Bible Tuesday for Pentecost 21, 2016

2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15

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.* 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.’* 4So Naaman* went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5And the king of Aram said, ‘Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.’

He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. 6He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, ‘When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may 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.’

8 But 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.

15 Then 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.’

Here is a story about a military man questioning orders. Naaman, top general for the king of Aram, was fine with taking orders from his own king, and even desperate enough to entertain the suggestion of his wife’s foreign born slave girl. But Naaman put his foot down to taking orders from some religious shaman’s slave. Naaman wanted some show of hocus-pocus magic power. The idea that obeying a simple command would heal him was preposterous.

Themes in this story: Those in power cannot go at it alone but must listen to thiose in lesser positions (Naaman to his wife’s servant girl, the king of Israel to Elisha, Naaman to not only Elisha’s servants but more importantly, his own) Leprosy: while some leprosy in the Bible is disfiguring and worthy of social shunning, this story is an example of dermatological diseases being referred to as leprosy.

Anomalies in this story. While the servant girl of Naaman’s wife is aware of Elisha’s position as prophet and healer, the King of Israel is not! Unlike Elijah’s many prayers before action, Elisha does not pray, but merely prescribes.

Psalm 111

Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2 Great are the works of the Lord,
studied by all who delight in them.
3 Full of honour and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds;
the Lord is gracious and merciful.
5 He provides food for those who fear him;
he is ever mindful of his covenant.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
in giving them the heritage of the nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy.
8 They are established for ever and ever,
to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He sent redemption to his people;
he has commanded his covenant forever.
Holy and awesome is his name.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it* have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever.

This psalm is one of several acrostics in the psalter. These are written using each letter of the alphabet to begin a line to symbolize that, just as every letter can be used to praise God, so does all creation praise God. In response to Naaman’s healing, one can understand how such a psalm can be employed.

Psalms 111 & 112 are a pair, both acrostics, one which praises God, while the other praises the God worshiper. The last line of psalm 111, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…” is the linguistic link between the two psalms.

2 Timothy 2:8-15

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David—that is my gospel, 9for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. 10Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 11The saying is sure:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
12 if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he will also deny us;
13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself.

14 Remind them of this, and warn them before God* that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. 15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.

This letter, written as if from the apostle, Paul, reminds us that Paul was actually imprisoned and wrote letters to many congregations while shackled. Like some of Paul’s letters, this epistle also quotes a contemporary hymn, and introduces it with “The saying is sure”. The writer also invokes the spirit of Paul when admonishing the recipients of the letter. “Avoid wrangling over words, which does not good but only ruins those who are listening!” Doctrine and dogma arguments need to be held away from those who would be hurt or befuddled and thereby misled.

Luke 17:11-19

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus* was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12As he entered a village, ten lepers*approached him. Keeping their distance, 13they called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ 14When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean. 15Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16He prostrated himself at Jesus’*feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? 18Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ 19Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’

Last week our lesson was on us wanted to be praised for doing what is right when we are mere slaves and only doing what is expected of us. This week Jesus blesses 9 Jews and one Samaritan with healing and finds no gratitude among his people, only among the Samaritan!

With these verses, the gospel of Luke turns from teaching and preaching back to Jesus’ journey toward Jerusalem. Note that this takes place on the borderlands between Samaria and Galilee, the hick towns and wildernesses of the Roman Empire. The Revised Common Lectionary couples this story with the Naaman story for a few reasons. Both these lepers and Naaman are commanded by a “man of God” to act on the command before anything has actually happened. These lepers are to go show themselves to the priest who will verify their healing and allow them to live back inside the city walls and be restored to their families and friends. Naaman was supposed to go wash seven times, a religious ritual affirming cleanliness, even though Naaman had not yet been healed. In other words, all of these lepers were to act in faith.

The gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus SEES the lepers. Lepers in Jesus’ day were by Jewish Law to stay several yards away from people and to prevent folks from stumbling upon them (and possibly contracting the disease) were to cry out “Unclean” so as to warn of their presence. But instead of avoiding these lepers, Jesus SEES them. AS the story progresses, we are told that the lepers all SEE that they are that they are healed but only one returns to Jesus because of what he sees. Where are the other nine? Did they get so caught up in SEEing their healing that they missed SEEing God’s hand in it? Jesus’ presence right there in their midst? Only the leper whom Jews assumed would be ignored by God, not only saw his own healing, but also ran back in gratitude and actually SAW God, who declared him well/healed/saved.

Gratitude: Naaman shows initial disappointment and disgruntlement but then gratitude. The nine Jewish lepers never do show gratitude. But the one Samaritan leper, as soon as he realized he had been made clean, he did not continue to the priest to be declared clean and then go home, but instead ran back to Jesus in gratitude. This one Samaritan humbled himself in front of his Jewish Savior and fell prostrate on the ground in front of him. Jesus commends him by saying, not “I am glad someone showed gratitude” or “I have healed you” but “Your faith has made you well.”

Merit: The story from last week and this story both reinforce that God’s salvation and grace are given freely as gift, and not something we can earn. We are servant of God, which means that we are to be about God’s work for us and that in the midst of this care also cares for us. This is not a reciprocal relationship: since God takes care of me, I will do things to make God happy. No, Jesus healed all ten lepers even though only one acted in a way that made Jesus happy. God cares for creation, and we, called as God’s servants, do the work of God.