Sermon at Grace Episcopal on 2-15-09

2 Kings 5:1-14
Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, "If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. And the king of Aram said, "Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel." He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, "When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy." When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "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." But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, "Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel." So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha's house. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean." But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, "I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?" He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, "Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, `Wash, and be clean'?" So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.
I want you to think of the greatest fear you face today. It's kind of hard to do when you're not afraid. Our fears can dominates our thoughts, our life, our days and even our nights. I want you to imagine today what your life would be like if that fear were gone. What would it be like to have the victory and overcome your greatest fear? You don't even have to IMAGINE it…It's already possible in light of scripture.

One of the greatest voices of this generation - Larry the Cucumber from Veggie Tales, sings this song: "God is bigger than the boogie-man. He's bigger than Godzilla and the monsters on TV. God is bigger than the boogie-man and He's watching out for you and me."

2 Kings 5 tells the story of how God dealt with the fears of someone who almost lost everything. This lesson can apply to our lives today. There are three main characters in today's study:
o A MAN... Naaman, a commander of the victorious Aramean army
o A MAID... she has no name but certainly was a hidden hero
o A MESSENGER of God... whose name is Elisha.

Naaman was a brave, highly respected military man. He was greatly decorated for his military genius, but there was one dark cloud over his life. He had leprosy. The disfiguring disease that we know so well on Moloka'i, in that day it was incurable and terminal. It was frightening and overwhelming and something you couldn't hide from others. His leprosy potentially could rob him of his position, his wealth and eventually his life.

How about the maid? Years before, an enemy had gone out and taken captive a young girl from Israel. She served as a servant to Naaman's wife. But she still remembered her spiritual foundation: what she had learned about the one true living God. She told the general's wife about the prophet, Elisha. She offered a spark of hope. But at this point in the story the Naaman's hope was in a man and not in God.

Since Naaman was such a VIP, the King of Syria, sent him to the King of Israel with a letter and a huge offering of money. Like most in our world today, the first attempt to overcome any fear is to buy the fear away.

The King of Israel thought that this was a trick to cause a war. He believed that the King of Syria wanted HIM to cure Naaman. Now this man knows he isn't God. He's not capable of healing anybody. He rips up his clothes as a sign of frustration and anguish at the impossible. There is NEVER a thought that enters the King's mind that God may be at work in this situation. His fear of being invaded caused him to give up hope.

Enter the messenger of God. Elisha heard the news and sent a message to the King. Naaman went to Elisha's home but the man of God did not come out of the house. He simply sent a Word from the Lord to Naaman. Elisha was so confident in God's ability to heal this general that he didn't even get up from watching Oprah.

Elisha pointed out that it is only the power of God that can heal you. It is your obedience to His word that is the key to overcoming your fears. Elisha shows me how vitally important it is for us to point people to Christ and His word rather than tie them to our personalities or positions. But at this point, Naaman's hope is still in this man. He doesn't know the Lord. He doesn't recognize the power that Jesus Christ has. He didn't understand that when we are obedient to God's commands, it opens the doors to miracles and healing in ways we could never imagine.

So Naaman was furious! He wanted to be healed; but he wanted it on his terms. His reaction tells the story. "You won't even come out of your home to meet me and then you ask me to wash in the dirty Jordan when there are beautiful, clean waters back home!"

Now we are not told whether the servants who urged him to listen to Elisha included the girl who had known God. But I believe her faith still influenced what happened next. The general was told him, "How can it hurt, we're already here...go ahead and get wet." Since everything already looks hopeless, why not try to do things God's way?

Sound familiar? When all else fails, why not try things the Lord's way? Better yet - why wait until everything else fails? Try to step out in faith and trust God early with your fears and with the crises in your life before all else fails. Part of God's love is His faithfulness to His promises. Even if the situations aren't miraculously changed, we can be. The cancer might not be taken away, but our terror of the disease can be. The stock market may not climb 2000 points tomorrow, but our fears can be overcome by knowing that our ultimate riches come from His love and presence in our lives. We may still struggle with that addiction or that behavior but we will not fight alone. God will be there with us each step of the way.

And- God can heal those diseases. God has promised that if we seek Him first, He will take care of our basic needs. And He gives us His power to change addictive habits and actions. But first we have to give up our ideas of who we want God to be, how we want God to act, and how we want our fears to be taken away. And that means we have to obey and sometimes even jump in the muddy waters if that's what He asks us to do.

The result of Naaman's obedience was obvious to everyone. His leprosy was cured. Through obedience to God's word he is able to overcome his greatest fear and live life free from his greatest fears!

This is a very powerful story in scripture. But in order for it be more than just another bible story you must now apply it to your own life. The mighty power of the Lord can be released when we live in obedience to these five principles that explode from this story.

#1: OUR FEAR IS GOD'S OPPORTUNITY TO STRENGTHEN OUR FAITH

What was Naaman's most pressing problem? Was it his loss of power, popularity, prestige, position? No, he still had all of those, even with his disease. He hadn't lost those things yet. It was the physical problem of his illness. It was the disease that occupied his thoughts day and night. It mattered little that he had money, title and power, what he needed was a cure!

There are times in our life that God allows problems in our lives that are beyond our ability to cope. In those times, only our faith in Him can provide the opportunity for Him to bring His power into our situations. What was God teaching Naaman? When you trust and obey the Living God you shall know His power. Hebrews says, "without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Often we look at our situation and exhaust all our personal resources in an attempt to conquer a problem that cannot be conquered. Could it be that God is allowing the problem to continue to get us to the place where we will say, "You alone have the power to deliver us." Would you be willing today to consider that your problem is an opportunity for God to stretch and strengthen your faith?

#2: OBEDIENCE MAY REQUIRE WHAT SEEMS TO BE IMPRACTICAL

Naaman was angry because the prophet did not meet with him personally and secondly because he did not want to wash in the Jordan River. To this commander the solution offered was ridiculous and unreasonable. The real problem was PRIDE. His own foolish pride would not allow him to immediately obey the word of God. Instead of being concerned about what God thinks, Naaman was probably thinking, "What will others think when they see me in the water?"

Naaman would not obey because he thought the request was both impractical and unreasonable! Here's the problem. God did not tell anyone else to go to the Jordan and wash 7 times...but He did tell Naaman. Human nature does not want to do something that someone else has not done first. We want to first look around and see if everyone else is jumping in before we take the plunge. God uses other believers as guides. He uses the scripture as a map. But the key to overcoming our fears is obedience to HIS PERSONAL COMMAND OF OUR LIVES.

Here's an example from our daily devos in Acts 8. A disciple named Philip went to a city in Samaria and taught about Jesus. When the crowds heard him and saw the miraculous signs he did, as they paid close attention to what he said; demons were cast out, and people were healed. But instead of basking in his success as an evangelist, when an angel of the Lord appeared to him telling him to drop everything and go to a desert road, Phillip obeyed immediately. He found himself face to face with a man who needed to be pointed to Jesus. The result of Phillip's obedience was the salvation of an Ethiopian treasurer.

Some are called to write a letter, mend a broken relationship, get up in the middle of the night and pray...You must understand a basic biblical principle that there are times God will ask you to do what you may believe to be impractical or unreasonable. Moses had to go back to Egypt and face the people who wanted put him in jail. David had to face a giant warrior without armor and just a few rocks in a slingshot. Peter had to leave the family fishing business to follow Jesus. You will NEVER taste the true rewards of obedience if you are bent on debating with God. At some point we have to stop the debate and start to walk in faith.

#3: FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH GOD'S WILL MAY COST YOU WHAT YOU DESIRE THE MOST

Naaman's greatest desire of his heart was to be free from the bondage of his leprosy. He knew where it was headed and he was afraid. Yet, when he faced the opportunity to be healed he became furious at the request, thinking the remedy was out of the question. His reaction to God's perfect plan was filled with pride. He was outraged that the prophet would not personally come to see him. It was an insult.

His pride led to anger. How many people do you know that get angry with God and others when God doesn't come through as they expect?

His anger was the fuel for unbelief. He didn't believe that God could really help if he did something simple. His unbelief could have robbed him of the greatest blessing of his life. Unbelief blocks miracles. When Jesus went to His hometown the Bible tells us that he didn't perform mighty works because of their unbelief.

Those three obstacles, pride, anger and unbelief almost kept Naaman from being healed. These 3 things still keep us from God's power.

I wonder if Naaman went into the river with many laughing at him on the banks as he jumped in once, twice, three times. Did he hear laughter as he went into the water for the fourth, fifth and sixth time? Did he need the encouragement of someone who knew the Lord to continue? "Just trust the Lord and go in the river one more time, sir. The prophet of God said seven. Please just one more time." And as the general comes out of the Jordan river the 7th time he looks down and his skin smooth and new. He has been completely healed.

Tragically there are some that are walking away from God after six times. Often they are just one small step away from the greatest victory in their lives when they give up on God and walk away. .

That leads us to

#4 PROPER COUNSEL ALWAYS ENCOURAGES YOU TO FOLLOW GOD'S WILL
Always be that voice of encouragement that points to Jesus. Don't let your friends and family lose heart and give up on the Lord. Le them know that He hasn't given up on them.

Naaman was blessed with servants that cared enough for him that they were willing to confront him when he was close to walking away from God's healing. They encouraged him to listen to the Word of God and then follow it.

Godly counsel points out that we can have victory over our fear only by keeping our eyes on Jesus Christ. Every other fix is temporary. The permanent cure for fear is in the unchanging love and shelter of God. Our money changes. Our health changes. Our families change. Our cars stay smokin' and our stereos stay broken. But Hebrews 13 tells us that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." He is the anchor point in the universe.

#5 THE REWARDS OF OBEDIENCE WILL BE A STRONG WITNESS TO OTHERS (V.15)

Naaman's obedience not only changed his life but influenced those in his circle of influence; the men with him, his king and even an entire nation. His witness even speaks to us today.

But if we look closely, where did obedience begin in this story? With Naaman? With Elisha? With the King? With the commander's wife? No it began with the captive maid from Israel. And her faith began when someone taught her about a personal relationship with the God. We don't know what the impact of our faith and obedience can bring to others. Really, that is God's kuleana. It isn't something we should worry about. But this shows us that the power of an obedient life can spread out across nations and across generations.

So now we come full circle to my opening question. What would your life be like if your greatest fear could be taken from you? Are you willing today to step out and trust the Lord to help you overcome it? All it takes is a step of faith and obedience. Take that step towards Jesus and discover the victory He has for you. AMEN.

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