OK, there's one thing I've never been clear on. So, forgive my historical ignorance, but I've got to ask. Is the 4th of July the birthday of the United States of America, or what? Just what is it that we are celebrating on this date? Now, hang on, before you throw up your hands at someone who has been to school forever and hasn't apparently learned anything at all, think about it for a moment. What really happened on the first July 4th way back in 1776?
All the armchair historians in the audience will be quick to point out the historical reality that the Declaration wasn't completely signed on July 4th. Or that there is considerable debate as to when it was actually signed. Some argue that no one signed it on the 4th and some say they all did. Most historians argue for an August date, some argue that the last signatures didn't appear until much later - maybe years. I guess that explains why the fireworks in the neighborhood just go on and on and on. They are trying to be more historical. Right.
The other historical reality that no one talks much about is that it was almost a no vote. The Declaration just squeaked by with a late arrival that swayed the vote of one delegation. Plus, the vote was taken on July 2nd and John Adams wrote his wife saying in the future Americans will celebrate July 2nd as an Independence Day! Whoops. Sorry John.
Let me get back to my original question. The little historical diversion was an added bonus, free of charge. You're welcome. But I ask again, just what is it that we are celebrating on July 4th? A birthday doesn't seem quite right to me.
And I was thinking of all of this because of the story of Naaman in our text for this week. (Note to self: work on transitions, that was pretty lame.) No, seriously. There is a connection. Trust me on this. Take a look:
2 Kings 5:1-14 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. 2 Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. 3 She said to her mistress, "If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." 4 So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5 And the king of Aram said, "Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel." He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. 6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, "When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy." 7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me." 8 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." 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha's house. 10 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." 11 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 leprosy! 12 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. 13 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'?" 14 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.
OK, long story, sorry about that. Just think, though, you can bleep over it as you read thinking you've got the highlight. On Sunday morning everyone will have to listen to the whole thing, start to finish. Yikes.
Anyway, this is the story of Naaman's birthday. Seriously. Well, maybe "re-birthday" might be a little closer to the truth. But like with any birth there is a lot of pain involved, there is fear and confusion and a whole lot of uncertainty.
Naaman is a great man. We know he is because it says so right there in the text. Verse on he was "a great man and in high favor with his master" (the King of Aram - because Naaman was a military man, serving at the will of the commander in chief. And expressly forbidden to talk to reporters from The Rolling Petros). A great man with a small problem. A skin disease. It's called leprosy because any visible skin disease was called that. It might have been terminal, it might have been a rash. But it was there and he was worried.
And here's the point, he went to a series of great men and wasn't able to find a solution. Or he found it, he just couldn't see it. It took a less than great slave girl to point to a solution and a less than great set of personal servants to convince him to stop pouting and give the solution a shot. It didn't sound great enough for such a great man to go jump in a river seven times. But the servants argued, "you've come this far, what's it going to hurt. If you were asked to do a great thing, you would have done it without question. Why not do this humble thing and see what happens?"
So, he did, and it worked. And the great man became like a little boy. That's what it says in verse 14. Smooth as a baby's behind, it might have said. He was born again. When he stooped down from his great height to humble himself he renewed himself.
If you go check out the text there in 2 Kings, chapter 5, you'll see there was more to his healing than just a skin treatment in a muddy river. There was a spiritual renewal as well. And the great man who had been an unwitting servant of the Lord (see verse 1), became one by design and intent in the end. He chose to be humble and became great. Happy Birthday?
What are we celebrating this weekend? Birthdays seem to be about what happens to us. We don't choose to be born, we just are. And there is nothing wrong with celebrating the happy accident of the birth of those we love. It should be a happy day. But in our family there is another day of celebration, we call it Gotcha Day. Our kids were born a long way away to people we have never met. We can celebrate and thank God for the what is for us a happy accident of their birth, and we do. But we also mark, a little more humbly, and little more quietly the day we chose them, the day we got them. (And like the historical realities of our nation, there is a confusion of dates involved here.)
Maybe the 4th of July ought to be Gotcha Day for the nation, the day we claim our responsibilities and pledge to serve. And maybe it is a day not for listening to the great, but to the humble, the ones we overlook, the ones who don't have much voice. Maybe it could be a day of healing, or the start of a renewal of acceptance and community. Maybe less "rockets red glare" and more lighting a single candle. Who knows? Can we set hope alight this 4th of July?
Shalom,
Derek
All the armchair historians in the audience will be quick to point out the historical reality that the Declaration wasn't completely signed on July 4th. Or that there is considerable debate as to when it was actually signed. Some argue that no one signed it on the 4th and some say they all did. Most historians argue for an August date, some argue that the last signatures didn't appear until much later - maybe years. I guess that explains why the fireworks in the neighborhood just go on and on and on. They are trying to be more historical. Right.
The other historical reality that no one talks much about is that it was almost a no vote. The Declaration just squeaked by with a late arrival that swayed the vote of one delegation. Plus, the vote was taken on July 2nd and John Adams wrote his wife saying in the future Americans will celebrate July 2nd as an Independence Day! Whoops. Sorry John.
Let me get back to my original question. The little historical diversion was an added bonus, free of charge. You're welcome. But I ask again, just what is it that we are celebrating on July 4th? A birthday doesn't seem quite right to me.
And I was thinking of all of this because of the story of Naaman in our text for this week. (Note to self: work on transitions, that was pretty lame.) No, seriously. There is a connection. Trust me on this. Take a look:
2 Kings 5:1-14 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. 2 Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. 3 She said to her mistress, "If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." 4 So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5 And the king of Aram said, "Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel." He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. 6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, "When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy." 7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me." 8 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." 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha's house. 10 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." 11 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 leprosy! 12 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. 13 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'?" 14 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.
OK, long story, sorry about that. Just think, though, you can bleep over it as you read thinking you've got the highlight. On Sunday morning everyone will have to listen to the whole thing, start to finish. Yikes.
Anyway, this is the story of Naaman's birthday. Seriously. Well, maybe "re-birthday" might be a little closer to the truth. But like with any birth there is a lot of pain involved, there is fear and confusion and a whole lot of uncertainty.
Naaman is a great man. We know he is because it says so right there in the text. Verse on he was "a great man and in high favor with his master" (the King of Aram - because Naaman was a military man, serving at the will of the commander in chief. And expressly forbidden to talk to reporters from The Rolling Petros). A great man with a small problem. A skin disease. It's called leprosy because any visible skin disease was called that. It might have been terminal, it might have been a rash. But it was there and he was worried.
And here's the point, he went to a series of great men and wasn't able to find a solution. Or he found it, he just couldn't see it. It took a less than great slave girl to point to a solution and a less than great set of personal servants to convince him to stop pouting and give the solution a shot. It didn't sound great enough for such a great man to go jump in a river seven times. But the servants argued, "you've come this far, what's it going to hurt. If you were asked to do a great thing, you would have done it without question. Why not do this humble thing and see what happens?"
So, he did, and it worked. And the great man became like a little boy. That's what it says in verse 14. Smooth as a baby's behind, it might have said. He was born again. When he stooped down from his great height to humble himself he renewed himself.
If you go check out the text there in 2 Kings, chapter 5, you'll see there was more to his healing than just a skin treatment in a muddy river. There was a spiritual renewal as well. And the great man who had been an unwitting servant of the Lord (see verse 1), became one by design and intent in the end. He chose to be humble and became great. Happy Birthday?
What are we celebrating this weekend? Birthdays seem to be about what happens to us. We don't choose to be born, we just are. And there is nothing wrong with celebrating the happy accident of the birth of those we love. It should be a happy day. But in our family there is another day of celebration, we call it Gotcha Day. Our kids were born a long way away to people we have never met. We can celebrate and thank God for the what is for us a happy accident of their birth, and we do. But we also mark, a little more humbly, and little more quietly the day we chose them, the day we got them. (And like the historical realities of our nation, there is a confusion of dates involved here.)
Maybe the 4th of July ought to be Gotcha Day for the nation, the day we claim our responsibilities and pledge to serve. And maybe it is a day not for listening to the great, but to the humble, the ones we overlook, the ones who don't have much voice. Maybe it could be a day of healing, or the start of a renewal of acceptance and community. Maybe less "rockets red glare" and more lighting a single candle. Who knows? Can we set hope alight this 4th of July?
Shalom,
Derek
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