Being an
American, I don't get to see a whole lot of pomp and circumstance. Which is
probably why monarchies fascinate us. We're business. but seeing dynastic
royalty, that have order and code. Now that's exciting! Right? I have recently
finished season 3 of, the period drama, Downton Abbey. I'm not going to lie, I
loved it. (Before you try to strip me of my man card, watch it.) It is clean,
it is well written and acted; most importantly, it is fascinating to see such
an order, and social structure that’s completely different from ours in 21st
century America.
There's Carson, the traditional butler who lives for tradition, order
and respect. There is a spoon, fork and knife for every food. There is a
different dress for different parts of the day and occasion. All of this order
and routine just to satisfy the obligation of showing the "proper amount
of respect" to other human beings. In our lives we go through these same
things, they have just tweaked a bit, from little things like saying,
"bless you" when a person sneezes, to holding the door open for
people at the outlet mall, or using your blinker when changing lanes, shaking
hands correctly.[i] All of these are small but part of current
social etiquette. Things that we ,as humans, go out of our way to do out of
respect of others.
There was this guy, well I can’t
call him just a guy. In fact, the Bible says this: “He was a mighty man…” a
mighty man that the LORD brought up to make victories for his country and king,
but (there is usually a but in these circumstances.), “…..he was a leper.” This
is a pretty relatable guy. He was a mighty man. He was a nice guy, did things
right, didn’t do a lot of wrong. He was doing ok for himself, but. We all have
buts,[ii]
even the most sparkling of characters contains the inescapable, “except”,
“but”, “well….” His name is Naaman. He was a Syrian Army commander; the LORD
brought him up in success.[iii]
His success was attributed to God, and how he decided to bring him up.
Back to this boss’s leprosy, the
cool thing about leprosy is it is not prejudice. This disease doesn’t
discriminate between social status, accomplishments or race. It was an
incurable disease that separated you forms society and life. Naaman broke down
and followed the advice of slave girl, under his wife, to go see the prophet in
Israel. In Monarchies there are many
ways of doing things, there are right ways, and wrong ways. Usually the wrong
ways have dire consequences. The king of Syria sent him along with a note to
the King of Israel. He went he King of Israel tore his clothes…in comes this
man Elisha…
I really dig the guys from the Old
Testament that saved the niceties and just dealt and met with people where they
were in life. So Naaman is sent into Israel to get fixed, and he shows up at
the king of Israel’s court and hands him the letter and the king gets upset and
tears his clothes! But! Check it, it’s such a big deal that Elisha sends the
king a letter that says, I heard your tore your clothes. Send your visitor to
me so that he’ll know that there actually is a prophet of God in Israel.
So Naaman visits Elisha. He shows up
with his caravan and his escorts with his chariots and grandeur. Then, here
comes the coolest part, Elisha sends out MESSENGER! Ok, so this big deal of a
dude, THE commander for the army of Syria shows up to your door step and you
send out a messenger?! Wow…burn…. right?! this messenger sends the message for
Naaman to dip/wash/cleanse/immerse into the Jordan River seven times. So, to
recap, the commander of the Syrian Army shows up, Elisha sends him the
equivalent of a text message from inside his house.
Here’s the best
part, skin disease is the equivalent of sin. Leprosy[iv]
does not discriminate; it does not pick and choose who deserves it. It just
comes. Sin also, does not discriminate, no matter who you are; you can be
affected by sin. So Naaman, this big and powerful guy that, granted, people
were afraid of, had skin disease that made him self-conscious and they’re for
incomplete. The only thing that could remove the skin disease of sin was the
power of God.
In this age, the only thing that can
remove us from eternal separation and condemnation from sin is Jesus; who is
God incarnate, Immanuel, and the only human being to walk a pure life. He’s
much more than a decision that you’ll ever make. He’s a relationship. King
Jesus exists to walk with you, Holy Spirit exists to influence and be the
intimate relationship that we have with God. It’s much more than just
condemning sinner, Elisha never condemned, he allowed God to do his work.
Elisha chose to get rid of the usual order and rules and just help someone. It
didn’t matter much at the time whether Naaman was Jewish. He just displayed the
power of God. Why don’t we do that to?
[i] The first web space (the space between your
thumb and forefinger) need to make contact, then a firm but not crushing grip
must take place then an optional shaking, not to much now! You’re not shaking
out demons. Just a subtle shake.
[ii]
Haha multi-leveled truth…
[iii]
2 Kings 5:1 “…because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria.”
[iv]
Keep in mind that leprosy is the bible is not always Hansen’s Disease. It’s
usually some form of skin disease.
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