"Saint Naaman" - Sermon for All Saints Sunday

Saint Naaman
All Saints Sunday (Narrative Lectionary 1)
November 2, 2014
Grace, Mankato, MN
2 Kings 5.1-19a

Today is All Saints Sunday, a time of multiple purposes and remembrances. It’s a time to reflect on what sainthood is and what it means for us today. It is a time to remember those who have passed away, especially in the last year, who have moved from the Church Militant here on earth to the Church Triumphant in heaven. Though we don’t place a lot of emphasis on these, we also remember those of the faithful throughout the millennia who have been specifically labeled saints for their outstanding witness, often to the giving of their lives. It is the great cloud of witnesses we read about in Hebrews 11-12. Finally, it is also a time to think about those good people we consider saints, those who have touched our lives or the lives of others in meaningful ways. This time of year, I always think of my Grandpa Johnson who, rather than fighting with his brothers over a company he started, moved his family from Rice Lake, WI to Spokane, WA to start a new life.

The Narrative Lectionary, which reads the Bible as it is, a story, puts this festival (and others) into a conversation with biblical texts that we might not normally think of for All Saints Sunday. (If we were using the Revised Common Lectionary, we’d be reading the Beatitudes from Matthew 5 and about the saints robed in white Revelation 7.) However, today we are reading All Saints through the lens of 2 Kings 5. A natural question as we read the text is, “Who is a saint?” The natural answer is, of course, “Elisha.” In fact, there are a number of Christian churches who venerate Elisha as a saint, for good reason. Elisha is a prophet, clearly a man of God who faithfully brings God’s word to the world and in doing so does some amazing things. (By the way, the feast day for St. Elisha is June 14.) Another less obvious answer to the question of sainthood may be the servant girl, nameless in our text. She seeks to do a good deed for her new owners in spite of being there under duress.

But, what about Naaman; do you think that he might be considered a saint, too? This story is so wonderful. Here we have a rich and powerful man who has been afflicted and makes an arduous trip bringing all his wealth to bear on receiving a cure. He reminds me of a VIP with an entourage flying his own jet into Rochester, pulling up to the Mayo clinic in limousines. When Naaman hears about this great possibility for healing, he gets the appropriate clearances from his king and rides his chariot to Israel, bringing a load of lucre with him. But, he’s in for a shock. It’s not the king, but merely a prophet who claims to be able to cure him. Yet, this prophet doesn’t give him the respect he thinks he deserves. It’s as if that VIP coming to Mayo was greeted by a physician’s assistant instead of the head of Dermatology. Furthermore, adding insult to injury, Naaman is given a treatment plan that sounds like sheer quackery: he is told to go bathe in a dirty river, not once but seven times.

Looking back at the text through the lens of Jesus and our Christian history, we note that his cleansing is full of baptismal imagery. So, Naaman’s story becomes our story: God reaches down and makes us clean because of God’s grace and love, not because of our doing but his, stripping away all of our pretensions. And herein lies another definition of saint: those who have received God’s favor, have been transformed in wholly unexpected ways and in the process have been set apart for God’s work. Furthermore, Naaman realizes that this grace is going to change his life and tries to work it out in ways that are faithful to his new-found God.

This week I’d like you to reflect on the story of “Saint Naaman” and what it might mean for your life of faith. God reaches down and makes you his own in startling and unexpected ways, setting you apart for God’s work in our world. So, where is God inviting you to live out that faith, especially in places that aren’t so friendly? Who are the saints who are speaking words of challenge and encouragement to you in your life? Who might need to hear a word of challenge and encouragement from you this week? Whatever happens this week, please know that you are a beloved saint, a child of God who comes to you, bringing life. Amen.