When I was first ordained, I didn’t know how to dress for gatherings of clergy. I remember that I was always wearing a suit or jacket when everyone else seemed to be in jeans and sweaters. When I thought I’d dress comfortably, everyone else was dressed in suits. It’s easier now. Our own bishops rarely dress formally, except for visitations or funerals. My past confusion about dress code reminds me how we often negotiate in our head and in our actions what we think is most appropriate for an occasion.

         I thought about this when I reflected on Naaman, and his visit to Elisha. He brings along with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of garments. What do you wear to a healing? What is the appropriate hostess gift?

         Naaman is suffering from leprosy. In his day this could have been any skin disorder, but the terrible thing about leprosy in that day was that it made people outcasts. They could no longer participate in community, but had to live outside and depend upon the charity of others. Naaman was a general of Aram. The king of Aram needed his general, so he sought a cure. A slave girl from Israel suggested he go to Elisha the prophet in Israel. Naaman goes to the king of Israel seeking a cure, and carrying a large retinue of gift bearers. The king of Israel is terrified. What can he do for this man, no matter how much gold he brings?

         Everyone thought that they were doing the appropriate thing. They all thought that they knew how everything works. Naaman thinks that all he has to do is bring enough money and the king of Israel will produce a cure. The king of Israel thinks that Naaman and the king of Aram must be looking for a fight because he knows this is an impossible request. No one knows how God works.

         Elisha sends word to the king – not to worry, I know what to do. He tells Naaman to wash in the Jordan River seven times and he’ll be cured. Naaman is appalled. That muddy river! Aren’t there better rivers in Damascus? Why did I come all this way? You’d think for the price I’m offering the holy man would at least jump up and down or wave his hands and say some magic words! A levelheaded servant suggests to Naaman that if the prophet had suggested something more difficult, he would have done it – so why not give it a try. Naaman bathes and his skin is made clean. God does not work the way we suppose. There is no need to impress God or pay God. God heals because God is merciful, and God’s mercy cannot be bought or sold.

         A leper walks right up to Jesus and declares, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” The man shows faith not only in his words but also in his actions. He crosses a lot of barriers that everyone else takes for granted. Everyone knows that lepers keep to the outskirts of town. Everyone knows that lepers aren’t supposed to approach anyone, for fear of contagion. Everyone knows that leprosy is a sign of God’s disfavor – they must have done something to deserve their illness. Everyone knows that he should not dare to approach a holy man.

         Jesus also crosses an unspoken barrier. He acknowledges the man and even touches him. I do choose. Be made clean! The man is cured instantly. No need to even bathe once in the Jordan! In touching him, Jesus himself becomes ritually unclean. Perhaps this is why he tells the man to go quietly to the priests and get declared legally clean. Perhaps Jesus wants the man to be restored to community. Maybe Jesus just doesn’t want the attention. Maybe he doesn’t want people to get the wrong idea about who he is.

         The result of the healing of the leper is that Jesus becomes famous and he has difficulty traveling because everyone wants to see him. Isn’t that a good problem to have? Doesn’t Jesus want people to come and hear his message? That’s the way it works, right? Jesus is merciful, and Jesus is proclaiming a message of freedom and new life, but not a message of miracles. Jesus hasn’t come to do miracles. He has come to offer the complete miracle we all need. Jesus has come to transform hearts and to give us all new life.

         The healing of the leper shows how far Jesus is willing to go. He crosses over all of our barriers and he rejects all of the accepted ways of doing things. It is not that Jesus is some sort of iconoclast who wants to destroy society. Jesus wants to do more than to replace the institutions and patterns that have outlived their usefulness. Jesus is offering an entirely new way of living. He is offering new life, eternal life. He is doing more than healing our bodies. He is giving us new hearts.

         The question for us is what do we have to give up that we know to be true? We assume that we know how everything works. We develop ways of working together that we know will work. We relate to the surrounding community in the way we always have. It’s time we re-examined whether or not we are following God’s way.

         I’m not saying that the old ways of doing things are wrong simply because they are old. We are blessed with many traditions that give us wisdom and sense that we are connected with generations of faithful people. Our faith is not some monolithic objective thing that we have to carry or work around. Our faith is a living relationship with God. We have to constantly work to deepen and enlarge our faith. We have to look to see the new things God is doing – in us and around us.

         Paul uses the image of a track meet. To win the race we have to work. The work is not to copy the challenges of the past. Our work is to follow God faithfully in this moment. We don’t really “win” as if we have defeated someone else. We are training to seek the path God has given us and we are training to follow to the best of our abilities.

         It’s easier to have customs and traditions that are comfortable. God doesn’t call us to be comfortable. God calls us to live. As we are ready to give up those things that no longer give us life, we are closer to following more faithfully the path that leads to real life.