The real heroes

 

David Letterman used to do top 10 lists on his version of the Late Show. Here is a list of the top ten Superheroes. This is one list; other lists show some variations, but mostly agree on who is on the list. 

 

10- Thor

9- Flash

8- Black Panther

7- Green Lantern

6- Wolverine

5- Captain America

4- Wonder Woman

3- Spiderman

2- Superman … and, drum roll, please ….

1- Batman

 

What does it take to be a superhero? According to a website called Studiobinder, they all have different special abilities, some sort of super-human power, but they have some things in common. They act on a strict moral code; they are always characterized as “good” and rarely stray from that path; and they need to be sympathetic, or the readers and viewers can’t identify with them. (https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-a-superhero-definition/)

In our Bible readings today, we have a couple heroes. We have Elisha, one of the prophetic superheroes; and we have Commander Naaman, a successful military leader.  Then we have Jesus, our favorite divine superhero, interacting with a group of sick people.

… First, a little bit about leprosy in the Bible. Leprosy is a generic term for many skin diseases. Priests were taught to diagnose them and prescribe remedies.

But if the diseases were contagious, the persons with the problem were isolated until the problem was cleared up. They were isolated to protect the rest of the community. We know about isolation for a contagious disease, don’t we!

… Let’s look at the story of Commander Naaman, who has leprosy. His skin disease is not a type that has him isolated from the community. I imagine it may be eczema or psoriasis, or something similar. It is serious enough that everyone notices it. The whole family was aware of it, and of course all the servants – some of whom were slaves captured from defeated nations.

The slave girl serving Naaman’s wife, sighed and said, “If only Naaman would go to see Elisha the prophet. I am sure he could be cured.” The wife passed the hint on to Naaman, and a letter was sent to Israel’s king, eventually putting Naaman in touch with Elisha. When Naaman and his staff arrive at Elisha’s house, however, they are not treated like they are important. Elisha doesn’t appear himself, but sends a messenger to say, “Wash seven times in the Jordan river and you will be clean.”

Naaman objects. “That dirty, dinky river!? Hah! Why, I could have washed in my own rivers which are much better.” But his servants objected. “You were prepared to do something quite difficult. Why not give washing in the Jordan a try? What can it hurt?”

Naaman did just that, and he was cleansed of his leprosy. He said to Elisha, who came out to see him this time, “Now I know there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.”

… In the Gospel reading, Jesus encounters a group of people near a village in the region between Galilee and Samaria. Jews and Samaritans disrespected each other for several religious and political beliefs. In this area, they must have lived together and tolerated each other. But the Jews and the Samaritans both labeled the others as outsiders.

The text says the people with a skin disease kept their distance from him, so it must have been a contagious variety. They called to Jesus, “Have mercy on us and heal us.” In response, Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priests to have their healing officially verified.

As they headed off to find the nearest priest, they realized they had already been healed. One of them turned back. He lay on the ground and thanked God for the healing. It turns out he was a Samaritan. Jesus commented that the others did not bother to stop to give thanks, but this one foreigner, this outsider, did.

… As we think about these two stories, who are the superheroes? They are the outsiders, the nobodies. It was Naaman’s wife’s slave girl who talked about Elisha. It was his servants who urged him to give the Jordan a try. It was the Samaritan who turned around to give thanks.

These folks have no super-human powers, but they have compassion for others. They overlook political differences to help those who are suffering. And they aren’t afraid to speak up, even to those with great power over them.

… We often refer to those who protect and serve as heroes. Seara Burton was a police officer in Richmond, Indiana. She had been with the police force for 4 years, and was days away from getting married when she was shot in the line of duty. After a month on life support, she died.

One day soon after her death, a man who appeared to be homeless walked into the station where Seara had served. He handed an envelope to the Information Clerk at the front desk. The envelope contained 8 crumpled one dollar bills, and a note that said, “People from the street.”

The man had collected the money because of who Officer Burton was. The people who lived on the street knew her as kind and fair. She often checked on the homeless people, to see if they were ok. The man said it was the least they could do in her honor. The people who gave that money may not have known where their next meal would come from, but they needed to make the donation. They were heroes, too.

… I hope you all have someone you can identify as a superhero. Who do you know who is passionate about caring for people who suffer, who isn’t afraid to speak up, who isn’t bothered by being an outsider or different?

I can think about several folks at ULC who go above and beyond normal efforts to make sure ULC ministries happen. We can at least label them as heroes, if not superheroes.

Who else can you think of? What makes them a superhero to you?

Superheroes and regular heroes do what God guides and empowers them to do. When we offer to reach an item on the grocery store top shelf, beyond the reach of a person in a wheelchair, we are a hero. When we offer a drink of cold water to a hot and thirsty person, we are a hero, perhaps even a superhero. When we tell someone about how Jesus makes a difference in our life, I call us super-superheroes.

God doesn’t need us to be superheroes to love us. But those we assist, those to whom we show compassion, those for whom we speak out – to them we are superheroes and it makes a difference to them.

Amen