"Rage, rage against the dying of the light!" intoned the poet Dylan Thomas. Illness and anger are intimately connected in the human psyche, as are healing and joy. Naaman, the Aramaean general, came to Israel seeking a cure for his leprosy. He went to the king, who became angry because he suspected that Naaman's request for healing was really a ruse to justify a military attack. When Elisha the prophet heard of his plight, he sent word for the general to come see him. However, before Naaman arrived, Elisha again sent word for Naaman to wash himself seven times in the Jordan River. Now it was Naaman's turn to be angry. "What arrogance! What an insult! We have rivers ten times better than the Jordan in Damascus!" he said. Nevertheless, persuaded by his servants, he washed in the Jordan and was healed. Many lessons can be gleaned from this passage, but maybe the most important for the present day is that God desires healing--physical, mental, and social. Naaman's body was cleansed from his disease. Naaman's attitude toward God and his spokesperson was corrected. But was his relationship with the king of Israel rectified and the semi-constant state of war between Aram and Israel abolished? Apparently not. As children of God, are we doing all we can to heal curable diseases, retrieve wandering souls, and mend fractured relationships, both interpersonal and international?
The psalmist rejoices because he has recovered from a serious illness, and in response he offers thanks to God. Thanksgiving psalms like this one contain stereotypical, even generic language, so that they could be used by a variety of worshipers bringing their thanksgiving offerings to the altar. When we are in the depths of despair, the psalmist says, all we can see is darkness, and even God is hidden. But when health is restored and we look back on our troubles, we realize that "weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes in the morning." Life has both joys and sorrows, but joy can prevail if we let it. Rather than focus on the negative, like a weary old hypochondriac who seems to get perverse pleasure out of imagining that the worst possible diseases have descended on his body, we can clothe ourselves with joy, if we decide to do so. I've known rich kids so despondent that they took their own lives, and I've seen poor kids in the streets of Africa and Latin America running, laughing, and playing like they had everything in the world. Joy is a choice.
Following up on his charge to be "all things to all people," Paul uses two illustrations from the field of athletics to demonstrate the level of commitment he expects of his readers in their day to day ministries to other people. To be successful, runners and boxers must train religiously, exercise self-discipline incessantly, and keep their eye on the prize continually. Despite Paul's remarks regarding winning the race, life is not a competition with anyone but ourselves. If our sister is smarter, no matter, as long as we use the intelligence and common sense we have to find ways to feed the poor. If our neighbor is stronger, it's OK, if we're using our strength to mix cement floors for people who have slept every night of their lives on the bare dirt. Brains and brawn are wasted if we keep them to ourselves.
As in the story of Naaman, illness and anger combine in this passage from Mark. The surprising thing is who gets angry, and why. In response to the leper's plea, "If you choose, you can make me clean," the traditional reading of v. 41 says that Jesus was "moved with pity." However, several ancient witnesses read "becoming angry," and it is likely that this was the original reading. Why would Jesus be angered by the leper's request for healing? The answer probably lies in the leper's opening words, "If you choose." These words seem to question Jesus' willingness to help, just as later in the same gospel Jesus will be angered when people question his ability to help (Mk 9:23). These words are directed not so much at the man who requested healing as at the society that made him suspect that no one really cared about him. Christians have a right, even a duty, to get angry at a society and a church that shows so little compassion for certain types of people that they question whether even God loves them. "I do choose; be made clean," was Jesus' response, proving that he was different from society. He cared, not only in words, but in action. As his followers, we should do the same.