Life is full of surprises, good and bad.  We don't always know what the day will bring when we get up in the morning.  We could come down sick or get run over.  We could lose our job or our best friend.  We might win the lottery or get sued.  Every day we step out the door, we find a life full of surprises, and every day we need someone else to help us, to support us, someone who will keep us focused and moving forward.  Police call this person a "backup".  For them it is usually their partner or another squad car.  For us it can be our spouse or parent or co-worker or friend.  We all need someone we can count on;  we all need a backup on the beat.

          The elderly lady with the smiling young eyes approached Officer Lee as he entered the church.  "You're 203," she said boldly.  '203' was the officer's radio call sign.  "How did you know that?" he asked.  Her eyes twinkled, "I heard you were coming to our church today.  I have a radio scanner at home and always listen to you boys."  The officer smiled.  "I hope you pray as well as listen," he said.  "We need all the prayer we can get!"  "Oh, I do, I do!" she eagerly responded.  "My name's Lucille and I really enjoy following all of you as you take calls."

          Officer Lee had gone off duty at 2 AM that morning but had mentioned to someone on the police radio where he was going to church that day.  Lucille heard the name of the church - it was hers.  Lucille chattered on and the officer learned he had an "unseen partner" in Lucille.  She'd been praying for him and all his fellow officers for some time.  She said she was sorta like his backup.

          After a heavenly worship service, the rest of Officer Lee's day was more like hell.  One of his deputies had a head-on collision with a truck loaded with firewood and was trying to direct traffic as he was going into shock.  His backup deputy called that he and another officer were being fired upon by an angry husband.  Calling for another deputy, Dispatch said, "No more backup, not enough backups."  It was Sunday, after all.  Some days are just like that - never enough backups.

          Somehow Dispatch located a deputy from another force who came to the aid of the shooting call (fortunately the shooter had missed).  And finally Officer Lee got the accident cleaned up and ambulances on their way.  As he drove to the hospital he wondered what other backups he might need that day.  Then he realized he'd had a backup he'd forgotten about - Lucille.  Lucille had been praying for him and all the rest of them.  She had been listening on the scanner, and with every call, she had been praying, his unseen backup.  (adapted from Backup on the Beat by Stephen Lee)

          In today's Gospel Lesson, another man was in trouble.  He was in the worst possible situation you could imagine.  He was alone and rejected, and no one would help him.  He couldn't work or stay with his family.  His body was falling apart and he had to live on handouts or garbage.  People detested the sight of him.  He was dying a painfully slow death.  And worse of all, he was all alone, for he was a leper.  No one, but no one, would be his backup.

          In the Old Testament Lesson Naaman had it a lot better.  His leprosy was in its early stages.  He could still be around people, but the time was coming when he, too, would be shunned and cast out.  Just knowing this had turned him into an angry man.  Why him?  Why leprosy?  Why did he have to endure this, he a wealthy and powerful man?  God had favored him, so why leprosy?

          But Naaman didn't know he had a backup working for him.  A young Jewish girl felt sorry for him and told her mistress of the Man of God, Elisha the prophet.  Naaman's wife listened to the girl.  Then, miracle of miracles, Naaman listened to his wife!  He asked permission from the king of Aram to go find this Man of God.  When he got there and found Elisha, he asked to be healed.

          When you're up against it, you have to ask for help.  When you need something, you have to make it known.  Jesus spoke those very words in Matthew 7:7, words which we have sung today, "Ask and it shall be given unto you, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you."  We know about this at Epiphany.  We have asked, and God has answered us, time and again.

          Pastor Teame Desta, my Ethiopian friend, came by last Wednesday and took home with him three boxes of choir robes.  I'd gotten them from another church, but the color didn't seem suitable, so I asked if he still needed robes.  He came right over.  As he was leaving he asked if I know of a piano or a large copy machine they might get.  He said, "We have a saying in Ethiopia, 'No promotion without asking.'  If I don't ask for these things, we'll never get them."  He's right.  By the way, anyone know of a piano or copy machine to give away to a mission church?

          Naaman got his answer, only not in the way he expected.  Elisha told him to wash in the Jordan River seven times.  "What?" he replied.  "That stinky river?  We have better ones back home.  I came all the way here to take a bath in a stream?" (2 Kings 5)

          Sometimes we ask God for help and don't see His answers.  Naaman went looking for help, but only a specific kind.  He couldn't envision another kind of help, a simple kind, a washing kind.  He certainly couldn't see the Jordan as a healing place.  It was little;  it was stale that time of year;  and it was a Jewish river!  The rivers of Aram were much better, he fumed!  He was nearly ready to go back when another backup came to his aid.  His servant calmed his anger and said, "If the Prophet had told you to do something great, wouldn't you have done it?  So why be angry when he tells you to do something simple and plain?"  Naaman had a backup on his beat, someone to watch his backside, someone who cared enough to help.

          Life is full of surprises, good and bad.  Naaman had a good surprise.  The smelly little Jordan washed him clean.  His skin became like a baby's bottom.  He was renewed and restored.  He was washed clean by the power of God.

          Move ahead a few hundred years, to another leper who found he had a backup.  The Bible said, "The leper begged Jesus on his knees, 'If you are willing, you can make me clean.'  Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.  'I am willing,' he said.  'Be clean!'"  All he had to do was ask!  God hears our prayers and always answers them.  James scolds us saying, "You don't have because you don't ask God.  And when you ask, it's for the wrong motives." (James 4:2-3)

          James has a point, you know.  We don't pray enough.  We use prayer as a vending machine, or as a last resort.  We don't call for a backup - we're John Wayne - we need no one!  The leper in the Gospel lesson knew better, so he begged Jesus for help, and Jesus heard him!  What are we asking God for?  Or are we just standing around griping and whining, hoping things will change?

          There are times in life when we will hit "The Wall."  Naaman knew it, and so did Jesus' leper.  We hit The Wall when we run out of options.  Sometimes we hit The Wall unexpectedly, with divorce papers or a medical report or a report card.  Sometimes The Wall comes close slowly with mounting bills, unresolved feelings or bad communication.  Then - smack! - we're on the ground!  Sometimes The Wall smacks us and sometimes we smack The Wall.  But always we find ourselves flat on our backs, sometimes wondering how we got there, but more often knowing exactly how we got there.  We were just hoping it wouldn't happen.

          When The Wall flattens us, just remember - it's God trying to get us to look up, to open our eyes and see Him.  It's not that God wakes up one day to help us, but that we wake up one day to ask His help.  It's not about God fixing what's wrong with us, but it's about our letting go and letting God work in our lives so He can lead us in the right path.

          Nearly twenty years ago I hit The Wall, awaking suddenly to a terrible church situation.  I left there and hit another Wall in Utah in a fatal car crash.  Then I hit a few more little walls in some incredibly stupid decisions, finally ending up on the floor in Littleton, Colorado, single parent, working for pauper's wages, but at least still alive.  It was then God picked me up by the collar and placed me on a path that led to the best life I've ever known, with people who loved me more than I deserve, and work more satisfying than I've ever known.

          But through it all, my Backup was Jesus Christ.  He hit The Wall for me.  He took a bullet for me on the cross.  He took the devil's best shot and fired it back, turning Satan's biggest victory and into his biggest defeat.  He earned salvation for all, and now He offers it freely to all, by grace, without our having to earn it.  In Jesus God loves us.  In Jesus God opens our eyes.  In Jesus, we have a Backup.  Your story may be different than mine, but the Backup is always the same.

          Trouble will come again, and we all will hit The Wall, but your Backup always is with you.  He is at your side in joy or sorrow.  He is often your partner, always your Savior.  He's your Divine Backup on the beat.  I leave you with a few thoughts from Officer Lee, now Chaplain Steve Lee:

Life is full of surprises, good and bad.
Life is full of things that are outside our control.
Life is full of times when we feel alone and need someone who understands and cares.
Life is full of times when we don't know what to think or what to do.
Life is full of success and joy, as well as failure and sorrow.
Life is full of many things that are simply beyond us.
In this life we live, we have a Friend who walks with us, who is beyond the things beyond us.
He is there when others are not.
He supports us when others do not.
He loves us when others will not.
He gives us backup when others can not.

Copyright © 2003 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.