God's possibility
Commentary
Object:
When we encounter the living God we always find a new possibility open to us. But it is a possibility we have to choose. Today we have three passages of scripture that demonstrate that.
2 Kings 5:1-14
The people of Israel, living with the painful results of their defeats by foreign powers, first the Assyrians and then the Babylonians, probably found some encouragement from the memory of a time when the prophetic ministry of Elisha enabled them to survive in relationship with another powerful enemy, Aram (Syria). The Syrians had been so successful in raiding Samaria that the king of Israel was trembling in fear of future conflicts. The story is told with some significant humor.
The text says that Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a man high in the favor of his master because he had given him many victories. For the same reason, he must have been a man high in the dread of the Samaritans. But Naaman was a leper. His wife had a young Jewish maid who had been captured on one of his raids. The young girl apparently felt some loyalty to her new master. She shared with her mistress the recollection that there was a prophet in Samaria who could heal leprosy. Leprosy was just about the worst thing that could happen to a person in the ancient world. It was a terminal illness that could be really gruesome in the later stages. It also had many social stigmas. So dreadful was the affliction that Naaman was willing to do anything to be rid of it. He really had to take his hat in his hand to go and ask a favor of one of the people whom he oppressed. The king of Aram thought it was a joke, but he respected Naaman so much that he went along with it. He wrote a letter to the king of Samaria saying he was sending his general for the king to heal his leprosy. The king went into apoplexy. He apparently didn't know about Elisha's reputation for performing miracles. He supposed that the whole thing was a trick intended to start a fight that he would lose. Elisha heard of the king's distress and sent word that he could help. Naaman was sent to the prophet. But to the surprise of Naaman, the prophet did not come out to meet him with proper respect but sent out a messenger with directions for Naaman to follow. That offended Naaman's pride of rank. He almost went away without doing anything more. But his servant persuaded him, saying, "You have come this far, why don't you go on and give it a try?" Naaman did, and he was healed. Then everything was changed. Naaman went back to Elisha and stood before him with great respect. He let it be known that he would become a worshiper of Yahweh, even though he lived in a foreign land.
There are several messages the first hearers could have taken away from this story. First, it never was Israel's political power, represented by the king, that was Israel's strength; it was always the spiritual power, represented by the prophet. The king had been made to look ridiculous in this interchange. That was good news since for those first hearers of the story, Israel's political power was gone. But the spiritual power was still there.
The second was that even a non-Jew could be converted and worship the one true God.
Finally, the difficulty Naaman expected to have living as a worshiper of Yahweh in the court of a king who worshiped Rimmon represented the real difficulty that a person might have living as a worshiper of Yahweh while living as a religious minority in pagan cultures. It is interesting that Elisha does not respond with any of the religious purism that would later emerge in Israel. He simply understands and says, "Go in peace."
Galatians 6:(1-6) 7-16
Paul summarizes his message to the Galatians: "For freedom, Christ has set us free." You do not need the Jewish law to shape your life. Let your life be shaped by a relationship. "The whole law is summed up in one commandment, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself' " (5:14). Let your life be shaped by the working of the Spirit of God and the fruits of the Spirit will make your life complete (5:22-26).
Finally, Paul describes the way in which love should shape the life of the Christian community. The people should live together like an extended family, caring for each other and doing all that they can to help each other grow into the fullness of the experience of God's grace. Paul knows the Galatians are able to do that. He remembers a time when he received loving care from them during a time of physical affliction (4:12-20).
Finally, he ends his letter with emphasis. He writes his conclusion in large letters. He accuses the "missionaries" who have been tempting them of selfish motives; perhaps some hope to win favor in the Jewish community by leading Gentile converts to Christianity into Judaism. Paul assures the Galatians that he finds his only satisfaction in the cross of Jesus Christ and its meaning. Paul ends his letter with two blessings and one more barb.
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
When Jesus decided to go to Jerusalem for the fulfillment of his ministry, he sent his followers ahead of him to prepare the way. Luke tells us that Jesus sent out seventy followers in teams of two. The other gospels only mention twelve forerunners. The number seventy may suggest the mission to the nations of the Gentiles about which he will write in Acts. It is apparent that now Jesus was moving with the support of a large group of followers. They are sent to represent Jesus and to proclaim the good news that the kingdom of God has come near. They are given instructions about how to represent Jesus, appreciating any welcome that is given, not being judgmental but simply presenting God's new possibility and making people know that they have a decision to make about it. (In verses 12-16, Jesus speaks of the judgment that rests upon those who do not receive him. But it is only the judgment of having missed God's new possibility. Those verses do not appear in the lectionary readings for today.) This story of the followers of Jesus spreading out among the people and communities to make God's kingdom known suggests the parable in which Jesus compared the kingdom of God to leaven which is mixed into dough to change the nature of the whole (Luke 13:20-21).
When the missionaries returned, they were rejoicing in the success of their mission. They had been able to do things they never thought they could do. But Jesus warns them not to be too excited about the outward symbols of success, but rather to be grateful that they have found their way into the new possibility they had been sent to proclaim.
Application
When we encounter the living God, that meeting is full of possibilities. But we have to decide whether or not we will be open and responsive to those possibilities. Today, we have three passages of scripture demonstrating that. When Naaman encountered Elisha, he was in the presence of a possibility that could change his life. But he had to get past his arrogance to be receptive to it. Paul had brought the message of God's saving grace to the Galatian Christians. At first they had received it. But the temptation of the security of a more structured religion was tempting them to let it slip away. Jesus sent his followers ahead of him to prepare the people on the way to Jerusalem for a meeting with the messiah. But they would have to welcome the messengers and be receptive and responsive to the possibility they were offered. We are dealing now with the very heart of the message of Jesus: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news" (Mark 1:15).
When is that possibility present to us? And what kind of response does it call for? The pastor will need to make these possibilities personal for the members of the congregation and community.
One is the possibility of receiving Christ into our lives and allowing him to shape our lives. It is easy for church members to say, "I've been there and done that." But salvation that is real is always a work in progress. God comes to meet us again and again in our interactions with life, and each of those meetings brings with it some discoveries, some gifts, and some callings. If we learn to interpret the experiences with the encounters with life in the light of the biblical faith and to respond to them in openness and commitment, there will always be a growing edge on our faith. The pastor should try to illustrate this with examples that the people will recognize.
Another of those possibilities is the opportunity to share our faith with others. In our secular culture, many of us are reluctant to speak about our faith in public. But the assignment Jesus gave to those whom he sent before him to prepare the way for him is really an assignment that belongs to all disciples. There are people in each Christian's circle of influence who really need to discover the possibility of new life in Christ.
Here is a story that you may find useful: Once there was a farmer by the name of Ed Jones who lived at the end of a country road. One day he was working in the front yard of his house when he saw a strange car coming down the road. The car stopped, and a man he did not know got out and came over to him. The man said that he was a stranger in the community but was looking for a little family cemetery that was supposed to be nearby. The man at the store had said that Ed Jones knew the area better than anyone and could probably help him to find it. The man explained that he was a member of the family. He had been away since his early childhood and did not know where the cemetery was. He said he wanted to find the cemetery and spend the day cleaning it up. Ed said he knew where the cemetery was and that since he had nothing urgent to do he would be glad to help the man clean it up.
The two men worked together and talked about first one thing and then another for several hours. The stranger reflected on the messages on some of the grave markers and admitted that he himself did not share the faith and the hope that the markers expressed. Ed responded by sharing a little about his own faith. He was not aggressive about it. It was just a friendly conversation, but he noticed that the man seemed interested and asked several questions. After the job was done the man went away, and Ed did not think of the conversation again until a year later. Then another car came down the road and another stranger got out and asked if he was Ed Jones. Ed confessed. Then the man said that his brother had told him about Ed. His brother was the man whom Ed had helped to clean the cemetery. He explained that his brother had come to clean the cemetery because he had terminal cancer. The conversation his brother had with Ed was so meaningful to him that he found his way into a church and grew into a Christian faith of his own. He said the last year of his life was the best year of all. He had gone to meet his death with hope. Now the stranger said that he too had cancer, and he wanted Ed to share with him the faith that had made his brother's last year so joyful. You never know when the faith you share will change a life.
Still another possibility is the possibility of trying to make a difference in the world in which we live. Many of us have never really understood that to be part of our calling. But one who lives in this world as a citizen of the kingdom will see many things about the world that need to be changed, things that are having painful and destructive effects upon our fellow human beings. Here the pastor can share some examples of things that need to be changed in the world of the hearers. To respond to that possibility can lead us into some real adventures in faith.
An Alternate Application
Living out of Christian freedom
What is shaping your life? What is making you do the things that you do? Is it the expectation of others? Is it some set of rules that you feel compelled to follow? Is it some image of yourself that you feel you need to live up to? All of these are things that will shape your life from the outside in. In the days when the letter to the Galatians was written, the dominant form of the Jewish religion taught a life shaped by an elaborate set of religious laws that would shape a person's life from the outside in. There is a certain security in always knowing the right answer and being assured that you have done the right thing. But Paul taught the Galatian Christians a different kind of religion. He urged them to claim their freedom from the religion that shaped their lives from the outside in and to learn a new kind of religion that would shape their lives from the inside out.
Then what is it that Paul thought should shape the lives of the Galatian Christians -- and ours? It is a vital ongoing interaction with the living God who made himself known through Jesus Christ. This is a God who is always at work in our world and in our lives through the Holy Spirit. This is not a static, structured thing. It is something that is always growing and changing as life requires it. It is a life liberated by faith, shaped by love, and committed to the high purpose of God. This is something at the center of a person's life that can shape everything in that person's life. This is the message that Paul reemphasizes in his letter to the Galatians.
In the last chapter of his letter, Paul talks about how that kind of life might behave in some of the down-to-earth situations of everyday life. He says that if a person of faith has to correct another, he should do it without arrogance so that it will come across as helpfulness rather than a putdown. He says that people of faith should always try to be helpful and to treat others as members of a big family, especially others who are members of the community of faith. Let all of your actions be shaped by your relationship with God and not by the temptations that may slip up on you. Remember that you will reap what you sow.
The Christians did not need to be governed by the law or by any other set of expectations because the righteousness that resulted from love working from the inside out exceeded the righteousness that comes from following the law.
What do you think? Let's look at some of the life situations that confront us today and ask ourselves how a person who is motivated by love from the inside out will respond.
After this, the pastor can raise issues that confront members of his congregation and community. The pastor can decide whether to go shallow or to go deep. He may talk about how a Christian might deal with things like conflict in the church or respond to needs in the community. Or he may talk about issues like abortion that require a sensitivity that goes beyond the requirement of the letter of the law. It will be best not to give the answers but rather to urge the hearers to ask the questions.
2 Kings 5:1-14
The people of Israel, living with the painful results of their defeats by foreign powers, first the Assyrians and then the Babylonians, probably found some encouragement from the memory of a time when the prophetic ministry of Elisha enabled them to survive in relationship with another powerful enemy, Aram (Syria). The Syrians had been so successful in raiding Samaria that the king of Israel was trembling in fear of future conflicts. The story is told with some significant humor.
The text says that Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a man high in the favor of his master because he had given him many victories. For the same reason, he must have been a man high in the dread of the Samaritans. But Naaman was a leper. His wife had a young Jewish maid who had been captured on one of his raids. The young girl apparently felt some loyalty to her new master. She shared with her mistress the recollection that there was a prophet in Samaria who could heal leprosy. Leprosy was just about the worst thing that could happen to a person in the ancient world. It was a terminal illness that could be really gruesome in the later stages. It also had many social stigmas. So dreadful was the affliction that Naaman was willing to do anything to be rid of it. He really had to take his hat in his hand to go and ask a favor of one of the people whom he oppressed. The king of Aram thought it was a joke, but he respected Naaman so much that he went along with it. He wrote a letter to the king of Samaria saying he was sending his general for the king to heal his leprosy. The king went into apoplexy. He apparently didn't know about Elisha's reputation for performing miracles. He supposed that the whole thing was a trick intended to start a fight that he would lose. Elisha heard of the king's distress and sent word that he could help. Naaman was sent to the prophet. But to the surprise of Naaman, the prophet did not come out to meet him with proper respect but sent out a messenger with directions for Naaman to follow. That offended Naaman's pride of rank. He almost went away without doing anything more. But his servant persuaded him, saying, "You have come this far, why don't you go on and give it a try?" Naaman did, and he was healed. Then everything was changed. Naaman went back to Elisha and stood before him with great respect. He let it be known that he would become a worshiper of Yahweh, even though he lived in a foreign land.
There are several messages the first hearers could have taken away from this story. First, it never was Israel's political power, represented by the king, that was Israel's strength; it was always the spiritual power, represented by the prophet. The king had been made to look ridiculous in this interchange. That was good news since for those first hearers of the story, Israel's political power was gone. But the spiritual power was still there.
The second was that even a non-Jew could be converted and worship the one true God.
Finally, the difficulty Naaman expected to have living as a worshiper of Yahweh in the court of a king who worshiped Rimmon represented the real difficulty that a person might have living as a worshiper of Yahweh while living as a religious minority in pagan cultures. It is interesting that Elisha does not respond with any of the religious purism that would later emerge in Israel. He simply understands and says, "Go in peace."
Galatians 6:(1-6) 7-16
Paul summarizes his message to the Galatians: "For freedom, Christ has set us free." You do not need the Jewish law to shape your life. Let your life be shaped by a relationship. "The whole law is summed up in one commandment, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself' " (5:14). Let your life be shaped by the working of the Spirit of God and the fruits of the Spirit will make your life complete (5:22-26).
Finally, Paul describes the way in which love should shape the life of the Christian community. The people should live together like an extended family, caring for each other and doing all that they can to help each other grow into the fullness of the experience of God's grace. Paul knows the Galatians are able to do that. He remembers a time when he received loving care from them during a time of physical affliction (4:12-20).
Finally, he ends his letter with emphasis. He writes his conclusion in large letters. He accuses the "missionaries" who have been tempting them of selfish motives; perhaps some hope to win favor in the Jewish community by leading Gentile converts to Christianity into Judaism. Paul assures the Galatians that he finds his only satisfaction in the cross of Jesus Christ and its meaning. Paul ends his letter with two blessings and one more barb.
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
When Jesus decided to go to Jerusalem for the fulfillment of his ministry, he sent his followers ahead of him to prepare the way. Luke tells us that Jesus sent out seventy followers in teams of two. The other gospels only mention twelve forerunners. The number seventy may suggest the mission to the nations of the Gentiles about which he will write in Acts. It is apparent that now Jesus was moving with the support of a large group of followers. They are sent to represent Jesus and to proclaim the good news that the kingdom of God has come near. They are given instructions about how to represent Jesus, appreciating any welcome that is given, not being judgmental but simply presenting God's new possibility and making people know that they have a decision to make about it. (In verses 12-16, Jesus speaks of the judgment that rests upon those who do not receive him. But it is only the judgment of having missed God's new possibility. Those verses do not appear in the lectionary readings for today.) This story of the followers of Jesus spreading out among the people and communities to make God's kingdom known suggests the parable in which Jesus compared the kingdom of God to leaven which is mixed into dough to change the nature of the whole (Luke 13:20-21).
When the missionaries returned, they were rejoicing in the success of their mission. They had been able to do things they never thought they could do. But Jesus warns them not to be too excited about the outward symbols of success, but rather to be grateful that they have found their way into the new possibility they had been sent to proclaim.
Application
When we encounter the living God, that meeting is full of possibilities. But we have to decide whether or not we will be open and responsive to those possibilities. Today, we have three passages of scripture demonstrating that. When Naaman encountered Elisha, he was in the presence of a possibility that could change his life. But he had to get past his arrogance to be receptive to it. Paul had brought the message of God's saving grace to the Galatian Christians. At first they had received it. But the temptation of the security of a more structured religion was tempting them to let it slip away. Jesus sent his followers ahead of him to prepare the people on the way to Jerusalem for a meeting with the messiah. But they would have to welcome the messengers and be receptive and responsive to the possibility they were offered. We are dealing now with the very heart of the message of Jesus: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news" (Mark 1:15).
When is that possibility present to us? And what kind of response does it call for? The pastor will need to make these possibilities personal for the members of the congregation and community.
One is the possibility of receiving Christ into our lives and allowing him to shape our lives. It is easy for church members to say, "I've been there and done that." But salvation that is real is always a work in progress. God comes to meet us again and again in our interactions with life, and each of those meetings brings with it some discoveries, some gifts, and some callings. If we learn to interpret the experiences with the encounters with life in the light of the biblical faith and to respond to them in openness and commitment, there will always be a growing edge on our faith. The pastor should try to illustrate this with examples that the people will recognize.
Another of those possibilities is the opportunity to share our faith with others. In our secular culture, many of us are reluctant to speak about our faith in public. But the assignment Jesus gave to those whom he sent before him to prepare the way for him is really an assignment that belongs to all disciples. There are people in each Christian's circle of influence who really need to discover the possibility of new life in Christ.
Here is a story that you may find useful: Once there was a farmer by the name of Ed Jones who lived at the end of a country road. One day he was working in the front yard of his house when he saw a strange car coming down the road. The car stopped, and a man he did not know got out and came over to him. The man said that he was a stranger in the community but was looking for a little family cemetery that was supposed to be nearby. The man at the store had said that Ed Jones knew the area better than anyone and could probably help him to find it. The man explained that he was a member of the family. He had been away since his early childhood and did not know where the cemetery was. He said he wanted to find the cemetery and spend the day cleaning it up. Ed said he knew where the cemetery was and that since he had nothing urgent to do he would be glad to help the man clean it up.
The two men worked together and talked about first one thing and then another for several hours. The stranger reflected on the messages on some of the grave markers and admitted that he himself did not share the faith and the hope that the markers expressed. Ed responded by sharing a little about his own faith. He was not aggressive about it. It was just a friendly conversation, but he noticed that the man seemed interested and asked several questions. After the job was done the man went away, and Ed did not think of the conversation again until a year later. Then another car came down the road and another stranger got out and asked if he was Ed Jones. Ed confessed. Then the man said that his brother had told him about Ed. His brother was the man whom Ed had helped to clean the cemetery. He explained that his brother had come to clean the cemetery because he had terminal cancer. The conversation his brother had with Ed was so meaningful to him that he found his way into a church and grew into a Christian faith of his own. He said the last year of his life was the best year of all. He had gone to meet his death with hope. Now the stranger said that he too had cancer, and he wanted Ed to share with him the faith that had made his brother's last year so joyful. You never know when the faith you share will change a life.
Still another possibility is the possibility of trying to make a difference in the world in which we live. Many of us have never really understood that to be part of our calling. But one who lives in this world as a citizen of the kingdom will see many things about the world that need to be changed, things that are having painful and destructive effects upon our fellow human beings. Here the pastor can share some examples of things that need to be changed in the world of the hearers. To respond to that possibility can lead us into some real adventures in faith.
An Alternate Application
Living out of Christian freedom
What is shaping your life? What is making you do the things that you do? Is it the expectation of others? Is it some set of rules that you feel compelled to follow? Is it some image of yourself that you feel you need to live up to? All of these are things that will shape your life from the outside in. In the days when the letter to the Galatians was written, the dominant form of the Jewish religion taught a life shaped by an elaborate set of religious laws that would shape a person's life from the outside in. There is a certain security in always knowing the right answer and being assured that you have done the right thing. But Paul taught the Galatian Christians a different kind of religion. He urged them to claim their freedom from the religion that shaped their lives from the outside in and to learn a new kind of religion that would shape their lives from the inside out.
Then what is it that Paul thought should shape the lives of the Galatian Christians -- and ours? It is a vital ongoing interaction with the living God who made himself known through Jesus Christ. This is a God who is always at work in our world and in our lives through the Holy Spirit. This is not a static, structured thing. It is something that is always growing and changing as life requires it. It is a life liberated by faith, shaped by love, and committed to the high purpose of God. This is something at the center of a person's life that can shape everything in that person's life. This is the message that Paul reemphasizes in his letter to the Galatians.
In the last chapter of his letter, Paul talks about how that kind of life might behave in some of the down-to-earth situations of everyday life. He says that if a person of faith has to correct another, he should do it without arrogance so that it will come across as helpfulness rather than a putdown. He says that people of faith should always try to be helpful and to treat others as members of a big family, especially others who are members of the community of faith. Let all of your actions be shaped by your relationship with God and not by the temptations that may slip up on you. Remember that you will reap what you sow.
The Christians did not need to be governed by the law or by any other set of expectations because the righteousness that resulted from love working from the inside out exceeded the righteousness that comes from following the law.
What do you think? Let's look at some of the life situations that confront us today and ask ourselves how a person who is motivated by love from the inside out will respond.
After this, the pastor can raise issues that confront members of his congregation and community. The pastor can decide whether to go shallow or to go deep. He may talk about how a Christian might deal with things like conflict in the church or respond to needs in the community. Or he may talk about issues like abortion that require a sensitivity that goes beyond the requirement of the letter of the law. It will be best not to give the answers but rather to urge the hearers to ask the questions.
