Sun. Feb. 12, 2012 (Jon Nofziger)

Jon Nofziger showed us a number of photos--light coming into a dark room through a crack, a flower blooming in a harsh desert, a tiny urban garden planted on a pile of rubble in Haiti, a Jew who received a heart transplanted from a generous Palestinian donor. We have our own desert blossoms in our time's of crisis, reminding us that God's purposes can shine forth at all times. Naaman (2 Kings 5) was at the height of his military and political career when his self-image was ruined by a distasteful skin disease, meaning that he no longer 'looked the part'. An unnamed Jewish slave girl was a flower in his desert, offering him hope of a cure. Naaman was slighted when the prophet did come to see him; do we think God must personally look after us according to our expectations? Naaman tried to purchase healing; a black criminal market supplies human organs world-wide as transplants, no questions asked; do Christians with resources expect to receive better health care than others? Naaman was not healed by faith alone but had to act. How do we experience of the reality of God in our lives, light entering in cracks in the darkness of our lives? [JEK]

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