Krista Shraders message from Sunday: Trusting beyond logic A Simple Command 2 Kings 5:1-14 Today’s scripture reading is a complex story about the importance of simplicity. It’s about listening for that “still small voice” mixed with the cluster of noises that make up our lives. Then it’s about trusting that voice and having faith that God is leading us in a right direction. The story of Naaman is a beautiful illustration of this. When I read the scripture in preparation for today’s sermon, I was reminded of another beautiful illustration of the simplicity of what God asks us to do in our effort to live a life of faith and love in God’s name. Unlike Naaman’s story, this story happened only two years ago. Many of you know that I am a teacher. I have what I consider to be the best job in the world. I have taught in a public high school for thirty years and I learn every day from the children I teach. I work with wonderful children. I work with kids who are well adjusted…they make good choices…they have good family support…and they have a sense of a higher power in their lives. But I also work some wonderful kids who are not as well-adjusted in this life…they don’t always make the best choices…often times, in spite of family support, they lose their way in this world. Those are the kids I learn the most from. Niko is one of those kids. Niko is an 18 year old recovering drug addict who graciously agreed to come speak to my Confirmation class last year about the presence of a higher power in his life. He was blatantly honest with the confirmation class in his description of the choices he made as an addict. He talked about his drug use…how he alienated all those who loved him…how disrespectful he was to his mom…and how he stole from his family for drug money and his mom had him arrested. Then he told the kids about his 1st encounter with God. He said that he didn’t encounter God in a big “Ah-ha” moment…there wasn’t a big light bulb that suddenly went off for him. Rather, on his recovery journey in rehab, his sponsor suggested that he pray. Niko responded that he didn’t think he could pray because he didn’t believe in God. So his sponsor told him to think of it as meditation instead of prayer…just quiet thought throughout the day. Next Niko described how he began to feel God’s presence. He told the kids he took his sponsors advice and made time for pockets of thought throughout his day. He said he began to feel a presence around him. Now listen to this beautiful description of God’s presence…he said at times it was like a gentle wind blowing at his back. He found that if he continued to pray and trusted the direction God was sending him…he was able to stay clean and away from drug use. Niko found sobriety because when it couldn’t get any worse, he listened to some very simple directions and trusted the voice that was giving him the directions. And like Naaman, he trusted without being able to see the end from the beginning. Throughout our scripture reading there are many small, simple voices that God uses to bring Naaman to a place of faith. The first of these voices comes in the form of a child servant. This small slave girl saw Naaman’s needs over her own. She had a simple confidence in her God and she knew what God could do. Although her statement to Naaman’s wife was bold, it was also very simple. She simply said, “I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy.” When Naaman went to the King to tell him what the girl said, the King agreed to write a letter to the King of Israel introducing Naaman and requesting that he be healed of his leprosy. Naaman’s King doesn’t mention, Elisha the prophet in his letter. Perhaps he assumed the King of Israel would make the connection…but he didn’t. When Naaman arrived in Israel with his $20,000 in silver, his $60,000 in gold and ten suits of festival clothing, the King read the letter and ripped it to shreds. He accused the King of Syria of sending him Naaman with the impossible task of healing him. He was under the impression that the King of Syria wanted fuel for a fire…that he wanted to start a fight….to create an excuse for invasion. Now when Elisha the prophet heard of the King’s outrage…he sent a simple message…”send him to me.” So, Naaman hopped on his chariot and headed to Elisha’s simple home with his silver, his gold, his fancy clothes and his servants only to find that Elisha wouldn’t address him directly. Instead he sent a messenger out to address him. There was no pomp in this gesture, no grandeur…no glory. Naaman wanted to be treated like a great man that just happened to be a leper and Elisha treated him like a leper that just happened to be a great men. Then when the messenger told him that what he had to do to be healed was to wash himself in the Jordan River seven times…Naaman was furious. Not only because there was to be no pageantry in the process of his healing…but the whole request was inconvenient in Naaman’s eyes and it simply didn’t make sense. There were closer, cleaner rivers to wash in. He couldn’t see the logic in traveling another 25 miles to wash his open sores in a dirty river seven times. But sometimes as humans we don’t always see logic in God’s plan. Niko didn’t see the logic in praying did he? But he did it and he found God. Naaman, at the urging of his servants, put his doubt aside and went into the river seven times. And what happened, he was healed and he found God. There is so much in this life that we don’t always understand…events in our lives that often seem unfair or too much to handle. In the Lord’s Prayer, we pray “thy will be done”…not our will…God’s will… and we cannot always be sure of God’s will…it’s not something we always see clearly. We may not always be sure of God’s will but we can always be sure of God’s wisdom and mercy. Whether God’s mercy and grace appeared thousands of years ago as it did for Naaman or two years ago as it did for Niko…both finally followed some simple God given directions and in turn were recipients of God’s amazing grace. There is a contemporary Christian song called “You Love Me Anyway”…I’d like to share a verse of that song with you: You love me anyway…it’s like nothing in life that I’ve ever known…I am the thorn in your crown, but you love me anyway…I am the sweat from your brow, but you love me anyway…I am the nail in your wrist, but you love me anyway…I am Judas’s kiss, but you love me anyway…I am the man who yelled out from the crowd for your blood to be spilled on this earth shaking crowd…I turned away with a smile on my face, with this sin in my heart, tried to bury your grace and alone in the night I still called out for you so ashamed of my life but you loved me anyway…it’s like nothing in life that I’ve ever known. As you step out of this church and into the world today, listen to the “still small voice” uttering simple directions full of grace and mercy…and may you find a love like nothing you’ve ever known…amen.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 14:57:23 +0000