Word to the Wise
Sunday, October 14, 2007 - Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
[2 Kings 5:14-17; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Luke 17:11-19]Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times at the word of Elisha, the man of God. His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean of his leprosy.
Naaman, the Syrian general, reminds me of the old saying, "When all else fails, follow the directions!" The reading cuts off the initial part of the story in which Naaman brings all kinds of gifts and a large retinue of servants because he thinks BIG things will be required of him to get rid of the leprosy. When Elisha (who could care less about the gifts) tells him to go wash in the Jordan, he gets insulted because the Jordan is a muddy creek compared with the big rivers of his own land. It takes a humble servant to remind him that if he were told to do something extravagant, he would probably do it. Why can't he follow the directions (and swallow his pride!)? Why can't we? It's amazing how we think we can do a better job of life by creating our own directions instead of the ones the Lord has given. (Consider the example of Peter at the Last Supper - refusing to let Jesus wash his feet!) The lepers in the gospel discovered that when they followed Jesus' directions, they were cleansed. But only one of them has the humility to return and give thanks, and he is the one least expected to have done so because he was a double outcast: a leper AND a Samaritan! He reminds me not only to follow the directions, but also to be grateful for the results! Once we get used to following the directions, we can find ourselves simply taking it all for granted. Naaman and the Samaritan leper deserve our thanks for the reminders! AMEN
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