5 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. 2 Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” 4 So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5 And the king of Aram said, “Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.”
He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. 6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” 7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.”
8 But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. 10 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.” 11 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! 12 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. 13 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’?” 14 So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.
(NRSV)
How can we help others recognize the kingdom of God in our midst? Today’s text from 2 Kings hold quite a contrast in it. First we have the young servant girl who recognized the power of God’s kingdom at work in the and through the prophet Elisha. By pointing Naaman to the prophet Elisha this young girl was in fact helping Naaman recognize the kingdom of God. In contrast to her response we have the response of the king of Israel. He couldn’t see the kingdom even though it was active right there in his land. He couldn’t see the kingdom, so he was unable to help others recognize it. He was concerned only with his own skin, his own reputation.
Finally, when Naaman makes his way to the prophet’s home, he is disappointed. His disappointment is not really with Elisha’s willingness or unwillingness to help. As a matter of fact, Elisha very much desired to make God’s kingdom recognizable to Naaman. Naaman’s disappointment, though, had to do with his own self-importance—not unlike the king of Israel. Naaman figured since he was such an important person, traveled such a long way, carried a letter from his own king, Elisha should have some sort of special ritual or something. But it wasn’t about Elisha; it wasn’t about Naaman. It was about the kingdom of God and the power of that kingdom. God chose to heal without any fanfare so that there was nothing around to distract from the kingdom. The kingdom of God was recognized most clearly in the ordinariness of all that Elisha required of Naaman.
In order to help others recognize the kingdom of God in our midst, we must first recognize it ourselves. The problem, though, is when we become too preoccupied with ourselves, our position, our reputation, we can’t see it. The only way to truly recognize the kingdom of God is when our focus is turned toward others. When we become more concerned with the well being of another than with saving our own skin, that’s when the kingdom seems to manifest itself. Similarly, we tend to miss the kingdom when we look for it in the spectacular. The kingdom of God seems most at home in the ordinary. It seems to prefer stables over palaces, serving over being served, fisherman and shepherds over princes and kings. It seems to become most active among the downtrodden, the forgotten, the marginalized. It seems to become most powerful in the cup of cold water handed to the thirsty, the food provided for the hungry, the clothes given to the naked. The kingdom of God is recognized among the least, the last, and the lost.
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