Cleanse Your Head
Speaker: Rev. Matt Henry
Location: Whitney United Methodist Church
Date: February 15, 2009
Cleanse your head. “Omni” magazine, some of you may be familiar with that publication, a science based magazine, once called Richard Feynman, the great theoretical physicist, the world’s smartest man. Now, Feynman’s wife, Lucille, when she read that article, said, “If that’s the world’s smartest man, God help us.” Huh? Only the spouse can say the truth there, right? Huh?
Now this morning we hear the story of a man called Naaman, and Aramean. He belongs to a culture that is a traditional enemy of Israel and Israel’s God. According to the story Naaman is a man of influence. He is a successful army general and wrest by a foreign God no less, Israel’s God. Through his military exploits Naaman is famous, wealthy and powerful, in other words the trinity of temptation for human beings, amen? Naaman is famous, wealthy and powerful and he has a bad skin condition. What’s on the inside of Naaman is affecting what’s on the outside. But the skin condition is not his problem. What’s the problem with Naaman that needs attention? Wait a minute. Somebody said it. Pride. Bingo! Absolutely Brent, excellent. Yes, it is Naaman’s ego. It is the state of his emotional, spiritual health that needs the work here, and modern medicine refers to this as psychosomatic. What really needs cleaning is Naaman’s head. What needs dipping in clean water is his attitude of self and others, for he thinks (bottom line) that he’s worth more than those around him. Even in his diseased state.
When he arrived at Elisha’s house what happens? It’s not being cleansed in a foreign river that’s his problem; it’s his ego, in other words the thought that he’s not part of the problem. His problem is thinking that this Prophet needs to come out of his house and wait on me personally. I only want the pastor to come visit me. Having one of you come visit me is not good enough. Naaman says, “I thought for me he would surely come out.” No, Naaman’s condition isn’t with his skin. He needs to cleanse his head.
Now, some of you are old enough here to remember the late, great George Burns, amen? Now, you know in order to do this I wish I had a really big stogie right now and horn rimmed glasses. Well, I could borrow your glasses but I’d need the cigar. This is what George Burns once said. “When I was playing at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas this year, I went to see a stand-up comedian I know who was appearing at another hotel on the Strip. He did a good show, and by the time I got to his dressing room, he was already holding court for his friends and fans. ‘How about that show!’ he crowed. ‘I was never better. What a performance! I was sharp. I was with it! I had that audience eating out of my hand!’” So George says, “Just in fun, I said to him, ‘I was out front, and I didn’t think you were that good.’ And the man said, ‘Ah, it was the band that loused me up.’” Now you know, I bet George Burns got a lot more laughs when he did that. I thought that was really good, actually.
But this is the point. Naaman needs to cleanse his head of impurities, of impurities of thinking that he’s any less harmful to others then anybody else, the impurity of thinking that he’s inherently different and special, the impurity of thinking he doesn’t need any one else, thank you very much. He needs to be cleansed of the impurity that he can never show vulnerability or weakness.
Now we have another leper story this morning. We have Mark’s leper and Mark’s leper is just the complete opposite. This leper seeks out his healer, begging and kneeling before him. This leper has a skin condition but he has a clear head. A) He admits he’s got a problem. B) He wants to be healed of it. And C) He proactively seeks the cure minus Naaman’s whining. And friends, if we haven’t read it closely, pay attention. Jesus has a clean head too. He doesn’t brag about the healing. He doesn’t take claim for it in any way. Instead, he tells the man to give thanks to God by offering a sacrifice. Show your gratitude.
So, what’s the antidote to both body and head being out of control? Self-control. Paul says self-control of our ego, our sense of self-importance, self-control of our fleshly lusts, of anger, and scorn, and pettiness, and the temptation to talk smack about people behind their backs. This is our disease. This is our leprosy. Paul says it best. Run in such a way that you might win it. And Paul’s talking about the prize of salvation, your own and others. Body cleansing, head cleansing friends, it’s all the same to Paul. Exercising self-control, reining in the ego, cleansing your head….it’s about being Christian, Paul says, that they exercise control in all things. “I punish my body,” Paul says, “not THE body, and enslave it so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.”
An early eighteenth century poet by the name of Edward Sanford Martin, he says it best like this:
Within my earthly temple, there’s a crowd;
There’s one of us that’s humble, one that’s proud;
There’s one that’s broken-hearted for his sins;
There’s one that, unrepentant, sits and grins;
There’s one that loves his neighbor as himself,
And one that cares for naught but fame and self.
From much corroding care I should be free
If I could once determine which is me.
This is wonderful, and what Martin is getting on to (Martin, that’s a good name)…..he says, “Within my earthly temple’ there’s a crowd” and he’s talking about himself, and all these entities that live within him.
So my brothers and sisters, together as a world, as a nation, as a state, as a church, as Christians, as individuals let’s cleanse our heads, amen?
These words I give you this morning I speak to you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.