For the first 25 years of my adult life, my hands were afflicted with a pesky skin condition called eczema. My symptoms ranged from merely annoying to incredibly painful and included flaking, itching, cracking, bleeding, and swelling. On some days, the simple task of buttoning my shirt reduced me to tears.

Over the years, I visited a number of dermatologists and underwent a variety of treatments in a quest for a cure. In the process, I was poked, prodded, pricked, and biopsied. I had shots injected into each finger. I sat under sun lamps. I underwent acupuncture. I soaked in tar solution. I brushed artificial second skin onto my fingers. I took steroids in ointment, cream, and pill form.

All of these treatments, doctors’ visits, and prescriptions cost my insurance carrier thousands of dollars. And although some of them did – at least temporarily – ease the discomfort of my eczema, nothing seemed to succeed in curing me.

Nothing, that is, until I lunched with a member of the congregation where I was doing my field ed during seminary. Lee was a nurse, and she was also a well–known herbalist on the South Shore. Almost in passing, I mentioned my long–running problem with eczema to her, and I expected her to recommend some exotic, hard–to–pronounce herb. But without missing a beat, she told me to take Vitamin E: take one capsule orally, she said, and also rub the contents of one capsule into my hands each day. That's all. Nothing fancy. Nothing exotic. Just plain old, over–the–counter vitamin E.

Now, being the polite person I am, I kept my skepticism to myself. I just didn't see how something as simple as Vitamin E could help after all the treatments that had been prescribed by all the so-called "experts" over the years. But I had nothing to lose, so I decided to give her advice a chance.
And you can probably write the ending to this story yourself. Within days, my eczema was improving; within two weeks, it was totally gone, and I haven't had any problems in the nine years since. Okay, so now the point of my little story.

In our Old Testament reading this morning, we hear about Naaman, who was a commander in the aggressive Aramean army. Naaman had a celebrated reputation for his military victories, and as a prominent person, he enjoyed all the trappings of his position – honor, power and prestige. But one day, Naaman's world collapsed when he was diagnosed with leprosy. Now, such a diagnosis was really a death sentence, for leprosy was an incurable, fatal disease. And if that wasn't bad enough, lepers were considered unclean and were relegated to the margins of society.

Naaman had a Jewish maid serving in his home, who told him about her God and God’s prophet, Elisha, who had a reputation for miraculous healings.

The desperate Naaman decided to see the prophet, and he arrived with a great treasure of gold and silver, trunkfuls of beautiful clothes, and a retinue of servants and camels, surrounded by pomp and circumstance.

Now, it’s important to understand that Naaman was already humbling himself by seeking the help of the God of Israel. But he swallowed his pride because he desperately wanted to be healed. When Naaman arrived at his doorstep with his entourage, Elisha didn't come out to bow and scrape and greet Naaman in the manner to which he was accustomed. Instead, Elisha sent his housekeeper out with this message for Naaman: "Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean" [v. 10]. That was it. End of prescription, end of discussion.

Now, Naaman did not trust simple, inexpensive cures (cures like Vitamin E). He expected and demanded a great and miraculous healing, one he thought befitting of a person of his rank and stature. He expected Elisha to put him through some ornate ritual, and he was insulted and annoyed that Elisha was giving him such simple advice – to take a dip in the muddy Jordan – and not even giving it to him directly, but through a lowly messenger!

Now, perhaps you can understand poor Naaman. I certainly can. Many of us believe that if anything is worth doing, it must be complicated. Simple solutions are the product of simple people, right? Simplicity should be distrusted, right? I certainly was skeptical that Vitamin E could cure my eczema. Likewise, Naaman was distrustful of the simple solution offered to his tragic illness, and his dignity was upset by Elisha's casual treatment of him.

It was difficult for Naaman to humble himself to go into the Jordan, but he went ahead and tried the prescription. We are told that Naaman "went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean" [v. 14]. Naaman was stunned at being healed, but not too stunned to express gratitude and to give public testimony to the reality of God's power and to the fact that the God of Israel was the one true God. He and his whole company went back to Elisha's house, and Naaman said, "Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant" [v. 15b]. And Elisha responded, "You can't pay somebody for pointing you to faith in God. All I ask of you is that you go in peace."

Naaman had sought a complicated solution to his problem. And he came to Israel overloaded with bags of treasure –– baggage that was unnecessary because God's love requires no payment.

It is easy for our lives to become complicated and overburdened. We do too much, we have too much, and we work too much. And we carry baggage too – regret, guilt, pride, resentment, selfishness. Such baggage can weigh heavily on us; it can gnaw at us, and rob us of peace and joy.

The solution to our problems – the solution to our complicated, overburdened lives –– is much closer than we might dare imagine, and because that solution is so accessible, we distrust it. We can learn much from Naaman's story –– something so simple, that we might be tempted to overlook it.

Naaman learned that Elisha's God –– the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Jesus Christ, and our God, too –– that one true God was the only God who could heal him. Naaman also learned that the favor of our God is not bought with presents or worldly display; our God is not impressed by gifts or status or power. Elisha's God, Naaman's God, and our God, too –– is a God who heals and gives out of mercy and love and grace.

A lot of people –– and I put clergy people right at the top of this list –– like to sit around and get into big theological discussions. We like to ask a lot of questions and await the deep, insightful, revelatory, epiphany–like answers that will somehow bring sense and order to the world. But having a relationship with God is not as complex as we sometimes make it out to be, and God’s love is available to everyone.

We all can experience God's love and grace, which forgives, cleanses, heals, and gives us a fresh start. It’s there for each one of us. We need only to open our hearts, and let God do God’s work in us. Amen.

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