The Rest Of The Story

I really liked the sermon I preached last Sunday. It was a little long, quite evangelical, and maybe a bit pontifical but I still liked it. It arose from the story of Naaman who came to Israel to be healed of his leprosy. As was the custom, he went to the king first, but that only served to scare the wits out of the king who saw it as a provocation to war. Fortunately, Elisha stepped in and saved the day. He sent word to have Naaman come to him, and while Naaman was still some distance away, Elisha sent Gehazi to tell Naaman to go soak his head in the Jordan....seven times. Naaman was a little put out. First of all, he was a man of some distinction, wealth, influence and honour and this lazy Hebrew prophet didn't even bother to come out and greet him but sent out a servant instead. Secondly, he was told to take a bath which couldn't be taken as a compliment, exactly. Thirdly, his bath was to be in the Jordan River which was not, even then, a nice place to bathe. Too much silt and too many leached minerals headed for the Dead Sea. The rivers of Aram, his home, were far nicer than the Jordan. Finally, he was offended that any one might think that a mere dip in the water could cure leprosy. While he was busy raging about this affront to his dignity, his servant reasoned with him. "If he had asked you to do something incredibly difficult, you would have died trying to accomplish it. He asked you to do something simple, so why not play along. After all, what have you got to lose except your leprosy?" So, Naaman trotted off to the Jordan, took a bath....seven of them, and whaddyaknow, he was healed! Praise God.

That was the lectionary reading for last Sunday. One of them, at least. Unfortunately, though, it is really only about one third of the story. Here's what happened after that. Naaman made a bee-line back to Elisha's place and made a profound statement of faith, and then offered Elisha a gratuity for having cured him. Elisha would have none of it. So, Naaman heads for home with his entourage, but Gehazi runs after him. He tells Naaman that Elisha has reconsidered and is now willing to accept a gift.....a substantial gift. Naaman is happy to oblige and loads down Gehazi with silver and fine clothing and lends him a couple of bearers to haul the swag home. Gehazi hides it in his own home and then goes to face his master. Elisha knew his servant well. "What have you been up to?" he asks Gehazi. Gehazi protests that he "didn't do nuttin'" but Elisha is on to him and curses him with the very disease of which Naaman had been cured.

I'm not sure why the lectionary avoids this part of the story, but I have my suspicions. After all, doesn't it sound like a religious authority saying that we shouldn't take advantage of the suffering or the celebration of other people? Elisha says, in the NIV translation, "Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants?" I know it makes me a little uncomfortable.

In the United Church we don't charge for baptisms, confirmations, blessings, prayers or any other service except for funerals and weddings. Each time I do one of those, I get a little something extra. Some ministers get a lot extra. I heard of a minister, once, who did a funeral and was paid $300 by the funeral home for his services which was about 15% higher than the usual fee. However, the family was very wealthy and very appreciative so they offered him the gift of a personal organizer and when he turned down their generous offer with thanks, they presented him with a cheque for $3000. Additional fees for religious services, permissions, etc. were part of the list of grievances that Martin Luther had with the Roman Church. I was once advised by a Jewish friend to change religions because I was making about 20% of what his Rabbi made in a year because of fees for Bar Miztvahs, etc. I considered it briefly until I saw the potential medical consequences to such a decision.

According to Elisha, when people need the help of a religious professional, they shouldn't be held up for a "gratuity", "donation", "gift", or fee. They should simply be given the assistance they seek. Anything else, after all, suggests that the souce of the help lies with the professional rather than the Master. Let's give Gehazi the benefit of the doubt for a moment. Let us say that he is a wise, faithful and caring servant who knows that his master needs to eat and be clothed and housed as much as any man, and he sees that Naaman is very wealthy and has been given a great gift, and he is trying to make sure that Naaman pays so that he will appreciate the gift even more. He is just trying to take good care of Elisha. That's not unlike we ministers and priests. We need to buy cars, homes, clothes, food, retirement funds, pay ex-spouses, hydro, water and taxes. We need an adequate income to do so and that little bit extra that comes in from funerals, weddings, etc. just allows us to be less stressed and more focussed on our ministry. And when the money goes to the church instead of to us, personally, we justify it on the basis that the church has needs or ministry can't be done. There is always a justification. There is not always a good reason, or a reasoned good.

The source of Naaman's healing is rightly addressed in his affirmation of faith. God healed him, not Elisha. God is the source of whatever small amount of authority or power we have for as Jesus rightly said, without God there is no power. When we start thinking that we are providing what people need, it's a short step to thinking that we are in charge of things. Thinking that makes it easy to think that we are important, and that leads to thinking that our needs supercede the needs of others. That way lies madness. And often a prison sentence.

Now let me make the homeletic point, if you will. We are not like Elisha. We are like Gehazi. We have a Master. Our Master makes the decisions and we do as we are told. If we want to be faithful and helpful, we always need to be aware that the Master is present in every moment of out lives. On my first summer mission field, Mrs. Young told me, "I try to live my life in such a way that, if Jesus were to suddenly walk into the room, I would not be ashamed of what I was doing."

"Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you?", said Elisha. Was not our Master's Spirit with those priests accused of sexual interference? Was not our Master's Spirit with the 40% of our profession who report that they have had some sort of inappropriate sexual contact with a parishioner? Was not our Master's Spirit with those in the church who have done violence to others in the name of Jesus? Was not our Master's Spirit with those who picketed soldiers funerals to protest gay and lesbian rights? Is not my Master's Spirit with me as I write this?

I'm not sure why the lectionary doesn't include the rest of the story. And I'm not going to stop accepting gratuities for weddings and funerals. But for a little while, anyway, I am going to be very aware that my Master's Spirit is with me wherever I go, and that if I am not acting on my Master's wishes, and doing my Master's will, then I can expect little more than to live a life cut off from my Master's grace and there is no greater curse than that.