Being made clean

Sermon preached at 11am Coral Mattins at St Mary the Virgin, Lapworth on Sunday 10th October 2010. A shortened version was also preached at the 8.30am Eucharist.
Trinity 19, Proper 23 – Year C

Readings: Ps 111 2 Kings 5: 1-3 & 7-15c Luke 17: 11-19

On Fridays, which is my day off, I always try to get in a round of golf. And usually I have a shower immediately afterwards. I like the feeling of clean skin and clean clothes and I feel refreshed and renewed. And if for some reason I don’t have a shower I usually regret it. I feel sweaty or dirty and I worry that I smell. I worry that my skin is a mess. And I think these feelings are very common. I think many of us like the feeling of clean, fresh skin after a bath or shower.
So let’s spare a thought for people with leprosy. It is a terrible disease whereby the skin dries and cracks and nerve endings lose their feeling, such that it becomes all too easy to damage limbs, without even noticing. Leprosy causes a deterioration in the skin, such that even young people start to look very old. Nowadays there are excellent treatments available for leprosy and it need not be a problem. Sadly there are still places in the world where because of war, or poverty or organisational failures leprosy is still a problem, but in the time of Jesus it was a significant problem, with lepers often expected to live in isolated colonies outside the towns, where they would not infect anyone else.
Now our scripture readings today were about people who were healed of leprosy. Their skin and their flesh were made clean. The terrible disease was cleared away. And what an extraordinary joy that must have been. First of all, the joy of having a nice clean wholesome skin, the skin which I appreciate after a shower, but how much more so after recovering from leprosy! Secondly the end of isolation, the end to the fear of infecting anyone with whom the leper interacts, restoration to a normal life with family and friends in society. Thirdly the knowledge that the disease has gone, a sudden and new expectation of a healthy future; deliverance from a slow and isolated decline towards death. What a joy for the healed leper! What a joy!
Now let’s think about Naaman, and how he came to be cured of his leprosy. I always love the image of Naaman arriving with his horses and chariots and all his servants and attendants, and his letter from the king and all his gold and silver. And all this huge and glorious entourage draws up outside Elijah’s house, which was no doubt a very small and simple shack. The contrasts are stark. Naaman and Elijah live by very different values. Naaman no has to go through quite a process and has to learn many things before he can be healed.
First of all he has to learn something about not putting too much trust in earthly resources. All those horses and chariots and attendants and gold count for very little in front of Elijah, the simple man of God. God is not going to heal Naaman because he is “impressed”. God’s healing is a simple gift to the person who asks consistently and waits patiently.
Then there is a lesson in humility. Elijah does not even come out to greet this great man, this commander of armies. Naaman receives a simple message through a servant. Even the greatest of men are not great in front of God, their creator, redeemer and sustainer.
There is a lesson about simplicity. Naaman expected great theatricals. He expected the prophet to call upon the name of God, and wave his hands over the infected skin. But God’s healing is not about signs of outward show. Usually it is quiet, natural and unassuming. It does not make great TV. It is often overlooked by newspaper.
Then there is a lesson about not trusting in our strength. “If the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it?” How much more should you do something simple? In a way God’s healing would be easier to accept if we somehow earned it through hard work, or bravery or skill. We might feel we had some entitlement to it if we did this. But God’s healing is not like that. It is a simple gift. We cannot earn God’s favour through our own efforts, rather our own efforts must work in harmony with the grace that we have received from God.
And closely linked to this, there is a lesson about obedience. Washing in the Jordon might seem rather irrelevant to the problem in human eyes, but this is what God asked for, and this is what made Naaman clean. We need to trust in God and walk in the ways that he suggests if we are to be made clean.
Then there is a lesson about the greatness and oneness of the God of Israel. “Are not the rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” Well no, in this case we are talking about the God of Israel, and Naaman was asked to wash in the Jordon, the river of Israel.
So by the time that Naaman got down to the river Jordon and washed he had already been through quite a process. Much healing of his attitudes had already taken place. Pride was overcome by humility, outward show by simplicity. Trust in earthly resources or his own human strength was replaced by trust in God. Following human reasoning was replaced by obedience to God. Belief in a vague notion of God was replaced by trust in a specific and personal God; the God of Israel. With all this healing already completed it was probably a very small thing for God to add the healing of the leprosy.
Then if we think about the ten lepers and Jesus, what did they have to do. Well quite simply they placed themselves in front of Jesus, in front of God, and asked for him to mercy on them. They respected the limits of their condition by keeping their distance. leprosy was very infectious. They were obedient to what Jesus suggested. And one of them came to give thanks afterwards. Actually it is probably a bit hard to blame the other nine for not giving thanks. To show yourself to the priest was the standard procedure after recovering from leprosy. The priest would declare you clean, and you could re-enter society. But the one who came back was a Samaritan. Because he was not a Jew he would not have access to a Jewish priest. Therefore he came back to Jesus, who perhaps he recognised as the great high priest, and said thank you. I suspect that the other nine were still trying to find a priest who would see them!
So what about us? What should we do when we come to God for healing, when we come to be made clean. And I am not thinking only of physical illnesses, but also of our spiritual failures, our sins, the disorders in our lifestyles, the hurts and resentments that we carry, the baggage of our past which constrains us. All these things are things which we can and should bring to God for healing. Like the ten lepers we must present ourselves in front of God, humbly acknowledging our condition and asking for mercy. Let’s not put our trust in our own strength, or in earthly resources, but rather put our trust in God who made us and loves us and who has great future envisaged for us. Let’s hold our problems before him in trust. Let’s be obedient to his suggestions, and let’s be confident in the wholeness and healing he wants to share with us.