Proper 9
Preaching
Preaching and Reading the Old Testament Lessons:
With an Eye to the New
This story forms part of the Elisha cycle that is found in 2 Kings 2-13, and that is interspersed with stories of northern Israel's battle with Moab and of her continuing warfare with Syria. It is set in the ninth century B.C. during the reign of King Jehoram (849-842 B.C.) of Israel. As is true of most of the stories of the prophet Elisha, it concerns Elisha's pastoral, prophetic care for all persons, even for a commander of Israel's foe, Syria. Indeed, there is no more pastoral figure in the Old Testament than Elisha.
The story is simple and straightforward. Naaman is a "great man" of war, in favor with his king and country, "because by him the Lord has given victory to Syria" (v. 1). In short, Naaman's success is due to God's working. The Bible never abandons its view that the rise and fall of nations are due to the action of the Lord.
Naaman, however, is a leper. But his wife hears from her little Israelite slave-girl, who was captured in war, that the prophet Elisha could heal the leprosy (vv. 2-3). When Naaman tells this to his king, Ben-Hadad, the latter allows Naaman to travel to Samaria, bearing an enormous gift and a letter to the Israelite king, Jehoram. Jehoram has no power to cure leprosy, however. He knows that only God can heal or kill (cf. Deuteronomy 32:39). Therefore he is furious, thinking that Naaman's arrival signals a plot to attack Israel (vv. 4-7).
At this point, Elisha intervenes with Jehoram and bids him to send Naaman to him, so that Naaman "may know that there is a prophet in Israel" (v. 8) -- so that Naaman may find out that the power of God works through his prophet. Always God has a hand in this story.
Naaman arrives with great fanfare, with his horses and chariots, at Elisha's door. He expects Elisha to make an elaborate ceremony of his cleansing, calling on the Lord to heal him (cf. v. 11). But Elisha does not even personally appear. Instead he just sends out his servant to tell Naaman to wash in the Jordan River seven times in order to be cleansed of his leprosy.
This time Naaman is furious. Elisha has not recognized what a great man Naaman is and has not given him the attention due to one of his status. He departs in a rage, muttering that he could have washed in the rivers of Damascus if that is all it takes to cure leprosy (v. 12).
Once again, lowly servants become God's instrument, urging Naaman to humble himself and to wash in the Jordan. His rage gone, Naaman goes to the river and dips himself seven times, according to the word of Elisha, and his leprosy is healed (vv. 13-14).
Naaman had to get rid of himself. Humanly speaking, he was a very important person, full of pride in his own achievements, and expectant of proper deference shown to him. But the Lord pays no attention to the status and fame and image that we human beings think to achieve for ourselves. Indeed, the Gospel tells us that "whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted" (Matthew 23:12, paraphrased). And both the Epistle and Gospel lesson bear that truth. "If anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself," reads Galatians (6:3). "Do not rejoice that the (evil) spirits are subject to you," Jesus teaches the seventy disciples, "but rejoice that your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:20). It is not our human status that is important, but how we stand with God. And God works his will through little slave-girls and servants, and comes to those who are of a broken, contrite heart and spirit (Psalm 51:17; 34:18) -- to those who know they have no goodness in themselves but who are totally reliant on their Lord. So our Lord Jesus commands us, "Take up your cross and follow me" (Mark 8:34). In other words, let yourself be crucified -- your will, your desires, your plans -- and submit yourself to the will of Christ Jesus, who can in truth make us all clean and whole again.
Lutheran Option: Isaiah 66:10-14
These verses constitute a portion of the long poem of Isaiah 66:1-18a, in which a number of brief oracles alternate between announcements of salvation for Jerusalem and judgment upon God's enemies, both within and without the holy city. Isaiah 66:10-13 is actually one stanza; verse 14 belongs to the salvation-judgment oracle in verses 14-17. The lectionary, however, has kept the salvation verses all together.
The reading comes from Trito-Isaiah (Isaiah 56-66), that was assembled by the Levitical priests in Jerusalem sometime after those in Babylonian exile had returned following Cyrus II's decree of 538 B.C.
The poem is addressed to those who "love" Jerusalem and who have mourned over her devastation at the hands of Babylonia (v. 1). But the mourning has also been over the sin that still is present in Zion (cf. e.g. Isaiah 64:5-7; 65:1-7). Third Isaiah is one of the few books in the Old Testament that separates out the faithful from the whole of Israel and announces salvation for them alone. There is now in this book an elect company within Israel's community that will alone experience God's future consolations.
Jerusalem is pictured in the figure of a mother, who will be comforted (cf. Isaiah 40:1), and who will give comfort to her faithful children. Those who love her will be able to nurse fully and deeply at her overflowing breast, which is her "glory" (v. 11). Shalom will flow out to her like a river (cf. Isaiah 48:18), increased by a stream of wealth from the nations round about. Her children will be carried on her hip and dandled upon her knees -- both pictures of joy. For like a mother comforts her child, the Lord will comfort the faithful in Jerusalem (vv. 12-13). God will be the one who gives salvation to the holy city.
The faithful will therefore rejoice in their hearts and their vitality ("bones") will flourish like new grass (v. 14). And when the whole world sees the salvation of the faithful, it will know that the Lord saves his "servants" (cf. 65:8, 9, 13-15), and that he has lifted his hand in wrath against his enemies (v. 14). The revelation is intended as a universal witness to God's saving and judging work.
It would be difficult to know what to preach from this passage were it not for the fact that we now apply the title of Zion or Jerusalem to the Christian Church. The church has always called itself "Zion," as in several hymns. But Paul tells us also that faithful Christians belong to the "Jerusalem above" that "is free," and that "she is our mother" (Galatians 4:26). And Hebrews announces that we have come to "the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem ... and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant" (Hebrews 12:22, 24).
If that be the case, certainly the church shares the characteristics of the Jerusalem described in Third Isaiah. It is full of sinful ways and often fails to seek the Lord (Isaiah 65:1). But there is also found in almost every congregation a little company of the faithful, who mourn over the state of the church because they love the church and her Lord, and who attempt to walk every day in the path of trust and obedience to God. It is to that faithful company that this good news of Third Isaiah is announced. God is going to make his church, his Jerusalem, new again. She will flourish and rejoice. More than that, John of Patmos tells us that there will be a new Jerusalem, a new church, a new people of God (Revelation 21:2), with whom God himself will dwell. And there will be no night, no wrong, no death and evil there, for God will have done away with them all.
The story is simple and straightforward. Naaman is a "great man" of war, in favor with his king and country, "because by him the Lord has given victory to Syria" (v. 1). In short, Naaman's success is due to God's working. The Bible never abandons its view that the rise and fall of nations are due to the action of the Lord.
Naaman, however, is a leper. But his wife hears from her little Israelite slave-girl, who was captured in war, that the prophet Elisha could heal the leprosy (vv. 2-3). When Naaman tells this to his king, Ben-Hadad, the latter allows Naaman to travel to Samaria, bearing an enormous gift and a letter to the Israelite king, Jehoram. Jehoram has no power to cure leprosy, however. He knows that only God can heal or kill (cf. Deuteronomy 32:39). Therefore he is furious, thinking that Naaman's arrival signals a plot to attack Israel (vv. 4-7).
At this point, Elisha intervenes with Jehoram and bids him to send Naaman to him, so that Naaman "may know that there is a prophet in Israel" (v. 8) -- so that Naaman may find out that the power of God works through his prophet. Always God has a hand in this story.
Naaman arrives with great fanfare, with his horses and chariots, at Elisha's door. He expects Elisha to make an elaborate ceremony of his cleansing, calling on the Lord to heal him (cf. v. 11). But Elisha does not even personally appear. Instead he just sends out his servant to tell Naaman to wash in the Jordan River seven times in order to be cleansed of his leprosy.
This time Naaman is furious. Elisha has not recognized what a great man Naaman is and has not given him the attention due to one of his status. He departs in a rage, muttering that he could have washed in the rivers of Damascus if that is all it takes to cure leprosy (v. 12).
Once again, lowly servants become God's instrument, urging Naaman to humble himself and to wash in the Jordan. His rage gone, Naaman goes to the river and dips himself seven times, according to the word of Elisha, and his leprosy is healed (vv. 13-14).
Naaman had to get rid of himself. Humanly speaking, he was a very important person, full of pride in his own achievements, and expectant of proper deference shown to him. But the Lord pays no attention to the status and fame and image that we human beings think to achieve for ourselves. Indeed, the Gospel tells us that "whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted" (Matthew 23:12, paraphrased). And both the Epistle and Gospel lesson bear that truth. "If anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself," reads Galatians (6:3). "Do not rejoice that the (evil) spirits are subject to you," Jesus teaches the seventy disciples, "but rejoice that your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:20). It is not our human status that is important, but how we stand with God. And God works his will through little slave-girls and servants, and comes to those who are of a broken, contrite heart and spirit (Psalm 51:17; 34:18) -- to those who know they have no goodness in themselves but who are totally reliant on their Lord. So our Lord Jesus commands us, "Take up your cross and follow me" (Mark 8:34). In other words, let yourself be crucified -- your will, your desires, your plans -- and submit yourself to the will of Christ Jesus, who can in truth make us all clean and whole again.
Lutheran Option: Isaiah 66:10-14
These verses constitute a portion of the long poem of Isaiah 66:1-18a, in which a number of brief oracles alternate between announcements of salvation for Jerusalem and judgment upon God's enemies, both within and without the holy city. Isaiah 66:10-13 is actually one stanza; verse 14 belongs to the salvation-judgment oracle in verses 14-17. The lectionary, however, has kept the salvation verses all together.
The reading comes from Trito-Isaiah (Isaiah 56-66), that was assembled by the Levitical priests in Jerusalem sometime after those in Babylonian exile had returned following Cyrus II's decree of 538 B.C.
The poem is addressed to those who "love" Jerusalem and who have mourned over her devastation at the hands of Babylonia (v. 1). But the mourning has also been over the sin that still is present in Zion (cf. e.g. Isaiah 64:5-7; 65:1-7). Third Isaiah is one of the few books in the Old Testament that separates out the faithful from the whole of Israel and announces salvation for them alone. There is now in this book an elect company within Israel's community that will alone experience God's future consolations.
Jerusalem is pictured in the figure of a mother, who will be comforted (cf. Isaiah 40:1), and who will give comfort to her faithful children. Those who love her will be able to nurse fully and deeply at her overflowing breast, which is her "glory" (v. 11). Shalom will flow out to her like a river (cf. Isaiah 48:18), increased by a stream of wealth from the nations round about. Her children will be carried on her hip and dandled upon her knees -- both pictures of joy. For like a mother comforts her child, the Lord will comfort the faithful in Jerusalem (vv. 12-13). God will be the one who gives salvation to the holy city.
The faithful will therefore rejoice in their hearts and their vitality ("bones") will flourish like new grass (v. 14). And when the whole world sees the salvation of the faithful, it will know that the Lord saves his "servants" (cf. 65:8, 9, 13-15), and that he has lifted his hand in wrath against his enemies (v. 14). The revelation is intended as a universal witness to God's saving and judging work.
It would be difficult to know what to preach from this passage were it not for the fact that we now apply the title of Zion or Jerusalem to the Christian Church. The church has always called itself "Zion," as in several hymns. But Paul tells us also that faithful Christians belong to the "Jerusalem above" that "is free," and that "she is our mother" (Galatians 4:26). And Hebrews announces that we have come to "the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem ... and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant" (Hebrews 12:22, 24).
If that be the case, certainly the church shares the characteristics of the Jerusalem described in Third Isaiah. It is full of sinful ways and often fails to seek the Lord (Isaiah 65:1). But there is also found in almost every congregation a little company of the faithful, who mourn over the state of the church because they love the church and her Lord, and who attempt to walk every day in the path of trust and obedience to God. It is to that faithful company that this good news of Third Isaiah is announced. God is going to make his church, his Jerusalem, new again. She will flourish and rejoice. More than that, John of Patmos tells us that there will be a new Jerusalem, a new church, a new people of God (Revelation 21:2), with whom God himself will dwell. And there will be no night, no wrong, no death and evil there, for God will have done away with them all.
