Brief synopsis of the readings: In our first reading from the 2nd Book of Kings, Naaman finds himself suffering from leprosy. As instructed he bathed himself seven times in the Jordan river and was healed of his disease. He then presented himself to the prophet Elisha and professed belief in God and offered a present to Elisha. But Elisha refused the gift. In response Naaman then asks for as much earth as two mules can carry because he will no longer offer sacrifices to any god but the Lord. In Luke’s Gospel Jesus encounters ten men who suffer from leprosy and ask him for healing. He instructed them to show themselves to the priest; they were healed along the way and one of them (a Samaritan) returned to Jesus, praising God and thanking Jesus. Jesus then asked about the other nine who were also healed but did not return. He then told the Samaritan: “Stand up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you.”

Here’s an interesting question: who gets credit for someone’s healing? Of course we believe that God heals and deserves the ultimate gratitude. But do we humans also have a role, and if so, how much and what should we be given in return for our part?

In my life in ministry I’ve had several troubling experiences. Frankly I’ve met a few priests who describe themselves as “healing priests.” I have no access to their hearts and both of the men I’m thinking of claimed they were chosen by God to heal people of various illnesses. In fairness many people testified to these healings and I don’t wish to doubt the veracity of their claims. But while both of them claimed only to be conduits of God’s healing they both bathed in the human glory. One of them actually traveled with bodyguards to keep people away.
He defended this because those who desired healing from everything from cancer to AIDS to depression would often crowd him at healing retreats but I always felt these priests traded on the desperation of who felt this was their only path to health. They also made a point of cashing in on their notoriety. They troubled me because they appeared to have an exclusive contract to God’s healing.

I don’t think God works that way. I don’t think he sets up “healing franchises” where you have to go to certain priests for healing. But it does raise the question: how is healing meted out? Several times we read in the Gospels that Jesus heals men and women and tells them that their faith has healed them including the Samaritan in today’s Gospel. But all of us know people of deep faith who appear to be denied healing. This past week we read about the journalist Katie Couric who is being treated for breast cancer who responded not with “why me?” but “why not me?”.

We can look at this and decide that it’s all random and madness, that nothing we do will make a difference. But that’s no our call. We are, indeed, called to wish for, pray for, and work for healing in ourselves and others. Several years ago I spent a few months with a woman whose adult son died violently. Parents who grieve the death of a child tell us that this is the worst of the human experience, that nothing hurts more than this. But her grief was compounded by the circumstances of her son’s death. After months of hard work she asked if she could pay me as a way of thanking me. I declined that compensation and asked instead that she pray for me. She responded: “Is that all?” to which I asked her if she doubted the power of her prayer. Interestingly enough she had no idea what she was praying for, what healing I needed. But she promised she would and I was grateful for her prayers.

I don’t know why Namaan refused similar compensation but I have a guess. When someone does something for us and we compensate them, it brings us back to even. A plumber fixes my pipes and I pay him. Now I don’t owe him anything and he doesn’t have a claim on me. The transaction is complete.

But love, prayer and healing are not supposed to be transactional. Instead of bringing us back to an equal state perhaps it should bring us closer. If the plumber did a good job I may use him again and I may recommend him to my friends but we have no relationship. But if we bring someone to a place of healing it should deepen our relationship. If we provide insight and encouragement to someone who experiences emotional or spiritual healing we become closer. And if we pray for someone’s healing that should also bring us closer and deepen our relationship with each other and with God. Even if the healing didn’t happen it shows a love and concern on both sides.

The beauty of this is we can pray for healing for people we don’t know and who don’t know us. Every now and again I hear about a “study” that proves that people who are sick heal faster if they have people praying for them. From what I’ve read they take a random group of people in a hospital and ask random people to pray for half of them and measure the results. Many of us believe this because it makes us feel empowered and encourages us to pray for each other. I’m certainly in favor of praying for people in the hospital, but nobody has explained how we can find a group of hospital patients who we know aren’t being prayed for.

That’s what we find in the Gospels. I think most of us were taught that the healing of the ten was about thank you notes and how the nine were “bad” because they didn’t come back and thank Jesus. But maybe they didn’t connect Jesus’ actions directly with their healing. While everyone in that time feared leprosy there were some who were cured and we know this because there was a process for being declared healed of it. The important thing is that Jesus didn’t withhold or reverse the healing because they didn’t acknowledge it. Perhaps they didn’t fully understand who Jesus was and the “in” Jesus had with his Father.

It makes me feel better about the nine because maybe they had friends and family who were also praying and they expressed gratitude to them. At the end of the day, when healing does happen we may have a multitude of people to thank. That will bring us together in the power of prayer.

Oh, and one last thing: if you wondered why Naaman asked for earth carried by mules (I know I did) there’s a simple answer: Naaman lived in Syria and it was felt that God could only be worshiped in the land of Israel. This was his way of bringing some of the land of Israel home so he could worship God there.