A Sermon Prepared by the Rev. Jeffrey A. Packard	For the congregation of Christ Church, Spotsylvania, Virginia
To Be Delivered on July 8, 2007	On the Occasion of the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 9C (RCL)

Text: II Kings 5:1-14

For Best Results

People are funny, aren’t they? Take Naaman, the general of the Aramean army, who came to Israel with a letter from his king expecting to receive the royal treatment and be cured of his leprosy. It was only on one of those counts that he was disappointed.

There are ways that things are done. In international relations, protocol is very important. When a representative comes with lavish gifts and a letter from his king, bearing the king’s seal, he expects to be treated as the king himself would be. That is why the king of Israel tore his clothes when he read the letter from the Aramean king. He felt obliged by the good will of the relations between their countries to grant whatever wish was asked of him under those circumstances. In this case, that the request was to cure the general of Leprosy was simply ridiculous. How could he grant that? Now, the king of Aram would hear that he refused a request made between friendly nations. This would surely lead to war!

The prophet Elisha heard about this situation and sent word that the king of Israel should send the Aramean general to him. I’m sure the king was happy to oblige. The general, would have surely expected to receive all the appropriate hospitality from the prophet who would cure him. We can understand why he was miffed that he didn’t get the treatment he believed he deserved.

“Wash yourself in the Jordan seven times,” the prophet said. Why didn’t he do all the fancy stuff that any self-respecting healer would do? Why didn’t he dance a little dance, chant a bunch of words, cry out to the Lord, wave his hand over the spot, turn around three times, spit on the ground, and smack him on the forehead? “Why did I come all this way to be healed by this famous healer, only to be told to go wash in the river?” Naaman demanded. He was indignant! And why not? Elisha didn’t even come out to tell him in person, he spoke to him through a messenger. This was a serious breach of etiquette, not to mention an insult to Naaman’s need for healing. He had a serious disease; he deserved a serious, and dramatic, healing.

How often are we like Naaman? We can be told what is best for us, but we don’t really do it. The simple, day to day, stuff we ignore, but we are willing to do the dramatic, and expensive stuff. That doesn’t make any sense.

We do not eat right and exercise, but we will pay big bucks for the latest diet craze or fad work out routine. How many of us have workout equipment gathering dust in our homes, bought with the full intention that we would work out three times a week? How much did you spend on it? Diet and exercise books regularly make the best seller lists, but we continue to be a nation where the leading cause of death is heart disease. We are overweight, but the fix isn’t to eat less and exercise more, it is to have surgery.

We are told that if we work hard, save and invest our money, then we will be able to retire comfortably. But we don’t do that. Oh, we may be interested in what the latest get-rich-quick scheme is, but we don’t want to do the simple, day to day discipline of putting a little aside out of each paycheck. We may spend $50 a week on lottery tickets, but we neglect our IRA.

It is the same for debt. Most Americans carry some kind of consumer debt. Just watch the commercials on TV for debt consolidation loans, or even for the organizations that will help you get out of debt. Be careful how you spend your money. Don’t be greedy. Pay off your debt as quickly as you can. These things are not what we want to hear. We want someone to wave their hand over our debt, and make it disappear.

How many of you keep your virus protection software up to date, and run a scan every week? How many of you don’t even have virus protection software? But we’ll pay for Rent-a-Geek, or whatever, to come and fix our computers.

How many of you floss every day? Doesn’t your dentist tell you every time you go in that you really should floss? But we will pay to have our teeth cleaned.

Regularly the news will have a story about some study that has been done recently that shows that people who eat a variety of foods in moderation and get regular exercise are healthier than people who live on Domino’s and Ho-Ho’s and watch 12 hours of TV every day. Duh! Time and time again, science keeps proving that the basic advice your mother gave you was right. These are probably government funded studies, too.

People are funny. Naaman’s servant said to him, “If the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it?” Of course he would have. That’s the way our minds work. The simple stuff we ignore, but if it hurts or costs us a month’s pay, it must be worth it. What is that in our nature? We can be such nitwits. I mean, it’s printed right there on the toothpaste tube: “For best results squeeze tube from the bottom.” Don’t you want the best results? I want the best results. Don’t we all want the best results. Why can’t we squeeze the tube from the bottom people?

We ignore the best advice, which is usually the simplest. So often we pay a big price for this. Think about it. What does God really want from us? Read your Bible. Pray daily. Treat people the way you would want to be treated. Love your neighbor, and serve your neighbor in Christ’s name the way he loved and served.

How many times have you found yourself in a difficult situation and you started to make a deal with God. Okay God, you get me out of this one, and I will never miss church again, I’ll double my pledge, I’ll volunteer to wash the rector’s car. We want God to wave his hand over our troubles and make them go away. And we are disappointed when things don’t work out the way we want them to. But do we really listen to what God wants us to do? Does it seem too simple? Pray. Worship. Learn. Serve. Remember, under the Old Covenant there was circumcision. Maybe, if there was some pain involved with baptism we might appreciate it more, scalding water or something.

Jesus took the pain, and all he asks from us is that we follow. He has promised to be with us. But we must do our part to be with him. If we do that, it doesn’t mean that everything in our lives will be perfect. Of course not. It does mean that we will daily walk with our Lord. We will have a deep, abiding love and joy in our hearts. We will find all of our relationships transformed. We will definitely have the best results. You want the best results, don’t you? I want the best results. We all want the best results. Naaman did the simple thing that he was asked to do. He washed himself seven times in the Jordan, and he was healed of his leprosy. God wants to heal us. God wants what is best for us. We just need to listen and follow his advice.

AMEN