Command and Control

Text: 2 Kings 5:1-14
Theme: “Command and Control”
6th Sunday after the Epiphany
February 12, 2012
First Presbyterian Church
Denton, Texas
Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

IN THE NAME OF JESUS

1 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.[a]
2 Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
4 Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5 “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents[b] of silver, six thousand shekels[c] of gold and ten sets of clothing. 6 The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”
7 As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”
8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”
11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.
13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” 14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.


The title of the song, in its English translation from the original French, is “As Usual.” First recorded in 1967 by French singer Claude Francois, “As Usual” tells the story of a man who had become bored with his relationships and with his existence in general. He thought his life was ending. This song became a hit in Europe.

Paul Anka, an American singer and song-writer visited France about at this time and became aware of the song. He tossed the words around in his head, and, upon returning to New York City, he re-wrote the lyrics and gave them a more positive spin. At the time, his good friend, the incredibly talented Frank Sinatra, was going through something of a career crisis. Anka, excited about his re-write and the tune of the piece, contacted Sinatra, and (long story short) Sinatra recorded it. “As Usual”, now titled “My Way”, became one of Sinatra’s signature songs. Anka’s lyrics had changed the meaning to be about a man looking back fondly on a life he lived on his own terms.

A powerful line from the songs goes as follows:

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels and not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows and did it my way!

These words fit the life of one of the main characters in today’s Old Testament reading to a T. We are told of Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army. Interestingly, we’ve heard of Syria in the news recently as there is unrest in the regime of Syria’s current leader, Assad. But nearly three thousand years ago in Syria, there was no unrest. All was well. The credit, in no small part, was due to Naaman. His boss, the king, gave him high marks. We are told he was a valiant soldier. He jumps off the pages of Scripture as a man among men, a profound leader, a warrior. When he said “jump”, his men would go “how high”? When he gave an order, it was obeyed without question. People liked him; he had served his nation well. The Scripture declares that God had given Syria victory through this man. Naaman was accustomed to command and control – of people, of his army, of any situation that came his way. He would appropriate to himself the words of the song: “The record shows I took the blows and did it my way!”

But there was one problem in his otherwise perfect world. He was sick. He had a disease, an awful and horrible disease – even a socially stigmatizing, ostracizing, and embarrassing disease. It was called leprosy. It was a progressive condition that affected the skin. Even worse, he wasn’t able to command it or control it. Valiant warrior that he was, he could push back foreign armies; he could win decisive victories. But he was powerless over this.

The nation of Israel and the nation of Syria (served by Naaman) were relatively at peace with one another at the time, although were tensions. It was an uneasy peace. Richard Nixon once said that there are two kinds of peace: real peace and perfect peace. Real peace is the absence of war. Perfect peace is the absence of conflict. Real peace can be achieved in our world, he thought. But perfect peace, he surmised, could never happen, for there will always be conflict. There were conflicts then between Israel and Syria. Minor border skirmishes broke out here and there. During one such skirmish, the Syrians took a captive young girl from Israel. To make a long story short, this young girl became a servant/slave to Commander Naaman’s wife.
She said to Mrs. Naaman at one point, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria. He would cure him of his leprosy.” It was just a suggestion. In fact, that is all she could offer. This little girl had no command or control over anyone or anything. She was a slave. Someone else owned her identity. Nevertheless, she puts forth a possibility. And apparently Naaman, the man of command and control who had no command or control over the leprosy, was willing to do anything to be rid of this terrible disease.

Naaman went to his king, to his commander in chief, and told him what the little slave had said. The king, in turn, wrote a diplomatic letter to the king of Israel, presumably asking to allow this foreign warrior to visit Israel. To use popular language, Naaman not only had government health insurance, he had what we might call a “Cadillac” policy. He took ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing. That’s a ton of money and resources. He would do whatever it took – the sky is the limit! name your price and I’ll pay it! – to be rid of this leprosy. The Syrian King told the Israelite King that Naaman was on his way.

Now, the King of Israel, himself accustomed to being in command and control like political and governmental figures in our day, was not pleased with the letter from Syria. He thought there was a hidden agenda. Perhaps he was being tricked. He thought it was a political ploy. He didn’t take the letter sitting down. He tore off his robes in anger and said: “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy?” He perceived the letter as a threat to the command and control he had. How do you like it when you’re faced with a threat – real or perceived – to the command and control of your own life?
The Israelite king was a political figure. But meanwhile, just up the road, there lived a religious figure – a prophet, to be precise, named Elisha. Elisha heard about the king having a meltdown. He fires off what we would today call an email to the King: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”
Protocols were observed; the chain of command worked. Fast-forward a bit, and we see Naaman – with his horses, chariots, and military entourage – pulling up to the house of Elisha the prophet.

But Elisha – the religious figure and prophet of almighty God – didn’t even bother to answer the doorbell. In a stunning lack of common courtesy, with a not-so-veiled attempt to maintain what command and control he thought he had, he sent a messenger to Naaman with the following directions: “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

Now it was Naaman’s turn to have a meltdown. He left the front door in a rage and said“I thought he would surely come out to me (in other words, “extend me some courtesy”) and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.” “Good grief,” he must have thought. “Are not the Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them?”
Naaman got ready to leave. But his servants caught up with him. One of them said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to some great thing, would you not have done it? (In other words, “You’re a man of command and control; you can do anything!)

It was good advice, and Naaman followed it. Swallowing his pride, he went down and dipped himself in the muddy Jordan River seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored. We are told his skin became clean – “like that of a young boy.”

Now I ask you: who is the main character in this story? Think of the command and control types, the powerful ones. Consider Commander Naaman, or Naaman’s wife, or the King of Syria, or the King of Israel. Are they the real “movers and shakers” in this story? What’s the moral of the story? Who sets the best example? Who really is in command and control of the narrative? Someone gives the default answer, the good Presbyterian answer, and says: “Well, God is in control as always.” Yes, that’s true. But who does God use?

There are at least two people, and they’re the easiest ones to overlook. They’re easy to overlook because they have no command or control. They are slaves and servants – a little Israelite girl who had been kidnapped, the slave to Naaman’s wife, and the other lowly servants of Naaman himself who were in his entourage. And all these easy to overlook slaves and servants did was SUGGEST. The little girl suggested that Naaman go see Elisha. The other servants of Naaman suggested that Naaman do what the Elisha said. It was the power of suggestion – and it didn’t come from the wizards of smart; it didn’t come from the ranks of the elite or the educated; it didn’t come from command and control types. It came from the least likely place.

The leprosy shows up in today’s Gospel Reading from Mark. Did you catch it? The diseased person, certainly not a command and control type, offers a suggestion to Jesus. “If you choose,” he says, “you can cleanse me.” Jesus, moved to his core with anger at the disease and its ramifications and filled with compassion for this leper, touches the man. The man is healed, cleansed. To even touch a person with leprosy was to become unclean yourself. Jesus becomes unclean so that the leper can become free.

Carry this through. Jesus becomes the sin, so that we can be forgiven, be free.
As Christ’s followers, we have absolutely no command and control as the world today understands it. We are the little slave girl. We are the servants of Naaman. We are the leper that came to Jesus. And all we have is a suggestion to this world of command and control. It’s God who is ultimately in charge. It is God who, in Jesus Christ, is love.

Amen.