Proper
23 :: II Kings 5: 1–3, 7–15c / Psalm 111 / II Timothy 2: 8–15 / Luke 17: 11–19
This
is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, by Fr. Gene
Tucker, on Sunday, October 13, 2019.
“WHAT DOES GOD DO, AND
WHAT DO WE DO?”
(Homily texts: II Kings 5:
1–3, 7–15c & Luke 17: 11-19)
This
morning’s appointed readings for the Old Testament and the Gospel are very well
matched, for both recount the healings of people who were affected by leprosy.[1] We hear
the account of the healing of the Syrian general, Naaman, on our reading from
Second Kings, and we hear of the healing of ten lepers by our Lord in our
reading from Luke.
In
both instances, it’s clear that God’s healing is at work. In the case of
Naaman, that divine healing came through the agency of the prophet Elisha. In
the case of the ten who were diseased, it was our Lord’s doing that affected
the healing.
But
another aspect of both events links them together: There was a test involved in the healing.
Notice the instructions to Naaman: He was told to bathe in the Jordan River
seven times. He protests, 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.” Then Naaman goes on to say that the
rivers in his native land must surely be better than the waters of the Jordan.
In the case of the ten men, they are told by Jesus to go and present themselves
to the priest (a requirement of the Law of Moses). As they go, they are healed.
Notice that they aren’t healed as they leave to go to the priest, the healing
takes place once they’ve left.
The
question naturally arises: What does God do, and what do we have to do in
response?
The
accounts before us today offer two aspects of how God operates. For one thing,
it is God who ultimately holds the power to heal. That power to heal is related
to God’s power to create (in the first place) and to re-create (in subsequent
places). For another, oftentimes God puts a test in our path as we seek to have
our prayers answered, whether those prayers are for healing, or for another
other need.
We
would do well to remember both of these points.
It
is easy to forget that all good things come from God, including the power to
heal, and other things that are necessary for our life and salvation. All of
these things ultimately come from God.
For
another, it’s all-too-tempting to want God to simply “do something” without our
having to do anything at all. The attitude that Naaman displayed is a constant
and abiding temptation…we want God to fix us and our problems without our
having to do anything except to sit around and watch God in action.
When
we respond to God’s initiatives by acting somehow, we demonstrate our faith in
God’s ability to guide us, to enable us, to fix whatever’s wrong with us, to
heal us. That’s what happened when Naaman stepped into the waters of the Jordan
and when the ten men went off to see the priest. Only then did God act.
So
it seems clear that God has a part to play, and we oftentimes have a role to
play, as well. God wants us to do something in order that we might be
co-creators with God, working to improve the lives and the conditions of human
beings that God created, and whom God continues to love.
AMEN.
[1]
It’s worth noting that when the Bible mentions leprosy, it is referring
to a number of different conditions of the skin, not just leprosy as we know it
today, which is more properly known as “Hanson’s Disease”.
