Poems, Prayers, and Promises from a Country Parson

This morning I would like to pick up and continue a conversation we began last week.  Knowing how hard it can be just to pick up a conversation that ended 7 days ago and for the sake of those who weren’t here to be part of that conversation and those who where here and have forgotten, let me take a moment or two to review what we talked about last Sunday.
    Last Sunday we began a conversation about the Christian theology of healing.  In the broadest sense of the word, Healing is about wholeness.  God wants and desires for all of us to be whole.  God’s grace is still at work bringing healing into the lives of the broken: sometimes with doctors, sometimes with therapy, sometimes with miracle, sometimes gradually over time, sometimes on this side of eternity, but always on the other side of eternity.  So our concern shouldn’t be if God heals, but simply when God heals.
    God has also given the church a divine mission. That mission is: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”   And to complete this mission the church has been given three important tasks: preach, teach, and heal.
    Preaching is the sharing of the good news of Jesus Christ-the gospel.
    Teaching is explaining the good news of the gospel.
    Healing is making the good news of the gospel alive and real in our lives.
    So preaching would be sharing this bit of good news, “Jesus said, ‘Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has trouble of its own.”
    Teaching would be a Sunday school, bible study, or another small group talking about worry and how it keeps us from living for today.
    Healing would be allowing God to work in your life to help you let go of the fears of loneliness, scarcity, or uncertainty that get you all wrapped up in worry and keeps you from living for today.  Healing would be trusting in God for today and tomorrow.
   
    Last week we also pondered the question, “What is keeping you from the healing presence of Jesus?”  We saw how ignorance, doubt, fear, not wanting to be healed, and the Sabbath law could have all been factors that caused the people of Capernaum to wait until sunset to come into the healing presence of Jesus.
    This morning I want to continue our discussion about healing by looking at what I call “The Healing Steps.”  I came across the “The Healing Steps” in the this book “God’s Healing Community.”  This book was written by Dr. Frank Bateman Stanger.  Stanger was a well respected preacher, professor, and long time president of Asbury Theological Seminary.  This book is still in print and I suggest you read it for more information and inspiration.
    Like I said last week the healing steps are not a magical formula or incantation that give us the power to control God’s will.  However, they are a set of ordered practices and disciplines that help us position our lives so we can best receive the healing grace God offers to us. 
    But before we look at the healing steps, I want us to look at an Old Testament story that bears witness to these steps.  If you want to know more about the healing steps, please turn to 2 Kings 5 as we look at the story of Naaman the Leper.

    The Bible tells us the following information about Naaman...
    
    Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria.
   
    Naaman is a gentile.  He is not a Jew, but that doesn’t matter to God.  God is at work in his life and Naaman isn’t a believer in Yahweh.  If you are looking for an example of previenent grace, that is the grace that goes before us and woos us into knowing about God, here it is.
   
    He was a mighty man of valor, but (as we would say in Southern talk...Naaman had everything going for him, but bless his heart) he was a leper.

    I think it is important to clarify that that leper is a broad and generic term.  Leper refers to anyone with a skin disease or rash.  In the Old Testament times, I would be called a leper because from time to time I have breakouts of severe dry skin known as eczema.  If you read in Leviticus there are lengthy chapters that describe the various skin diseases and tell how the priest can discern if it is a serious case of leprosy or just a rash.  So please note, this doesn’t mean Naaman had the severe case of leprosy that caused skin and fingers to fall off.  I doubt Naaman had the severe case of leprosy that we now know as Hansen disease because a leper wouldn’t be able to be a military leader or an advisor to the king.  Kings wouldn’t risk catching such a nasty disease. 

    Naaman’s success reveals something about his character.  He didn’t allow his sickness or disease to keep him from living.  He didn’t allow his sickness or disease to be an excuse.  He rose above his troubles and became a great man, but bless his heart he was still a leper.
   
    The Bible continues to tell us about God at work in Naaman’s life.

    Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
   
    This too is another example of God’s grace at work redeeming something terrible into something good.  Here is this slave girl, captured and taken away from her people, her home, and her religion; however, God uses her situation to change Naaman’s life. 

    I think the scripture shares something else about Naaman’s character or at least about the character of his wife.  His wife wasn’t too full of herself to ignore the advice of her servant.  His wife hears this word of hope and tells her husband about a cure.  Naaman doesn’t want to be a leper so he seeks out this cure.

    So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”
   
    So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

    Naaman isn’t a light packer.  He loads up for his trip to Israel.  He brings all this gold as gift to the king.  When I read this all I could think of is a “co-pay.”  But as we see the king of Israel isn’t much help to Naaman.

    And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.”

    This bit of information really tells us something about the King of Israel.  The King of Israel doesn’t know about the man of God in his own kingdom.  Elisha doesn’t even cross the king’s mind.  He doesn’t even think about the man who had healed bitter and poisoned water, helped Israel and Judah fight and have victory over the Moabites, raised the dead son of the shumminite woman, and purified the deadly stew a group of prophets had eaten.  A jewish servant in a foreign kingdom knew about the man of God, but the king of the prophet’s own kingdom was ignorant of the man of God in his midst.

    But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

    Friends this is another example of humor in the Bible.

    So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.”

    Naaman finally arrives at the right place.  He comes to the Prophet’s house.  He descends like a big wig: chariots, a crowd of servants, all the treasure he had brought to pay the prophet who would heal him. 
    I find this funny because how many times have you gone to the doctor’s office and you didn't get to see the doctor?  Naaman doesn’t see the doctor, or the physicians assistant, not even a nurse.  Elisha sends out the janitor, his servant.  The servant tells Naaman what he must do to be healed of his leprosy.
    This is almost the miracle that doesn’t happen.

    But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.
   
    Naaman is angry.  He has come this far to be cured and he doesn’t even get to see the man of God.  A servant comes out and tells him to jump in a muddy river.  This isn’t what Naaman expected.  He is mad.  He is disappointed.  He almost misses his miracle.  Yet again we see Naaman’s character.  He listens to the advice of others...

    But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

    So Naaman listens.  He goes into the river seven times.  Seven is a symbolic number.  Seven is the number of perfection and wholeness.  You might say seven is a symbol of healing.  And now the story of Naaman’s life changes.  The story of Naaman’s life now reads:

    Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, at one time he was a leper, but now he is healed.

    I think it is important to briefly tell you the rest of Naaman’s story.  This miracle changed Naaman’s life in many ways.  Not only was he no longer a leper, but this miracle changes his heart.  Naaman became a follower of Yahweh, the God of Israel.  He carries dirt from the land of Israel so he can worship and offer sacrifices to the God who healed him. 

    As I read the story of Naaman I see examples of the principles of the healing steps.  Again, these healing steps are insights based on the work of the late Reverend Doctor Frank Bateman Stanger.

Determine if you are sick or think you are sick?  Or are you simply tired?
Clarify your need and discover what you must do.
Inner/ spiritual/ emotional problem?
Emotional problems can really affect your health.  Christian therapist and pastor David Seamands did a lot of work in this area.  If you have had emotional pain or abuse in your life I highly suggest you read Healing for Damaged Emotions and Healing for Damaged Memories.
Some of you all might remember the movie The Three Faces of Eve.  This movie told the story of a woman who was plagued with severe emotional pain that evidenced itself as multiple personality disorder. When Eve found healing for her emotional pain, she found healing for her whole life.
Organic/ structural problem?  Could you have a problem with part of your body-kidney’s aren’t working, muscle pain, can’t see well, etc.  Or structural: a broken bone, a pulled muscle, etc.
Determine who you need to seek help from: Doctor, pastor, or a counselor?
And through all of these steps pray.  Take a look at your bulletin insert:

Relaxation--relax and trust in God.
Purging--Confess your sin before God.  Clean your heart of those things that grieve the heart of God.
Clarification--Clarify the need you want to lift up to God.  Be specific about the area that needs to be made whole.
Consecration--Offer your life, your health, and your future to God. 
Anticipation--Visualize God's healing grace bringing wholeness to the place of brokenness in your life.
Appropriation--Use your health and wholeness to honor God.