Columba Comments...
Short reflections written by members of our congregation
15 February 2009

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Scripture: 2 Kings 5: 1-14

By Rosemary Waters

The focus for today is on God's healing power through different people.

Additional readings: Psalm 30, 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27, Mark 1: 40-45

Exploration

The Bible is the story of God's dealings with human beings - as applicable today as when it was written. Human beings experience a range of attitudes and emotions, and this passage deals with many of these. The term leprosy does not necessarily mean what it does today. In the Bible it covers many skin diseases.

God uses the little slave girl - who carries her faith and belief in God to a strange land. (vs 3) She states to Naaman's wife (her mistress) "If only my lord were with the prophet in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." So the story unfolds.

Then Naaman speaks to his King who writes to the King of Israel with a request for healing, assuming that this can be done through the king's court. The King of Israel was horrified. "I can't do that! Am I God?" (vs 7). When the prophet Elisha heard about this, he sent a messenger to the King to tell him "to send Naaman to me, so he'll know there is a Prophet in Israel". (vs 8).

So Naaman came to Elisha's door, and was affronted when Elisha sends instructions to "wash in the Jordan River seven times".

Naaman was very angry at such dismissive treatment. His servants approached him. "Surely if you had been given something difficult to do, you would have responded? All he said was, wash in the Jordan seven times and be clean!" So Naaman washed in the Jordan, and he was cleaned.

The reading ends with Naaman worshipping the Living God - a foreign dignitary acknowledging the One True God.

The Psalm is written in response to a healing by God. The Psalmist thanks God for his healing, and recalls a time when he felt self sufficient, and God hid his face from him, and then he felt wretched. He again asked for help and he was clothed with joy. Another example of telling God just how he felt.

In the passage from Mark, we are told of a leper coming to Jesus saying "If you choose, you can make me clean".(vs 40) Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him "I do choose, be made clean!" (vs 41) Immediately he was healed! Jesus then gave him instructions to tell no-one, but to go to the priest and do what was required for ritual cleansing. This he did not do, but told everyone what had happened! Jesus was inundated with people seeking him out, so he couldn't move freely to towns, but moved into the country where people still flocked to him.

So we have all kinds of people involved in the healings in today's readings, some of whom wouldn't have known how they were part of them. The servant girl and Elisha were active participants, and of course Jesus in the case of the Mark reading. Others were agents of God but would not have realized it.
 

Questions for Reflection

Ø  What good news can you share of your healing experiences?

Ø  How have you been instrumental in allowing a healing to happen to someone else, either a purposefully or an unwittingly?

Ø  How do you react when something difficult is given to you to do?  Do you accept the challenge or back off?  Do you dismiss things if they are too easy?

Ø  Praying for healing is one of our given tasks as Christians. What would enable you to keep praying when no progress is visible?

Ø  Like these people in the Bible, tell God how you are feeling.

Ø  The Corinthians reading from "The Message" version of the Bible:

“I did all this because of the Message. I didn't just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it! You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You're after one that's gold eternally. I don't know about you, but I'm giving it everything I've got. No sloppy living for me! I'm staying alert and in top condition. I'm not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.”

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