Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Spiritual Pride and Prejudice

After intense and difficult negotiations the United States and her allies have reached an agreement with Iran aimed at eliminating all possibilities for Iran to build a nuclear weapon anytime soon.  This Iranian Nuclear Agreement is being heralded as a landmark achievement by some while being blasted as reckless and naïve by others. 



This issue is of vital concern to the world community and demands to be addressed.  The goal of restricting Iran’s nuclear capabilities is universally shared in the Western World.  The means to achieve this, however, is hotly debated.  I intended to address this issue today, but I would like to do a little Bible study first on what I feel is at the heart of the contention involved in ratifying the Iranian Nuclear Agreement.  Specifically, I want to consider the problem of Spiritual Pride & Prejudice.



There is an ever-increasing problem these days with a lack of respect for authority.  It can be found in nearly every aspect of life.

  • In our homes, there is a mutual disrespect between children & parents;
  • In our schools there is constant tension;
  • On the street we see violent confrontations between police and civilians;
  • The Church no longer holds the respect of society - or even of its own members, in many cases;
  • And then there is Politics!

I am sure the political world has always been contentious.  But just in the last 25 years or so it seems like it has been taken to extremes.  For that matter, just in the last 6 months things have become pretty wild, with one Presidential candidate calling several of his challengers “losers”.   In sports they call it “trash talking”;  in politics its known as “mud-slinging”.  But at the heart of it all is an over-inflated ego that leads one to be convinced he is just too good, too important, and too correct to share the same space with others.



While this kind of thinking has permeated our society, I have to say that it really is nothing new!  Since the beginning of time man has thought far more of himself than reality would indicate.  We could go all the way back to the Garden of Eden where Adam & Eve allowed their egos to convince them they could “be like God”, and thus they brought sin into the world.  It was evident in their son Cain, who elevated pride to the level of homicide.  And its been all downhill since then!



This spiritual Pride & Prejudice takes on an international dimension in 2 Kings 5, where we read the story of Elisha, the Hebrew Prophet, & Naaman, the Commander of the Aramean Army.



The Hebrew nation of Israel and their next door neighbor to the North & East, the Kingdom of Aram, were bitter enemies.  Not much new here, is there?  The Capitol of Aram was Damascus.  So you see, Ancient Aram is the same as modern day Syria.  The descendants of the Arameans and the descendants of the Hebrews STILL do not like each other and remain, to this day, bitter enemies.



That is important to remember as we get into this story. 



2 Kings 5:1 (NIV)
1  Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.



So right from the get-go we learn that this highly respected man, this important & successful military leader, a man of great power & influence, had a major personal problem:  leprosy!



We don’t hear much about leprosy these days.  That’s because it was so serious that the medical profession dedicated itself to understanding and controlling it.  But in the days of the OT, some 2,500 years ago, it was a different story.  Leprosy was one of the most feared and fatal diseases known to man.  Typically a person with leprosy would be quarantined and isolated from society.  Other people could not get too close to them because the disease was highly contagious.



And like so many fatal diseases, leprosy was no respecter of persons.  It attacked anyone and everyone in its path - -

  • Male/female
  • Young/old
  • Rich/poor
  • Hebrew/Gentile

It did not matter.



So here was Naaman, this great General, stricken with leprosy.  In all the vastness of the Kingdom of Aram there was no cure for this man.



Then one day a servant girl - of all people - a slave captured in warfare, a nobody if ever there was one in Aramean society - - this poor & powerless young woman tells Naaman that there is a prophet in Israel who can heal him.



In ISRAEL!



That hated place.  Why does it have to be Israel?



Well, all I can say is that God has strange ways of revealing himself to the Proud & the Arrogant.



At first Naaman hesitates, but out of desperation, he decides to go.  He approaches his King in Damascus and asks for permission.  The King, wanting his General to be healthy, says “Sure!  Go!  And I will send a letter of recommendation along with you, plus take all this gold & silver & expensive clothing to pay for the treatment.”  And so Naaman the Leper travels to Samaria, the Capital of Israel, in search of a cure.

            Let’s pick up the story in verse 7….



2 Kings 5:7 (NIV)
7  As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, "Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!"



Here we can immediately see how tense relations were between Aram & Israel.  The King of Israel, Joram, was certain this was a trick.  He was convinced the Arameans were setting him up to fail so they could have an excuse to attack him.



            Let’s continue:

2 Kings 5:8-12 (NIV)
8  When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: "Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel."
9  So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house.
10  Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed."
11  But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.
12  Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage.



Wow.



The very thing we talked about just a moment ago is again evident here in Naaman’s heart.  It is a simple matter of his stubborn Pride & Prejudice that prevents him from receiving God’s miraculous healing.



1.  Naaman is first of all DISAPPOINTED that Elisha the Prophet did not come out to meet him personally. 

He wanted attention.

He wanted fanfare!

He was NAAMAN the Great Military hero! 

He did NOT want to be received by a servant.  That was insulting!



Proverbs 16:18 (NIV)
18  Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.



Naaman was guilty of pride and was thus about to lose his blessing.



2.  He expected to get something for nothing.

Oh, he would pay his money, to be sure.  But he had no intention of DOING anything to earn his healing.  Instead, he expected Elisha to do all the work while he - Naaman - held his hand out, so to speak, and simply received the miracle.



But Elisha had other plans.  Perhaps he knew that Naaman needed a lesson in humility.  Or maybe Elisha was too much of a patriot and wanted to prove a point.  We are not told WHY, but we ARE told that Elisha instructs this Aramean to wash himself in the Jordan River - - in Israel’s river!  & not just once, but 7 times!



3.  Now, Notice the Prejudice!

Naaman says “No way, Jose!  I’m not washing in no muddy little Israelite stream!  Forget this!  This guy is just trying to embarrass me!”



“So he turned and went off in a rage,”  verse 12 says.



Pride.

Prejudice.

Distrust

& the lack of spiritual faith.



The walls of our sins are many & formidable.



Because of these very things Naaman nearly missed his opportunity to be healed.  He would have rather gone home a leper than submit to God’s terms and receive the miracle of healing.

Oh how often we spit in God’s eye and defiantly go our own way all because we do NOT want to be told what to do!



You don’t like the 10 Commandments?  Don’t worry about it.  They are not really “commandments”, they are just suggestions & they are all relative.  They only apply when we want them to apply!



That’s the prevailing attitude these days.



2,500 years of human history and we haven’t learned a thing.  We STILL refuse to wash ourselves in the Jordan River, if that’s what God requires of us, because it is degrading; insulting; humiliating.  The Cocalico Creek in my home town of Ephrata is just as wet & probably cleaner.  We will go there instead!  And so we, like Naaman, fail to receive God’s Blessing.



Fortunately, it does not end there.   Listen:



2 Kings 5:13-15 (NIV)
13  Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!"
14  So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
15  Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Please accept now a gift from your servant."



Let it to the little guys in the world to get through to those puffed up with pride.  Again it is a servant who gets through to tough guy Naaman and convinces him to follow the instructions he was given, that is, follow the Word of God.  He does, and he is healed.  The leprosy is miraculously removed.  And Naaman, the Aramean soldier, becomes a believer.



As Dwight L. Moody once about Naaman:

"He lost his temper; then he lost his pride; then he lost his leprosy; that is generally the order in which proud rebellious sinners are converted."
Bible Exposition Commentary (BE Series) - Old Testament



And so it is with us.



Let’s return to the issue of the Iranian Nuclear Agreement.  Many people in this country are acting like King Joram of Israel who was certain Naaman was deceiving him.  They are convinced the Iranians cannot be trusted.  They are terrorists.  They are plotting world domination.  They are evil.



I agree the Iranian government cannot be trusted.  That is why there are extreme measures of inspections built into the Agreement.  But I have to pause for a moment and consider this.  As troublesome as the Tehran government is let us stop and think about who the aggressor is in this picture.  Was it not the United States that invaded Iraq twice in the past 14 years, finally overthrowing their government?  And it was the United States that invaded Afghanistan, not Iran.  In fact, we have a long and shameful history of unprovoked invasions throughout the world:  Grenada, Panama, Bosnia, Somalia, Kosovo.  There is enough cause for distrust to be shared by both sides here.



Naaman had to overcome his pride and his prejudice to go into Israel and accept the terms offered to him by Elisha.  Both Joram and Elisha had to overcome their pride and prejudice to accept Naaman at his word.  It could not have been easy for either of them.  But they did it.  Naaman acted out of desperation;  Elisha acted on faith.  The result was success.  Naaman was healed and he became a believer in God.



Like Naaman, Iran is desperate.  Years of sanctions have shredded the Iranian economy and forced them to the bargaining table.  They don’t want to give up their nuclear program but the must reestablish the economy and feed their people.  The sanctions did exactly what they were intended to do: they forced the Iranians to make concessions in order to survive.  They could not go on endlessly the way they were.



The United States, like Elisha, has to look at the larger picture here.  If the nuclear Agreement would not have been reached things would remain the same.  For Elisha that meant Naaman would return to Damascus angry, disappointed, and perhaps vengeful.  That is to say he likely would have attacked his neighbor to the South (Israel).  That could have very dire consequences for Israel.



For the United States the larger picture means realizing if things remain the same Iran continues to strive towards acquiring nuclear weapons without any oversight or restrictions from the rest of the world.  This would greatly increase the threat of war with Israel, the United States, or both.  That is not a good deal for us.



I am sure many in Israel criticized Elisha for alleviating the suffering of this alien terrorist.  It violates all principles.  He represents all that is evil in the world.  We (Israel) represent all that is holy and good.  And holy cannot associate with evil. 



Such a small and narrow view leaves no room for God’s Grace.  Fortunately, Elisha recognized this and was willing to negotiate, as it were.  Though he did not meet personally with the Aramean, he nonetheless gave him the relief he needed in exchange for a pledge of peace.  Sound familiar?



Today we have a choice.  We can continue in our stubborn prejudice and tell ourselves Iran cannot be trusted.  They will get relief from the sanctions and still manage to somehow deceive the international community by continuing to advance their quest for a nuclear weapon.  And even if they do obey the terms of this deal in ten years they can begin to build their bombs anyway.  Therefore we cannot ratify this Agreement.



On the other hand, if we do ratify this Agreement we just might have ten years of some resemblance of peace, at least with Iran.  Do we know that for sure?  No.  But again, the alternative will most likely lead to war in much less time.  From where I sit it makes perfect sense to ratify the Iranian Nuclear Agreement.  If the terms are followed the world comes out the winner.  And let us never rule out the possibility of God’s Grace breaking through all the human rhetoric and hatred and distrust to heal the wickedness of our collective ways and bring healing that goes beyond skin deep to touch the very heart of man.





G. D. Gehr

August 11, 2015