So Grand

Posted on by Betsy

Even though I am surrounded daily by all of the natural beauty of the Outer Banks, my favorite experience of observing nature’s majesty was a trip I made to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Have you ever seen it? It is absolutely breathtaking. The Canyon is bigger than the state of Rhode Island at 1,904 square miles. It contains over 1,000 caves, mostly unexplored. Native American tribes consider the Grand Canyon to be the gateway to the afterlife. Over 5 million visitors go every year to see this incredible phenomenon. Just to give you a sense of its size, the drive from the Visitor Center on the North Rim to the one on the South Rim is over 200 miles. One day I hope to see it by helicopter.

You may be wondering what the Grand Canyon has to do with today’s Scripture. I think our response to something as spectacular as this majestic place is much like the response of the people who believed in Jesus’ name only because they saw miraculous signs. We have a great admiration for the grand show of it all, but that superficial reaction is not sustainable.

John 2 (Common English Bible)

23 While Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover Festival, many believed in his name because they saw the miraculous signs that he did. 24 But Jesus didn’t trust himself to them because he knew all people. 25 He didn’t need anyone to tell him about human nature, for he knew what human nature was.

Jesus couldn’t entrust himself to this googly-eyed crowd. There was no depth of faith, no measure of understanding, and no sincere profession of faith here. In his way of having a divine knowledge of the situation, he knew that a crowd of followers looking for signs would soon burn out. He knew what human nature was, and it was fickle. Once the next conjurer or magician came along, their attention would be distracted away from him and his mission.

And yet, he still loves us. He completely understands the fallibility of human nature, and he still loves us! Jesus can read us like an open book, see us in our fallen state, and yet is able to perceive the image of God in which we were made. If that’s not amazing grace, I don’t know what is.

Light faith may be better than no faith, but not by much. God deserves a true, honest, deep faith from us, and that takes work and dedication. One quick look of admiration and awe won’t cut it, much like attending church only on Easter and Christmas can’t feed the soul.

Jesus is looking for sustainable followers who grow through prayer, Scripture study, weekly worship, and service. Which kind are you?

And Yet We’re So Small by Ann Wood

Advocacy

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you had to speak out as an advocate for justice? I recently talked with a mother who attended several meetings at her son’s school in an attempt to be his advocate. Taking a stand against preexisting rules and calling for fairness was a challenge for her. But there are times when we cannot be silent and must take action.

The United Methodist Church has a long history of justice advocacy. John and Charles Wesley visited prisoners and tutored local neighborhood children. As the early church grew, our work shifted to opposing things like slavery, smuggling, inhuman prison conditions, alcohol abuse, and child labor. Today you can find United Methodists working, marching, and speaking out on current justice issues such as environmental care, racial justice, and full-inclusion matters.

We take our example from the work of our Lord. Today’s passage reveals Jesus going up against the establishment in order to advocate for a man’s health and well-being. Notice that the Pharisees were watching him closely as he did this.

Luke 14 (Common English Bible)

14 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to share a meal in the home of one of the leaders of the Pharisees, they were watching him closely. 2 A man suffering from an abnormal swelling of the body was there. 3 Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, “Does the Law allow healing on the Sabbath or not?” 4 But they said nothing. Jesus took hold of the sick man, cured him, and then let him go.5 He said to them, “Suppose your child or ox fell into a ditch on the Sabbath day. Wouldn’t you immediately pull it out?” 6 But they had no response.

The fact that Jesus was in the home of the Pharisee leader and the man with dropsy was also there suggests that he was a guest as well. Do you think it might have been a set up to see if Jesus would break the sabbath law? I do. What they failed to realize was that Jesus was much more conversant in the commandments than they were. There was no prohibition against healing on the Sabbath or pulling your ox out of a ditch for that matter. The “law” was something the establishment had conjured up. Jesus was right and righteous in this matter. He questioned their understanding of the law, but they refused to respond. He answered them by responding to the question and taking action in one single moment. That’s what advocates do: They answer and act.

Where are you being called to answer to justice and act in advocacy? How can you respond to this text today the way Jesus would respond? Whatever God tells you to do, go and do it. That’s exactly what Jesus did.

New Day Rising by Michelle Robertson

Holy Bread

Posted on by Betsy

I recently visited the church I served for 16 years and ran into a young woman who had been a child when I was there. She and my daughter were friends and often hung around after church to help clean up. She smiled as she shifted her new baby to her other hip and told me she remembered how much she loved helping me clean up communion, since they got to finish all the bread that was left over. Because the elements had been consecrated at the altar, we had a practice of either eating the rest of it or offering it to the birds outside the sacristy door. Our holy bread was never thrown away. When the communion coordinator switched to Hawaiian Bread, the birds got left out. I had more kids helping “clean up” than I needed! A wonderful core memory was made for all of them, and many of them still worship in that church today as adults.

In our Scripture today, David is on the run from Saul, who has descended into a delusional paranoia and is out to have David killed. David knew where to go when he was in trouble. He went straight to the house of God and sought the assistance from the priest Ahimelech. He told a lie to get in, though, by pretending that he was on the king’s mission rather than running for his life away from the king.

1 Samuel 21 (Common English Bible)

21 David came to Nob where Ahimelech was priest. Ahimelech was shaking in fear when he met David. “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?” he asked.

2 David answered Ahimelech the priest, “The king has given me orders, but he instructed me, ‘Don’t let anyone know anything about the mission I’m sending you on or about your orders.’ As for my troops, I told them to meet me at an undisclosed location.3 Now what do you have here with you? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever you can find.”

David knew that the Tabernacle had a table that held 12 loaves of “show bread” that was a symbol of God’s continuing fellowship with Israel. “Show Bread” is also known as the “bread of faces” or the “bread of presence.” It was to be eaten in front of God as a guest and friend of God’s hospitality. It was typically consumed by the priests, but Ahimelech offered the bread to David because he and his troops were hungry. But first the priest inquired about the ceremonial cleanliness of the troops, as this was holy bread and not to be consumed casually. David assured them that none of them had been with women while on their holy mission, and so the bread was given. This brings up a question for us today. Do you prepare yourself for communion by cleansing yourself of your sins first? Do you offer confession and pray for forgiveness? So often the ritual overtakes us and communion just becomes something we do on the first Sunday of the month.

So the priest gave David holy bread, because there was no other bread except the bread of the presence, which is removed from the Lord’s presence and replaced by warm bread as soon as it is taken away.

Jesus mentioned David eating the showbread when he and his disciples were criticized by the Pharisees for plucking and eating raw grain on the sabbath. In Matthew 12, he reminded the Pharisees that the priests carry out their Temple duties on Sabbath just as any other day and are still innocent.

We are reminded in this passage today that meeting human needs as they arise is more important than adhering to religious observances and rituals. Eating together, especially when people are truly hungry and need to be fed, is the way we form bonds of friendship that are sacred and can become permanent. Like the young mother who was back in church with her child remembering the sweet flavor of left-over communion, we can make life-long connections with people over a shared morsel. How will you share your bread with someone today?

Show Bread by Becca Ziegler

Harvest Tithe

Posted on by Betsy

How does your community assist those in need of food and basic supplies? Here in the Outer Banks we have several options, including a Beach Food Pantry as well as a Mobile Pantry that travels from location to location. These agencies are supported by private donations and local farmers who supply fresh produce every week. Volunteers sort, bag, and assist patrons who use these agencies to make ends meet in a high cost area where housing is extremely expensive. Our United Methodist Conference also provides gleaning opportunities at nearby farms where volunteers gather up fallen produce after a harvest and deliver it to regional food banks for distribution. Gleaning is hard but rewarding work and is a favorite activity for our church youth groups.

Gleaning is a biblical concept, commanded by God in Leviticus 19:9-10:

9 When you harvest your land’s produce, you must not harvest all the way to the edge of your field; and don’t gather up every remaining bit of your harvest. 10 Also do not pick your vineyard clean or gather up all the grapes that have fallen there. Leave these items for the poor and the immigrant; I am the Lord your God.

This was a law of compassion, allowing the poor to work for their sustenance with dignity and without the need to ask for charity. Offered as a form of public assistance, it trained the farmer to have a generous heart and reminded those who were fortunate enough to have a field that produced crops that the field was actually the Lord’s in the first place. That is why we talk about “God’s tithe and our offering” when the plate is passed on Sunday morning in church. Everything we have belongs to God. We are only returning a small portion back to God to do God’s work in the world.

Deuteronomy 23 is a reciprocal reminder to the poor and the traveler that generosity should not be abused, but respected.

Deuteronomy 23 (Common English Bible)

24 If you go into your neighbor’s vineyard, you can eat as many grapes as you like, until full, but don’t carry any away in a basket.25 If you go into your neighbor’s grain field, you can pluck ears by hand, but you aren’t allowed to cut off any of your neighbor’s grain with a sickle.

God’s point is much the same as when manna was provided in the desert. Moses was instructed to tell the people to only gather up what was needed for one day, trusting that God would provide “our daily bread” every day. Hoarding was unnecessary in a community of faith where provisions were shared. It was this law that enabled Jesus and his disciples to pick wheat grain and eat it as they traveled through Galilee. The Pharisees accused them of breaking the sabbath law, but not of stealing.

What part of providing for the poor are you taking in your community? Are you faithfully returning God’s tithe? Is God training you to have a generous heart? Do you trust God to provide for your daily needs?

We are called to do what we can to give what is God’s to God’s people. No one should go hungry in the land of milk and honey.

Harvest in the Land O’Plenty by Becca Ziegler

Keepers

Posted on by Betsy

I have a natural curiosity about the lighthouses that dot the East Coast. There are five lighthouses located on the Outer Banks where I live. Lighthouses used to be run by Lighthouse Keepers, whose job it was to climb twice a day to the top and maintain the oil, wicks, Fresnel lenses, and flame. From the early 1800’s to the very last East Coast light house to be automated in 1998, the keepers and their families worked seven days a week to keep the light on.

Our Scripture today invites us to be keepers of a different sort. We are invited to keep the sabbath holy. This fourth commandment was intended to provide a day of rest, just as God rested on the seventh day of Creation. Notice that sabbath wasn’t just offered to the free Israelite men but was wholly inclusive in its scope. Women, slaves, immigrants, and even animals were to receive this blessing of rest, making this directive quite extraordinary for its time and context. God is very clear in explaining why: Israelites were once immigrant slaves in Egypt, but God brought them out of their bondage. God offers every living being the same essential dignity of the right to a day of rest.

Deuteronomy 5 ( Common English Bible)

12 Keep the Sabbath day and treat it as holy, exactly as the Lord your God commanded: 13 Six days you may work and do all your tasks, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. Don’t do any work on it—not you, your sons or daughters, your male or female servants, your oxen or donkeys or any of your animals, or the immigrant who is living among you—so that your male and female servants can rest just like you. 15 Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That’s why the Lord your God commands you to keep the Sabbath day.

Sabbath keeping is not just about resting and taking a break from labor, but more importantly is intended to be a day given “to the Lord your God.” Clearly God is saying that the seventh day is to be both sacred and separated from the rest of the week, and the purpose in setting down the plow and letting the cooking fire go out is so that the focus can be on praising and honoring the Lord of all creation. By ceasing our work, we can look heavenward and give God all the glory for what we have. Were we to keep working without ceasing, we might never pause long enough to worship. And God truly deserves our worship.

Early Jewish communities took this keeping to levels that weren’t practiced in Christian communities. In Luke 6:1-2, the Pharisees objected to the disciples picking, rubbing, and eating grain on the Sabbath. According to the minutiae of the law, the disciples violated sabbath keeping. By picking grain and breaking it down in their hands to make it edible, they broke the commandment twice. In modern Jewish orthodox communities, light switches may not be turned on, cars may not be driven long distances, and phones may not be used on the sabbath.

How do you keep the sabbath? Do you rest and regenerate? Do you give that day back to the Lord in worship and adoration? What does a holy keeping mean to you?

We are called to be keepers of the light of Christ to the world, By spending our sabbath in worship, our flame can be renewed, and we will be rested enough to be about the work of our Father.


Flame Keeping

The Loud Family

Posted on by Betsy

I once dated a young man in college who came to my house for Thanksgiving to meet my parents. As soon as we walked in the front door I yelled, “I’M HOOOOME!” From the basement my father bellowed, “I’LL BE RIGHT UUUUP!” and my mother shouted, “I’M COMMMMING!” from a back bedroom. As my date rubbed his ears he quietly said, “Good Lord. I’m dating the Loud Family.” He married me anyway. Truth be told, my father was a wonderful baritone in a Barbershop Chorus and my Mom was a school business administrator who volunteered as the band announcer. We were a family who was trained to be heard. It is no wonder that I ended up in the pulpit.

Psalm 81 encourages us to join the Loud Family. With words like “out loud, shout, and open mouths,”we get the clear message that our response to God should be forthright and audible.

Psalm 81 was written by Asaph for a festal event, most likely the Feast of Tabernacles. This celebration commemorated God’s saving act of bringing the Hebrew nation out of slavery in Egypt. Part of remembering the wilderness journey included a reading of the Law and an invitation to renew the covenant they made to be God’s people. It was good for them to recall and renew. Can you remember a time when God lifted a burden from your shoulders? Do you give loud praise for your deliverance? It is good for us to remember and renew as well.

Psalm 81:1, 6-10
1Rejoice out loud to God, our strength!
    Shout for joy to Jacob’s God!

6 “I lifted the burden off your shoulders;
    your hands are free of the brick basket!
7 In distress you cried out, so I rescued you.
    I answered you in the secret of thunder.
    I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah

The celebration included a warning. Having been tested and trained during the hard journey, God now reminded them that they were prohibited from taking on the false idols of their neighbors. So in addition to the instruction to shout out loud, they were also told to listen.

I think it must be quite a challenge for God to get our attention, given the cacophony of noise we surround ourselves with on a daily basis. Do you spend time in deliberate silence each day, just listening? It is the best way to know God.
8 Listen, my people, I’m warning you!
    If only you would listen to me, Israel.
9 There must be no foreign god among you.
    You must not bow down to any strange deity.
10 I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up from Egypt’s land.
    Open your mouth wide—I will fill it up!

We are assured that God hears us in our loud cries for deliverance and deserves our loud proclamations of praise. And in the silence of presence, God will speak words of instruction and hope for the future. Open your mouth wide, and let God fill you with words of wonder, awe, and reverence today. Then go and shout it from the rooftop.

Get Loud by Becca Ziegler

Reality Show

Posted on by Betsy

Do you remember television before the onslaught of reality shows? There were a lot of lighthearted programs that focused on family issues like Full House and The Waltons, game shows like Jeopardy and The Price is Right and a fair amount of first responder shows like NYPD Blue and ER. The story telling was predictable and safe. Then came “reality” television where people are thrown into a situation and we watch them as they encounter one another in real life. I think there is a lot of coaching by the producers to get the kind of content that sells, but when reality takes over, tempers flare, and the true self is revealed (see any of the Housewife iterations).When the true self comes out it is painfully truthful, but at least it is real. And we can’t stop watching.

Our passage today is the same one we looked at on Ash Wednesday. Our focus then was to think about our Lenten fasts. Did you choose something to fast from? How did it go? But today we will focus on the type of worship and relationship God desires from us. You will quickly see that God is not interested in a shallow pretense of adoration and empty ritual but seeks the real thing from us.

Isaiah 58 (Common English Bible)

Shout loudly; don’t hold back;
    raise your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their crime,
    to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 They seek me day after day,
    desiring knowledge of my ways
    like a nation that acted righteously,
    that didn’t abandon their God.
They ask me for righteous judgments,
    wanting to be close to God.

God called out their hypocrisy in seeking him out while they only pretended to act righteously. Indeed, they abandoned God while faking a desire for knowledge and righteousness. Then they brought their bitter complaints that God hadn’t answered their selfish prayers and faux fasting. God’s response was swift: Your fast was meaningless. By continuing to oppress their workers, by fighting violently with each other, and by pursuing self-satisfaction on fasting days, they had simply offered God a shallow semblance of worship, not the real thing.

3 “Why do we fast and you don’t see;
    why afflict ourselves and you don’t notice?”
Yet on your fast day you do whatever you want,
    and oppress all your workers.
4 You quarrel and brawl, and then you fast;
    you hit each other violently with your fists.
You shouldn’t fast as you are doing today
    if you want to make your voice heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I choose,
    a day of self-affliction,
    of bending one’s head like a reed
    and of lying down in mourning clothing and ashes?
    Is this what you call a fast,
        a day acceptable to the Lord?

True worship and adoration of God includes setting free all those who are downtrodden and oppressed, acting decisively to break the yoke of injustice, and providing sustenance for the hungry and homeless. Only then will our lives be filled with light and blessings.

6 Isn’t this the fast I choose:
    releasing wicked restraints, untying the ropes of a yoke,
    setting free the mistreated,
    and breaking every yoke?
7 Isn’t it sharing your bread with the hungry
    and bringing the homeless poor into your house,
    covering the naked when you see them,
    and not hiding from your own family?
8 Then your light will break out like the dawn,
    and you will be healed quickly.
Your own righteousness will walk before you,
    and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.

The challenge is before us. God desires a deep, pure, and real response to the goodness and good news what we have been given. God deserves more than our faux fasts. We are charged with setting aside our performative religion and getting right with God. May we pray the prayer of confession from our communion liturgy every day in a real and wholehearted effort to make things right:

Merciful God,
we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart.
We have failed to be an obedient church.
We have not done your will,
we have broken your law,
we have rebelled against your love,
we have not loved our neighbors,
and we have not heard the cry of the needy.
Forgive us, we pray.
Free us for joyful obedience,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (United Methodist Hymnal, page 8)

Amen.

With Our Whole Heart by Kathy Schumacher

Anointed for Beauty

Posted on by Betsy

On April 15, 2019, Parisians awoke to the horrible news that their beloved Notre Dame Cathedral was burning. A fire had broken out under the eaves and the roof and spire were engulfed in flames. It took another day for firefighters to contain the conflagration, but thankfully they were able to move and rescue the precious relics contained inside. It took a full five years to restore the cathedral, and one can imagine the joy of the re-opening on December 7, 2021. As I read of the news of the completed restoration, I was reminded of how much God loves to rebuild things and bring beauty from ashes.

Isaiah 61 is a prophetic writing of the work of the coming Messiah, outlining the role and the duties of Christ when he would come in due time. You will remember that Jesus once went into a synagogue and opened a scroll to Isaiah and read verses 1 and 2. He then proclaimed “today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” and sat down. (see Luke 4: 16-22.)

Isaiah 61 (Common English Bible)

 The Lord God’s spirit is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me.

Isn’t it interesting that Jesus, who was the embodiment of the Holy Trinity, still needed the anointing of God’s spirit to do his work on earth? How much more, then, do we need the Holy Spirit to do ours? The word anoint simply means to be filled up with God’s spirit. We are anointed to go out as God’s workers to do God’s will. According to 1 John 2:20, all believers are anointed to offer the Truth to the world. What are you filled up with today? Is your heart set on bringing good news, or are you taken up with anger, petty grievances, disenchantment, or frustration? Listen to what filled Jesus up:
He has sent me
    to bring good news to the poor,
    to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim release for captives,
        and liberation for prisoners,
2     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

This is where Jesus stopped reading. It is an important statement: He accepted the anointing of his mission to bring good news to the poor, relieve the oppression of the brokenhearted and those imprisoned by sin, and set us free … but his mission to herald in the day of God’s vindication won’t happen until his Second Coming. The space between these two sentences is at least 2,000 years long and counting … so far.

and a day of vindication for our God,
    to comfort all who mourn,
3     to provide for Zion’s mourners,
    to give them a crown in place of ashes,
    oil of joy in place of mourning,
    a mantle of praise in place of discouragement.
They will be called Oaks of Righteousness,
    planted by the Lord to glorify himself.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins;
    they will restore formerly deserted places;
    they will renew ruined cities,
    places deserted in generations past.

We can take hope in the fact that God has always been in the rebuilding business. Remember Nehemiah? God longs right now to rebuild us into people who wear garments of praise, who are adorned with the oil of gladness, and who sport a crown of beauty where ashes used to sit. Like Notre Dame, we will arise from those ashes as a testament to God’s love and grace. So take heart! Vindication is coming. In the meantime, we have work to do.

A Mantle of Praise by Becca Ziegler

Dressed in Joy

Posted on by Betsy

Did you know that John Wesley wrote seven specific instructions about how to sing? You can find them in the beginning of the United Methodist Hymnal. His directives include things like learning hymns before other types of songs, singing in time with those around you every chance you get, and singing spiritually by focusing your attention on God. The list is an outline for Wesley’s theology of the methodical aspect of Methodism. But my favorite is number four, which commands us to not sing as though we are half dead:

IV. Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan.

Lusty singing might have been on David’s mind when he penned Psalm 30. This psalm was a celebration for the dedication of David’s palace and is a lyrical statement of God’s intervening love for David over the course of David’s life. In this moment of dedicating the elaborate palace built on a hill in Jerusalem, David rightfully gave God all the credit for his successes and survival.

Psalm 30 (Common English Bible)

30 I exalt you, Lord, because you pulled me up;
    you didn’t let my enemies celebrate over me.
2 Lord, my God, I cried out to you for help,
    and you healed me.
3 Lord, you brought me up from the grave,
    brought me back to life from among those going down to the pit.

4 You who are faithful to the Lord,
    sing praises to him;
    give thanks to his holy name!
5 His anger lasts for only a second,
    but his favor lasts a lifetime.
Weeping may stay all night,
    but by morning, joy!

Have you ever wept all night, exhausted with grief? I have. And yet as I sit here and write this, I am okay. Morning may not follow exactly 6-8 hours after weeping all night, but eventually a morning of joy will return, even as we carry that grief in a small place in our hearts. What joy to know that God brings comfort in the morning of our mourning!

6 When I was comfortable, I said,
    “I will never stumble.”
7 Because it pleased you, Lord,
    you made me a strong mountain.
But then you hid your presence.
    I was terrified.
8 I cried out to you, Lord.
    I begged my Lord for mercy:
9 “What is to be gained by my spilled blood,
    by my going down into the pit?
Does dust thank you?
    Does it proclaim your faithfulness?
10 Lord, listen and have mercy on me!
    Lord, be my helper!”

Our relationship with God can change with comfort. When we are satisfied with life, it is easy to take God and all God’s benefits for granted. I was describing a wicked bout of flu with a friend, and he remarked, “I realize when I am that sick that I take a normal day of good health for granted.” That stuck with me, so every morning I wake up and feel okay I try to praise God that I’m not sick. But discomfort quickly brings out my need for God’s intervention, as it did with David.

11 You changed my mourning into dancing.
    You took off my funeral clothes
        and dressed me up in joy
12     so that my whole being
    might sing praises to you and never stop.
Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

God can change our mourning into dancing. Our funeral clothes can be removed so that we are dressed in joy. God does this so that our whole being can sing praises and never stop. Or, as John Wesley prescribed, so that we can “sing lustily.”

So go and be lusty today! Sing of God’s goodness to all who will hear.

Sing a Song of Gladness by Michelle Robertson

Disappointment

Posted on by Betsy

Oh, the joys and frustrations of being a brand new three-year-old! We recently celebrated the third birthday of our youngest twins with a wonderful morning at an indoor trampoline park followed by lunch at their favorite restaurant, Jolly Roger. The pirate theme and great kid’s menu make this a perfect place for a family outing, especially when it is someone’s (or sometwo’s) birthday(s). Our girl twin rolled with all the punches and enjoyed every minute. Our boy twin did too, playing endless games of peek-a-boo with the pirate hostess while he announced to everyone who passed, “It my BIRTDAY!!” Each child was given a pirate duck to play with, and finally our entrees arrived. Young Master looked at the pancake on his plate, knotted his eyebrows in disappointment and asked loudly, “Why I not eating CAKE???”

To be perfectly honest, I have said the same thing when sitting down to a nice, healthy, kale salad.

We were able to alleviate his momentary disappointment by assuring him that cake would come later, which it did, presented by singing pirate waitresses. They asked the kids if they wanted to hear “Happy Birthday” sung backwards, and I was so intrigued, I also voted yes. So they turned their backs to us and sang it.

Today we read about the disappointment of an army general named Naaman, who was afflicted with leprosy. He commanded Syria’s armies and was very important to King Ben-Hadad. Naaman was so important, in fact, that Ben-Hadad sent a letter to Israels’ King Jehoram asking for healing. But Jehoram was a king who did “evil in the sight of the Lord” and thus had no relationship with the God who could heal Naaman. Jehoram sent Naaman off to the prophet Elisha, knowing that this was his only hope for recovery.

2 Kings 5:9-14

9 Naaman arrived with his horses and chariots. He stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent out a messenger who said, “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored and become clean.”

You can imagine the indignation that Naaman felt at being received by a mere messenger. Here he was in all his regalia, with his war horses and chariots, and this Hebrew prophet elected not to greet him.

11 But Naaman went away in anger. He said, “I thought for sure that he’d come out, stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the bad spot, and cure the skin disease.12 Aren’t the rivers in Damascus, the Abana  and the Pharpar, better than all Israel’s waters? Couldn’t I wash in them and get clean?” So he turned away and proceeded to leave in anger.

Naaman’s anger at the brushoff was fierce. But look again at what he said in verse 11. He assumed that Elisha could just “wave his hand over the bad spot” and cure him. I wonder how many times we expect God to just wave a hand over a bad spot in our lives so that we can just go on with things? Do you ever pray for the easy way out instead of asking God to partner with you in your healing? Addicts will tell you that recovery is a lot of hard work and there is no such thing as a wave of the hand to fix things. The same applies to physical illness, grief, financial hardships, relationship troubles, etc. God invites us to do our part in finding the way. We would never learn or grow if we always got the easy way out.

13 Naaman’s servants came up to him and spoke to him: “Our father, if the prophet had told you to do something difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? All he said to you was, ‘Wash and become clean.’” 14 So Naaman went down and bathed in the Jordan seven times, just as the man of God had said. His skin was restored like that of a young boy, and he became clean.

The servants were wise in challenging Naaman. Truly if Elisha had given him a hard task to reverse his leprosy, he would have gladly done it. His sense of entitlement was misplaced, and he knew it.

Is God calling you to do the work of turning your situation around? Are you being told to go wash and get clean? Confession and repentance are the things that bring the cleansing of forgiveness. When you approach God with a humble attitude and willingness to work, you will never be disappointed.

Wash and be Cleaned by Michelle Robertson