Sermon for October 12, 2025
Pentecost 18 C
2 Kings 5:1-15c
Rev. Karl-John N. Stone
Have you ever been in a situation where a person considered inexperienced, or perhaps even “lowly” or an “outsider” was the person who had unexpected wisdom or insight? There’s an example that involves the first church I grew up in as a child back in New York. Back in the 1970s, St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Manhattan sold its land to the Citibank corporation to build a new skyscraper—with the condition that the church could build a new building of their own on the corner of the lot, and that the church would be structurally independent from the skyscraper. To accommodate this requirement, the skyscraper was built with an unusual design; it stands basically on four stilts, and each stilt is placed in the middle of each side of the building, not on the corners.
As a money-saving measure—and without consulting the lead engineer—they built it with bolted joints instead of welded joints as originally planned. About a year after the skyscraper opened, a college freshman in New Jersey wrote a report about the building for his introduction to structural engineering class. He called up the lead engineer to interview him, and based on the questions the student asked, the engineer realized that his 59-story tall building might not be able to withstand hurricane force winds (which do reach New York City from time to time). Calculations even showed that in the worst-case scenario it would have a 1 in 16 chance of falling in a given year! So as not to cause a panic, he consulted with the lawyers and insurance company and mayor, then got his team to secretly go to work welding panels over the bolts (which was enough to make the building structurally sound). This potentially saved many, many lives—all because an accomplished engineer listened to a student! [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citicorp_Center_engineering_crisis]
We see a similar dynamic at work in the Old Testament reading for today from 2 Kings 5. There’s Naaman, who’s the commander of the army of the King of Aram, and a mighty warrior. He was held in “high favor” by the king because “the Lord had given victory to Aram” in battle. Despite his high status, Naaman suffered from a skin disease. Perhaps his suffering made him more open-minded to listen to others who suffered. And that is what he did, when his young slave girl (whom he had captured from the land of Israel during one of his victories in battle) talked about a prophet who could cure him. Naaman listens to her advice, and then gets a letter from his king to present to the King of Israel requesting healing. And just to soften up the king of Israel a little bit, Naaman brings along plenty of gold, silver, and fancy clothes. When the king of Israel reads the letter, he’s terrified! He thinks his sworn enemy is trying to pick a fight!
But when Elisha the prophet gets wind of this he says, “Sure, let him come to me.” Now, being a prophet he’s not a “lowly” person like the slave girl, but he is a bit of an outsider, being one who must speak truth to power at times. Even though the king is terrified, he decides to listen to Elisha.
Naaman, meanwhile, wants to leave nothing to chance. Being the leader of an army, he arrives at Elisha’s house with a great show of force, riding his horses and chariots. In modern terms, this would be like arriving with tanks and Humvees. He’s so desperate for a cure that he’s willing to intimidate Elisha into compliance. And Elisha doesn’t even bother to meet with him! That’s because God’s power does not come through dominating others, but through self-giving love. And that is what Elisha offers—only he does it by sending a lowly messenger to give instructions: “Go wash in the Jordan River seven times and you’ll be healed.” This is too much for Naaman—he doesn’t want to listen to a mere messenger. What he wants is a big show from the prophet himself, and all he’s got are these simple instructions to do something he could easily do in a better river back home. But once again, it is a “lowly” person to the rescue. Naaman’s servant has the boldness to approach his master with a bit of wisdom: “If the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? Why not give his simple instructions a try?” This time Naaman humbles himself to listen to the servant—and it works! He bathes in the Jordan and his skin is cleansed and healed.
And that is what brings him to faith. He did not come to faith when the Lord had given him victory in battle with a big show of power. It was the simple act of bathing seven times; a pathway given to him by the caring voices of the lowly and the outsiders. That is what inspired him to finally confess: “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.”
This story has many lessons to teach. One is that God is at work among all peoples and nations of the world—even among those who are enemies; God was equally at work in Naaman of Aram as with Elisha of Israel. Another lesson is that God not only works through leaders, but also through those who are lowly or outsiders—like the young slave girl, the messenger, the servant. And third, God brings healing and restoration through simple things like listening, humility, respect for those who are often ignored. Sometimes these simple things are difficult to put into practice; they involve persistence and sacrifice. After all, Naaman the warrior had to let go of his faith in the power of horses and chariots; and he had to ask for help from a king who was his enemy; and he had to humble himself to follow instructions from a prophet who refused to treat him like a “big shot”.
But these are the ways God chooses to work—and we’ve even seen God’s ways bring peace and healing to intractable conflicts. For example, 27 years ago in Northern Ireland a peace process was hammered out by leaders and then legitimated by the vote of the common people. One writer (Megan K. Stack) observed that peace there meant that “people…had to work with others they considered murderers, terrorists or bigots and accepted a settlement that was nobody’s ideal”; however “pretty much everyone [this writer had] ever spoken with in Northern Ireland, from any and every background, has one firm conviction: We are not going back.” [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/opinion/northern-ireland-war-gaza-resolution.html] After decades of violence and suffering, the outcome of a just and lasting peace was a miracle empowered by gifts of mutual listening, sacrifice, humility, and even grudging respect.
Perhaps something similar might finally bring peace to Israel and Palestine. The new cease-fire deal is good news of hope for both sides—but there is still lots of trauma and distrust on both sides that will need to be healed; lots of hard work and sacrifice remain if the peace is going to be just and lasting.
Even in our own country, I think that cultivating the Holy Spirit’s gifts of listening, humility, and respect (if put to use) would help bridge the political dysfunction that no one is satisfied with. But for us, gathered here, we don’t have to wait for a miracle to happen on a grand scale. The path to healing begins with each of us. Where are the places in our own lives and experiences that need renewal? Who are the people we might try listening to and gaining (not necessarily agreement) but perhaps unexpected wisdom or mutual understanding? What are some things each of us might let go of, even when it’s scary, so that we can be freed from the hurts of the past, and allow God to lead us to something better?
These spiritual gifts of listening, humility, and respect are gifts God has made available to each of us by faith when we were baptized. In baptism, we listen to the voice of the Lord who humbled himself on the cross for our salvation. In that simple bath of baptismal grace, God spoke his Word over you; Jesus claimed you as a beloved brother or sister; the Holy Spirit cleansed your sin—and wants to bring you healing and new life. Amen.