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Despite the multitudinous variety of possible preaching texts in the Old Testament, the lectionary seems to prefer to specify some of the more popular texts. The preacher may therefore want to see the exposition of the same text in Cycle C, Proper 9.

Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Syria, is afflicted with leprosy. In some passages in the Old Testament, leprosy is considered to be a punishment from God (Numbers 12:10--15; 2 Kings 5:27; 15:5; 2 Chronicles 26:20--21), but our text makes no mention of such punishment in Naaman's case. Further, Syrian attitude toward Naaman's leprosy differs widely from the attitude found in Israel, because a leprous person in Israel was banned from all human contact. Even his clothing and garments were considered to be contaminated and in need of purification (cf. the many laws concerning leprosy in Leviticus 13). Naaman, however, continues in his military post in Syria and has free contact with those around him.

The difference is due to the fact that leprosy rendered the Israelite ritually unclean and unable to enter into the presence of God in the tabernacle or temple (cf. Leviticus 15:31). It is for this reason that a leper in Israel was commanded to show himself to the priest after being cured (Mark 1:43). The priest alone could certify that the cured individual was once again ritually clean.

Many different skin diseases and even mold on clothing or the walls of houses are called leprosy in the Old Testament, and they bear no relation to genuine leprosy or Hansen's disease. But certainly leprosy was a contagious scourge in the ancient Middle East and continued so throughout the poorer regions of the world up until the time of modern medicine. I can recall very vividly pictures of my aunt, a medical missionary in India, administering shots to lepers who came to her hospital for cure, many of them with their fingers or feet or faces eaten away by the disease.

Certainly our text concentrates itself on the figure of Naaman, who has to rid himself of his pride and self--importance before he can be cured. Naaman has to die to himself, before he can live. That approach to the text will be discussed at further length in Proper 9 of Cycle C.

The thrust of both this passage and the Markan text, however, is the emphasis on the power of God to cure the dread disease of leprosy. Elisha states, in verse 8, "Let him (i.e. Naaman) come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel." And Jesus, touching the leper in pity, with no fear of the disease, says simply, "Be clean," and the man is cleansed.

In both cases, God cures through the power of his word. Elisha commands, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean." That word, if obeyed, effects Naaman's cure, just as Jesus' word effects the cleansing of the leper who has come to him. Through his mighty word, God restores to wholeness. Every Christian who has ever had his or her life transformed by the word of scripture or preaching, knows that God's word, written or spoken, can make of human beings new creatures. And our text is one more example of that newness bestowed.

It is significant in our text, moreover, that the Word of God is conveyed finally, not by great and powerful men, but by those whom we consider to be the least of humanity. It is first of all a captured slave girl who tells Naaman's wife that there is a prophet in Israel who can cure leprosy. And then, toward the end of the story, the servants of Naaman are the ones who urge him to follow the Word of God given by Elisha, verse 13. The least among the characters in the story convey God's word that leads to healing. Is that not the case also in the transmission of the gospel, that it often has been passed on by unimportant folk like us - by a mother to her child, by a neighbor to another, by a Sunday school teacher to an adolescent, by a Scout leader to a camper, by a friend to another in distress?

And often we may not even know what a difference we have made in another's life. But we must speak out of a living faith, as did that captive slave girl in our story. She knew that God could heal through his prophet and word. She simply passed on that certain knowledge to her mistress.

When we read these stories from the scriptures, the ultimate question to ask, however, is, "What do they say about God?" And certainly both our Old and New Testament texts tell us that God wishes human beings to be whole. Throughout the stories of Elisha in 2 Kings, we find him healing, providing, ministering; there is no more pastoral figure in the Old Testament. And of course in the New Testament, Jesus goes about healing the sick and curing the lame and blind, forgiving the sinners, and uplifting the downtrodden and poor. He is the ultimate pastor among us. But what Jesus does is what God wants and does. God wills for all persons to be whole - even commanders like Naaman of foreign forces arrayed against his people. God wants good for us. God wants us to have abundant life. He is above all else the God of love, who wills for us the blessed fruits of his love.

The abundance of that love is shown to us by the common grace that the Lord heaps upon us all - by the beauty of the natural world around us, by the sun that he makes to rise on the evil and the good, by the rain that he sends on the just and unjust (Matthew 5:45), by placing us in the circle of family, and by setting us in community.

But God's extraordinary grace is given to those who receive his word in faith - to a Naaman who forgets himself and bathes obediently seven times in the muddy waters of the Jordan; and to a leper who kneels in the dust before his Lord to implore that Lord's will. Sometimes our faith even results in a healing of some infirmity that we have, as in our texts. But always trust in the Lord gives that joy and certainty that the world can neither give nor ever take away.