So let us pray. God, we often. Forget that Noah's covenant was for all people. And if we are to take that story seriously, that means everyone on this earth who have been spread across the earth in their differences from the Tower of Babel 

are beloved by you and worthy of respect and our curiosity and love. So may your spirit continue to guide us in ways that we can understand and appreciate the beauty of those you have made and all of creation which you have made, so that we can get a better understanding of who you are, which then transforms how we know ourselves. Amen. So since last week, things have not been going super well for the kingdom of Israel. 

It's no longer a united kingdom of Israel, hence the like going to see a prophet in Samaria. So we're in the Northern Kingdom because they've already split. And the northern kingdom is interesting because. Because while the southern kingdom of Judah, that's where Jerusalem's coming from, the lineage of David, there's a kingly leadership lineage that happens there. 

I promise I'm good at talking sometimes. But in the Northern Kingdom, there's these power fights for who's in charge next. Cause it's not a clear lineage that's happening. And I say, but there's a power fight. But there was also power fights within David's family when it came to who was coming up next anyways. 

So, like, that's standard. It's just since it's not all in the family, it's a little messier in the Northern Kingdom. And while a few weeks ago we had Nathan as a prophet working directly with King David in order to hold King David accountable, Elisha is a different type of prophet, one who's not actually even known by the king, apparently because they don't really understand like what Elijah's capable of. 

Well, Elisha is capable of and Elisha is a descendant of Elijah. Their names are incredibly similar sounding, which makes it super helpful. But the J came first and the S came second, if that's helpful for you. And so we're this week looking at Elisha S H A in order to understand them. But you'll also notice that they're different types of prophets, not just in location, but also 

they seem to have some sort of deeper knowledge of how to find healing that the prophets that worked directly with the kings didn't seem to have. Maybe there's like a trade off. Like your proximity to power means, like if you're closer to power, maybe you're not closer to the healing properties of the land. Who knows? It's not super clear. 

There's a whole bunch of different types of prophets in the Bible. The only thing I can confidently say is that none of them are trying to be seers, because they're not seers. They're not trying to tell the future. They're just trying to speak about natural repercussions that they expect to come. And so the story actually begins with Naaman, who has it all, absolutely everything. 

Political power, military power, exorbitant wealth. Except he has some sort of skin issue, a skin disease. It's not full on leprosy. Some translations translate it as leprosy. Others say like a skin disease. 

Even Naiman says that it's just like a spot. Like if he just waves his hand over the spot, I guess says hello to it, then it'll be fine. And whatever this is, it's not like a temporary diaper rash kind of thing. This is something that's been bothering him for a while, but not keeping him from being able to do his job really well. And so he's got the means to be able to handle just cosmetic surgeries, and he's got the funds to do it. 

He doesn't have to worry about whether or not his insurance can cover it or not. And so Naaman is. He's seeking help in our story after trying to find it everywhere he can with the resources he has. And in the story, it keeps reminding him to look in places that empire, power and dominance say, are not worthy of our attention. First, the enslaved girl that they stole from Israel is the one who even tells his wife who to get healing from, which means not only 

did his wife have to listen to the enslaved girl, but then he had to listen to his wife. And sometimes that's hard enough for some men, especially ones that think that they have access to everything. And then when he goes to his king to get the blessings to go to the king of the company or the country that they're fighting still to get, like a nice little letter, we come in peace, don't worry about it kind of thing. He's the king, interprets this information as like, oh, clearly if there's someone in the land of Israel that can handle this, the king would be able to do it, and sends him to the king. 

At which point the king, in deep despair is like, ripping his clothes and just sees it as like, you're just trying to set me up to prove that I'm not as powerful as you and you're just going to take us down. And so from there, Elisha has heard about it and sends word to the king to have Naaman come to him. And this had to be a severe blow to Naaman's ego, because when Naaman arrives to Elijah's residence, Elisha doesn't even answer the door. He sends someone else out there to talk to him. 

This man has rolled up with the annual wages of hundreds of people to try to seek this healing, and he won't even open the door for him. So once again, he has to talk to a servant. And he gives him a simple answer. And the simple the scholars don't quite agree on, like, why Naaman seems to be bothered by it, but at least his servants convince him that, like, this is an easy answer. 

Come, come on, man, try it out. But like, in a way, I interpret the go bathe seven times in the river as you dirty go, just take seven showers, you're gonna be fine. Which, like, also sounds offensive. And so this guy is just being humbled left and right. And when he goes and does it and actually enters into the waters, which aren't the waters back home, which clearly the ones back home must be better. 

So I guess the opposite of the grass is greener on the other side. He finally experiences this healing and then proclaims that he's going to follow God. And it seems like Naaman thinks that the God of Israel is physically located in the land because when he won't accept payment, he takes two mule loads of dirt instead so he can have like the dirt around with him for, I guess, future healings or maybe worship. 

It's super unclear what he plans on doing with this dirt, but us as readers, we know that he still hasn't fully gotten it. While his proclamation is there is no God other than the God in Israel, his actions say there's no God. Except for if I go to this one physical place, then there's a God. But the story is telling us that the God of Israel doesn't care about location, it cares about taking care of people. So what does this actually mean for us? 

Much like so many of the stories so far in the narrative lectionary this year, we're reminded that we have to look for wisdom and healing in places that are counter to the wisdom and guidance provided by capitalism, power, greed and dominance. Which means the first thing we have to do is be able to listen to people that aren't like or aren't like us, that aren't like the ones that we've been told are supposed to have all of the answers that maybe even honestly, our political leaders are saying are the people we should never trust. 

Because that's exactly what's happening here, is that the people that Naaman should have never trusted are the people that leads to his healing. And I also find it interesting that Elisha is the one, since he's no longer close to the king like Nathan is. He's close to the land. So while Nathan has a good understanding of what the king is doing and how the king should be moving, Elisha has a good understanding of what the land does and how the land can provide healing and wholeness and restoration. 

I was reminded of a few things when I made that connection. First, as the Monday Night crew for Spiritual Care First Aid very much understand. I am a big fan of Ted Lasso. And in the fourth season there's one scene from it that is very, very popular. And that one scene is where one of the coaches is in the locker room just sobbing. 

And then the head coach comes in, gets down to her level, asks if he can sit with her and just breathes with her. And the sitting beside someone who is mourning is away and just breathing intentionally. Breathing as like nice and loud and intentional is a way of co regulating our nervous systems. It looks different for different things. Yesterday when we were having the carpet changed out in our house, our dog was very much not okay with all the noises that were happening. 

He was hiding under the desk in the basement. And so eventually I got him to come upstairs after a nice little walk outside to kind of reset everything and then took him up to Arlene on the couch and she just like wrapped him in a blanket and just like held him there. And eventually he was able to like settle and take a nap because like we need each other for this co regulation stuff. But the reality is that nature's our original CO regulator. 

Being able to just go and sit outside and breathe with the trees is the OG way of co regulating our nervous systems, of finding calm and stillness. And when I was on vacation in Monterey Bay, California back in September, I had a few experiences that mirror the story in a way. 

First, someone really wants to talk to Konstantin. And that's okay. When we were there, I had never been to California before. But as we were getting dropped off by the Uber driver he was telling us all about like, oh, there's a lot of really good different types of creatures at the aquarium because the they come straight from the bay. 

So like the deep sea creatures that you see there are actually in this deep crevice in the bay that has access to the deep waters of the Ocean, which I would have had no idea. I mean, I could have probably read a sign somewhere. But the fact that people that are local and understand the ecology of the land are able to share more about it. And then when we were taking a tour along the coastal highway, we had a local lady who just. 

She told us everything. She's determined that there's one particular house for this lady that she used to drive for. Is the house that flashy couple that a lot of people know, Taylor Swift and her husband probably own now because they were shopping and then this lady had moved magically and. And so it must be them. 

But then as we get to the land, she's like, I can take you to this spot, but the fog is probably bad. And so do you want to try this spot instead? Because it's lower and you'll probably be able to be under it. This intimate understanding of what the land can do and what is happening without even driving 20, 30 minutes out to get to it. 

And she took us to this one spot that has been publicly accessible for generations and recently bought out by some rich guy who thinks he's going to turn it into a fancy, like, eight house condominium and like eight fancy airbnb type things. And she's like, if you go down, like, I know that they've been, like, tearing a lot of the trees around, but, like, if you go down and then you go under, you'll be able to. There's probably benches that the kids have left behind down there. Just sit on the bench and appreciate the silence that you're not going to ever be able to experience again when you come back. 

And that was the most powerful part of our trip. The two of us, Arlene and I, just sitting on this bench, watching the waves crash against these rocks, listening to all that was happening. And if you sit down long enough, your breathing has slowed down and all of the wildlife around you has realized you're not a threat, and they start to move around, too. And you get to find out who you've been breathing with the whole time. 

But if it wasn't for the wisdom of people that were local to the land, I would have never been able to have that experience in that space ever in my life. And that's the type of wisdom that this story is inviting us to go looking for, to talk to and learn from the people who know what the land is capable of doing. Because the ones who know what the land is capable of doing know just a little bit more than us about what the divine is doing in our world. 

And so in order to help us do that, I made it so that my sermon was only a page long of outline. So that hopefully we'll get a little extra minutes today for you to just go outside at some point. Today the high is like 60, so maybe grab a sweater and just exist for a little while and hang out with the spirit as the spirit dances around you in nature and helps you co regulate your nervous system. Just a little bit of healing today. 

So let us pray. God, you are the one who created all things and through all things we are able to connect with you. So may we remember to look for the wisdom in others, to seek the wisdom of the land through generations who have passed down this knowledge. Not just human generations, but by sitting outside with the generations of nature that have came before us. May your spirit lead us and heal us so that we can be restored to wholeness. 

And out of that restoration we can then be your people who love boldly, serve joyfully and lead courageously. Amen.