This is the fifth week in our fall message series, “8^th Grade Faith.” In this series we have been examining the fact that for too many Catholics today, their faith formation pretty much stopped in the 8^th grade, right after receiving the sacrament of Confirmation. Confirmation, the sacrament that empowers us with a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit so that we can, as adults in the Church, participate in the Church’s mission to make disciples of all the nations, instead became more of a graduation from Church. A lot of Catholics just stopped going to Mass on Sunday. Even for those who have continued to come to Mass, it is often more out of a sense of habit or duty.

In nearly every other area of our lives we have matured and become more responsible as we have gotten older. Yet in our faith, too many are stuck in the 8^th grade. This message series is about moving on to a more useful approach to faith.

This week we are going to talk about developing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As kids, we basically just accepted what we were taught. Our teacher told us that the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, and we believed it (independence was actually declared on July 2, 1776, and the Declaration was actually signed on August 2, 1776; the final draft of the declaration was approved by Congress on July 4). As children, information and facts are constantly coming at us, and we tend to just absorb it all in an unquestioning, naive kind of way. We took it on faith, as we still take a lot of things on faith. The same is true about Christianity. We're given information and we believe it. But think about it. While you never questioned, you never verified it.

At some point, for faith to take root and grow and flourish in us, it needs to be personal. It can't just be something that we take on the word or the instruction of others. It has to move from an external teaching given to us to an internal reality driving us. Christianity is a community experience, but it is also, an intensely personal one. When Christianity becomes personal, it changes everything because it changes our life. And so, to look at how this could happen, we're going to look briefly at a story in the Bible from 2 Kings. First and 2 Kings trace the story of the kings of Israel who followed King David, the greatest king of Israel.

However, the story we're looking at today is not about a king, or even about an Israelite. It's about a Syrian by the name of Naaman. Naaman was the head general in the Syrian army. He was very successful, very respected, and very wealthy. He was also, however, a leper. Back then, leprosy was a very contagious skin disease which literally ate away your body until you died, and there was no cure for it. It made you a social outcast.

Naaman was feeling very panicked when he discovered he had leprosy. During an earlier raid into Israel, Naaman had taken several Israelites as prisoners, and he had made one young girl his slave. She told him that in Israel there was a powerful prophet named Elisha, and that if Naaman went to him, he would ask God to heal him. Naaman figures it is worth a try, so he packs up a bunch of treasure, and with a group of his servants he heads to Israel.

Naaman’s trip has a bunch of twists and turns, but let’s jump to when he finally arrives in front of the cave where Elisha is living. Naaman asks Elisha’s assistant to get the prophet. But Elisha will not go out to Naaman. Instead he tells him to go plunge himself in the Jordan River seven times, and he will be healed.

Naaman is livid. After all he has gone through to get there, and the prophet is disrespecting him by not even coming out to talk with him. After all, Naaman thinks, the rivers in Syria are much nicer than the Jordan River. He is about to storm off, but one of his servants reasons with him. He says, that if the prophet had told him to do some might work, like climb a mountain, in order to be cured he would have done it, so why not just do what the prophet says even if it seems simple. Naaman is convinced, so he goes to the Jordan River, plunges into it seven times, and when he comes out he is completely cured. His skin is now like a new born baby’s.

Surrender brought healing. But along with that gift, Naaman receives another gift, which is an even greater gift. He returns with his whole retinue to the prophet, and on his arrival, he makes this declaration, "Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except the God of Israel." Before, Naaman had known about the God of Israel. He had heard of Him. He'd read stories, but now, he's experienced Him. He has experienced His power and His presence. He came to know God in a personal way, and it changed his life.

The circumstances that led to Naaman's faith were two-fold. First, they sprung from need. Second, he surrendered his will. Naaman had a choice to make, and it was a difficult one for him. The choice was to exchange his pride for God's power. It was his pain actually that moves him beyond his pride to embrace God's plan, and embracing God's plan opens him up to God's power. Well, for many people, this is how they come to a personal faith.

Pain can awaken us to the reality that all is not well with us, that we need more, we need help, we need healing, we need hope. The good news is that God specializes in healing.

It's always an exchange. We give Him our mistakes and failures, and He gives us a clean slate. We give Him our neediness and brokenness, and He gives us healing and wholeness. We give Him our will and our way. We give Him our pride, and He gives us His peace.

We all have hurts, needs, and brokenness. Jesus wants to heal us and make us whole. He wants to pour out His Holy Spirit upon us so that we can have new life. Right now take a moment to think of something in your life that you want Jesus to heal and make whole. Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, I want to experience the healing of Naaman. I want to know personally your power and your presence in my life. I accept that you sent your Son Jesus Christ to die for me. Thank you for the sacrifice of your Son, so that I can be made whole. Today, as best I can, I surrender to you so I can move into a more personal relationship with you. I make this prayer through Christ, our Lord. Amen.