Today's Scripture Reading (January 20, 2023): 2 Kings 4
I am convinced that sometimes
we need physical touch. The problem is that in our contemporary society, it
seems that all touch has been sexualized. And so, we go without touch, petrified
of the contact we require to live healthy lives. It is something that I have
tried hard to recognize in the people around me. Some are ready to receive a
hand on a shoulder or even an A-Frame hug (one arm, bodies apart.) But for
others, even that level of closeness is too much.
Elisha had promised a son to an
unnamed woman. And this woman had received the promised son, but a little later,
that same child dies. The woman decides to go and meet the Prophet, and Elisha
knows something is wrong but cannot discern what until the woman arrives at his
side and tells him. As a result of the woman’s news, the Prophet commands his
assistant to run to the boy. Elisha impresses upon his assistant the urgency of
the task at hand and warns him not to stop to talk to anyone. When the assistant
arrived where the boy was laying, he was to place Elisha’s staff on the boy's
body. Elijah’s assistant follows the Prophet’s instructions to the letter, but
nothing happens. And so, he rushes back to Elisha, who is not far behind as he
brings the mother toward his son. The staff hasn’t worked as Elisha believed it
would, so Elisha rushes to the boy’s side, who is lying in the room that Elisha
had normally occupied on his visits.
The Prophet must have been
frustrated. First, it seemed God had hidden the disaster of the boy’s death from
him. And now, his staff had proven powerless to fix the problem. And so, Elisha
goes into the room with the boy, closes the door, and begins to pray. Both
Elisha and Elijah understood their place in the system. They didn’t perform
magic tricks for the masses. They were nothing more than an extension of God.
Great things happened in their midst because God willed them. And nothing would
happen if God was unwilling to move in their midst. Jesus may have commanded
the dead to rise, but all Elisha could do was beg God to change the situation.
I am not sure what message Elisha
might have received from God. But the next thing the Prophet does is to crawl
on top of the boy's body, mouth to mouth, eye to eye, and hand to hand. No
words are needed, just the touch between the boy and the man of God. Elisha
feels the body warm to his touch, but the miracle has not yet been accomplished.
Elisha gets up and prays again before he assumes his position on top of the boy
again. And this time, the touch of the Prophet is life-giving, and the prayed-for
miracle becomes a reality in the small room on the roof of the faithful
Shunammite woman’s house.
Unwanted sexualized touch is
life-taking. But that doesn’t mean that touch isn’t needed in our society. Non-sexual
touch is life-giving. We all need the touch of a prophet through whom God is
working. I am convinced that some of us need that touch as much as the boy in
that room did. And we can all be conduits of that touch if we are willing.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 5
No comments:
Post a Comment