Word to the Wise
Monday, March 12, 2012 - 3rd Week of Lent - Mon
[2 Kgs 5:1-15a and Luke 4:24-30]"Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian."
Jesus notes the example of Naaman the Syrian to confront his hometown folks about their lack of faith. Naaman hears about Elisha from a servant he had captured on a raid. He is a great hero but has some kind of skin disease that made people keep their distance from him - "leprosy" of some sort. Important people love to deal with other important people in important ways. Naaman discovers that ego can get in the way of faith. Once he starts listening to people less "important" than himself, he obtains the cure he was looking for and comes to faith in God. The people in the synagogue at Nazareth could not imagine that a hometown boy could possibly be as important as Jesus was showing himself to be. By comparing them to Naaman, he accuses them of having less faith than a foreigner!
Sometimes our faith can be "put to shame" by the example and faith of people whom we would not ordinarily expect to provide such an example. We can become so fixed on our expectations that we exclude God's grace because it doesn't come to us the way we expect it to. Naaman learned that a muddy stream could do more for him than a mighty river. He learned that lesson by listening to those less "important" than he. There might be a very good Lenten "lesson" there! AMEN
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