Today\u2019s reading from the Second Book of Kings presents us with a strange and complex story. The main characters are the Aramean warrior Naaman, who has what our ancestors called \u201cleprosy\u201d; and the prophet Elisha of Israel, chosen successor to Elijah, who eventually heals Naaman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The King of Aram and the King of Israel both appear as characters, but they do not drive the plot; the plot is driven by nameless servants, who matter a good deal more in the story than do the pair of kings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First we are told that Naaman\u2019s wife has a servant girl from the land of Israel. There would be no story if this nameless servant had not suggested that her master really ought to go see the prophet in Samaria who could cure him of his disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Naaman arrives in Samaria, the chief city in the northern kingdom of Israel, he has brought with him all his horses and chariots, a quantity of gold and silver, and \u201cten changes of clothing.\u201d Clearly he expects that healing his skin disease will be an expensive and elaborate production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Again we have a nameless servant: a messenger from Elisha meets Naaman and instructs the warrior to bathe seven times in the Jordan River. Naaman is quite offended by this message; he thinks there are rivers back home in Aram that are better than the Jordan. Then we have more nameless servants. Indeed, if it were not for the courage and persuasive abilities of Naaman\u2019s servants, the story would have ended right there, with Naaman \u201cstalking off in a rage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The proud warrior listens to his servants, however, and immerses himself seven times in the Jordan, and just as the servant girl had indicated, Naaman is cured. The manner of the healing turns Naaman\u2019s expectations inside out and upside down; the prophet Elisha is not even present, and there are no prayers, incantations, no laying on of hands, nothing one would have associated with healing at that time. But there is a powerful subtext to this story: the God of Israel has very strong powers indeed and can act directly and immediately without power brokers or mediators. Equally clear in this story, as in several instances with Elijah before this, is that God brings healing to foreigners as well as to the people of Israel. As St. Paul says several hundred years later, \u201cneither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The scope and reach of God\u2019s authority and healing action is a theme echoed in today\u2019s gospel reading from Luke. Having previously sent \u201cthe twelve\u201d out on an exploratory journey, here Jesus sends out seventy of his disciples \u201cto every town and place where he himself intended to go.\u201d The seventy go out as the bearers of God\u2019s power in much the same way that Jesus did. Just as Elisha did not need to be present with Naaman, Jesus does not have to be physically present with his followers when they go out in mission. In both stories, the mighty power of God to heal and save undergirds all the human activities involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This immediate presence of God\u2019s power is what Jesus was referring to when he said, \u201cWhoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through the disciples\u2019 activities, God proclaimed his presence and power. And this direct, immediate, self-proclaiming presence of God amazed and excited Jesus\u2019 disciples. They came back from their missionary journeys \u201cfull of joy,\u201d and chattering \u201cLord! In your name even the demons submit to us!\u201d This reaction betrays the fact that they were taking the success of their healings and exorcisms personally rather than as bearers of God\u2019s presence. Jesus\u2019 response to this inflation of their egos gently brings them down to earth: \u201cDo not rejoice in this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the end, these readings are all about the amazing, even shocking capacity of our generous God to hand over holy stuff to human characters while remaining in the background. In the stories of Elijah and Elisha, we begin to understand that prophets do not act according to an instruction manual for blessings, healings, warnings, conversions, or curses. God grants them considerable freedom and initiative. We tend to think of prophets as \u201cgreat communicators,\u201d but Elijah and Elisha correct our insistent emphasis on the spoken word of God by the way they function as \u201cgreat connectors.\u201d Prophetic activity breaks through human boundaries, connecting the power of God\u2019s presence to people beyond the land, and outside the covenant, of Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This role of connecting the power of God to the people of the world is supremely and fully embodied in Jesus, but by derivation and gift, the role of connecting is ours as well. We do not all have the gift of being \u201cgreat communicators,\u201d but we can all be great connectors even if we don\u2019t think of ourselves as prophets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like the nameless servants who drive the story of Naaman, our job is to be the connectors of God\u2019s extraordinary, abundant, and life-giving power to those who need it. For love, peace, and justice, and for the repair of the world\u2019s fabric, may the Lord make it so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This sermon was written by Angela V. Askew.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today\u2019s reading from the Second Book of Kings presents us with a strange and complex story. The main characters are the Aramean warrior Naaman, who has what our ancestors called \u201cleprosy\u201d; and the prophet Elisha of Israel, chosen successor to Elijah, who eventually heals Naaman. The King of Aram and the King of Israel both…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201212,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43,52,33,1953],"tags":[376],"class_list":["post-511025","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermons","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-proper-9c"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":43,"label":"Sermons"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":1953,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":376,"label":"Proper 9C"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermon"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3472814,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511025\/revisions\/3472814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}