The Daily Guide. grow. pray. study. The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Wednesday, 3 August 2016 - "A common-sense invitation overcame an ego tantrum"
Daily Scripture: 2 Kings 5:9 So Na‘aman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, who said, “Go, and bathe in the Yarden seven times. Your skin will become as it was, and you will be clean.” 11 But Na‘aman became angry and left, saying, “Here now! I thought for certain that he would come out personally, that he would stand, call on the name of Adonai his God and wave his hand over the diseased place and thus heal the person with tzara‘at. 12 Aren’t Amanah and Parpar, the rivers of Dammesek, better than all the water in Isra’el? Why can’t I bathe in them and be clean?” So he turned and went off in a rage. 13 But his servants approached him and said, “My father! If the prophet had asked you to do something really difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So, doesn’t it make even more sense to do what he says, when it’s only, ‘Bathe, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Yarden, as the man of God had said to do; and his skin was restored and became like the skin of a child; and he became clean.
15 Then, with his whole retinue, he returned to the man of God, went and stood before him, and said, “Well, I’ve learned that there is no God in all the earth except in Isra’el; therefore, please accept a present from your servant.”
Reflection Questions:When things got sorted out, and Naaman finally came to the prophet Elisha, he expected a fairly elaborate, formal religious ceremony (verse 11). Offered a different, simpler approach, he prepared to go home in a huff. Rather bravely, his servants finally convinced him that there couldn’t be any harm in trying the simple way by bathing in the Jordan. God healed him in that unexpected way.
- Have you ever tried to tell God just how to help you? Read again the Syrian general’s words as he prepared to storm back home, still sick: “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” (verse 11). Are there any parts of your life where you are resisting “bathing in the Jordan” because you’d like God to work in a different way?
- Review the many points in this story in 2 Kings 5 at which fear of, or arrogance toward someone from a different country or faith could have derailed God’s healing purpose. Do any of your neighbors (or co-workers) trigger some of those feelings in you because they are different? Ask God to help you find common ground, and watch for ways to bless that person or persons.
Lord God, open my eyes, my ears and my heart to all of the ways you are at work in my life. Keep me from letting my expectations blind me to your chosen ways to help and heal me. Amen.
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Insights from Kari Burgess
Kari Burgess is a Program Director for the ShareChurch team, handling promotion and marketing for all of the conferences held at Resurrection, as well as registration and coordinating hospitality volunteers.Recently my family watched an old favorite movie: Glory. Glory,released in 1989, starred Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman and Andre Braugher. It tells the true story of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw who, as a young up-and-coming Union officer, is charged with leading the first all-black volunteer company. I think it’s a great movie, and one which is convicting to me over and over on many fronts.
I’ve been thinking seriously about our current sermon series on Neighboring and the challenge in today’s GPS to consider times when my arrogance towards another person might have derailed God’s healing purpose. I think Glory might be good example of how limited perspective can lead to unrecognized, unexpected prejudices.
In the movie, Shaw is a Union officer, an abolitionist who grew up sympathetic to the plight of slaves in the South. He had an African-American friend, Thomas Searles, who is scholarly and well-to-do. Shaw is portrayed as being progressive for his day and age on race relations. However, as he begins his work with the black volunteer company, he starts to realize he doesn’t really understand the men under his command. His limited perspective, based mostly on his experience with his childhood friend (who doesn’t seem typical of most of the company) hasn’t prepared him as well as he thought to lead this company of black soldiers.
One of his soldiers is caught deserting (at least the officers assumed he was deserting), and Shaw faces the decision of whether to follow the typical discipline to have the deserting soldier flogged in front of his peers. The soldier had been a slave and bore the scars of previous floggings. You can see the pain in Shaw’s eyes when he realizes what he has done to this man. Later he finds out this soldier was simply on a quest to find a pair of desperately needed shoes. This is an awakening for Shaw and as a result, he becomes a great advocate for his soldiers. He has to overcome prejudice within the Union army to get shoes and socks for his soldiers. He also fights for equal pay for his soldiers and the opportunity to go into battle (and not just be used as manual labor).
One thing I like about Shaw’s character is that he is malleable. He may not admit it well on the outside, but there is an internal acknowledgement of the assumptions he made about his black soldiers and the mistakes made as a result. His arrogance was blocking God’s healing work through him. He was arrogant about being a sympathizer to African Americans, and because of this arrogance, it took time for him to acknowledge his limited perspective and become the leader his soldiers needed him to be. They needed to be taught differently than he was used to. They needed him to be their advocate to the Union war department. He had to take a step back and learn to lead differently.
I think I could learn a lot from Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. I like to think of myself as open-minded and welcoming to all, including those who are different from me. But I’m pretty certain there are times and situations where I may not understand completely the neighbor down the street or the community down the road. Like Shaw, I have limited perspective and a narrow world view from where I sit, living a privileged life here in Johnson County. Watching this movie makes me ask: What am I missing? What assumptions am I making about my neighbor? Where have I been arrogant in the past and where have I resisted God’s plans for Him to work through me in relation to my neighbor?
I too am malleable and changeable. I can grow and learn how to reach out in a more authentic way to a neighbor who may be different than me. And as I am growing, changing and learning, I pray that God might open my eyes and my heart to allow Him to work through me to bless my neighbor.
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