Sermon – Clean Behind the Ears
2 Kings 5:1-14; Romans 6:1-12
11/8/2026
One of the wonderfully fun memories with my children when they were little bitties was “crazy hair.” This was bathtime fun. It turns out that with enough soap and enough ideas, one can give their children all kinds of wild and crazy hairstyles. There might even be pictures of some of the best creations. They loved the massive, fan-like mohawks or the large, droopy horns or the Cindy-Lou Who styled hair hearts. Even just random stalks or clumps of hair were fun with enough bubbles. While all of my children are daughters and had hair to spare making all of this possible, I feel like there is possibility for all little people in bathtime fun. I can even picture hedgehog hair Austin.
While it is easy to imagine the young ones having so much fun in the bath, that is a more difficult proposition for us who are older. For one, I know I do not have nearly the hair up top, but just staying on the feet or safe in the tub is not necessarily easy. The bath is where most people are injured in homes. Jumping into the bath can be a great thing for some and easy as anything, but getting into the bath might be difficult for others. That’s what we are talking about today.
Naaman in our first reading really struggled with taking a bath. The story from 2 Kings is a fascinating look at ancient life for more reasons than I could give in an hour, but the reason I want us to consider at this time is what taking a bath did for Naaman. Naaman was right. It was not about the water. Maybe the rivers back home were better, cleaner, or nicer. Maybe the rivers back home were better for bathing. People would bathe in fresh moving water when they did bathe, and maybe the rivers back home were better than the Jordan. I have seen the Jordan with my own two eyes, and all sections of the river are not the same. It would also depend on the recent weather as to whether the water was muddy or silty at the time. The water was not the issue, though. When servants in the Bible give instructions or advice to the ones in charge, we should listen. The Bible likes to teach us what is right or true from the ones without authority or privilege or power. God seems to enjoy giving wisdom and insight to the ones who are least likely. Here the servants told Naaman the way to go. First, go to Israel where there is a prophet, and later, simply wash as the prophet commanded. It’s not about the water. It is about faith. Trust in the word coming from God. Trust in the voices of those who call us to better life. Trust in the ones trying to help. Trust in how God invites us to be restored and healed. Trust in God’s grace.
Once Naaman does trust in God’s guidance, he is immediately and miraculously healed of his skin disease. That is the point. Once people trust in God, they find a new world open before them. Naaman had been stuck in what was obvious in front of him, but when he is finally willing to go past that, he realizes a whole new world in faith. He is overwhelmed and tries to give Elisha all his treasure, but that misses the message. Sure, be grateful, but live a life seeking to honor the faith God has given you.
Washing is nearly always about faith in the Bible. Ancient Israel was not a clean place. There was no soap, and water was not easy and accessible, especially clean flowing water. Bathing was an “every-once-in-a-while” occurrence, but it was critical before holy times and holy places. Washing was about getting ready to meet God. Communities that were serious about meeting God in holiness made a point of washing. The Essene community at Qumran (Dead Sea Scrolls) was a dedicated Jewish sect who took purity and cleanliness and holiness as serious as anyone. The Temple in Jerusalem was corrupt to them. Those folk at Qumran washed every day before their holy, communal lunch and whenever else needed, but it was crucial to be ready to meet God’s presence in their lives.
This is the same kind of idea behind John in the wilderness calling people to wash to get ready to meet the Messiah of God. Be ready to meet God. Being the same-old, same-old people was not good enough if we could prepare to meet God. If we had the opportunity to prepare, that was the way to go. Washing was a wonderful and meaningful symbol of being cleansed from the dirt of the world before stepping into God’s presence. That’s why Moses had to take his shoes off before stepping on God’s holy ground. Imagine all the dirt and filth that a shepherd’s sandals might have. But we are not our sandals. Come to God with the desire to be blessed. Come to God with the desire to be renewed and restored and healed. Come to God with faith in God’s Holy Spirit. Come to God for new life.
It’s not about the water, though. People get hung up on how and when we get baptized. We get hung up on whether we were sprinkled, dunked, sprayed, or doused. Some of our Orthodox sister churches take baptism to a kind of depth that shocks American sensibilities: it is not hard to find videos online with priests dunking babies upside down in the water three times to symbolize the gravity of baptism. That is taking Paul to heart, demonstrating the symbol of what it might mean to die in Christ so that we might live in him, but to appreciate what Paul is saying, we have to go deeper than washing and water.
Who wants a new life? Who wants a new life in the loving grace of God? Who wants a second chance or a better way? Who wants a value and love and a future that this world and its powers cannot provide? Who wants to be free from sin and brokenness and to be a new person?
Who wants to wash and to be ready for the life that God has in store?
Washing itself cannot make us ready, but it is a symbol that we can touch and do to show that we are seriously committing ourselves to seeking this new life. Today, we hold Austin in the heart of God as a people of faith, a family in faith, and we promise to God and with his family that we will do our best to raise him in the grace and love and faith that we all want to know. As we are in Christ, we invite him to join us. The newness, the hope, and the gift of being God’s people delights us and gives us reason to rejoice. We who were once no people are now God’s people. We have died to the old life and have been raised to new life in our Lord. We have gathered at the river and found salvation. The love of God is for you and me and Austin and everyone who wants to be a new person. Water shows us our life, but faith is our life. This is a life worth sharing. To God be the glory. Amen.