Those We Discount

“Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

Luke 4:27

When we see someone on the street who may be dressed sloppily or someone on the subway wearing dirty sneakers with holes in them along with a torn t-shirt, what do we think to ourselves? Do we find ourselves judging them? Oh, he must be homeless. I wonder what he did to get himself in the shape he is today. Maybe we judge by our actions — we try to avoid them, look the other way, look down, and maybe clutch onto our belongings. If we are honest, I think most of us at some point in our lives have done something like that, either in thought or in action. We’ve judged others. We’ve discounted them.

The Scriptures record the affliction of Naaman, an army commander whose troops captured the Israelites. He was afflicted with leprosy and the little servant girl, who was an Israelite, told Naaman’s wife that if he only went to the Israelite Prophet he could be cured. He did but at first he was unimpressed because the Prophet Elisha did not call down the gods and cure him right then and there. Instead, Elisha told him to go and wash himself in the Jordan. Initially Naaman felt belittled, but after listening to the pleading of his servants, he went into the Jordan and was made clean. This resulted in Naaman saying, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel.”

In the Gospel, Jesus recounts the numerous things God has done in history, including healing those who were not Jews. He reminded the people of the case of Naaman where God healed him, a Syrian, while many Jews suffered from leprosy. Jesus highlighted Naaman’s faith. It is faith that saves, not simply our “connections.” Naaman discounted Elisha and the Israelites, but had come to faith. The Israelites were chosen by God to be a people “peculiarly His own,” but they had discounted God. While Jesus was pointing out the saving actions of God in history, including curing a pagan leper, the Jews grew furious and wanted to throw Him off a cliff.

Just because Naaman was a Syrian, the Jews passed judgement on him and on Jesus when He mentioned how God was merciful towards Naaman and how that had moved him to conversion. But the Jews had no time for that. The Jews listening to Jesus then were so content with their laws and customs that they had forgotten Giver of those laws. Instead of the worshipping the Law (Jesus) that was before them, they worshipped their own stubbornness and attachment to the letter of the law, and in doing so discounted all those who were not Jews.

Who have we discounted in the past because of our own pride and stubbornness? May we never discount someone simply because they do not share our views and opinions or because they look different or appear unkept, because that very person is who the Lord has placed before us so that we might encounter Him. When we discount anyone who may come our way, we discount God. Those whom we discount have much to teach us. Those whom we discount may bring us to faith. Let us ask the Father for the grace of humility and charity so that the next time we find ourselves discounting someone we might say to ourselves, “Lord, teach me to see You in him.”