This week's thinking bit... |
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This week's thinking bit... |
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GOD'S
PERSPECTIVE!An elderly Italian man who lived on the outskirts of Monte Casino went to the local church for confession. When the priest slid open the panel in the confessional, the man said, "Father, during World War II, a beautiful woman knocked on my door and asked me to hide her from the enemy. So I hid her in my attic."
The priest replied, "That was a wonderful thing you did, my son! And you have no need to confess that."
"But it's worse than that, Father. She started to repay me with sexual favours,"
the man said.
The priest said, "By doing that, you were both in great danger. However, two people under those circumstances can be very tempted to act that way. But if you are truly sorry for your actions, you are indeed forgiven."
"Thank you, Father, that's a load of my mind. But I do have one more question."
"What's that?" asked the priest.
"Should I tell her the war's over?"
The story takes on a different twist depending on whose eyes you are looking
through... And that’s the only connection with Elisha & Naaman...
Background: At this time Israel clashed repeatedly with the Syrians to the north
(Aram was a part of the Syrian Empire); it is possible that at this stage Israel
was a Vassal state to Syria - and in one of these raids or pillaging parties a
girl had been taken as a slave and she proves to be the cause of this story.
The incident with Naaman and Elisha forms part of a series of stories about the deeds of Elisha - he was the prophet who succeeded the mighty Elijah (who was taken up into heaven in a whirlwind). In the Elisha sequence we see the lowly and humble playing an important role - servants, widows, children, foreigners... these people are the conduits of God’s purpose.
The book of Kings is concerned with writing the history of Israel from a
theological point of view - in other words the monarchs and the nation as a
whole are judged on the basis of how well they stick the covenant and how
faithful they are in worshipping Yahweh. A king whose heart is not after Yahweh
(as David’s was) could have military success or economic prosperity, but the
writer of the Book of Kings would not have much time for them... And so when the
great leaders fail, when Yahweh is forsaken, or when the nation turns from the
one true God, it is the “humble poor” - the lowly and downtrodden - who keep the
flame of faith alive, it is they who know what God requires, even if the rulers
(who ought to know better) don’t. And this is what we see in the Elisha
sequence.
You’ll notice that strange statement as Naaman is introduced that the Lord had
given victory to Israel's enemies... Why? Was Yahweh punishing Israel for
forsaking the covenant? Or was this a way of demonstrating how Yahweh had
sovereignty not just over the affairs of Israel, one small nation, but that he
was God of the whole world - all the nations were in his control. And so in
God’s economy healing, restoration and insight could be granted even to a
gentile enemy! That is how great God is!
It’s a great story. It’s a story of contrasts. (servant girl / Naaman; King’s attitude/Elisha’s attitude; Naaman’s expectations/what happened). And it’s a story of people moving from ignorance and misconception to genuine knowledge and an encounter with the Living God.
Looking at the contrasts:
Look at the role played by the servant girl and note the contrast between the
bottom-of-the-pile foreign slave and top-of-the-pile respected and successful
army commander. The contrast couldn’t have been greater yet without her the
general wouldn’t have been healed! And after Naaman storms off in disgust again
it’s a servant who persuades him to take Elisha’s advice... And the flesh of the
arrogant Naaman becomes “like a young boy”. There’s the contrast between those
who ought to know, but don’t, and the lowly (the young, servant, uneducated) who
have wisdom.
There’s a great contrast also between the King of Israel’s attitude and that
of Elisha. Elisha is self assured, he has confidence in God; the king sees the
situation from human perspective only. He forgets God. (see a little later in 2
Kings 6.17 where the king of Aram sends a huge force to capture Elisha, they
surround the city where he is and everyone is terrified. Elisha tells his
servant that they are outnumbered by those on Elisha’s side and prays that the
servant’s eyes would be opened to see things from God’s perspective and he sees
the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all round Elisha...) There’s a
strong message here about seeing things from God’s point of view.
Naaman had certain expectations - about the way he would be treated, about
who he would see, about what would happen... He expected to enter into some kind
of financial deal, and of course to take part in some suitably weird and
elaborate ritual (after all this bloke Elisha was a foreigner...)
And how disappointed he was! Elisha didn’t even come out and see him but send
him faithful manservant Gehazi (a kind of Baldrick figure!) and send him off to
the Jordan. Why the Jordan? - precisely because the waters are no different to
any other river. And later in the story we discover that Elisha refuses payment.
Elisha tries not to come between Naaman and God. There’s something here about
how God seems to delight in subverting our expectations...
So what did Naaman learn? That God is not confined to particular holy people or
places, that God can’t be bargained with or bought off. Naaman had to rely on
God’s mercy. He discovers not Elisha’s greatness or holiness, not the healing
properties of the Jordan, but the power of God to heal and restore. Naaman
washes himself seven times - the perfect number: completely. He discovers grace
and responds with faith - it’s not in the passage this morning but in the next
verse Naaman says “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in
Israel” (2 King 5.15)
So the story shows us something of God’s dealing with the people in his world. We see God using the unexpected: slaves, children and foreign enemies -power is not in the hands of the King, or the General or even the Prophet; we see people challenged in their worldly thinking: the king of Israel despairs, Naaman is disgusted; we see God’s sovereignty not bound to particular people or places or dispensed like magic; we see people moving from ignorance and misconception to genuine knowledge and an encounter with the Living God - Naaman’s life is changed.
Maybe
there’s a warning here to those of us who claim to be religious, who claim to
know what God’s like and what God’s about... We seem very easily to lose sight
of God’s perspective, to think that we know best, that our way of doing things
is the only one.
The King of Israel was presented with a request that on the surface looked like the perfect diplomatic incident to spark off a full scale war... and he is shocked and dismayed. Elisha’s attitude is “Bring him on!” He has faith in God to provide what is needed - a healing or a purposeful resolution to the situation.
Elisha faces the situation head on, knowing, or trusting, that in God are the resources Elisha, Naaman, the king and the nation needs.
Today
we face similar challenges. We have an astronomical bill for a new heating
system; the deanery faces challenges in how it operates and how ministry and
mission can be achieved; the Church of England faces the issues of women
bishops, gay clergy, falling numbers of Ordinands... to name but a few.
What would the players in our story this morning make of our situation?
The king of Israel would tear his shell suit and throw a wobbly.... “We’ll all freeze to death at St John’s.... the deanery will collapse... and the Church of England will dissolve before tea time... There is no way forward, we’re up against a wall, we’re all doomed...”
Naaman
might say “For heaven’s sake, simply write the architect a cheque.... bring in
the bishop to sort out the deanery... throw any troublemakers out of the Church
of England and buckle down... yes?”
The servants might say “God has the answer.... maybe we need to wait on God, maybe we need to listen to what God is saying and do that...”
And Elisha might say “Open your eyes: we have the resources of the Kingdom of God at our disposal! God says ‘I own the cattle on a thousand hillsides... would I tell you if I were hungry?’ (Psalm 50.10, 12) God will provide what we need to be his people in this place at this time.... The bad news is that this might just not coincide with your ideas...!”
The truth is that over the last 140 years God has been faithfully worshipped
here at St John’s. Despite two world wars, despite the destruction of 3
buildings, despite financial hardship, despite threats of falling numbers...
look around you today... We stand at the current vanguard of a tradition in this
place which has rejoiced in God’s faithfulness for generations before us.
Yes things have changed since the parish was first created... The way we worship has changed: there is more involvement in the worship for all; the priest stands facing the people; we use contemporary language; we dress differently; women and children are far more involved and included than ever they were; we are less formal; the parish has changed - our culture has radically changed; the opportunities, distractions and potential which face us have increased a thousand fold, but alongside them some thing have kept pace: poverty, materialism and sin, people’s need of God...
Fr. Henry Jones, the first parish priest here in 1865, would find today’s St
John’s a very different set up to the sort of worship he used to conduct and the
parish he used to run. Looking with purely human eyes things don’t look half as
good as they did then...
We no longer have a choir school attached to the church, then the population of the parish was about 2,000, there were 4 masses, one matins, two evensongs and a children’s service each Sunday, and two full time curates...
But I hope if Fr. Henry stepped back in this building this morning he would recognise things from God’s perspective: that God is still being faithfully worshipped in the catholic tradition, that mass is being said, that the scriptures are being opened, that prayer is being rooted in our lives, that people’s lives are being touched and transformed by the Holy Spirit, that the Good News of God smiling on us is being proclaimed and lived out here...
Who knows exactly what the future holds? I bet Fr. Henry didn’t. I expect he
prayed for the future of St John’s as we do today. I wonder what sort of ideas
he had about what that might mean?
God has been faithful to us. God has surprised us and delighted us with his provision. We have found God in the most unlikely people (- look around you!) We have found God in some pretty desperate situations (- think about your experience.)
It’s a life time’s job to continually line up our lives with God’s will; we have a tendency to slip back into our old ways of thinking so easily... just like Naaman or the King of Israel we can get bogged down in an all too human way of looking at our situation.
Let’s take heart that God is faithful. Let’s take heart that God is always more willing to hear than we are to pray; that God’s plans are for the Kingdom to come... and let’s make sure that we are attuned, our lives are lined up with his, that we are seeking first his kingdom as we continue in the stream of prayer and praise, worship and witness that has characterised St John’s through the years.
Fr Andrew J Perry
Rector,
St John the Evangelist, Pevensey Rd, St Leonards on Sea
Picture Credits on this page: www.thebiblerevival.com
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| 5th February 2006 | Don't despair! |
| 29th January 2006 | Why Candlemas? |
| 22nd January 2006 | The Wedding at Cana |
| 15th January 2006 | Revealing the true nature of Jesus |
| 1st January 2006 | The naming & circumcision of Jesus |
| All 2005 Sermons | Click here to see the full list |
