Seeking Healing.

Texts: 2 Kings 5:1-14, Mark 1:40-45

Preached by Rev. James Murray at Dominion-Chalmers United Church, Feb. 12 2012

Back in 1987, there was a lot of fear surrounding the growing AIDS epidemic. No one really knew what was causing AIDS. People who were suffering and dying from AIDS felt largely abandoned by the medical community and society at large. People with AIDS were treated like lepers, to the point than many people were afraid to even touch them, for fear of catching this horrible disease. When the first AIDS ward was opened in a British hospital, everyone was shocked to see Princess Diana be present for the ribbon cutting. And then Princess Diana did the unthinkable. Diana sat beside the bed of an AIDS patient and held his hand. It was a defining moment which changed public opinion about how people with AIDS should be treated.

We don’t often look at the issue of power when we talk about healing. But who has the power makes a huge difference when it comes to dealing with issues like sickness , healing and health. General Naaman of Syria was an important man. He expects the prophet Elisha to attend to him. The letters of introduction and the caravan of followers is designed to convey the message of Naaman’s importance. Elisha is expected to serve the general’s every desire. But Elisha isn’t impressed. He won’t even come out of his house to greet them. Naaman expects his healing to happen on demand. He expects it to be a big dramatic event. He is a big important person, so he expects God to treat him like a celebrity. Naaman is offended when Elisha tells him to go dunk himself in the muddy waters of the Jordan river. Naaman is so caught up in his own sense of power, prestige and entitlement he cannot see the gift of grace that God is giving him.

Martin Luther was the leading voice of the Protestant Reformation. Luther said that God’s grace is given to help the spiritually sick. He said God’s grace is not a medal which is given to honour spiritual heroes. Naaman expected a medal which honoured him. He did not see that the gift of healing is a grace which honours God.

When people read stories like Elisha and Naaman, we sometimes wonder if we could be healed like that. If we could just find the person who had the power to say those words, then we too could be healed.

But the purpose of having faith in God is not to get God to do what I want.  God’s salvation is not fire insurance either. Just because we have faith does not mean that we will be exempt from all sickness, suffering and loss.

The purpose of having faith is for us to live a full life where God is present in every moment. It is to have the gift of life in abundance, all the while realizing that we live in a world where the present moment is perpetually perishing. The present always passes away. In every magical moment, we are called to realize that even this too shall pass. As the late great rocker Jim Morrison of the Doors puts it, “No one gets out of here alive.”

The ancient Romans had the great phrase “Memento Mori” Be mindful of your mortality. When we are humble enough to realize that this life is a gift, that it is only for a time, then we are free to seek to live that life to the fullest. When we are willing to let go of our sense of self, only then can we become free to engage the healing power of our eternal God.

When Jesus heals the leper, it is an amazing display of God’s power. But it is not the kind of power we expect. Jesus casts out whatever stands in the way of God’s kingdom. He heals that which has become corrupted. He sets free that which has become diminished. So in this case, Jesus doesn’t merely cure the man. Moved by compassion, Jesus stretches out his hand and touches the untouchable.

In this powerful moment, Jesus has become unclean. Jesus has become a leper. Jesus has AIDS. Jesus has cancer. Jesus is now contaminated with all the unclean diseases which distort our bodies which are created in God’s image. And in this moment, Jesus says these diseases do not have power over us. The diseases which afflict us do not have the power to define who we are. Because the image of God is stronger than any disease, or label or condition we can put on ourselves. The grace of God can be found in such broken powerless moments.

As soon as Jesus heals the man, he tells the man to be silent. Jesus doesn’t want people to be confused by what he has done here. He doesn’t want to become a celebrity preacher. Jesus doesn’t want to be the miracle worker who has the power to say the magical words spoken by Elisha so long ago. He doesn’t want people to think that he has the power to grant them what they wish. He is not going to be the magic genie we rub to get our three wishes. Jesus is not that kind of Messiah. Because this is not who God is. This is not what God is trying to do in us. 

In Jesus, God’s judgement is expressed for the purpose of restoring us to rights. In Jesus, God’s power is revealed in human weakness. In Jesus, God’s glory shines in moments of our suffering.  God does not judge us for the purpose of punishing us. God wants to be reconciled God wants you to pass the test, not fail it. God did not send Jesus to be the warrior king. Jesus does not triumph by force or by vengeance. God offers us gifts of grace. God respects our free will so we can choose to be healed. There are consequences to our actions, but in every one of our moments God is offering us the possibility of grace, healing and peace.

It is a natural human desire to seek security. We want to be comfortable. We want to feel safe. One of the easiest way to get such assurances is to seek power. If we control those things which matter, then we can protect what is ours.  Sometimes we have the power to act and make things happen the way we want to. Sometimes we have the moral power to get others to do what we want. Sometimes we have the power of a two year old who has learned to say that most terrible word.  Do you remember the day your child learned to say ‘No’? The power of ‘NO’ can prevent many good things from happening.

Because we want the security such power brings, we often make Jesus in to the one thing he told us he was not. In our weakness Jesus offers us his compassionate mercy. Jesus comes to us precisely in the one place in our lives which we don’t want to admit exists. We want Jesus to meet us in our power, in our glory, in our prestige. We want Jesus to see what a success we are. We want Jesus to see how powerful we are. Won’t he be proud when he sees all the good things we have done in his name!

Naaman had it all. Naaman had power and prestige. He was important. Famous. Full of authority. He also struggled with an incurable illness which prevented him from doing his job well. It robbed him of intimacy with his wife. It cut him off from receiving the honour he should have received from those around him.  In truth, Naaman had nothing. And only when he admitted that he had nothing, could he receive the gift of God’s grace.

We are no different than Naaman. And we are no better than Naaman. We live in a world where jobs are lost. Relationships end. Friends move away. Loved ones die far too young. The successes we do have often fail to satisfy us. All the prized possessions we chase after end up being one more thing to pay for and to collect dust in the corner. Even the good things in life don’t last nearly long enough. All around us is perpetual perishing.

Yet, if we are open, if we are willing to let go of our need for power, we will realize God can come to us in our moments of weakness. We are fragile children of dust. And in the dust of life, God is fully present. In Jesus the Christ, God takes on the dusty problems of human suffering. God shares our pain. God is the fellow sufferer who understands. And God seeks to do more than just understand our sorrows. God wants to redeem our pain. God wants to heal our wounds. God wants to redeem our suffering.

We are not loved because we are good and beautiful and successful and strong. We are loved because God is loving. We are not forgiven because we have served our time and done our penance. We are forgiven because God is forgiving. We are not healed because we are devout and we deserve a miracle. We are healed because God is a healer.

Like Naaman, when we release our need for power, God can enter in.   Like the leper whom Jesus heals, when we are free of a sense of entitlement, we can see how God wants to be a part of our lives. God wants to be at work in every part of our lives. God wants to be part of the busy successful part of your life. God also wants to be part of the broken hurting part of your life. And when we open the door to God to enter all these parts, we are transformed.