Yesterday my son and I were hanging out in his room, when he told me he wanted to show me something. He made me lay down on the bed and hang halfway off, propping myself up with one hand, and told me to look in the mirror. The way the afternoon sunlight hit the mirror at the foot of his bed illuminated a few swatches of dust that had been missed when we were cleaning and dusting the house a few days earlier. At this angle, and in this light, the dust splotches resembled the form of a man's face. Jokingly, I jumped up and bowed before the mirror and said it was a sign from heaven. In mock devotion, I told him it was like the man who saw the likeness of Mother Theresa in a cinnabon and the man who saw the face of Jesus in a piece of burnt toast. Perhaps this was the likeness of the Jews who rejected the preaching of Paul and threw dust in the air (Acts 22:23). He didn't laugh either.
Obviously we were being a bit mocking and sarcastic, but is it not concerning that people will line up for blocks or spend piles of money to see, or even bow in worship before pastries that they perceive to be signs from God? Many of these same people would never do any of the above acts of "devotion" to hear the simple preaching of the Bible. Whenever I read about people making a pilgrimage to worship a mildew stain on the side of a house (see the movie Henry Poole) or bow before the wood grain of a door that "looks like Jesus", I cannot help but think of Naaman.
You know the story of Naaman (2 Kings 5). He was a great and honorable man, but he was a leper. When his wife's Hebrew slave girl speaks of a prophet in Samaria that could heal him, he makes the long journey from Syria in hopes of being healed of this horrific and fatal disease. Why wouldn't he? After all, this was his only hope, why not take a chance, even if it didn't work. The problem began when the great prophet didn't come and see Naaman himself, but instead sent his personal assistant to handle the task. Don't judge Naaman too harshly. How would you react if you traveled all that way, only to have the doctor send the receptionist out to the waiting room to tell you to "take 2 of these and call me in the morning" without ever looking you over himself?
Problem number two comes in the form of the prescription. All he is told to do is dip 7 times in the Jordan River. Imagine the receptionist giving you, not a prescription for an ointment or a pill, but orders to take a bath. In fact, take seven. We would probably storm off just like Naaman. The real issue here is WHY did he get so offended? Was it because Elisha didn't come out to see him? Possibly, but who cares if the doctor makes a house call or calls in a prescription as long as it works. Was it because the remedy wouldn't work? Maybe, but truthfully he hadn't tried it and nothing else would work, so don't knock it. I think it was because it was just too easy. Naaman even indicates that he thought the prophet would wave his hand over him and shout out to his God. He thought there would be a big production, it would be harder, take greater sacrifice or something more than this.
Herein lies the problem with man. How often do we need to be reminded "my ways are not your ways saith the Lord" (Isaiah 55:8)? Like Naaman, man often has problems with PERCEPTION and PRESCRIPTION. We assume that a great and might God would make a grand and mighty entrance, yet He was born secretly, in a stable in a a small town, to poor parents. We assume that the Almighty would always use His might; lightning flashes, thunder crashes, oceans part and the earth shakes, yet sometimes He speaks in a still, small voice, or proclaims wisdom from the mouths of babes. Our perception is that a God with the creativity to invent a platypus, would surely use something quirky like toast to reach out to us. The truth is, He simply called us by His Gospel (2 Thess.2:14). If perception dictates reality, we need to change what people perceive. For many people God's prescription for sin is too simple. Shouldn't I have to go on some long journey, suffer for a long time, work it off by doing more good than bad, fast and pray for days, sacrifice my child? These attitude aren't just contemporary views, they were held by people in the Scriptures (prodigal son of Luke 15, rich young ruler of Matthew 19, Saul of Tarsus in Acts 22:16, Israel in Micah 6), but they still exist today. People seem to believe that there should be "more to it" than repenting and being baptized for the remission of my sins based upon faith in Jesus.
Naaman was prepared to die a leper because the prescription for his problem didn't match his perception of how he would be healed. He was looking for and wanting to d something greater, when all God wanted to know was if he would do something humble and simple. The truth is, God has made the Gospel plan of salvation so simple, even a caveman could obey it. Thankfully for Naaman, his friends "talked some sense into him." Isn't that what people looking for God in a box of Krispy Kreme's need? Someone to talk some faith into them. Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved...how can they be saved except their be a preacher...faith comes by hearing the word of Christ (Romans 10:13-17).
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