Insiders and Outsiders

I just want to start today’s blog by saying a heartfelt “Thank you” to all of you who are reading along. I really appreciate it. I also want to say thanks for all of you who are commenting on the posts. I don’t always have time to respond to each comment, but please know that I read them and take them in. YOUR reflections and experiences are so meaningful and important, so thanks for sharing them on the journey. And if you ever have other feedback – about a post, about what you want to hear more about, about what you want to hear less about(!), etc. please let me know!

And now back to our regularly scheduled program…

I was reading an article the other day about a business that was choosing a new CEO. The top candidate for the job was someone from inside the business who had been with the company for years, and people assumed she’d be the next leader. In a surprising move, however, the board went with an outside candidate. This really shook up the organization and caused a stir because they did not expect an outsider to get the lead role.

Neither did the folks who were listening to Jesus.

But before we dig into the gospel story, we need to look at the first reading from 1 Kings 5. This tells the story of Naaman the Syrian that is referenced by Jesus in the gospel reading.

Naaman the Syrian was a commander in the army of Aram. Naaman was a successful warrior and was held in great esteem. But…Naaman had a dreaded skin disease (likely leprosy). Naaman’s wife had a servant girl who was from Samaria and was familiar with the leadership of Israel. She had also heard of the great prophet, Elisha, who served the King of Israel. She suggested that Naaman go seek a cure from the king and his prophet. And so the King of Aram sent a letter along with Naaman (along with some money and beautiful cloth) to the King of Israel asking for help in curing Naaman.

In the reading from 1 Kings 5, Naaman gets an audience with the king and makes his request. When the King of Israel reads the letter, we’re told he “tore his garments.” Back then this was a way of saying, “I will have nothing to do with this!” Naaman, in fact, was a commander in Aram’s army – an enemy of Israel. Why on earth would the King of Israel want to help him?

Long story short, Elisha the prophet gets wind of this and gives instructions to Naaman on what to do. Naaman is disappointed because he thought the prophet would call down God from heaven and heal him in some dramatic fashion – not just tell him to go wash in the Jordan River! (In fact, Naaman disses the Jordan as a dirty river and remarks that there are cleaner places where he could go and wash!). But ultimately, Naaman follows Elisha’s instructions and is miraculously cured! 

I know that’s a lot of backstory…but, trust me, it’s important. I mean even by itself, it’s a great story about trusting God (even if we’re reluctant!). But this story will also serve a dramatic purpose in the gospel.

In Luke 4, Jesus has just come out of the desert and introduced people to his ministry. He has just finished reading from the scriptures and is getting a luke-warm reception at best! The listeners were saying, “Isn’t this Joseph’s kid? Who does he think he is coming in here and lecturing us about God?!” But the people also know that he’s becoming famous and there’s a lot of buzz.

I grew up in Manchester, NH. One of our famous hometown heroes is Adam Sandler who is now a big movie star and Hollywood personality. The traditional expectation of famous folks is that they do “special things” for their hometowns. So people like Adam Sandler speak at graduations, donate money to the Boys and Girls Club or provide uplift to their people.

But of course Jesus says, “I know you’re going to ask me to do all kinds of wonderful things here for my homies…but I can’t. You know why?” I can imagine there’s a silence in the crowd when they hear this. A little throat clearing. And that’s when Jesus says, “Because YOU PEOPLE don’t have enough faith!”

Oh no, he didn’t just say that! 

Jesus’ public relations crew must have been losing their minds right about now saying, “Hey folks, we can’t take any more questions. Jesus has got a lot to do. He’s been under a lot of pressure and doesn’t really know what he’s saying. Thanks so much for coming to hear him…” as they tried to whisk him out of the synagogue.

But Jesus goes on…and says, “Remember in the scriptures when there was famine in the land, and Elijah the prophet was sent by God to the widow in Zarephath? There were a lot of starving people in Israel, but God chose to save the widow who wasn’t even a Jew. And remember the story of Naaman? There were a lot of lepers who were Jewish but God didn’t heal any of them. God healed an outsider instead – an enemy even. Know why? Because that outsider had more faith than any of the Jews!”

At this, the crowd loses it and jumps up to grab him and throw him off of a cliff. They KNOW the stories that Jesus is talking about, and they’re not flattering stories. His words stir a ton of defensiveness in them and hold up outsiders as being more faithful than the faithful themselves. Somehow he passes through them to live another day.

What might all this mean for us?

Our scriptural tradition very frequently offers us stories related to outsiders and insiders. The people who think that they are the insiders are actually on the outside. The people who are “blind” are the ones who can actually see clearly. And the ones who are rejected are the ones who are actually chosen.

Today’s readings should give us pause anytime we’re certain of our own rightness or righteousness. Today’s readings should give us pause when we get defensive about something related to our faith. Today’s readings should give us pause when we think we have following Jesus all figured out. Today’s readings should give us pause when we think that other people need to change (and not us). Today’s readings should give us pause as we remember that, perhaps, God can’t work in the world because we’re the ones who are stuck.

So often in the faith life, we can easily get sucked into thinking that God sides with us, takes our exact perspective or needs to act in a certain way. But even God says, “my ways are not your ways (Is. 55)” and the great spiritual writer, Anne Lamott, reminds us that, “You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”

As Mark Twain once said, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

Maybe for today, we can try to be open to something new that goes against something “we know to be certain, but just ain’t so.”