Today’s lessons and today’s date, July 4th – Independence Day – present us with a rich tapestry of images…images of healing, of acceptance, of courage, of humility, of endurance, of goodwill, of peace, and of course, love.

The newspapers are filled with articles about Independence Day and what is going on in our country right now: worry over the oil spill and the havoc it is wreaking – will people on the Gulf Coast spend their day at the beach or not? How free are we when states start to pass laws where anyone who looks like they might be from South of the Border can be stopped and searched? The Supreme Court ruled for the first time that everyone has the right to “own and bear arms”…a scary thought when already we see how some quickly people lose their tempers and use guns to work out their anger.

On the Desperate Preacher’s Site and on the House of Deputies Email list people debated back and forth over whether or not to talk about July 4th – and if so, how to present our country: be patriotic – don’t be patriotic to we are a great country to but we’ve made some terrible mistakes country to right now we’re a struggling country….church and state don’t mix…yes, they do…and so on.

Today in the Hebrew Scripture we encounter a great commander of an army who receives healing through the compassion of a captured slave; the apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians and said, “Let us not grow weary of doing what is right. And whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith”; and Jesus appointed 70 people (someone commented – “why that’s our whole congregation!”) to be his agents, sent them out to places he intended to visit, and told them to offer peace and healing to all they encountered.

Rich words, rich stories on a day in which we celebrate the beginning of our country which contains its own rich stories. There is irony in the story of Naaman, the grand and proud commander of the army. In one of his conquests he had stolen a young woman from the land of Israel – maybe as a gift for his wife.

But his greatness did not keep him from suffering the ravages of leprosy. He probably clothed himself carefully from head to toe, this showed his rank and at the same time made sure no one could see what his body really looked like. This man was used to thinking and fighting in terms of huge – immense – enormous – grand. And in the story a little slave girl, with no name and no rank, stepped out of her servant role to give him advice for healing. She said he needed to go to Israel – to the very place he had just ramsacked - to see a prophet who could heal him. There was a miscommunication and the message to heal the commander went instead to the King of Israel.

The King of Israel thought it was a set-up, a trap to cause even more destruction in his country. Finally things got straightened out and Naaman’s situation was explained to the prophet Elisha, known as the man of God, the one who took on the double dose of Elijah’s power from the mantle last week.

Naamen, filled with his own self-importance, parades to Elisha’s door. Theologian Walter Bruggeman says: "We move with him in the zone of greatness. He walks and talks with kings, he rides at the head of an army, and he has the wherewithal to assemble a great treasure to offer in return for a cure he thinks he can buy, "the best available health care, no doubt anticipating a private, luxurious room for his period of confinement. Everything can be bought, after all, when you live on top of the world.”  

But surprise Elisha didn’t even come out to see Naaman, he simply sent word to him that Naaman was to bathe in the river Jordan seven times. Pretty simple thing to do but Naaman was used to being treated with great respect, with awe, with fear and he did not like Elisha’s instructions. He would have to take his clothes off, expose his leprosy ravaged body to whoever was around – something that would make him feel much less than commanding.

He complained. He resisted. He started to leave. But again, some other servants, the nameless, rankless ones, pointed out to him that if the prophet had told him to do a really difficult thing – he would have done it. But maybe in the long run it was a big thing because in order to healed by the power of God, he had to take off all the trappings of his rank, his authority, his wealth, his power and finally he had to let go of his pride. At last, Scripture tells us, Naaman went into the water and was healed. And his skin became like that of a young boy.

Sometimes I think one of our biggest stumbling blocks to healing and reconciliation can be our pride – whether as individuals or even as a nation…. our nation, so dominant, so mighty, and yet, right now, in desperate need of comfort, security and health. It is very hard to hear the voices of those whom we deem “less knowledgeable or less in stature” than we.

Paul’s words in Galatians give good advice to any person of any stature: “ Let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.”

Let us not grow weary in doing what is right and whenever we have an opportunity let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.

What would the world look like if everyone took the opportunity to do right and to work for the good of all? No more wars, no famine, no young children dying of starvation, no more generations being wiped out by AIDS, no need to carry guns, people all over the world viewing each other as sacred beings, created out of God. The realm of God would be truly in place.

This is at the heart of Jesus’s message to those he was sending out – (don’t you wonder who the 70 were?) Go before me – go in pairs – no one is called to do this alone - take peace to everyone you encounter – accept hospitality – (but, according to The Message version, don’t go from house to house trying to find the best cook) - cure the sick – bring healing – tell people the realm of God is near.

If people don’t accept the peace – just take it back in – but still tell them that the realm of God is near. God has given us all great blessings and possibilities but others need to be told of this in order to continue God’s work.

We all have within us the possibility of being a blessing to someone else – we all have within us the possibility of bringing God’s realm closer to reality – it is very near – even now.

Those seventy that Jesus sent out returned in great joy because they had experienced success in their mission. “Jesus, even the demons submitted to us,” they reported. Jesus told them they had authority to even tread on snakes and scorpions without being hurt BUT he also said don’t rejoice in that – don’t let it go to your heads – don’t abuse that power – rejoice instead that your names are written in heaven.

Those words reminded me of a verse from Lift Every Voice and Sing, a hymn by James Weldon Johnson which speaks of courage and endurance and liberty – a hymn which begins with the words

Lift every voice and sing, till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise, high as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.

But the hymn goes on to say…

“Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee.
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee.”

Those words echoed Jesus: Don’t let it go to your heads and don’t abuse your power.

Jesus was sending the seventy out to proclaim that the realm of God was near – he was sending them into cities where people lived in fear, in oppression, in degradation, in economic depression, in divisions of class and rank – he was sending the seventy out ahead of him – to plant the seeds of hope for better days to come…

He did not say – take peace to some people – he did not divide into categories who could receive healing – even when he said those who reject you, reject me and the one who sent me, he did not say, “therefore you reject them.” He did say, “Tell them the kingdom, the realm of God is near.”

Our faith is based on a God, a savior who brings love and acceptance to all, even those who may not seem to want it or who may be too proud to accept it…at first.

When we became a new creation, a new nation, all those years ago, it was because we were struggling with the issues of oppression, degradation, economic depression and divisions of rank and class. We did not become a nation in order to become the richest nation or to become arrogant or to be so taken with our own importance that we forget about why we came into existence at all.

Many of the church fathers and mothers in our country took that opportunity to bring about a revolution in order give liberty and justice to all. The rector of Christ Church Philadelphia met with his vestry and told them they should no longer pray for the King of England (where we pray for the president). He took out his quill pen and marked through “we pray for our King George, and wrote in “the people of this country”. Think about that – the bravery of, on a Sunday morning, praying in public – not for the king but for the people of this country!

Many unknown and unnamed people put their lives on the line to insure the safety of others – people like Sybil Ludington – a 16 year old girl – whose father was a colonel in the local militia. Upon being wakened in the middle of the night to be told that the British were burning down Danbury Conn- some 25 miles away – Sybil’s father started organizing the militia in their town while Sybil got on a horse and rode 40 miles that night – going from town to town – knocking on doors to warn the inhabitants and to rally them. Her ride, I believe was even longer than Paul Revere’s.

We are a nation that said in the beginning we are all equal – and while it may be debated as to whether or not originally we meant all people – we continue to evolve – striving to get that place of equality because there are people who have not tired of trying to do right and good for everyone.

In 1883 Emma Lazarus of New York City penned these words: (The New Colossus)

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
with conquering limbs astride from land to land;
here at our sea-washed, sunset gates
shall stand a mighty woman with a torch,
whose flame is the imprisoned lightning,
and her name - Mother of Exiles.

From her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome;
her mild eyes command the air-bridged harbor, that twin cities frame.
Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she with silent lips.

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-post to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Keep your pomp and send us your tired, poor, and huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

This is who we say we are – a place where the homeless are welcomed – those fleeing other countries are embraced – We are never just one voice – we are many voices – some Christian, some not – but every voice has the right to be heard – because only in hearing all the voices can we achieve a balance and justice for all.

Naaman had to listen to the voices of those whom he considered servants in order to be healed. The willingness to listen to another person, to be shown another way, always contributes to building up rather than tearing down – whether you’re a person, a church or a country.

Today as we enjoy and celebrate our heritage – both national and religious – let us remember that with freedom comes extreme thankfulness to all who have gone before us, giving so much of their lives that we might live ours to the fullest; and that with freedom comes responsibility and accountability to all who come after us.

In that spirit whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all..