Pentecost 4 C, 2025
Happy belated Fourth of July! This week we celebrated the independence of our country and our dogs hated the fireworks. For me, the most American words in our Declaration of Independence are these: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.’
In our reading today from 2 Kings, we get a look at a world where people were not at all equal, a world with kings, prophets, warriors, servants and slaves. There is a clear place for each of these people in the power structure, from the top to the bottom. You might assume that those at the top will have the most power, but you may be surprised to hear who the real movers and shakers are in this old story!
This story takes place about 900 years before Christ when Israel and her neighbor Aram (which is now Syria), were often at war. Sadly, almost 3000 years later, there are still wars in this area. These two countries were in a peaceful lull at the time of this story. Naaman is a powerful Aramean commander, and he has a nasty skin disease, probably leprosy.
Now Naaman had stolen a young girl from Israel during a raid and taken her as a slave. This powerless Jewish child was serving Naaman’s wife. She went to her mistress and quietly suggested that she knew of a prophet in her land who could heal him.
Naaman had tried everything, every cure, gone to every healer and had no luck at all. So, when his wife shared the slave girl’s suggestion, Naaman said; “what have I got to lose?” Now powerful people assume that things only get done through powerful people to so Naaman went to his king to ask for help. The king of Aram said “Sure, Naaman, I’ll write to the king of Israel about this.”
Naaman packed 750 pounds of silver and 150 pounds of gold, and ten of his fanciest outfits! He traveled to Israel and presented his letter to the king which said: “I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of leprosy.”
Oh, these kings! Didn’t anyone listen to the little servant girl? She said there was a prophet who could heal, not a king. But the king of Aram just assumed that he had to go to the top to get things done. These kings were thinking about power, not about God. The Israeli king just freaked out! He was so upset he ripped his robe and cried out “Oh No! Am I God, to give death or life? This king tells me to cure leprosy! I can’t do that! He is trying to pick a fight with me!”
The little Jewish slave girl knew about Elisha, the prophet who could heal, but this powerful king did not. When Elisha heard about this, he told the king to calm down and send Naaman to his house so that Naaman would know that there was a true prophet in Israel.
Naaman was sent off to Elisha with his hope rising. He traveled the short distance with his horses and chariots, gold and silver, fine clothes and servants. He was ready to impress this prophet! He nervously waited for Elisha and then waited some more. He was not expecting to be kept waiting.
Finally, a servant, a lowly, unimportant person came out of Elisha’s house with simple instructions: “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.”
What? Naaman couldn’t believe this! He wasn’t even going to meet the prophet, Elisha? How rude! What kind of treatment was this, sending out a common servant with this silly message? Go swim in that muddy Jordan? He was livid. If all he needed to do was swim in some river, he could go home to Damascus and swim in the rivers Abana and Pharpar. Those are better than the dirty old Jordan River! Hmmph! He stomped off in a rage.
Now look who steps up to save the day. Naaman’s lowly servants calmly and logically reason with their powerful master. “If Elisha had asked you to do something really difficult or expensive, you would have done it right? Well, he just wants you to do something simple. Why not try it?”
Naaman was at his wits end. This whole thing was too simple. Maybe Naaman was beginning to see that this Elisha, this man of God spoke through simple people and simple gestures. Maybe his God wasn’t impressed by money or power.
Humbled, Naaman made his way down to the Jordan and stripped off his clothes, exposed all of his poor diseased body to the air, and stepped into that muddy river. Once, twice, seven times he dunked down, immersing his whole body. He kept his eyes tightly shut, hardly daring to hope that this simple cure might work. He stopped, stood naked in the shallow water and looked down at his body. He saw new skin, pink skin, clean, perfect skin. He was cured.
Powerful Naaman had wanted to do this his way. He wanted to deal with the highest levels of power, and he was willing to spend vast sums to get his cure. He could have saved a lot of time and money if he had just listened to his wife’s maid. His cure came about because of the actions of the lowly servants in this story. God’s work was done through the people at the lowest levels of his society.
This story is such a great example of the rigid class structures of this ancient time and place. I love how it turns the whole notion of power upside down. The quiet, invisible slaves and servants are the ones who get things done in this story. The rich and powerful look kind of silly. Doesn’t this sound a bit like Jesus? His whole ministry was about inverting the power structure.
Most of us here today have immigrant roots, our ancestors fleeing countries with kings and queens and rigid class structures. I started out talking today about our Declaration of Independence and that one amazing sentence: ‘All men are created equal.’ Democracy is defined as a government where power is held by the people. This is the wildly radical premise on which our government is founded.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve been feeling awfully powerless lately while I watch seismic changes being made to our country. There seems to be a lot of focus on benefiting the wealthiest at the expense of the poor. Perhaps we need to remember that, like the servants in this story, we can each use our little bit of power to bring about change.
When I first started attending St. Marks I was so fascinated by how this church works, how total common ministry works. I would describe to people how there was no hierarchy, everyone had an equal say. Here’s a definition of how we do church: “Rather than a community gathered around a minister, we are a community of ministers, and everyone is given an opportunity to respond to God’s call to minister, regardless of age, gender, ability or background”.
In our church, all men, women and children are equal. I believe at St. Mark’s, we embody the best spirit of democracy, the best spirit of America. We all strive together toward a common goal of loving God and then going out and living God’s word in the world. Amen.