2 Kings 5:8-14
But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God and would wave his hand over the spot and cure the skin disease! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.

Luke 10:1-11
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way; I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if a person of peace is there, your peace will rest on that person, but if not, it will return to
you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’

A Timeless Way: Hearing and Doing the Word
Everything comes and goes. We celebrate the 4th of July. Family and friends gather. We enjoy this time together. And then it goes. Time keeps flowing on. Everything comes and goes.

But there is a Way, a Way of Life that is outside of time. A Way of Life that is not touched by time because it is ever present. It never goes away. This Way is always here, always now. Jesus called it the Kingdom of God.

As he walked toward Jerusalem, he taught the Way, this Kingdom of God. The disciples heard his teaching, and learned how to live according to this Way, this timeless Way.

Our readings this morning
Each week for our readings, I like to find an Old Testament text and a New Testament text. Today, we take up the story of Naaman and the story of the seventy disciples. The healing of Naaman is an Old Testament story from the book of 2nd Kings. And the story of the seventy disciples is a less familiar story from Luke about Jesus’ first disciples after the twelve apostles.

This story from Luke is a bit of a surprise. We don’t usually think about these 70 disciples. They are only mentioned in Luke’s Gospel. On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus initiates them into the timeless way of life, and then he gives them a mandate to go out into the world and teach others. This section of Luke is about discipleship–hearing and doing the word. Jesus sends 70 new disciples to teach the way that leads to the Kingdom of God, the way of life described, as we read last week, in Galatians 5. Galatians 5 describes the Fruit of the Spirit. It’s one of the most beautiful and important texts in the New Testament. If, in the course of this entire summer, you only have 30 minutes to read the Bible, read Galatians 5. It’s a summary of this Timeless Way, this Kingdom of God.

Now, we take up the story of Naaman:
When Shari and I visited the ancient ruins of Ephesus in May, it was already hot, and we were roasting. After walking through the ancient city we walked to the beach. The hot sand burned our feet. But the sea was shockingly cold. As I stepped into the bright blue Aegean Sea, the cold water took my breath away. Bracing myself, I walked into deep water and plunged. Immediately, I thought of Naaman. I decided to be Naaman. So I plunged underwater another six times. Seven times altogether. By the seventh time, I was used to the cold. And as I came up out of the water the seventh time, I felt clean and refreshed, completely invigorated, completely new. I was a new man!

I think this must have been how Naaman felt. His is a story of healing leprosy. But it’s also a story of healing pride, the wound of pride. Or perhaps it’s better to say “arrogance.” We need to have some pride, in the sense that we need self-confidence. We need to believe in ourselves to know that we are worthy and good and able and sufficient. This is a healthy pride. It’s very important to believe in yourself.

But Naaman was more than self-confident. He was arrogant. He had traveled a long way, and he got angry at Elisha. He felt insulted because Elisha didn’t come out of his house, didn’t roll out the red carpet, didn’t bow and scrape, but sent a servant outside who told him to go wash in the Jordan River seven times. At first, he felt he was too important to follow Elisha’s instructions. But in the simple act of washing, he humbled himself, and so he was healed. Sometimes the instructions are so simple, so easy. It’s only arrogance, stubbornness, that gets in the way.

Bible History moment
Now, I want to give you some fun facts about the Bible, so that you want to read it. The Bible is important for anyone to read, not only Christians. But Christians especially need to read the Bible. Reading the Bible is essential to Christian spirituality.

So, this story about Naaman is found in 2nd Kings. As you know, in the Christian Bible, the Old Testament comes from ancient Jewish scripture, from the Hebrew Bible, the Ta’na’ch. “Tanach” is actually an abbreviation of three words, Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim, and these are the titles of the three major sections of Jewish scripture: the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. They are the source of the Christian Old Testament.

Translating Hebrew to Greek
Now, to really jump into Bible history for a minute, let’s think about Alexander the Great. As a teenager, Alexander was a student of Aristotle, and so Alexander was educated in Greek philosophy, culture and language. Later, as King of Macedonia, Alexander conquered the world and created the largest empire in history. As a result of his influence, Greek became the official language of the entire Mediterranean. (This is what we now call the Hellenistic Period.) It was during this time, 4th century BC, that the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek. The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible is called the “Septuagint.” And in the Septuagint, that is, in the Greek version of the Jewish scriptures, there is no 2nd Kings. 1st and 2nd Kings did not exist. There was simply one book, called the Book of Kings.

But in the process of translation, going from Hebrew to Greek, the translators divided the Book of Kings into two books, 1st and 2nd Kings, because they ran out of space. Texts were written on scrolls, and the scrolls were not long enough for the entire Book of Kings in Greek. So they divided it into two scrolls. And because of this, today, in our Old Testament, we have this division of 1st Kings and 2nd Kings.

The Three E’s
Whenever I get into the Old Testament stories, I have to review some names, for example, what I call “the three E’s”, that is, Eli, Elijah, and Elisha. Eli is the temple priest and teacher of Samuel. His stories are in the books 1st and 2nd Samuel. Elijah is the prophet, found in 1st Kings, (remember the fire from heaven and the priests of Ba’al, or “Bale” as it’s sometimes pronounced) and Elijah’s successor is Elisha, found in 2nd Kings. In the story of Naaman, we read about Elisha.

When you think about Elisha, remember his miracles: purifying the waters of Jericho, multiplying a widow’s oil, raising a boy from the dead, making an axe head float, and healing Naaman of leprosy. These are all the Sunday School stories that we grew up hearing.

[I mention this because my son, Eli is visiting this weekend. Eli is short for Elias. He is named after his great-great grandfather. And Elias is simply the Greek form of the Hebrew name, Elijah.]

Where am I going with all of this?
Naaman thinks he’s big. He thinks he is important. But in the vast scheme of things, he is not important. As we read this reminder in Psalm 8:
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established: what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?

Naaman’s healing occurs when he humbles himself. He is healed of his disease, which is basically an expression of his arrogance. When he is healed, he is free to simply be himself. He is free to be simply Naaman the man. One man among many human beings in the course of history, he emerges from the Jordan River free, fresh and clean.

I’ll conclude with this. Everything comes and goes. Alexander the Great was only 32 when he died. He created the biggest empire in history. He brought Greek culture and language to Egypt, where the Hebrew Bible was translated so many years ago. And yet, he was only one man. After his death, his empire gradually faded away. Just as all empires eventually fade away.

But this Timeless Way of life endures. The Kingdom of God endures. This Way of Life, the Way of Being that leads to Life, endures. It endures because it is always present, always here, always available. Amen? Amen.