Of Plagues, protocols and compassion

The Bible once again is seen to be eternally relevant. There is an infectious disease, there are protocols about social distancing, treatment and cure. There are differences in how the rich and poor are treated (or expect to be treated). And there is compassion. Any of this sound familiar?

Naaman was a celebrity - the entire credit 
for winning the war was attributed to him. Actually if an army marches on its stomach probably some of the credit should have gone to the cooks  - but as usual it went to one person. I suspect Naaman had quite a sense of his own importance, quite a swelled head. Naaman’s life should have been sweet - famous, in the good books with the country’s leader, a wife, servants … But Naaman had a problem. He had a skin disease. This may or may not have been what we call leprosy or Hansen’s disease today - back then the term “leprosy” was used for a whole range of skin diseases. They all got tarred with the same brush. “Unclean” - in Israel - lepers had to be isolated and were not allowed to participate in the community, not allowed at worship. Scripture is not clear what the social/religious implications were for Naaman the Aramite but clearly this condition caused him distress. His king was right behind him getting a cure. For Naaman the cure was worth a lot - he went laden with gifts to guarantee his cure - surely the cure for this dread disease would be expensive - perhaps Naaman had already paid others to try and cure him. 

Naaman and his retinue eventually arrived at the prophets house - I wonder how long their journey was - it wasn’t just Naaman - there were horses and chariots, servants and gifts, likely some weapons as well. Naaman never met the prophet - he was just sent some instructions to follow and wow was his nose out of joint. Imagine you arrive for your appointment at the doctors office only to get a message from the receptionist - “the doctor says if you go away and drink 3 glasses of water that will fix your problem” - REALLY - I set aside time to come here and the doctor isn’t even going to examine me - I’m paying for her time! Sometimes I discuss with my patients how dietary and lifestyle changes can impact their health - some greet this with delight - but others don’t want to know - rather than doing something simple themselves they want me to do my medical jiggery-pokery and fix them with a pill. Naaman was like that latter group - “come on out prophet and show me what you’re made of  - I want some proper “prophety” stuff to happen to cure me. And by the way how about treating me with the respect a hero like me deserves, some bowing and scraping and a bit of gratitude for the fabulous gifts I brought” 

It took a servant to bring him down from his high horse and he grudgingly gave it a go. Can you hear him muttering as he dips himself repeatedly in the water of the river Jordan - that muddy disreputable stream “see I told you it wouldn’t work… look its no better…” I wonder what his face looked like when he stood up after the 7th dip and realised he was cured. Scripture doesn’t describe the look on his face - but it does tell us Naaman was a changed man after this encounter - you can read the rest of the story in 2 Kings 5. 

The contrast with the gospel story could hardly be greater - both characters suffered from skin diseases but almost everything else appears to be different. In 1st century Israel if you had leprosy you had to stay away from others and wear a bell around your neck - ringing it if others approached and warning them “unclean, unclean”. the result of being excluded from society was poverty so our unnamed friend was a beggar, he certainly could not participate in community worship. Rather than a huge retinue with expensive gifts approaching the prophet we see this beggar by himself kneeling. It was probably illegal for him to go anywhere near Jesus but he was desperate. He had heard enough to give him the faith to approach and ask. Jesus was not like Elisha - he didn’t stay at a distance - he was fully present to the man and reached out and touched him - another instance of lawbreaking here. The leper wasn’t given a task to do to get healed - he was given one AFTER he found wholeness. 

The translation we read this morning speaks of Jesus “moved with pity”, other translations say “deeply moved”. The difficulty here is the Greek word used in the most reliable manuscripts is actually one for anger or wrath. One commentator suggested Jesus may have been irritated with the leper for disturbing him, or perhaps for coming so close when the law required distance. But Jesus actions would deny that - he clearly wasn’t angry with the leper - perhaps his anger was with a society that treated the needy that way. Jesus actions towards the leper reveal his great compassion. Jesus touched the untouchable and brought healing. Jesus knew he needed both human contact and wholeness. 

Where was the compassion in Naaman’s story? Perhaps the compassion here was also meeting Naaman in his place of need - Naaman’s pride almost got in the way of his own healing, perhaps it was getting in the way of other things in his life - Naaman needed confronting just as much as healing and God’s prophet met Naaman also in his place of need - confronting his pride as well as healing his body - God always wants complete wholeness for us - God’s compassion extends to every part of our lives. God just doesn’t always enact this compassion in the way we expect. 

Do you know which verse is referenced and re-quoted most in the Hebrew Scriptures? It is Exodus 34:6-7 it begins like this 

“The Lord, the Lord,

a God merciful and gracious,

slow to anger,

and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness ..” These verses are the first time in scripture God describes God’s own character to us. God identifies most of all as a God of compassion. This message comes along repeatedly throughout the Hebrew scriptures. The idea that the Old Testament shows us an angry wrathful God in contrast to the New Testament where Jesus shows us a God of love is just plain wrong - The God of compassion and mercy is the God we find throughout the Bible in both testaments. The God we find in the whole story. 

Following the healing of the leper, Jesus gave him instructions - “don't tell anyone & go to the priest so you can be declared officially healed” following the proper protocol. In this society Jesus didn’t have the official authority to declare someone healed so they could rejoin society - the priests had that job. The leper had impressive faith in approaching Jesus but was useless at following instructions. He certainly didn’t keep quiet about his healing and didn’t go straight to the priests  - we hope he eventually did because that was the way he could be reintegrated into society. The result was that Jesus could no longer go into the towns - I had always read that as being because he became so popular that he would get mobbed there - but perhaps it was because he had touched someone regarded as unclean people now no longer welcomed him in the towns. 

Why did Jesus tell the healed leper to be quiet about it? was it the social implications for both the leper and Jesus or was there another reason? Perhaps both - as we continue to explore the gospel of Mark this year - we will see this is a repeating pattern “shhh don’t tell” - Biblical scholars call this the “messianic secret” I hope that many of you will come to our read-through of the whole gospel of Mark next week reading/listening to this at one setting is a revelation. 

If we were to summarise these two stories would it be with the aphorism “if all else fails read the instructions”? Maybe, maybe not.

We are living in pandemic times, there is social distancing and protocols and instructions for us to follow. In what I used to fondly call the “Ashley & Cindy show” last year - a repeated phrase was “be kind”. Kindness and compassion were shown to Naaman and the nameless leper, kindness & compassion characterise our God and kindness and compassion are required of us - whether it’s the acts of kindness in following the protocols or in just how we behave to one another during this stressful time in our world.

Let's not miss receiving God’s compassion to us as Naaman almost did. What would our community, our world look like if we “paid forward” the compassion we have received from God?

Compassionate God

Thank you for the love and mercy and care you show us. 

You touch us and you challenge us.

You move us and you change us.

Open our eyes to each other and the world around us.

Help us to see opportunities and possibilities

to act with your compassion to others

in the name of Jesus

who showed us your compassion in his life, death & resurrection. Amen

2 Kings 5:1-14 The Healing of Naaman

Mark 1:40-45 Jesus cleanses a Leper