As he tried to calm himself, he could not rid his mind of the image that seemed frozen there. Naaman imagined himself and his entourage making their way toward the river. The picture was crystal clear. As he rode through village after village, he would be recognized as someone important, someone special. The curious and irreverent would follow him to the river's edge. He imagined a large crowd gathering on both sides of the water as he dismounted. He could see them stretching their necks around each other to get a better look. He could even hear the mumbling and giggling that would course through the crowd. In his mind, he could see the surprised faces, hear the taunting laughter, and feel the uncomfortableness of it all as he washed himself. What an embarrassment! What a humiliating experience! It would be easier -- no, it would be preferable -- to go home, face whatever he had to face, and die rather than go through that.
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In a very large number of churches, after the gospel has been preached, an invitation is offered to worshipers. They are invited to face the messes they have made of their own lives. They are invited to accept God's offer of forgiveness. They are invited to experience wholeness by receiving the living Christ into their hearts and souls. They are invited to express that decision publicly. In many churches, persons making such a choice move publicly toward the pastor, a decision counselor, or a prayer rail to express what is happening to them spiritually. With their actions, they declare, "I'm a sinner in need of help. I am asking Jesus Christ to do what I have not been able to do. I am asking Him to forgive me, to save me, to make me a new person, to give me a new future." Because such invitations are, more often than not, occasions of public declarations of faith and commitment, some individuals have turned away saying, "Not me. Don't expect me to stand before a group of people and admit to being wrong or needing help. I'm not going to stand in front of a church and tell them I am a sinner. No siree! If that is what it takes to become a Christian, count me out." Unfortunately, too many walk away from the opportunity of spiritual healing, forgiveness, and wholeness because the method is too public and it does not make sense.
Happily Naaman's story does not end there. Verse 13 reveals the quick thinking and action of a few of his men. They said essentially, "Come to your senses man! If you had been told to make a great sacrifice, or do some great service, or participate in some costly venture, you would certainly have done that. Why not do something so simple? So easy? Why don't you just wash yourself like the prophet said?"
In spite of his objections and misgivings Naaman turned his horse toward the river. He rode through the villages. He arrived at the river's edge. The leper dismounted and stepped into the irksome water. Standing waist deep in the debris filled flow and still cursing himself for doing it, he began to dip himself under the water. Into the current he plunged his entire body. Upon emerging, he quickly surveyed himself. The leprosy was still there. Nothing had changed. Under the water he went a second time and upon rising was dismayed to once more see no change in his diseased flesh. "What a fool I am," he must have thought. "I knew it wouldn't work. I knew this was crazy," he must have mumbled to himself. "But since I'm already here, I might as well go all the way." So a third, fourth, fifth, and sixth time Naaman submerged himself. No change. Nothing was different. Then into the water one last and desperate time. Upon lifting his body to the surface he nervously trudged to the river's bank. Whether it was the air brushing his wet skin or the sight that greeted his eyes that caused him to shiver, he did not know.
Verse 14 describes what he saw, "... his flesh [had come] again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean" (KJV). What a sight! The sores had disappeared! The leprous wounds were healed! The disease was gone! He was whole again!
Likewise, when a person seeks release from the leprosy of sin and invites Jesus Christ into his or her life, there is a freshness of soul and tenderness of heart that spring forth as forgiveness and healing is experienced. So thoroughly radical is the work of salvation that Jesus described it as being "born again" (
John 3:7). Sin's disease is taken away and replaced by a new kind of life. Though simple, all one has to do is ask Jesus Christ to come into his or her heart and life; though shameful, it is through the shed blood of the Savior on a despicable Roman cross; though it is public, confession of belief before others is important; when a person obeys God's Word, faith brings wholeness.
1Yancey, Philip,
Where Is God When It Hurts?, Zondervan: Grand Rapids, 1997, p. 23.
