October 14, 2015

So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “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! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 2 Kings 5:9-13

“You see, there is a considerable difference between looking for G*d and finding him. You and I are always tempted to think G*d is to be found by way of kings and protocol, that he ought to act the way we would act if we were G*d, instead of taking him at his word. Naaman found out and so can we. For Naaman, like the prodigal in the far country, came to himself and accepted himself for what he was in the eyes of G*d, no captain of the host or man of distinction but simply a man in need of health.” Edmund A. Steimle (1907 – 1988) Are You Looking for G*d? “For All The Saints” volume II,
(p. 925)

In the church, we are always interested in putting forth our best for G*d. This is the tradition that has been handed down for generations. It used to be that people had two outfits to wear: one for the days Monday-Saturday, for work, and the other for Sunday church. The communion ware is polished silver – the communion plates the same – the offering plates a shiny gold. When we offer our own gifts to G*d, we do our best to do our best. It is no wonder then that the process of offering the best, that doing the best, that presenting the best becomes the understanding that G*d is only found in the best. And yet this could not be further from the truth. Scripture teaches us that G*d is not just found in the best, but is also found in the ordinary, in the broken, in the weak and in the powerless. This was Naaman’s discovery, though he protested so vehemently – because he expected only the best for the best. But G*d is found everywhere – both in the best and the worst, in the strong and the weak, in the abled and the disabled. We simply need to be people in need – and then to remember to be open and willing to see G*d in the ordinary and in the extraordinary.

Pastor Dave