July 3, Ordinary 14C (2 Kings 5:1-14)
At last the protests fade away and we come to seven little splashes in the Jordan river.
The story we find in 2 Kings 5 is of a mighty warrior with a shameful secret. Naaman’s skin is diseased in a way that would categorize him as unclean and unable to become clean. No weapon, no maneuver, no strategy of combat can change the degradation of his body. Not even the sacred rivers of his homeland can wash away the sting and shame of this malady. But royal power can at least conceal his wounds under the armor of his military might.
We do this to our wounds all the time. We cover them with armor of one kind or another. But the hurt remains, and the lingering pain can erode us from the inside out. Often, we assume that if we tell the truth about our wounds, we’ll be shunned or shut out. We fear a loss of community if we share our truth. We’re not necessarily wrong; there are whole churches that prefer surface-level relationships to honesty. We opt for concealment rather than risk the vulnerability that could lead to healing.
God’s voice cuts through the hurt and fear: “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria!”
