The following was preached at Veedersburg and Hillsboro UMC on Sunday, July 4, 2010. The text for this week's message is 2 Kings 5:1-14.
Today is our fourth and final week looking at the stories of two significant Old Testament prophets, Elijah and Elisha. We have had quite a time looking at the lessons that we can learn from these two prophets. From our reliance on God’s provision to the need to ask ourselves the question, “What are we doing here?” to the journey and transition we saw last week, there are numerous things that we can learn from Elijah and Elisha. And perhaps what is important for us to realize that these stories aren’t just accounts of something that happened centuries ago. They are part of the living Word of God, and if we allow ourselves to listen to these stories and apply them to our lives, by the grace of God, we will be changed. And change isn’t always a bad thing.
What we see today is a story about a Syrian commander, and if we just listen to the story, we are going to miss something significant. This is more than just a story about a miracle that God performed through Elisha. This is a story that makes some important claims in our own lives, as long as we are willing to listen.
Right from the very beginning, we find out quite a bit about the main character in this story. Surprisingly, it’s not Elisha, but it’s a man named Naaman. We are told several things about Naaman in just the first verse. He was a great man, high in favor with the king of Syria, and he was the commander of the Syrian army. His name, Naaman, actually means “fair, gracious, pleasant.” When we are introduced to him, there is no doubt that Naaman only answers to the king of Syria. But we also see, and this is not an unimportant detail, that Naaman was a great man.
He was a man of character. His name didn’t just mean “fair and gracious;” he was fair and gracious. And remember the source here. This chapter of 2 Kings wasn’t written by somebody that favors Syria. It was written by an Israelite. There is something special about this man that even one of his enemies would speak fondly of him.
Naaman wasn’t just any guy; he was a great man in a high-ranking position. Regardless of your political persuasion, how many high-ranking officials can we say that about? There is a need for great people to be in positions of influence. And that need is in every sector of our lives. We need great people in our government. We need great people in our schools. We need great people in our churches.
This is a fantastic leadership lesson here. Sometimes people want to be in charge because they want to be in charge, but sometimes people need to be in charge because they are great people. Naaman was a great person, and it could have only helped his position as the commander of the Syrian army. People will not always listen to somebody because they are technically in charge, but people will rally behind a great leader and a great person. We will see some of the characteristics that helped make Naaman a great man in a little bit.
There is one more fact that is mentioned in the first verse that is crucial for us to understand this passage. The writer says that one of the reasons he was in high favor with the king of Syria was because by him, by Naaman, the Lord had given victory to Syria. This is very important here, don’t miss this. The word that is translated “the Lord,” and usually in your translations, you’ll see it in all capital letters, that word is “Yahweh.” Yahweh was the name of God revealed to Moses at the burning bush. It is the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the one true God.
So, why is this important? If you asked Naaman at this point in the story why he was so successful in battle, he would say that it was because of the gods of Syria. You see, the thought in ancient times was that the reason why Country A was able to be victorious over Country B was because the gods of Country A were stronger and they defeated the gods of Country B. But here is an Israelite author working with the knowledge that there is only one God, and that God is Yahweh. Naaman couldn’t be victorious because of the gods of Syria, because they weren’t real. They were nothing but stone, wood and metal objects that the people worshiped. They were false idols. Naaman couldn’t have victory because of these; he could only have victory because the Lord, Yahweh, the sovereign God of the entire universe, allowed him to have victory.
The writer of 2 Kings is making a significant statement here. The Lord is God, and it is by his sovereign will that things are accomplished, even if that means His will is accomplished by a Gentile. I’ve said it before from this very same spot; God’s sovereign will will be done whether we take part in it or not. We can be in the game, and be a part of what God is doing. Or we can sit and watch and regret that we never were obedient to God’s will. God’s will will be done, even if it is by a Gentile.
Oh, and did I forget to mention, Naaman was a leper. Now for those who managed to make it through Leviticus in our Bible in a Year Challenge, you know that the Levitical Law is a bit concerned with skin diseases and the healing of these diseases. When it says that Naaman was a leper, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he had leprosy, as we know it. It means that he had some kind of skin disease. For the Israelites, it was a skin disease that would have ostracized him from the community. This was not necessarily the case for the Syrians.
Clearly he was a part of the community because he was the commander of the army. It was very difficult to lead an army in these days and not be in contact with the men. They didn’t exactly have telecommunications at the time. Regardless, being a leper was clearly something that bothered Naaman because he gets word that there just might be somebody in Israel that can cure him.
During one of his raids, Naaman’s men carried off a little girl from Israel. Of course, the unspoken assumption here is that this raid was into Israelite territory. The little girl was put into the service of Naaman’s wife. And one day, she said something about there being a prophet in Samaria, the capital of Israel, who could cure Naaman of his disease. Naaman hears of this and tells the king of Syria that there might be somebody who can cure him. As a result, the king of Syria writes a letter for Naaman to take to the king of Israel.
There would have been a couple of reasons why Naaman went to the king of Syria. First, as the top military advisor, Naaman would have needed to be prepared to talk to the king at all times, so he couldn’t just leave. He had to get permission. The second reason why Naaman went was so that he could get a letter to the king of Israel. This letter would have explained why Naaman was in Israel, and was supposed to reassure the king of Israel that Naaman was not there to wage war. It did not have that effect on the king of Israel.
When the king of Israel reads this letter from the king of Syria, he becomes distressed. He is so worked up that he tears his clothes and cries out, “Am I God? Can I do this? He is just looking for an excuse to start a quarrel with me!” He thinks that the king of Syria is asking him to do the impossible so that there would be an excuse to declare war on Israel. He tears his clothes in anguish, forgetting that Yahweh, the Lord, the God of Israel is the one true God for whom nothing is impossible.
When we are faced with what we think is impossible, do we forget as well? Do we forget that the God we worship is the Lord, the Creator, the Triune God, the Almighty? I have to tell you, more often than we would like to admit, we forget. Intellectually, we may not forget it, but in the practical ways that we live out our lives, we do. We lose hope with our situations in life instead of pressing on in God’s strength. We get discouraged, and, for all intents and purposes, we forget who we worship. Our biggest problems are not issues for God, but we, like the king of Israel here, wallow in our anguish.
Elisha hears about what is going on, and instead of being distraught he basically says to the king, “What’s your problem? Send him to me, and let him see the power of the Lord.” The king of Israel saw no hope and expected a terrible outcome. Elisha sees an opportunity to bring glory to God. Same situation, two different perspectives. Trust in the power of God is a game changer. So, Naaman goes to see Elisha, the prophet who the little girl was talking about in the first place.
This part of the passage is my absolute favorite part. Naaman comes to Elisha’s house with all his horses and with all his chariots, both of which are significant signs of military might. They go thundering down the road. Men, women and children are terrified by their approach, scrambling to get out of the way. And the procession stops in front of Elisha’s house. And what does Elisha do? He sends out his messenger. Elisha is not impressed and cannot be bothered to go out and greet this great military leader of the Syrian army. He sends out his messenger with some very simple instructions – go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. That’s it. That’s the message.
For all of Naaman’s pomp and circumstance, the thundering entrance, the military might, and not to mention the ridiculous amount of money that he is bringing (the rough equivalent of the annual wages of a common laborer… if that laborer could work for 600 years), for all of this, Elisha cannot be bothered to come out and give the directions himself. And Naaman wasn’t happy.
In fact, he is so upset that he is about to just go home. He wanted Elisha to make a big show out of it all, to make it be a production. He says, “I thought for sure he would come out, call upon the name of the Lord and wave his hand in the air, and I would be cured.” He’s mad that Elisha didn’t make a bigger deal out of this visit, and he’s even mad about the instructions to begin with. He thinks the waters of Syria are vastly superior to the waters of the Jordan River. Why in the world did he waste his time coming to Israel if all he had to do was take a bath? He turns to go back to Syria, but he does something that may just be unexpected. He listens to his servants.
His servants come up to him and say, “What’s the harm? If he asked you to do some complicated thing, you would’ve done it, so why not just try to follow his directions and wash in the Jordan River? It’s worth the risk.” Sometimes, in our own lives, we are too proud to stop and listen to the advice of other people. Not all advice is good advice, and, sometimes, free advice is worth every penny, but in this case, it was a good thing that Naaman listened.
He relents of his anger and does as the prophet says. Naaman goes to the Jordan River, washes seven times and his skin is like the skin of a child. It is healed and restored. Naaman wasn’t too proud to listen to his servants. Naaman wasn’t too proud to listen to the stories of a little girl. And Naaman was a great man.
Greatness comes in our willingness to listen to people that we don’t have to listen to. Greatness comes when we set aside our pride for the greater good. Greatness comes when we realize that we are not the center of the universe.
Perhaps one of the biggest things that can hold us back in this life is our pride. We are too proud to listen to others. We think we have all the answers and we know what is best. But we don’t have all the answers. There is a deep need for us to listen to other people who have been placed in our lives. Greatness doesn’t come from knowing all the answers. Greatness comes from listening and carefully weighing what others have to say as well.
As we close out our series on Elijah and Elisha, we are walking away with a lot of good lessons, not only for each one of us as individuals, but there is a lot of stuff that can apply to us as a congregation as well. I want to encourage you to go back over this series on the website, and really start thinking about how the lessons that we’ve learned along the way can apply to us as individuals and as a congregation. My prayer through this whole series is that the lessons we learn from the prophets will stick with us, that we would have the awareness and wisdom to listen. I believe that we can be great, but it is going to come from a lot of hard work, from listening to one another and above all, remembering that the Lord is God, and His will will be done.
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