Sermon Rough Draft -- February 15

2 Kings 5:1-17
I Corinthians 9:24-27
24Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. 25Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. 26So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; 27but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

In our weekly gathering of youth at Roserio's Pizzaria I have been amazed at the sheer number of youth and young adults who are preparing to enlist in the United States military. For them it is a chance to make something of themselves -- to get an education, to travel and see the world, to matter. Last week three of these young people were talking about boot camp. I asked them if they were excited about it and all three said "yes!" But when I asked if they were prepared for it, all three said "no!" During the week these three decided that they would begin preparing for boot camp -- waking up early, exercising, whatever it would take to get themselves ready for the incredible stress bootcamp would place on their bodies this coming summer. Midway through the week I ran into one of the girls and asked her how it was going -- she said she was sore from playing football with the youth last Saturday. When I asked her if she was going to be ready for bootcamp, she just kinda shrugged her shoulders as if the goal that was before her was already beginning to fade. But yesterday I spoke with one of the other girls who will be enlisting this summer and she says she has started working out -- everyday. For her the goal is before her and she is rising to the challenge. She wants to reach her goal . . . whatever the cost.

There are two stories today. The first is the story of Naaman, the commander of the Aram army that has just defeated Israel. Strangely, this story appears in the Hebrew canon even though it is about their enemies and why? Most likely it is because of Naaman -- a man who converts to the Hebrew faith in this very story. Naaman had leprosy and whether we're new to the Bible or not, most of us are aware that leprosy is a horrible disease which, left untreated, can cause damage to the skin, nerves, limbs and eyes. Naaman was losing social status quickly, thanks to the disease, and wanted desperately to be healed. Naaman's wife's servant had been captured during one of Aram's raids on Israel and she conveyed to Naaman that she knew someone of her own people who could heal leprosy. Naaman was ready to try anything, well almost anything. He wanted to "save face" (bad pun) and maintain his authority and dignity during his healing, but he was willing to ask his king to talk with Israel's king . . . if he could just be healed. The King of Aram sent a letter to the King of Israel with lots of riches, asking if he would please allow Naaman to be healed. And the King of Israel thought the King of Aram was making fun of him by asking him to do something that he obviously could not do. But Elisha, the prophet, heard about this, and asked the King of Israel to have Naaman come to him so that the God of Israel could be known.

Meanwhile Naaman makes his way to Elisha's house, a little put out that a man of Naaman's social status would have to travel out to the countryside where those less-than-royalty lived. Coming to the door, Naaman's servants knocked, expecting the great healer to come out, bow down before Naaman, and touch him so that he could be healed, but Elisha had sent his servant to the door with a message that Naaman was to go bathe in the River Jordan 7 times and he would be healed. This made Naaman even more angry -- for he wanted to be shown respect! He didn't want to "grovel" in his enemy's river . . . not when greater rivers existed in his own land! He wanted healing on his own terms. And at that point, he almost gave up.

I'm going to stop the story there . . . just for a few minutes . . . so we can think for a minute about the epistle I read today from 1 Corinthians. 24Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. 25Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. 26So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; 27but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified. What happens when a runner doesn't train? Well, he most certainly won't finish the race! She most certainly won't win the prize! If we, like Naaman, decide that we want spiritual healing on our own terms and fail to follow through on what's required of us, fail to discipline ourselves to listen for God rather than telling God we know what's best for us, then we will not win the prize.

Rick Warren, the pastor of the famous Saddleback Church and the author of the Purpose Driven Life and other purpose driven books teaches the following lesson: "We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense. Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,'which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others."

Naaman was focused on his problems. He was the one with leprosy and he deserved, in his mind, to be treated with the utmost care because of it. He, in his mind, deserved to be healed because of his social status, because his king had put forth the best money on his behalf. He did not want to wallow in his enemy's river . . . he did not want to demean himself. He wanted healing on his own terms. But then one of his servants said something that caught his attention: What if the prophet had asked you to do something difficult, something that would be more suitable to a man of your status -- wouldn't you do it? And if so, then go on down to the river and do this simple thing -- it's no loss to you. So Naaman did. He swallowed his pride and focused on his purpose rather than his problem. And when he came up out of the water the 7th time, he was completely well. And with that, his spirit was well too -- for he realized that healing had nothing to do with his own terms. He realized that the God of Israel had healed him. He realized, as Rick Warren pointed out, that he was made by God and for God, and suddenly life began to make sense.

What is the prize that is before us? It would appear that the prize that is before us is the purpose that drives our life -- and we get to choose what that will be. But until we realize that we were made by God and for God, until we realize that our lives are vessels that God can fill to provide hope and love to this world, life is not going to make any sense. Some of us realize that we were made by God and for God, but, like Naaman, we want life to happen on our own terms. We want inter-personal healing, physical healing, economic healing, vocational healing, spiritual healing -- but we want it on our own terms. Now. And frequently when we don't get healing on our own terms we become paralyzed with fear -- we look at our problems instead of focusing on the prize that is before us.

Here in this church, we've spent a lot of time dwelling on problems -- financial problems, dwindling membership, etc. -- and when we do so we forget the purpose to which we've been called. We are the body of Christ -- blessed by God -- and called to be a blessing to others. We are called to share the Gospel of Christ with others. We can't lose sight of our goal by paralyzing ourselves within the problems of the moment. We can't lose sight of our goal by requiring that God heal us on our own terms -- with a larger income and a bigger membership. Rather, we have to allow ourselves to receive healing on God's terms. When we focus on God's purpose for this church -- to share God's love with our neighbors and to serve God with our whole lives -- healing will come.

Discipline is tough -- it requires that we look to our goal even when failures threaten to discourage us. We as Christ's body, are called to discipline ourselves -- to take time everyday as we not only pray to God but as we listen for God. We are called to listen for God as we read the scriptures, trusting God to meet our needs and heal us on God's terms. We are called to set aside our arrogance that we know what is right and who is wrong and rather open our eyes to obey whatever it is God wants us to do . . . even if it means that we must return to the place of Naaman's healing, the place of Jesus' baptism, the place of our own baptism and be made whole. We must run in such a way that we will win the prize. Amen.