2 Kings 5: 1-15ab - Go on in Naaman, the water’s fine.
Luke 4: 24-30 - God's hospitality includes the ones we hate.
We believe in the philosophy that says, “You get what you pay for.” If we pay a steep price for an item the expectation is that it will have better value. It seems that this philosophy holds true with our faith. The more we put into it, the more we should expect from it. Therefore, we should do more praying, more fasting, we should be more generous than ever because these things will make us holier people and maybe even improve our chances of getting into heaven. The question is, how much does heaven cost? Is the price of holiness our toll for salvation?
Don’t get me wrong, I would never advocate the kind of faith that demands nothing of us. All I am saying is that faith is simply about a relationship that transcends time and the boundaries of space and life. All relationships require effort, or else they die. Our call to holiness has less to do with buying our way into heaven than it does the quality of our life in the kingdom of God right here and right now.
For some reason, though, it doesn’t make sense to pay a steep price for something as simple as loving God, our neighbor and ourselves with all our minds, hearts and souls. Take it from Naaman, a simple faith heals the deepest wounds and fills our lives with peace beyond any price. The nice thing is that we can afford it.
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