Transformation

Suppose our Old Testament reading had begun this way: “Saddam Husain was an Iraqi military general, praised by all as a valiant warrior and a great man. In fact, the Christian God had granted victory to Iraq through Saddam.”1 Shocking? The way Saddam Husain was perceived by most Americans was exactly the way Naaman was perceived by the Israelites, i.e., as the hated and feared enemy. To be sure, Naaman was of exalted rank. As conqueror of Israel he was highly favored by his king. He was obviously wealthy. And consequently, he was arrogant and proud of all his accomplishments.

However, Naaman had a secret illness that no Aramean physician could cure. Although Scripture calls it “leprosy,” Naaman probably did not have what we have come to call Hansen’s disease, which is a contagious, debilitating, and ultimately disfiguring disease. In the Bible, the word that is translated “leprosy” covers a variety of skin conditions. Naaman could have had psoriasis, eczema, ringworm, even adult acne. Whatever it was, Naaman needed healing – and perhaps also spiritual transformation. However, he seems to have done little to initiate his needed healing. But God was at work!

God began Naaman’s journey of transformation through the counsel of his wife. The lowest member of their household, a captive Hebrew slave girl, had suggested that Naaman ought to visit a certain Hebrew holy man. Loaded down with silver, gold, and rich presents, he went instead to the man of his own station in Israel, the king – sending that worthy into near apoplexy. God initiated the second step in Naaman’s transformation by directing Elisha to offer his services. Of course, Naaman expected that the great prophet Elisha would heal him by coming out, bowing ceremoniously, accepting the costly gifts, waving his arms, and crying out to God on Naaman’s behalf. When Elisha’s servant came out and directed Naaman to immerse himself in the river near which the Arameans had once suffered defeat, Naaman was outraged. Once again, God stepped in, through the words of Naaman’s servant. Did Naaman feel foolish dunking himself up and down seven times in the muddy Jordan? Probably. But when the healing that Naaman had wanted actually happened, Naaman was not only physically clean, he was spiritually transformed as well. For, as we learn in the verses immediately following the ones we heard, Naaman returned to Elisha and declared, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant.” When Elisha refused any gifts, Naaman asked for two mule-loads of earth, so that he might continue to worship the Lord on his return home. Clearly Naaman had been physically healed. What was more important, through Elisha, he had also experienced a personal spiritual transformation that changed his life forever. Touched by God, he was healed both in body and soul.

The leper who begged for healing from Jesus in our Gospel story was at the complete opposite end of the social scale from Naaman. We don’t know much about this man, whether he was rich or poor, what he did for a living, or whether he had a family. However, we do know how those with skin diseases were treated in the ancient world – and right through the early twentieth century. The thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of Leviticus call for strict segregation of anyone with a skin disease. Called the “living dead,” even in Jesus’ time, a leper like this man was forced to live on the edges of his village. He was forbidden to touch anyone – not that anyone would want to touch him. This man was clearly desperate. Although he was putting Jesus in danger of ritual defilement by coming close to him, he screwed up his courage, took the initiative, knelt in front of Jesus, and begged for healing. His plight so moved Jesus that Jesus did the unthinkable: he touched the leper. And the leper experienced the physical healing that he had sought. Thus when the priests, as commanded in Leviticus, had indeed certified that he was free of disease, he would be restored to his family and village. Yet something more had happened. Jesus, of course, was afraid that he would yet again be mobbed by those who wanted nothing more than physical healing. So he cautioned the healed man to “say nothing to anyone.” However, through his encounter with God in Jesus, this man had also experienced a spiritual transformation. Disregarding Jesus, he became an ardent spokesperson for Jesus and began to “proclaim freely” the good news of Jesus’ coming. Who knows whether he knew the Torah or was doctrinally correct in what he proclaimed? His gratitude to God compelled him to share what Jesus had done for him. In effect, he was an evangelist. He was preaching the Gospel.

Does the encounter with God that leads to healing of both body and soul happen only in the Bible? We too segregated those with leprosy well into the twentieth century. Hansen’s disease, real leprosy, is still prevalent in some parts of the world, most notably north India. Without proper treatment, it can still be debilitating, disfiguring, and isolating. Fortunately, with the advent of modern drugs, Hansen’s disease is now rare in the U.S. On the other hand, when I was a girl, people rarely spoke about cancer, as if it were perhaps shameful to have a relative with breast or lung cancer. Those days are also mercifully behind us.

However, we do have a modern scourge that evokes as much fear and perhaps shame among Americans and others around the world as leprosy once did: HIV/AIDS. In the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in this country, AIDS was considered a disease of gay men, and those with HIV/AIDS were often shunned. Now we know that HIV/AIDS crosses boundaries of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, even nationality. But we know too that those who have discovered that they are HIV positive can also experience spiritual transformation, even as they seek available healing for their bodies. This past Tuesday HIV/AIDS activist Anne Fowler addressed an audience of Ohio University students and described her own spiritual transformation.2 Now sixty-five, Fowler was diagnosed with HIV six years ago. Although she took the diagnosis in stride, realizing that “It is not a death threat,” she also felt compelled to begin to speak out, especially to college students, about the importance of being tested. Across the ocean, women in Kenya are doing the same thing. Women fighting AIDS in Kenya (WOFAK) is an AIDS support organization that was started in 1994, by a group of women, many of whom had tested positive to HIV and were facing numerous challenges in coping with the diagnosis.3http://www.wofak.or.ke/about_wofak.html accessed February 9, 2012. Unwilling to remain silent and isolated, the women gathered together to support and educate each other. WOFAK now reaches over 15,000 women and 5,000 children through seven resource centers that provide comprehensive care and activities designed for people most at risk. Even those of us on the sidelines have seen our understanding of AIDS transformed and have been moved to reach out to those needing our support. Episcopal Response to AIDS (ERA) supports, fosters, and financially enables HIV/AIDS ministries affiliated with Episcopal faith communities in the greater New York area. Every spring spiritual writer and Episcopal priest Barbara Crafton invites her followers on the Geranium Farm website to support her as she walks in AIDS walk New York. Last spring she raised almost $5,000 just from the readers of her almost-daily e-mail meditations.

God willing, none of you has Hansen’s disease or are HIV positive. Some of you have battled cancer and other life-threatening conditions. The truth of the matter is that all of us are in need of both physical healing and spiritual transformation. We all come here in our brokenness. Some of us suffer from racism, sexism, nationalism, denominationalism, homophobia, or blindness to human need. Some of us came from dysfunctional families, and we still bear the scars of abuse of various kinds. The true good news is that Naaman’s encounter with God through Elisha and the leper’s encounter with Jesus are templates for every sinner’s experience of God’s grace and mercy. When we are freed from sin and made whole by God’s forgiveness, when we too are spiritually transformed, then we too can become living witnesses to God’s good news. We too can preach the Gospel.

In ten days, we will be marked with ashes, and we will begin once again our journey to Jerusalem through the reflective time of Lent. Between now and the beginning of Lent I invite you to reflect on your own experience of physical illness, spiritual transformation, and the proclaiming of God’s grace. How have we responded to our own experiences of healing? Have they been transformative? How do we regard those around us who are disabled or who need healing from conditions that alienate and marginalize their victims?

Perhaps we can begin by praying this prayer. Almighty and ever-living God, with mercy you look on our weaknesses. Stretch out your hand to protect us from danger and restore us to health of body and soul, through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord.

1. Daniel B. Clendinen, “A Little Girl Heals a Great Man: Exclusion and Embrace,” Journey with Jesus, accessed at http://www.journeywithjesus.net/, February 8, 2012.

2. Based on the account in the Athens News, February 9, 2012, p. 10.

3. http://www.wofak.or.ke/about_wofak.html accessed February 9, 2012.