EPIPHANY 6, B – February 15, 2009

SCRIPTURES – 2 Kings 5:1-15; 1 Corinthians 10:31 – 11:1; Mark 1:40-45 

Last week I sat with a group of cops and listened to Stephen Watt, a former Wyoming State Trooper, tell the story of an event that took place on March 18, 1982, while he was on patrol. He pulled over a car after getting a report of a bank robbery in the area. As he was pulling up behind the car, the driver jumped out and fired at him. The bullet hit him in the left eye, shattering his eye socket and stopping the width of a piece of paper from his brain. As he dove behind the dash for cover, the man ran up and shot him four times in the back. One bullet went clean through him; another lodged in his spine, ¼ inch from his spinal cord; another damaged his liver. Amazingly, as his assailant ran back to his car Trooper Watt jumped out of his car and fired off several shots himself, hitting him in the left shoulder. Even so, the man got away – momentarily. Just down the road a fellow State Trooper, Trooper Watt’s best friend, captured him. 

Obviously, Stephen Watt lived. But, the shooting severely affected him. Although lauded by the public as a hero, he felt he hadn’t done his job. He had failed to apprehend the shooter, who then headed down the road to confront his best friend! He was wracked with guilt. His relationship with the department changed, as it required him to go on workmen’s comp, which didn’t cover his full salary, and also to take sick time and vacation to cover his recuperation. He lost an eye, and wondered if this would cost him his job. He became fearful; he didn’t trust his fellow officers, nor they him; he began drinking heavily. Eventually, he did lose his job. In spite of all this, he told us: “Being shot was the best thing that ever happened to me, because one year later I became a Christian.” Losing so much was worth it in order to gain Christ! 

Is being a Christian the best thing in your life? We are used to having so many things in our affluent society: homes; cars; closets full of clothes; computers; cable TV; I-Pods; Wii systems; cell phones with internet and cameras; you name it, we either have it or can get it. We also eat out a lot, travel, and enjoy concerts, sporting events, and the like. Of course, with the economic downturn and job uncertainty we are now pulling back on many things. Even so, we are still far more like Naaman, the rich commander of the Syrian army, than like the poor servant girl in his house. How does faith in Jesus and the worship of Him rate compared to the many things you have and enjoy? Is being a Christian the best thing in your life? Would you be willing to lose things if this resulted in knowing Christ and being blessed in Him? 

There is an incredible statement in today’s Epistle reading from 1 Corinthians. “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Now, this doesn’t sound so incredible. Actually, it seems to put a lot of pressure on us. Whatever we do, it seems, even in our eating and drinking, we have to keep God in mind and do our best to please Him! Boy, that’s pressure! Actually, it’s good to be reminded that we live in God’s presence continually. Every hour of the day – whether you are asleep or awake, eating or working or watching TV or exercising or reading a book or just daydreaming – God is there. His eyes are upon us. And, He not only sees us; He knows our every thought. So, we’d better be doing our best to be doing every-thing to His glory and not just satisfying ourselves! This is good to know. We push aside such knowledge and ignore God to our great harm.

 

But, there’s so much more to the statement, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” It comes from a man whose life, before he became a Christian, had been regulated by rules governing what he could eat, who he could associate with, what he could do, etc. But now he says that, as a Christian, you can eat and drink whatever you want! You can do whatever! Oh, you can’t do sinful things, of course – at least, not if you want to live in God’s favor and not suffer the many sorrows and sufferings that sin brings. “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments!” says Psalm 112:1. Yes, we are to follow God’s Ten Commandments and are blessed as we do so, but this is because they are good. They are not restrictive rules that keep us from enjoying life, but reveal what a good and blessed life consists of and how it is lived. The one who delights in God’s commandments, and doesn’t only grudgingly obey them, is indeed greatly blessed.

 

But, Christianity isn’t all about rules. “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” As a Christian, you are free in Christ and can do whatever! You can because in Christ God loves you and accepts you freely, by grace, and not only after you satisfy Him.

 

Naaman, the Syrian general in our Old Testament reading, didn’t know God in this way. Naaman was fabulously wealthy, as is indicated by the silver and gold and clothing he brought with him when he traveled to Israel. He enjoyed great military success, and so was favored by the king and considered a great man. Everyone would be envious of Naaman! The world was his footstool, and he thought that this was so because he had pleased his god. That was what his religion taught.

 

And then, he contracted leprosy. This disease usually began with specks on the eyelids and the palms and gradually spread over the whole body, encrusting it with white scales. It bleached the hair white and caused terrible sores and swellings. It was so disfiguring and debilitating it was considered a living death. And, worst of all, it was believed that a person got it because he had sinned against God. God was judging him. Now, when he contracted it, Naaman did not lose his wealth. He remained the commander of Syria’s army. But, he lost the companionship of his wife, his family, and his friends. No one would touch a leper, or even desire to look upon him. Naaman was enduring a living hell. He also knew that he would go to hell when he died, for he had obviously displeased his god. Even in the midst of his abundance, his life was hopeless and joyless.

 

Until his little servant girl, a captive from Israel, spoke up. “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” This girl, his slave who didn’t even have her parents and family, still knew her God and His prophet, Elishah. She knew that God was good and would heal her master, even though he was a leper. And, of course, that is what eventually happened. By word and water – how like Baptism it sounds, doesn’t it? – Naaman was healed. With the healing of his body, he then received the greatest healing of all: he came to know and believe in Yahweh, the God of Israel, the true and only God who loves us and receives us by grace. In Yahweh He received a life and freedom he had not known before.

 

In the New Testament we learn that Yahweh our God is known above all in His Son Jesus Christ, who not only had compassion on lepers but even touched them when He healed them. Christ does not need to be satisfied by our works of obedience before He will help us. He is moved by our needs and wants to save us. He died on the cross to save us from being condemned for our sins, and rose to gain eternal life for us in heaven. To know Him is to live in God’s love and favor, now and forever! To be a Christian and know Christ is to have everything. You can now live in peace and joy – whether you live in abundance or in poverty, whether you are a successful leader or just a little known servant. You can live freely and gladly, for God loves you freely and gladly in His Son. He loves you because of Jesus and not because of anything you do. For this reason, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

 

My road’s always been dark; not a lot of light. I walked with courage into the night.

But I was taken down one March day; I learned police work’s not all play.

My friends wanted to carry my load, but in my hate I screamed, “This is my road!”

Just leave me alone as I ran away, somehow I’ll never forget that day.

The weight soon drove me down. I knew I couldn’t carry another pound.

At last I looked up; I cried, “This is too much!”

My load is now lighter as I walk in the night, my road’s not dark, there is light.

I wasn’t taken down that March day; I just learned JESUS is my way.

So wrote Trooper Stephen Watt. May we all know the lifting of our loads, and confess and rejoice in Jesus as our light, no matter how the economy is, no matter how dark, or light, be our way in this life. To the glory of Christ Jesus, our Lord.