same time.

As Christians we are to practice forgiveness and patience. Revenge (in this case, pulling the weeds) resolves nothing, but only increases evil. Judgment and criticism run rampant in our world. For example, many of you might remember the children’s TV show called “The Muppets”. Two of the characters were the two old men who sat up in the balcony every week and heckled and criticized the jokes and performances, but they always returned for the next show. Unfortunately, there are Christians who act the same way. They see many flaws, but they show up week after week. They point out the flaws in other Christians or church programs, but they do not volunteer themselves to help everyone see how it could be done better.

If we try to judge others and get rid of evil, we run the risk of going against Jesus’ advice to not be concerned about the speck of dirt in our neighbour’s eye when we have a plank in our own eye. To do so might give us a “holier than thou” attitude. Judging others is a sin in God’s eyes.  In our own lives, there might be more weeds than we care to admit, and getting rid of them is easier said than done. For example, those of you who, like my mother, do knitting as a hobby know what it is like to unravel several rows of knitting to fix a mistake.

The more we think we know about who can safely be called an evildoer beyond redemption, the more we prove ourselves to be not only inept gardeners, but immature weeds. But those who are mature know who they are, and they know who they’re not. The mature know that they are not the judge of the nations because they know the judge personally. It’s Jesus. And we’re not Jesus, as we know when we’re following him.  

The devil and his helpers will try to capture our affections, pollute our minds, corrupt our godly priorities and infest our every practice. They will infect our work with an obsession for self-advancement, and will replace interest in Kingdom endeavors with distractions and diversions. They will try to persuade us that we are better to enjoy entertainment and fun than the hard work of spreading the Good News.

The kingdom begins when Jesus sows the good seed and draws people to him, but the devil always tries to work against him. The harvest will take place when Christ comes again at the end of the age. The kingdom of God and the Gospel of that Kingdom come with spiritual violence against the world’s weapons of unbelief. In the power of the Spirit and Word of God, every opposing force will collapse under the advancing weight and thrust of the realm of grace and truth of Christ.  

Sometimes weeds spring up that we didn’t have anything to do with. When that happens, we must focus on God’s goodness, and not on the problem that caused the weed to spring up in the first place. We can do this through faith in the Son of God. It is his love that binds us to him and protects us from the evil one.

Loving the sinner and hating the sin means being tolerant of those who are different from us. Loving the sinner and hating the sin means calling people into accountability for their actions, but always being willing to forgive. It means affirming the good in people, instead of always looking for the bad…and of all places; this ought to be true in the church because it is so seldom true in the world.

This is a parable about mercy. While the forces of good and evil will be sorted out some day, there is still time for change until that day comes. It is a story about grace, patience and hope. Don’t we often look back on our own mistakes and become thankful that we had time to change and make amends? Aren’t we glad that God gave us the chance and the help we needed to work things out?

 Bibliography

 

1.      The Rev. Donald Lawton, “A Call to Move On”. Speech delivered on Friday, May 27, 2011 at the 143^rd Synod of the Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

2.      Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, NASV

3.      Jude Siciliano, OP, “First Impressions, 16^th Sunday (A)”. Retrieved from www.preacherexchange.org

4.      T.M. Moore, “What Kind of World?” Retrieved from www.colsoncenter.org

5.      Joel Osteen, “When Weeds Spring Up”. Retrieved from www.joelosteen.com

6.      T.M. Moore, “The Good Seed”. Retrieved from www.colsoncenter.org

7.      T.M. Moore, “Your View of History Matters”. Retrieved from www.colsoncenter.org

8.      Greg Laurie, “Wheat and tares”. Retrieved from www.crosswalkmail.com

9.      T.M. Moore, “The Struggle for Supremacy”. Retrieved from www.colsoncenter.org

10.  Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament-Matthew 13:24-30. Part of Wordsearch Bible Software package.

11.  The Rev. Dr. Billy Graham, “Is the World More Hostile to Christians?” Retrieved from www.arcamax.com

12.  Greg Laurie, “Time Will Tell”. Retrieved from www.crosswalkmail.com

13.  Chris Haslam, “Comments, 10^th Sunday after Pentecost-July 20, 2008”. Retrieved from http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/apr16m.shhtml

14.  Girardian Reflections, Year A. Retrieved from www.girardianlectionary.net/year_a/proper11a.htm

15.  Preaching Peace. Retrieved from www.preachingpeace.org/lectionaries/yeara-proper11./

16.  Sarah Dylan Breuer, “Proper 11, Year A”. Retrieved from www.sarahlaughed.net/lectionary/2005/07/proper_11_year_html

17.  Saturday Night Theologian, 20 July 2008. Retrieved from www.progressivetheology.org/SNT/SNY-2008.07.20.html

18.  The Rev. Dr. Joanna Adams, “Why Can’t We Pull Up the Weeds?” Retrieved from www.day1.org

19.  The Rev. Charles Hoffacker, “Let Both of Them Grow Together”. Retrieved from www.sermonwriter.org

20.  Pastor Steve Molin, “Mom, Where DO Weeds Come From?” Retrieved from www.sermonwriter.org

21.  Dr. Philip W. McLarty, “The Parable of the Wheat and Tares”. Retrieved from www.sermonwriter.org

22.  Mike Benson, “Analysts”. Retrieved from www.welovegod.org

 

 

 

2 Kings 5:1-14 God, the Supernatural Healer

A missionary lady was sitting by her window as she opened her mail. In one letter she found a crisp, new, ten-dollar bill. She was pleasantly surprised, but then she noticed a poorly dressed stranger leaning on a post by her window. She couldn't get him off her mind. Thinking that he might be in greater need than her, she slipped the bill into an envelope and wrote "Don't despair". She handed the envelope through the window to the man. He read the note, smiled, tipped his hat and walked away.

The next day she heard a knock at the door. There the same man handed her a roll of bills. When she asked what they were, he said, "That's your sixty bucks, lady! 'Don't despair" paid five to one!"  

The Old Testament reading from 2 Kings 5:1-14 is a classic example of the conflict between man's way of doing things and God's way of doing things. Naaman wanted to be healed, but in his own way. He wanted Elisha to come out and perform some sort of healing ritual. He wanted to wash in rivers of his own choosing. When he didn't get his way, he reacted like a small child does when it doesn't get its own way-he had a temper tantrum. It took the words of someone insignificant to convince Naaman to humble himself and submit to God's plan. All of us are lepers who need God's healing touch, but sometimes we can't see beyond our successes and shortcomings and realize that we need to be healed.

Leprosy was significant in the Bible for several reasons:

1.     The leper was considered to be unclean and had to be isolated form the rest of society. Whenever he went out, he had to cry "unclean", and he had to wear black with a hood covering his face. He also had to live outside the city walls.

2.      Leprosy was incurable in Bible times just as sin is incurable by man.

3.      When Jesus healed a leper he always pronounced the person cleansed, not healed.

4.      The rite of purification in the Old Testament only recognized the fact that a leper was clean. It did not cure the leper.

5.      Leprosy begins on the outside and then erupts on the skin. Sin also begins with what we are and then erupts on the surface.

6.      The priest was to examine the leper and pronounce the person clean or unclean depending on his observation of the facts. Since Christ has provided cleansing from sin, every believer as a believer priest is to detect sin in their own life and pronounce it as sin when it first appears.

7.     The pain of leprosy was not severe because it also killed the nerves in the affected area. Portions of the body became numb, muscles wasted away and fingers and toes developed ulcers. Sin is like that. We are dead spiritually, so we do not feel the pain of our sin.

8.     The leper was often considered to be dead, and people without Christ are nothing more than spiritual zombies.

9.      Leprosy and sin occur regardless of one's position, power, honour, possessions or wealth.

10.  The restoration of the leper is a metaphor for the restoration of us to God when we accept him in faith.

11.  Leprosy destroys the body, and sin destroys our relationship with Christ.  

God does not work according to our ideas or plans. In fact, there is an old joke that goes, "How do you make God laugh? Tell him your plans". When we let God tell us what to do, we will be cleansed from our sins. When we follow God's plan for our lives instead of our own plans, we will be cleansed from our sins.

Believe it or not, God gave Naaman his victories. It was part of the greater purpose to reveal God's power and mercy to Naaman the foreigner. It shows that God is for everyone- both Jews and Gentiles. It foreshadows the opening of the Gospel to the Gentiles in the Book of Acts.

God often speaks through humble people. He used the Israeli slave girl to lead Naaman to Elisha-the first step in his healing. He used the soldier to convince Naaman to obey Elisha's orders-the second step in his healing. Elisha was also humble. He didn't use any of his powers to heal Naaman-God did. Elisha didn't even leave his house to meet Naaman in person. Humble people are used by God at any time and in any place he chooses and in any way he chooses.

God also acts through simple acts of obedience that don't seem to be related to the problem. For example, washing seven times in the Jordan River might not seem to be related to Naaman's leprosy. The solution called for faith. The faith began with the little servant girl when she innocently assumed God's power. Because of the girl's faith, Naaman's wife told her husband, and he told the king. Naaman had his doubts, but he went. His servants had more faith, because they convinced Naaman to try Elisha's remedy.

This story also shows how our intentions can be misunderstood by others. Naaman introduced himself to the king of Israel as both a courtesy and the belief that the king had the power to heal Naaman. The king knew that he did not have the power to heal anyone and saw Naaman's request as an excuse to start war between Israel and Syria. You see, according to the custom at that time, the main object of a letter was the only item mentioned in letters that were delivered in person. Other issues were discussed in person. There was also a belief that if a king or other sacred person touched or waved his hand over a sore, the sore would be healed.  

The story of Naaman the leper is a story of salvation. Naaman's healing led him to believe in God and worship God. It is a picture of what God would do later on through Jesus Christ. It is a picture of what man was like before sin took its toll. Elisha knew that it was God's power that healed Naaman, not Elisha's.

Today, we, like Naaman, will do anything spectacular to ensure our salvation. We suffer, build churches, give money, or sacrifice privileges when all we have to do is wash in the blood of Jesus and receive his gift of eternal life. Because the plan is so simple, many of us turn away as Naaman did and refuse the greatest of all gifts.

Naaman's healing ritual was a step down for him in more ways than one. It was a step down from toxic success to new health and life. Naaman's skin became like the skin of a little child, and his heart found new life. Some of us probably know people who have been victims of their own success. Perhaps we have been victims of our own success. These people have gone from the top of the ladder to the bottom, sometimes yanked down a step, sometimes moving more or less at will.

Elisha was a wise man. He knew that Naaman's healing was not simply a cure for his leprosy. Naaman needed to submit, know his weakness and dependence on others, expand his view of who was connected to his life, get naked and humble, and let go and die to his old self. God's free grace is for everyone. It's too simple to deal with our sin and guilt (or so we think), so we punish ourselves. We, like Naaman, are at times reluctant to accept God's free gift. We, like Naaman, must be committed to see our cleansing through.  

Being made whole is something else. It is to be changed or transformed. It is to know that God is at work in our lives. It is to be overcome by joy. It is to be enveloped by a peace that passes all understanding. It is to know an uncontrollable joy. It is to know the power of God's grace in our lives. It is to respond with thanks, gratitude and laughter.

Naaman was healed of his leprosy, but he was also healed of his identity as a warrior. When he accepted his weakness and dependency on someone else, when he realized that he couldn't  live his whole life by only trusting in himself, when he met the God who is well beyond his control and manipulation, Naaman discovered his true healing and his transformation into a whole man who can let go and trust others and God.

God overturns our human expectations and imposed limitations and breaks into our world with healing and new life. God chooses to make all things clean. It involves clearing pride, dignity and authority from the path. There is little room for things as they should be or for those whose self-sufficiency closes them off to God's healing help. That might be surprising, upsetting and world changing for us. It is also a little threatening as it involves radical personal and social changes.

How do we respond to people who come to us for help? Do we ignore them? Do we listen to them and then send them on their way instead of helping them? Do we just throw money at the problem by making a donation or do we lower ourselves like Naaman did and actually do something to help them? If we actively receive them like Elisha received Naaman, we will have responded with God's love and we will have received a gift to us through them where we can fulfill his call to show love, mercy and forgiveness to all.

If we obey God, that does not mean he will pay off five to one like the horse in the story at the beginning of my sermon, but he will bless us with many blessings, he will not be in debt to us for long, he will return even greater gifts and he will reward us.

Bibliography

1.      Emily Sylvester, "Naaman". Retrieved from www.sermonwriter.com

2.      Dr. Randy L. Hyde, "Faith and Reason". Retrieved from www.sermonwriter.com

3.      Dr. Jeffrey K. London, "The Laughter Barrel". Retrieved from www.sermonwriter.com

4.      The Rev. Charles Hoffacker, The Trip Down the Ladder". Retrieved from www.sermonwriter.com

5.      Richard Neil Donovan, "Unnatural Laws". Retrieved from www.sermonwriter.com

6.      Jamieson, R.; Fawcett, A.R.; & Brown, D:Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Oak Harbour, WA: Logos Research  Systems Inc.: 1997)

7.      Dilday, R. & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher's Commentary Series, Vol. 9: 1 & 2 Kings (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1987)

8.      Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, NASB (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 2009)

9.      "The Healing of Naaman". Retrieved from http://bible.org/seriespage/healingofnaaman.html

10.  Keith Hammer, "The God That Keeps On Giving". Retrieved from www.esermons.com

11.  "The Preposterous Prescriptions". Retrieved from www.esermons.com

12.  Leonard Sweet, "Healing Aerobics". Retrieved from www.esermons.com

13.  David E. Leninger, "Our Magnificent, Mysterious, Mischievous God". Retrieved from www.esermons.com

14.  Don Yocum, "Naaman, the Leper". Retrieved from www.esermons.com

15.  Os Hillman, "Simply Obey". Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com

16.  Exegesis for 2 Kings 5:1-14. Retrieved from www.sermonwriter.com

17.  Dr. Tony Evans, "Reversing the Curses in Your Life". Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com