"Some Great Thing"

The second book of Kings tells us that Naaman was "a mighty man," "captain of the host of the king of Syria, . . . but he was a leper" (2 Kings 5:1). A maid of Naaman's wife knew of a prophet named Elisha who could surely cure Naaman of his leprosy.

So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 

And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 

But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. 

Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. 

And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? (2 Kings 5: 9-13)

Ultimately, Naaman did was and was made clean, but I'm not sure we're being fair to Naaman when we say that it wasn't a "great thing" that was asked of him. He was a commander of armies, a VIP, and yet, he was hardly shown the respect a man of his stature might have expected. He had travelled a long way to see the prophet Elisha, yet he was met by a servant of Elisha instead. And the task that the servant of Elisha had given him was to wash in the river Jordan - a river that would later have historical significance, but that was arguably inferior to other rivers in terms of cleanliness. Naaman had already shown humility by taking advice from his wife's maidservant. Now, he was being told by another servant to bathe in a river that was, it seems, less clean than the rivers of Naaman's own land. No, Naaman hadn't been asked to do "some great thing," like to scale a mountain or slay a dragon. He had been asked to demonstrate a great deal of humility, which was probably a much greater task.

For many of us, expressing humility is a "great thing." I know it shouldn't be, but it is. Those who have the ability to let go of their pride, an attribute described as "the universal sin, the great vice," are stronger than most people. And those who are humble enough to follow the prophet's counsel, however simple it sounds, are wiser than most. I think Naaman did a very great thing by washing in Jordan seven times - he overcame himself.

We each have vices to overcome, and some of us have different vices than others. While, for some of us, it's easy to be humble, or generous, or forgiving, or diligent, it may not be quite so easy for others. While it may appear to be a simple thing to wash in a river a handful of times, I think it may have been a great accomplishment for Naaman to overcome his pride. So, let's not belittle the challenges or achievements of others. What's an easy thing for you may be a "great thing" for someone else. We should also not be too hard on ourselves. Things that are easy for others may be great challenges for us. Each person has different sets of strengths and weaknesses, so it really isn't fair for any of us to compare ourselves to others or to compare other people to us. We all have our own challenges, and while one person's challenges may not be such a "great thing" for another person, I'm sure it's "some great thing" for them.