One Simple Thing

 NY Yankee manager Billy Martin (Number One) told many stories in his biography. Once, he went hunting in Texas with Mickey Mantle. Mickey had a friend who let them hunt on his ranch. They went. When they got to the ranch, Mickey told Billy, "Wait in the car while I check in with my friend." His friend quickly OK'd it. But he asked Mickey for a favor. His pet mule was going blind. He didn't have the heart to put it out of its misery. He asked Mickey to go to the barn & put it out of its misery. Mickey came back to the car. He pretended to scowl, then slammed the door. Billy asked, "What's wrong" Mickey pretended to be angry. "My friend said 'No.' I'm going to shoot a mule in his barn!" Mickey drove to the barn like a maniac. Martin was alarmed. "We can't do that!" Mickey retorted, "Just watch me!" At the barn, Mantle jumped out with his rifle. He ran inside & shot the mule. On the way back, he heard 3 shots & ran to the car. Martin had his rifle out, too. "What are you doing, Billy?" he yelled. Martin's face was red with anger, "We'll show that son of a gun! I just killed 3 of his cows!" One simple joke had a much bigger impact than Mickey expected. Simple things can have powerful results, especially when it comes to God. E.g., In Jesus' hands, 5 loaves & 2 fish fed 5,000 men & their families. And leftovers? More than they started with. In Jesus' hands, 7 loaves & a few little fish fed 4,000 men & their families. With one simple prophet on top of Mt Carmel, God bested 400 prophets of Baal. On a stone alter, an ox & wood were drenched 3 times so thoroughly, it filled a trench around it with 12 gallons of water. On cue God sent a powerful lightning bolt. White-hot, it burned up the ox, wood, stones of the altar, & even the water around it. In Egypt, with one simple shepherd God sent 12 plagues with stunning displays of power. God's prophet kicked Egyptian gods to the floor & delivered over a million people from slavery in Egypt. With that same shepherd turned prophet, God parted the Red Sea, brought water from a rock (twice, tho' God said speak to it, the 2nd time), dropped migratory quail on their camp when the people asked for meat, & led the people around the desert for 40 years, feeding them with bread he dropped out of the sky. In God's hands, simple things have powerful results. That's what we'll see in 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c. Let's look. 1aNaaman was commander of the king of Aram's army. Highly decorated, skilled, & successful soldier. 1bHe was a great man. His character was sterling. He had integrity. He's 1chighly regarded in king Ben-Haddad II's eyes. But other, more important eyes regarded him highly, too. 1dThrough him the Lord gave victory to Aram. Israel's enemy! That's how highly the Lord regarded Naaman. His accolades continue. 1eHe was a valiant soldier. Fierce in combat. So far, all is going his way. There's just 1 thing wrong. 1fHe had leprosy. Not all ANE "leprosy" kept getting worse, disfiguring & eventually killing its victims. But some leprosy did. Whatever Naaman had, he could still command the army. But he & his family are concerned. Now earlier, 2abands from Aram took captive a young girl from Israel. In Aram, she's a slave. A nobody. 2bShe served Naaman's wife. Yet she cares for her owners. Why? They aren't like others in Aram. How so? We'll see evidence of God in Naaman's life. 3aShe said to her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet Elisha in Samaria! In Samaria, Elisha is known. Not Aram. Unlike most in the northern Kingdom & almost all in Aram, this young girl has faith. Why send Naaman to Elisha? 3b"He'd cure Naaman of his leprosy." She tells Naaman. Will listen? Take her word? After all, he's an Aramean. A great man. She's nothing. He's an army commander. She's a slave. He has fame. She has none. She just waits on his wife. And now him. Yet God has changed his heart, & he listens. A simple thing, but he really listens. Naaman went to Ben-Hadad II. And in v. 4, Naaman told him what the girl said. And Ben-Hadad II? V. 5, "By all means, go. I'll send a letter to Jehoram (Joram), king of Israel." The king sent him with a large gift (>$1M, today) & a letter. V. 6, "I'm sending my servant Naaman to you so you may cure him of his leprosy." 7aAs soon as the Joram read the letter, he tore his robes. He has even less faith than most of Israel (N kingdom). 7b"Am I God? Can I kill & bring back to life? Why does he send someone to me to be cured of leprosy?" 7c"See? He's trying to pick a quarrel with me!" Does he even remember Elisha? Does he have any faith at all? Waaaah...! Joram may not remember Elisha, but Elisha remembers him. 8aElisha the man of God heard Joram had torn his robes & sent him a message. Why? Remind them God has a prophet in Israel. 8b"Why'd you tear your robes? Have him come to me. He'll know there's a prophet in Israel." Joram told 9Naaman, who drove his horses & chariots to Elisha's house. Once there, for minutes, nothing. Finally, 10aElisha sent a messenger out. Instead of coming himself! 10b"Go. Wash yourself 7x in the Jordan. Your flesh will be restored & you'll be cleansed." One simple thing. Go wash in the Jordan. 7x. At ~30 mi away, it's nearby compared to his travels to Samaria. Will Naaman go wash? By chariot, it won't take long even with his posse. No. 11aNaaman went away angry. He expects service. Rituals. "I thought surely he'd come out, stand, call on the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot & cure me." No joy. He's a great man & feels disrespected. Besides, 12a"aren't Damascus rivers better than any of Israel's waters? Damascus rivers were legendary for their beauty. 12b"Couldn't I wash in them & be cleansed?" Go bathe in the Jordan? It's small, dirty brown, & barely a trickle in places. 12cNaaman turned & went off in a rage. 13aNaaman's servants went to him. "My father... Slaves don't call masters 'father. Nor do they offer a master unwanted advice-especially if he's angry Not unless they know they're respected & loved. Naaman's godly character is showing again. Even slaves love him. 13b"If he'd told you to do some great thing, wouldn't you have done it?" A feat worthy of his stature. Of course he would! "How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash & be cleansed'!" Elisha asked you to do one simple thing! 14 So he went & dipped himself in the Jordan 7x, as Elisha told him. And lo, his flesh was restored! He is more than healed. The disease is more than stopped. Naaman is regenerated!! His flesh became clean like a young boy's! 15Naaman & his posse head back to Elisha. "Now I know there's no God in all the world except in Israel." He's 1/2 right. There's no other God. But God isn't just in Israel. At the beginning, there were 2 more simple things that I didn't mention. In the parable of the sheep & the goats, in Mt 25:35-36 Jesus give us the evidence of the faith that saves. Feed the hungry. Clothe the naked. Look after the sick. Visit the prisoners. But Jesus sets the bar pretty low. As he puts it in Mt 25:40, 42-43, 4I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one ..., you did for me." Just do it for one & we've done it for Him. And in Mt 10:42, He adds, "If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one... he certainly won't lose his reward." Do something for even one. Feed the hungry. Clothe the naked. Look after the sick. Visit the prisoners. Or give even a simple cup of cold water. Just do something for even one. That's the 1st simple thing. The 2nd? Tell someone about Jesus. Jesus gave us only two simple commands. Love God. And love others as we love ourselves. Doing simple things for them is a great way to show love. But what's the greatest way to love anyone else? Help them get to know Jesus. How? Just tell them what He's done for us. Just do that one simple thing. Put that one simple thing in God's hands. When we do, He'll multiply it. So, when did we last put one simple thing in God's hands? One Simple Thing - 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c Page 1 of 1