Namaan Story - The Healing Power of GOD

Hi Brothers & Sisters,

Find below a teaching done by Rev Carol M. Simpson, Associate Pastor ( The Healing Power of GOD )

TEXTS: 2 Kings 5:1-14; Mark 1:40-45

Our two scripture lessons for today both deal with the healing of lepers. They both demonstrate in dramatic fashion the awesome healing power of God! Leprosy was, and in some parts of the world still is, a disfiguring disease which made one a social outcast. It usually robbed people not only of physical health and mobility, but also of dignity. Those who were afflicted were frequently sent to live by themselves in fellowship only with other lepers.
But wait, you might say, in our Old Testament story, Naaman is a commander of the king's army, and so he is. The form of leprosy from which he suffers is evidently one of the more minor skin diseases of his day, one which does not cause fear of contagion, so he was not ostracized and was able to hold a responsible position in the king's army. Nevertheless, this story holds much information for us about the way God works in human lives.
One of the most significant bits of information comes early in the story when we learn that Namaan has recently brought victory to the King of Aram. This was not just some local skirmish, but a major victory resulting in the taking of land and prisoners. We learn that the maid, or servant girl, in this story was taken captive from the land of Israel. Think for a moment about the implications of that fact. This is a story about God healing a man who was directly responsible for the defeat of the Israelites! Here is proof that God cares about all people, evidence that God reaches out to all who suffer.
Namaan evidently suffered from a fairly mild form of leprosy, but he also suffered from a highly inflated ego. He was delighted when this Israelite servant girl suggested to him that healing of his affliction might be possible if he would but travel to see a prophet of whom she spoke. That didn't seem too difficult, so he requested permission from the king to take a leave of absence and travel to Samaria. The king, thrilled that his highly esteemed commander could perhaps be healed, agreed to send him to Samaria and even wrote glowing letters of introduction beseeching the king of Israel to heal his servant, Namaan.
The king of Israel, who had recently suffered defeat at the hands of the king of Aram, defeat brought about by the successful leadership of Namaan himself..., the poor king of Israel is beside himself. He fears that this is some kind of trap, that the king of Aram is seeking to provoke yet another battle and gain yet another victory at his expense. He knows that he himself is not even remotely capable of curing a man of leprosy, and he is very distraught when he reads the letter asking that he heal Namaan. But lucky for him, the prophet Elisha hears of his predicament and suggests that Naaman be sent to him. Elisha, was in fact, the prophet of whom the Israelite servant girl had spoken in the first place.
Namaan, with his horses and chariots loaded down with expensive gifts, goes to Elisha's house, fully expecting this miracle worker to come out, greet him, perhaps acknowledge his military prowess, and then with some magic power cure him of his leprosy. But it doesn't work that way. Elisha merely sends a messenger who instructs Namaan to go and wash in the Jordan river seven times in order to be healed.
This is where Namaan's ego gets in the way. He is incensed that Elisha doesn't come personally to see to his healing. He is, after all, a renowned military leader, and due some respect. On top of that, he is unwilling to believe that these foreign waters of the Jordan could have any kind of cleansing power that the waters of his own country couldn't have. He is furious and remarks to his servants, "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." Did you hear that? "I thought that for me, he would surely come out..." Naaman wants nothing to do with a healer who shows him no respect, and he figures that if washing in the Jordan seven times can cure him, he might as well go home and wash seven times in his own rivers. Phooey on these Israelites and their magic powers!
But a wise servant interrupts Naaman's ranting and raving, and says to him: "If the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it?" He recognizes that Naaman's ego would prompt him to attempt any difficult task in order to demonstrate his prowess. Then the servant goes on to suggest that if Naaman is prepared to do something difficult, he is being downright foolish not to do something as simple as washing in the river if it holds the promise of healing.
So Naaman reluctantly goes to the Jordan and does as Elisha instructed, and after washing seven times, his skin is indeed restored and becomes like the smooth clean skin of a young boy. The victory here clearly belongs to God and to his prophet, Elisha. Naaman did nothing which he can claim contributed to the healing. It was only in his ultimate humble obedience and submission that healing occurred.
Contrast this story about Naaman with the story which we read from the gospel of Mark. The main character is once again a leper, but this time the leper is not a famous commander, not someone with an enormous ego. This leper comes alone to Jesus, not accompanied by a retinue of servants, not bearing expensive gifts. He comes, and kneeling before Jesus, he simply and sincerely says: "If you choose, you can make me clean." That is faith in its simplest and purest form. The leper kneels before Jesus in a act of respect and submission. He does not come demanding to be made clean, but instead humbly and sincerely asks Jesus to have the will to heal him. He already knows, he believes, that Jesus has the power to heal, so he asks Jesus to make a conscious decision to use His healing powers on his behalf, not because he is anyone special, not because he comes with letters of recommendation from government officials, just because he is afflicted and desires to be made whole. And Jesus, with the compassion which is so characteristic of Him, is moved to pity, and He stretches out His hand and says to the leper: "I do choose. Be made clean!" We are told that immediately the man was healed of his leprosy. Jesus then asks him to tell no one and to simply go and show himself to the priest as testimony. But the healed leper, after fulfilling his religious duty, could not contain his joy, and he told everyone he encountered about the miraculous healing power of Jesus. Just imagine his delight at being able to go where he had not previously been allowed to go, to talk to those who would have shunned him only hours earlier. Not only was his health restored, his life in community was restored as well.
These two stories share a common theme, but the plots are very different. The lessons to be learned are timeless and eternal. First and foremost, God is good. God desires to heal those who suffer from both minor and major ailments. It is not God's will for us to endure pain, although often God uses our pain to teach us, to toughen us, and to strengthen us.
Secondly, God cares about both body and soul. God healed more than just Namaan's skin. He deflated Namaan's ego and taught him a lesson about faith at the same time. If we continue reading in 2 Kings, we discover that after bathing in the Jordan and finding his flesh restored, Namaan returned to Elisha, a greatly humbled man, desiring to make offerings, and promising to henceforth worship only the God of Israel.
Surely the story in Mark's gospel is also one about holistic medicine. Jesus understands that the leper suffers from much more than just a skin disease. He is an outcast, unable to find respect or even fellowship except among other lepers. Jesus desires to restore this man not just to health, but to wholeness.
The healing power of God is what we call upon when we pray to God on behalf of a friend or loved one who is ill. The healing power of God is the power which slowly binds our broken hearts when a loved one dies. The healing power of God is visible as world leaders come to the table together to negotiate peace. The healing power of God is everywhere if we but stop to look for it!
Even more awesome than the presence of that healing power is the challenge presented to us to claim that healing power for ourselves and to use it for good. It is not to be claimed as part of an ego trip ("See, look what I can do!") but is instead to be claimed so that we can become servants and ministers to those in need. Jesus sent out His twelve disciples telling them to "Proclaim the good news. To cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons." Later, He sent out the seventy with much the same mandate, directing them also to "cure the sick."
Now none of us would be so bold as to attempt to wave our hand over someone's afflicted body and pronounce them whole and expect healing to occur instantaneously. But each of us is capable of calling God's healing power into any given situation through faith and prayer. In fact, I would be so bold as to suggest that we have a responsibility to do so. We know that God can heal. We know that God hears prayer. We know that there is a growing body of scientific evidence which suggests that prayer makes a real difference in the healing and recovery of those who are ill. If we know of this power and we believe in God's ability to heal, then we have a Christian obligation to pray for those in need. Did Jesus not say "In as much as you did it not to the least of these, you did it not to me?"
I believe wholeheartedly in the power of prayer. Countless times I have seen and felt that power at work. We have good friends with a daughter who was critically injured in an automobile accident back in October of 1996. Many of her vertebrae were crushed and surgery later fused most of them. Lorraine was classified as a quadriplegic incomplete, meaning that she had some paralysis in all four limbs. Yet today she is walking, and aside from some weakness in her arms and shoulders, she functions quite normally. She returned to Syracuse University the following Fall and graduated with her class. Today she is enrolled in graduate studies in rehabilitation therapy. I believe, her family believes, and she believes that prayer and the healing power of God played a major role in her recovery. It is not ours to understand God's healing power or to guess why some are completely healed and others are not. It is not for us to know God's ways, but it is for us to believe in God's healing power and to use prayer to invoke that power whenever we see someone in need of God's healing touch. We ought not limit the scope of God's healing to physical problems either. God can also heal the hurt of broken relationships. God can heal the hurt of broken dreams. God can heal the deep wounds which we inflict upon one another with hurtful words or deeds.
Through the gift of His Son, God sought to heal not only individuals, but the whole world. God sent Jesus to proclaim liberty to the oppressed and release to the captives, to bind up the wounds of the brokenhearted. God sent Jesus to teach the world to love, to heal the wounds caused by oppressive social systems. Christianity has the power to change the world because it can call upon, and bring into practice, the healing power of God. We, as Christians, can be part of that healing process by allowing God to work through us, by becoming channels of God's love, by becoming God's agents of change and of healing in a hurting world.
The healing power of God is ever-present. It exists all around us and seeks conduits through which it can touch and heal. We can guide, direct and channel that healing power through prayer, by inviting God into the everyday circumstances of our lives, and into the lives of our family and friends.
The healing power of God is for you and for me. It is ours individually and collectively. It is ours to claim and to share. Let us give thanks and praise to the Lord our God whose healing touch can make us whole. Amen.