Proper 23
Preaching
Preaching and Reading the Old Testament Lessons:
With an Eye to the New
The prominent people, the "best" people of Judah, were carried into Babylonian exile in the first deportation of 597 B.C., but they really didn't think their captivity would last too long. After all, they had the davidic king, Jehoiachin, with them, and God had promised that there would never be lacking a davidic king to sit upon the throne (2 Samuel 7). Their prophets had always prophesied "peace, peace" to them (Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11), which meant God held them in favor. And now the same prophets, who also had been deported, were assuring them that they would soon be returned to Palestine.
They all looked to Egypt to break the power of Babylonia. In fact, when there was a rebellion in the Babylonian army in 595 B.C., they were sure that was going to bear fruit. In 594, ambassadors from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon met in Jerusalem to plot how to regain their freedom from the Babylonian yoke. And when Psammetichus II took the throne of Egypt in 593, that seemed the most hopeful sign of all.
What the exiled leaders did not reckon with, however, was the power of God that was far greater than the power of any little nation, and far greater than that of Egypt and of Babylonia. And God had sent the Judean leaders into their exile, because they had trusted everything else but him, giving their allegiance to other gods, other powers, other ways than that of the Lord.
The result was that the puppet king Zedekiah of Judah, whom Babylonia had put on the throne, had to send a deputation to Babylonia in 593 B.C., assuring its Emperor Nebuchadnezzar that Judah was a faithful vassal. And the prophet Jeremiah seized the opportunity to have that deputation carry a letter to the exiles.
Do not believe your false prophets who are telling you that you will soon return to your homeland, Jeremiah told the deportees. Settle down for a long stay. Build houses, plant gardens, intermarry with the Babylonians, and pray for Babylon's welfare, for your life is bound up with hers for the next seventy years (vv. 5-10). At a time when Babylonia was hated and feared throughout the Near East, to a nation that had never countenanced intermarriage with foreigners (cf. Genesis 28:1), and to Judeans who thought that God could be found only in Jerusalem, that was a revolutionary message. Indeed, it was a treasonous message, and one of the priests among the exiles wrote to King Zedekiah to have Jeremiah silenced (vv. 24-28). But unlike the other false prophets who preached only peace and weal, Jeremiah preached the Word of the Lord. He knew that the Lord was in charge of Judah's life, and that only the Lord could give Judah "a future and a hope" (vv. 10-11).
In the affairs of nations, as empires rise and fall, as politicians plot and plan and think to shape our futures, there is One who is finally in charge of our destinies. That is a message to remember in our century when we think everyone but God is in control. And so the final question we always must ask, the question that exiled Judah did not ask, was: How do we stand with our God? And surely our nation, along with Judah, would have to find itself unfaithful.
Perhaps the most amazing aspect of Jeremiah's letter, however, is its destruction of all nationalistic bounds. God was not bound to one nation, to one temple, to one people, Jeremiah proclaimed, any more than he is bound to the United States or our denomination or our western ways. God is the Lord over all nations. He can be found in the midst of the third world as readily as in the midst of our great nation. He is not bound to our ways of worship or our understandings of piety and ethics. He works his will among all peoples and can be found in their midst, if he is sought with all our hearts and minds (vv. 13-14).
Most important, the Lord is to be sought after in whatever situation we find ourselves. And Jeremiah proclaims that we serve the Lord by serving those around us, even if they be our enemies or hated by us or looked down upon. The scriptures have always proclaimed that we love God most sincerely by loving our neighbors, whoever they may be. For the God of the scriptures is always giving away that which belongs to him. If you love me, he teaches us, then give that love to those around you. And in doing that, you will be giving your devotion to me.
Lutheran Option: 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c
There is no doubt about it. Naaman, the commander of the army of the King of Syria, is a very important person. In fact, he is a national hero, noted for his victories and for his courage and daring in times of war. Each time he comes home from battle, he is celebrated and honored by the populace and by his king.
Like all persons of whatever station in life, however, Naaman suffers "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." He has a progressive disease. He is a leper. Nevertheless, contrary to the treatment given to most lepers, Naaman expects to be afforded the respect proper to his high station. He hears from his wife through her little Israelite slave girl that there is a prophet in northern Israel who can cure him. But does Naaman write to the prophet? No. He writes to the king of Israel. And when he arrives in his chariot, with all of his entourage, at the door of Elisha, he expects Elisha to come out to him and, through great ceremony, to cure him of his disease. Important people need to be treated in an important fashion.
Those who are of God do not pay much attention to human importance, however. How often that was the case with Jesus! And it is also the case with Elisha. He just sends a messenger out to Naaman to tell him to wash in the Jordan seven times in order to be cured. Naaman is furious. He has been treated like some peasant, like some scum who has no status whatsoever. His honor, his high station in life, his military victories have been ignored, and he has been treated like anyone else. What a come-down!
But Elisha knows, and his lowly servants know, and above all, God knows, that the path to Naaman's wholeness lies down the way of humility. Naaman not only needs to get rid of his leprosy. He needs to get rid of himself. "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted," our Lord taught us (Matthew 23:12). When we're all wrapped up in ourselves, there is no room left for God. We are the most important person in our lives, when in actuality, God is to be that Person. That is the reason Jesus tells us to "take up our cross" and follow him. In short, we are to let ourselves -- our wills, our desires, our importance -- be crucified, that Christ may live in us and God may be our all in all.
The Lord granted wholeness to Naaman when he found and exercised humility, when he finally realized that he had no health in himself and that his life lay wholly in God's hands. And we too have our wholeness from God, no matter what our condition, when we renounce our own self-importance and let God have his way with our lives.
They all looked to Egypt to break the power of Babylonia. In fact, when there was a rebellion in the Babylonian army in 595 B.C., they were sure that was going to bear fruit. In 594, ambassadors from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon met in Jerusalem to plot how to regain their freedom from the Babylonian yoke. And when Psammetichus II took the throne of Egypt in 593, that seemed the most hopeful sign of all.
What the exiled leaders did not reckon with, however, was the power of God that was far greater than the power of any little nation, and far greater than that of Egypt and of Babylonia. And God had sent the Judean leaders into their exile, because they had trusted everything else but him, giving their allegiance to other gods, other powers, other ways than that of the Lord.
The result was that the puppet king Zedekiah of Judah, whom Babylonia had put on the throne, had to send a deputation to Babylonia in 593 B.C., assuring its Emperor Nebuchadnezzar that Judah was a faithful vassal. And the prophet Jeremiah seized the opportunity to have that deputation carry a letter to the exiles.
Do not believe your false prophets who are telling you that you will soon return to your homeland, Jeremiah told the deportees. Settle down for a long stay. Build houses, plant gardens, intermarry with the Babylonians, and pray for Babylon's welfare, for your life is bound up with hers for the next seventy years (vv. 5-10). At a time when Babylonia was hated and feared throughout the Near East, to a nation that had never countenanced intermarriage with foreigners (cf. Genesis 28:1), and to Judeans who thought that God could be found only in Jerusalem, that was a revolutionary message. Indeed, it was a treasonous message, and one of the priests among the exiles wrote to King Zedekiah to have Jeremiah silenced (vv. 24-28). But unlike the other false prophets who preached only peace and weal, Jeremiah preached the Word of the Lord. He knew that the Lord was in charge of Judah's life, and that only the Lord could give Judah "a future and a hope" (vv. 10-11).
In the affairs of nations, as empires rise and fall, as politicians plot and plan and think to shape our futures, there is One who is finally in charge of our destinies. That is a message to remember in our century when we think everyone but God is in control. And so the final question we always must ask, the question that exiled Judah did not ask, was: How do we stand with our God? And surely our nation, along with Judah, would have to find itself unfaithful.
Perhaps the most amazing aspect of Jeremiah's letter, however, is its destruction of all nationalistic bounds. God was not bound to one nation, to one temple, to one people, Jeremiah proclaimed, any more than he is bound to the United States or our denomination or our western ways. God is the Lord over all nations. He can be found in the midst of the third world as readily as in the midst of our great nation. He is not bound to our ways of worship or our understandings of piety and ethics. He works his will among all peoples and can be found in their midst, if he is sought with all our hearts and minds (vv. 13-14).
Most important, the Lord is to be sought after in whatever situation we find ourselves. And Jeremiah proclaims that we serve the Lord by serving those around us, even if they be our enemies or hated by us or looked down upon. The scriptures have always proclaimed that we love God most sincerely by loving our neighbors, whoever they may be. For the God of the scriptures is always giving away that which belongs to him. If you love me, he teaches us, then give that love to those around you. And in doing that, you will be giving your devotion to me.
Lutheran Option: 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c
There is no doubt about it. Naaman, the commander of the army of the King of Syria, is a very important person. In fact, he is a national hero, noted for his victories and for his courage and daring in times of war. Each time he comes home from battle, he is celebrated and honored by the populace and by his king.
Like all persons of whatever station in life, however, Naaman suffers "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." He has a progressive disease. He is a leper. Nevertheless, contrary to the treatment given to most lepers, Naaman expects to be afforded the respect proper to his high station. He hears from his wife through her little Israelite slave girl that there is a prophet in northern Israel who can cure him. But does Naaman write to the prophet? No. He writes to the king of Israel. And when he arrives in his chariot, with all of his entourage, at the door of Elisha, he expects Elisha to come out to him and, through great ceremony, to cure him of his disease. Important people need to be treated in an important fashion.
Those who are of God do not pay much attention to human importance, however. How often that was the case with Jesus! And it is also the case with Elisha. He just sends a messenger out to Naaman to tell him to wash in the Jordan seven times in order to be cured. Naaman is furious. He has been treated like some peasant, like some scum who has no status whatsoever. His honor, his high station in life, his military victories have been ignored, and he has been treated like anyone else. What a come-down!
But Elisha knows, and his lowly servants know, and above all, God knows, that the path to Naaman's wholeness lies down the way of humility. Naaman not only needs to get rid of his leprosy. He needs to get rid of himself. "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted," our Lord taught us (Matthew 23:12). When we're all wrapped up in ourselves, there is no room left for God. We are the most important person in our lives, when in actuality, God is to be that Person. That is the reason Jesus tells us to "take up our cross" and follow him. In short, we are to let ourselves -- our wills, our desires, our importance -- be crucified, that Christ may live in us and God may be our all in all.
The Lord granted wholeness to Naaman when he found and exercised humility, when he finally realized that he had no health in himself and that his life lay wholly in God's hands. And we too have our wholeness from God, no matter what our condition, when we renounce our own self-importance and let God have his way with our lives.
