Reflections on "What Is God Doing?" 2 Kings 5: 1-27

Lessons relearned about preaching:

1.  I have to narrow the focus to create an effective sermon.  This story is such a great story with lots of little nuances, but the sermon needs the focus narrowed, which I did not do.

2.  Have the conclusion locked in and stick with it.  I didn't have much of a conclusion to the sermon, so in the Sanctuary service I free-lanced and ended in a somewhat unintelligible last couple of words (not what is written in the text below).

3. the danger of preaching narrative is that being in love with all the details makes the sermon ramble and try to cover too much with very little depth.

But, it was a great story to read, and I loved getting to play with it all week.  Of course, the upcoming week has two stories from the Book of Daniel as the texts, so I'll be challenged to live out the lessons I learned this week.

“What Is God Doing?” February 9, 1014; 2 Kings 5: 1-21; OT Stories series; FPC, Troy;

Introduction: Great story.  So much going on – any of us can find something that speaks to us in this story.

Surprises in the story.

Move 1:  Israelite slave girl's surprising openness about her faith.

a.      Notice that it is the captive Israelite slave girl who shares the idea that the Israelite prophet Elisha could heal Naaman of his leprosy.  

1.      Imagine that you have been taken captive by the enemy.  Uprooted from your home and are now a slave in this new place.

2.       How willing might you be to help the commander of the army who has leprosy?

3.       I might not be so willing to share with my captors this liberating news of what the prophet Elisha could do.

4.      But this servant girl does.  She tells them about Elisha, God’s prophet and his ability to heal.

b.      IN doing so, the servant girl reveals her belief, her expectation that God will be at work in anyone’s life.

1.      Powerful faith statement about God

2.       Not only does not belong to the Israelites, but God can be at work even among the Arameans, who do not even believe in God.

4. Those among us who tend to limit who we think God loves or where we think God might be at work might want to pay attention to this servant girl.

Move 2:  Naaman – frankly, I don’t know what to do with him.  In his story, I find one surprise after another.

            a.  First of all, I’m surprised at his resistance to the opportunity to be healed.

                        1. after heeding the servant’s advice and seeking out Elisha, Naaman becomes incensed when Elisha tells him to wash seven times in the River Jordan to be healed.

                        2.  that seems rather ridiculous.

                        3. We might expect Naaman to jump at any chance to be healed, but he balks at doing something he perceives as silly in order to be healed.

3.      Only after his servants convince him to give it a try does Naaman do it, whereby he is healed.

            b. maybe we should not be surprised.

                        1. sometimes we think of God as only the God of the grand and glorious.

                        2. We miss the God who is at work in the daily routines of our lives.

                        3. the God whose healing powers can be revealed through being washed in the River Jordan.

            c.  Maybe Naaman is having trouble getting over himself.

            1. Somehow he is surprised and irritated that a man of his stature and power has to do surprisingly little to allow God’s healing powers to be at work.

            2.  We have a clue about that expectation of Naaman when we read the text and hear Naaman in vs. 11 say something to the effect –“Well, I expected Elisha to come stand before me.”

            3.  Surprise for Naaman – his healing is not about what he can command and do, but what God can do.

c.  The text plays on that word to reveal Naaman’s next surprise – his confession of faith.

            1. naaman, who expected the prophet to come stand before him in vs. 11 before he is healed, then goes and stands before the prophet in vs. 15 after he has been healed

2.      And standing before Elisha, he responds to his healing by confessing his faith.

3.       He also tries to pay Elisha for his services as if God’s healing powers were for sale, but Elisha refuses.

4.      Instead, Naaman commits to never sacrificing to another god, only to the God of Israel. 

c.      God's surprising willingness to accept Naaman's imperfections.

1.        God could have made an example of Naaman.

2.       Something like, “If he does not think that he can be healed by something simple like washing in the Jordan, then I’m not going to heal him.”

3.      There could have been another character in the story, a faithful Israelite maybe, who was cured of leprosy by washing in the River Jordan seven times.

4.      Wouldn’t that have been a great story?

5.      We could have told that story for generations and still made the point about God’s healing powers.

6.      But instead God heals Naaman anyway.

7.       And then as part of his confession of faith Naaman asks Elijah if it’s ok to bow down to

8.                  Something akin to a Buckeye fan asking if he can root for the Wolverines when he’s with his friend who went to the University of Michigan.

9.                  The answer is clearly, “No, you cannot shift your loyalties when it’s convenient.  You have to be faithful all the time.”

10.             Except Elisha does not say that.  Instead he sends Naaman off in peace. 

11.             Elisha expresses a graciousness that is not often found in the OT actions of Israelites toward their enemies.

12.             Elisha expresses a graciousness of God that far exceeds our expectations.

Move 3:  King of Israel's surprising lack of faith.

            a.  King of Aram's gifts make King of Israel afraid.

                        1.  A few words on the social context of this passage may clarify the seemingly strange narrative. Ancient Israel was a socially embedded society. Goods and services were exchanged not out of money (coinage would not be invented for a few more centuries). Instead, goods and services were exchanged out of social relationships.

Therefore, it is completely sensible that Naaman traveled down to Israel with an enormous cargo of gifts to present to the king of Israel. The gifts were not for trade, but the foreigner Naaman was trying to create a social bond with the Israelite king. By creating a social bond through gifts, it obligated the Israelite king to give hospitality, and in this case to find a cure for the general’s leprosy.

But these gifts put the Israelite King in a bind. He could not refuse the gift

 By accepting the gift yet not curing the leprosy, the king would violate the required social responsibility. He could sense an impending confrontation with the Aramaeans.

Thus, he cries, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me” (verse 7). Roger Nam Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies George Fox Evangelical Seminary Portland, Oregon http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1715

1.      Maybe we should not be surprised by the king’s inability to see God at work in those circumstances.

2.      Certainly the track record of Israelite kings is not very good.

3.      But Elisha gets it.

4.      The servants seem to get it.

b. Reminder to us – your position in life does not mean you are going to be faithful.

1.      Our faithfulness is lived out when we trust in God.

2.      When we expect God to be at work.

3.      When we allow God to work through us.

Move 4:  Finally, I find the actions of Gehazi rather surprising.

a.      Gehazi is Elisha’s servant after all.

1.      He has witnessed how God has worked through Elisha.

2.      Surely he has some sense of who God is and how God works.

b.      But Gehazi does not see God’s healing as an act of grace.

1.      He sees God’s healing as an opportunity to get rich.

2.      He races after Naaman to suggest that maybe Naaman ought to pay something after all.

3.      I’m a little disappointed that Naaman does not see through Gehazi, but I suppose the request for payment fits Naaman’s initial instinct that God’s services could be bought.

4.      But God’s grace cannot be bought and Gehazi suffers for his betrayal.

Conclusion: I confess that I read this story and I’m not sure that I can tell you exactly what God is doing in all the little details. 

But I do see a God of grace revealed and a call to faithfulness.  Amen.