8 July 2007

2 Kings 5:1-14

The story from 2nd Kings which Grace read for us this morning is one of power and powerlessness. It is filled with people of power: kings, generals & prophets. But if you listen carefully you’ll hear the voices of powerless people too.

It’s the story of a powerful general, Naaman, a general of the army of the king of Aram. Naaman was one of the favorite generals of the king of Aram, we’re told. This would indicate that he was successful in his field of…generaling. Possibly he was a brilliant strategist who knew what his enemies were doing before they did and responded accordingly. He likely had the ear of the king by this point and was well-respected throughout his kingdom.

But Naaman had a problem. He had leprosy. Now we don’t know exactly what it meant when the Bible says that someone had leprosy. It was likely a skin condition of some kind; not necessarily the debilitating disease that we’ve called leprosy over the past few centuries. But though we don’t know exactly what it was that was called leprosy, we do know a few things about it: it was incurable and it made you an untouchable in society.

So here was this powerful general, respected and admired by all around him, suffering from this dreaded disease; a disease that would preclude societal contact; a disease that would leave him on the outside. It was a mix of power and powerlessness on the part of Naaman.

But true powerlessness comes next into the picture, when the very lowest of the kingdom speaks up. A slave girl speaks to Naaman’s wife; a slave girl from Israel, taken no doubt in some military campaigns. She is not named in our scriptures; in fact neither the slave girl nor Naaman’s wife are named as is too often the case with women in the bible. But they are actors in this drama with consequences for all concerned.

How much powerless can you be than a slave girl? First off, you’re a foreigner, someone from outside the dominant culture. Our own 21st century struggles with immigration indicate the human propensity to be afraid of the other. It was no different during this era recounted in our scripture. Plus you’re a slave; an unpaid servant whose life is one of service and doing the bidding of others. And finally you’re a girl, indicating you’re young and you’re, worst of all, female. It’s the lowest of the low; the one without any voice in any matter.

But this slave girl spoke up on behalf of her master to her mistress. She said that there is a prophet back home where she came from who could cure the great general Naaman. She speaks with assuredness not usually heard in the powerless so Naaman’s wife passes on the information.

Naaman then goes to his king who says, “by all means, go!” And the king writes a letter of introduction, as it were, to the king of Israel. Now the Israelite king, as often the powerful are, was a bit paranoid when he received the letter. He assumes that the king of Aram is trying to pick a fight with him; to find an excuse to go to war. For if Naaman doesn’t come back cured, then Israel isn’t as powerful as all that after all! That or else the king of Israel prevented the healing of Naaman. So the king of Israel did what people in those ages did at the hearing of bad news: he tore his clothes or rent his garments in the old language.

Elisha, whom our scripture describes as “the man of God,” finds out about the king tearing his clothes and why he did so and sends word to the king essentially saying, “don’t be so silly: send the guy to me and I’ll show him who’s a prophet around here.”

So Naaman shows up at Elisha’s door and Elisha doesn’t even come out to see him. He just sends word through one of his servants, again an unnamed powerless figure, that Naaman should go to the Jordan River and wash seven times.

And now we see another aspect of powerful people. They expect things to be done in a certain way, because Naaman becomes enraged. He’s angry that Elisha himself didn’t come out to see him himself. He’s infuriated that he has to wash in the Jordan, that dumpy little river of Israel; why, he could have washed in one of the great rivers of Aram. Who does this so-called prophet think he is? And to whom does he think he’s talking? Naaman’s a powerful general, not to be dealt with by servants. He was, as the author of 2nd Kings says, in a rage.

Imagine that, enraged because the cure for your disease is beneath you. Naaman expected Elisha himself to come out and use his special powers right then and there, invoking God’s name before him.

Well, again the powerless come too the rescue. Naaman’s servants go to him and suggest he’s overreacting a just a wee bit. They know their boss because they say if you had been told to do something more difficult you would have gladly done it. Why not give this Jordan a try? Huh?

Of course, the exciting finale, which is only one verse long, tells us that Naaman swallowed his pride and washed in the Jordan River 7 times and came out with skin like a newborn babe. The cure worked.

The powerless in this story, servants all and without name, are the true heroes. God acts through them as much as God acts through any king or general. In fact, their voices are those that save the day and bring about the cure. Without them, Naaman would have never found his way to Israel and never would have bathed in the Jordan.

The true power of the story though, of course, is God’s power. Though Elisha comes through as the hero by coming up with the cure for Naaman, it is God’s actions that cure Naaman.


We need to listen to the voices of the powerless in our culture if we are to find the cures for our culture from God. We need to seek out and really listen to those who are disenfranchised and on the margins. The powerless of our culture, and I don’t have to name them. we all know who they are, the ones without voices need to be endued with their voice to point out to the powerful what we need to do for a cure.

The powerful, as we saw, can be vain and paranoid. Those in power are likely to ignore the voices of the powerless and seek out cures that are not of God. Fortunately Naaman listened to the voice of the powerless slave girl in his household and ended up cured of his incurable disease.

We have powerful people in our culture; many people who hold power and rule with firm hands, including in our country. We need to urge them to hear the voices of the powerless of our country and follow the leads the present for the cures of our culture. And our society is deeply in need of cures. There are wide gaps between the haves and the have-nots. Racism is still rampant. And our environment is under attack. And these are just a few examples. Certainly we could each think of other ways our culture needs God’s curing power. But we won’t find out what they are without stopping long enough to listen to the voices of the powerless. May we seek them out and join our voices with theirs.