Dad rarely left Northern Ireland on his travels, be they business or pleasure. He was well into retirement before he took his second holiday, the first one having been sort of necessary as it had doubled as his honeymoon. For that special occasion he and mum had driven all the way to Scotland, not literally you understand, but they seemed to spend most of their time around the west coast in a lovely little place called Largs, that I got to visit many years later, when we took the class to a permanent Viking display that is housed there. They would return to Scotland several more times with another couple for their joint summer holidays and each time became a little more adventurous but the closest I think they ever got to England was a visit to Gretna Green, though they had no need of the wedding chapel by that stage. No, dad was always happier at home and probably never really understood why his other brothers and sister were so keen to jet off to the sun, when it was the same one that shone down on him in his own garden, even if it did seem slightly cooler. And after all, why go to a foreign country where you can't speak the language, eat the food or understand the money, just for the sole purpose of coming home burnt to a crisp, when you could have an enjoyable time in Portrush or Newcastle and not have the hassle of queuing in airports and being herded around like the cattle he used to prod on to the lorry. I guess he had a point m, you know and , at the end of it all, he never did step inside an aeroplane. I had a friend once, who unfortunately, during the period that I knew him, developed cancer for a second time in his life. The prognosis was not good and as the days progressed , so did his illness, until it became clear that he would soon be reaching the point of no return. No longer did the treatment bring the same relief as it once had done and despite his best efforts at continuing to work, it was clear that he was struggling. I told him about my friends who had the gift of spiritual healing and whose gift I had experienced personally and he seemed interested if a little unconvinced, since the medicines were having less impact and he knew his greatest struggles still lay ahead. Eventually he asked me to set up a meeting with them and one evening paid a visit to their house. They prayed together, laid hands on him and had a long conversation about his illness and his life and he left, somewhat upbeat from his experience. But healing didn't come and eventually, many months later the illness overtook him. But it emerged much later that his reason for the visit was not that he expected to be completely healed but to obtain enough healing so that he could continue his treatment at the hospital.
He came to mind again as I thought of Naaman, that great commander of the army of Aram, but whose body was ravaged by leprosy. And when he came to Elisha and the prophet told him to go and wash in the local river Jordan, not the cleanest of waters, he was less than impressed to say the least, citing that his own, clean rivers back home would have been just as suitable in which to wash and be cured. Yet his own servant eventually talked some sense into him and told him that he was basically too proud because Elisha hadn't told such a powerful man to do some great thing. And of course when he did dip in the Jordan river , this disease completely disappeared.
What a lesson. You see, I don't think the healing is the important part of this story at all. It's all about obedience, isn't it. Not seeing something from your point of view, but from God's side. And anything less than total obedience doesn't bring the blessing that God can give. But there's even more to it than that. Not for one moment do I think Namaan doubted that he would be healed for he was pretty sure that bathing in his own choice of river back home would have done the trick. And I reckon, all of us who believe in God's power don't doubt that He can do great things in our lives. It's just that sometimes we want Him to do it our way. And finally, what a simple instruction, 'Wash and be cleansed' is to obey but so few there are that want to follow it, often looking for some more complicated or important thing to do to reach God. Revelation 1 v 5 and 6 says. 'And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.' The Psalmist also writes, 'Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.' It's too simple to ask Jesus to wash and cleanse us with His blood when the rivers of penance, church position, pilgrimages, sacred vows and money giving make us feel we are actually doing something for our salvation. But we can't earn anything when it's given by grace.
If Naaman hadn't obeyed, no doubt his leprosy would have eventually taken its toll on his earthly life. If we don't 'wash and be cleansed' the result will be much more eternal.
