Living in the Spirit
June 27, 2016

Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 5:1-14

So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, ‘Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.’ But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, ‘I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?’ He turned and went away in a rage. –2 Kings 5:9-12

There it is again: privilege. It is hard to escape. It is to a degree natural. If we possess it, we certainly, usually do not recognize it as privilege. It is our norm. Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a man of authority, and was used to being treated as such. The act of dipping himself in the waters of a foreign land was against his dignity even if it resulted in his being cured of a horrific disease. There is a lot of that going around in our world today.

We are having trouble acclimating to a global economy. It is already here; it is not something we can stop and probably, if we think about it, do not want to stop. I like fajitas, falafel, and phoy. In the USA unless you are 100% Native American, your ancestors arrived from somewhere else. In all honesty if you are 100% Native American, your ancestors arrived from somewhere else. It was just a very long time ago. I have tracked at least some of my ancestry back to England, Ireland, France, and Germany. I also like fish and chips, Shepard’s Pie, eclairs, and Sauerbraten, perhaps not together.

We have been called to love all of God’s children and share God’s love with all of God’s family. A global economy should make that easier.

Prayer: Lord, help us to see the opportunities in diverse cultures melding them together in Your Kingdom to come. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.