Blessed Life with God

Prayer

2 Kings 3-5, Miracles of Elisha

It’s our second week into the book of 2 Kings, this morning we’ll be covering chapters 3-5. Last week we saw prophetic mantle being passed from the great prophet, Elijah, to his protege, Elisha. What we’re going to see in these chapters are stories that feature miracles that God does through Elisha.

There are a lot of stories here, but we’re going to focus on two in particular. These stories invite us to consider God’s grace, his goodness poured out - and how we respond to it. First story comes from 2 Kings 4, and it begins with Elisha, along with his servant Gehazi, going to a town in the northern kingdom, Israel, by the name of Shunem.

In this town, Elisha is invited by a well-to-do woman for a meal at her home, which he accepts. As time goes on, her home becomes a regular stop for Elisha whenever he’s traveling in that area, so much so that she and her husband make a small room on their roof for Elisha and his servant, their very own guest room.

Elisha, deeply thankful for their hospitality, wants to do something for them in return, 2 Kings 4:12-16, He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite.” So he called her, and she stood before him. 13 Elisha said to him, “Tell her, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’” She replied, “I have a home among my own people.” 14 “What can be done for her?” Elisha asked. Gehazi said, “She has no son, and her husband is old.” 15 Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. 16 “About this time next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.”

Elisha makes this amazing promise to this Shunammite woman - in a year’s time she will have a child, a son. Which I’m sure would have been a promise that seemed to good to be true - you can be sure that this couple had long hoped and prayed for a son. Her response is quite telling, v. 16b, “No, my lord!” she objected. “Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!” But God is true to his word and a year later she gives birth to a son.

Sadly, though, tragedy strikes, 2 Kings 4:18-20, The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. 19 He said to his father, “My head! My head!” His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20 After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died.

So the woman saddles up her donkey and taking a servant, goes to get Elisha. She finds him at Mount Carmel, falls down at his feet, taking a hold of him and says to him - listen to this, 2 Kings 4:28, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”

Elisha immediately sends Gehazi to the woman’s house, but Gehazi’s efforts to restore the son back to life are fruitless. It’s not until Elisha arrives, goes into the room alone, prays to the Lord, stretches out on top of him, that the boy is resurrected. Elisha then returns the boy back to his very grateful mother.

Second story I want to focus on is in 2 Kings 5, it’s a story about Elisha and the army commander of Aram, whose name is Naaman. Naaman is highly regarded as a soldier and valued by his king. Naaman, this great army commander, has leprosy. Quick note here, the king of Aram - and later, the king of Israel, both go unnamed in this story, so it’s tricky to know exactly when this story takes place because we don’t know exactly which kings were reigning what it happened).

Naaman’s wife has a slave girl from Israel who was captured in a raid, and this girl tells them that there is a prophet in Samaria who could heal her. So Naaman requests permission from the king to go to Israel to seek healing, which the king grants.

Naaman goes to Israel with a king’s ransom worth of treasure and a letter from the king of Aram to the king of Israel - watch what the king writes, this part is a little comical, 2 Kings 5:6, The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

As you might imagine, the king of Israel is quite upset when he gets the letter that Naaman brings him from the king of Aram - as if he is capable of healing Naaman. The king panics, sure that the king of Aram is trying to set up a pretense for an attack if he doesn’t heal Naaman. But Elisha the prophet hears the news and tells the king to send Naaman to him.

Fascinating to see what happens when Naaman gets to Elisha’s house, 2 Kings 5:9-10, So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

So here’s this great army commander accompanied by soldiers, he has this vast treasure with him - and Elisha doesn’t even bother to go outside his house to greet him. Instead, he sends a messenger out to him to go bathe in the Jordan River seven times in order to be cleansed.

This is Naaman’s response, 2 Kings 5:11-12, But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.

Luckily for him, Naaman’s servant are wiser (and more humble) than Naaman and they convince him to do as Elisha had instructed - after all, if he had told him to go do something more challenging, some “great thing” he would have done it. What Elisha told him to do is easy! So Naaman goes, vs. 14, So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.

In the last part of the story Naaman goes back to Elisha, acknowledging that there truly is only one God in all the world. He tries to offer Elisha a gift for what he’s done. Elisha turns it down, in spite of Naaman’s urging.

Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, however, sees this as an opportunity to get a little something for himself. He chases Naaman down telling him that a need has arisen - some guests have arrived, and Elisha sent him to see about getting some help to meet the need.

Naaman gladly gives Gehazi several gifts and then goes on his way. As Gehazi returns he is confronted by Elisha - but he lies to his master. Elisha, however knows about the deceit - the Lord gives him insight. In punishment, Naaman’s leprosy comes on Gehazi.

Grace - Freely Given, Freely Received

First thing I want to draw attention to this morning is simply the unfettered goodness of God in these stories, his grace poured out on two very different people in two very different circumstances, the Shumannite woman and the Aramean army commander, Naaman.

Women was actually doing pretty well. When Elisha asks if there’s anything he can do for her (notice that Elisha has friends in high places, he offers to go speak to the king of Israel or the army commander on her behalf), her response is, I am living among my own people. What she’s saying here is, I don’t have any needs - I’m well taken care of, here among my family, my clan.

Gehazi astutely recognizes that she has no son, no one to take on the family name, who will provide for her and her husband in their old age - which would be especially difficult if the husband dies first. Clear that the Lord is guiding Elisha, he would never make the promise he does without it. And the promise is a child, a son. God blesses this woman and her husband with a son.

God fulfills for her a deep longing that she had long given up hope for, a buried ache that you can see she’s not sure she wants resurrected - she resists the idea of it initially (no, my Lord, don’t mislead me). If the promise doesn’t happen, she’ll have to endure the heartache all over again. It’s a reminder that an unfulfilled hope can be painful.

What an amazing blessing that a year later she’s holding her very own son. Beautiful gracious gift from God, all the more sweet because of how long she had waited and hoped for it. Of course it’s why she’s so devastated when the child dies - then the Lord shows his goodness again in restoring the child to life.

Then, the story of Naaman. He’s a non-Israelite, an Aramean. He worships other gods, false gods. Aram has long been an enemy of Israel - we’ve already seen that in numerous stories - and Naaman is the top military official, the head of the army, which means he had to have fought - and won - battles against Israel.

In spite of all that, God heals him of his leprosy, skin fully restored, with a youthful glow - he hasn’t looked this good in years! Jesus himself points out what a gracious and unexpected gift this was in Luke 4, noting that there were plenty of people with skin diseases at the time living in Israel - and yet God pours out his grace on an Aramean army commander, a man who had no other chance of being healed.

I want you to just hold these stories for a moment, to let yourself be in awe of God and his goodness - these are entirely unexpected and undeserved gifts. And they are huge gifts - a long-desired child and a life-restoring healing. When we talk about the grace of God, these are beautiful examples.

Which is why it’s helpful to take a closer look at these two people, this woman and Naaman, to see not just the amazing grace they received, but how they received them. Or, more to the point, the difficulty they had in receiving them. Reveals to us ways that we ourselves might resist God’s good gifts in our own life.

Let’s consider Naaman for a moment - his pride almost gets in the way of his receiving this amazing gift from God. Most people would certainly hope for healing - but Naaman seems to expect it, to think that he’s entitled to it. There’s a sense of entitlement here, of pride, in spite of his helpless circumstances. After all, he’s the great army commander, he has a letter from the king, he has vast amounts of treasure - he’s got what he needs to make this happen.

We can see that in how angry he gets in what Elisha instructs him to do - and even more so, how Elisha does it (which I think was very intentional on his part). The story told us that Elisha didn’t even bother to come outside to greet him, he sent a messenger with instructions. And we learn, too, that Naaman had expected him to come out, call on the name of his God, wave his hand over the spot and the leprosy would be gone. Naaman would give him lots of money for this trouble and be on his way. Naaman’s angry because Elisha is not healing him the way he’s supposed to be healed, the way he deserves to be healed.

His servants play on that pride - they tell him that if Elisha had given him some great thing to do, some quest, some challenge worthy of him, he would have done it already. Because if there had been some great act required on Naaman’s part then he would have felt as if he could take some of the credit, that he earned it, he worked for his healing.

But in the end he’s forced to do in what we should all do when it comes to wonderful gifts, humbly receive it. Note, too, that Elisha doesn’t even give him the opportunity to pay for it afterwards - it was a gift, given by the grace of the God of Israel. If you think about it, we can be like Naaman sometimes - when someone does something for us, we have a hard time receiving it freely as a gift. We feel compelled to do something in return, give them a gift as well, pay something.

I find that’s true when I let my thinking slip towards, “I’m a pretty good person.” I don’t typically think of it that blatantly, it’s more when I look at others and think of myself than better than them. When judgmental thoughts pervade my mind and heart. It’s at that point I’ve shifted into relying on my own goodness, that I’ve “earned” the forgiveness God gives as a gift through Jesus. Rather than a constant attitude of “I need you, Lord.” This is all a gracious gift from you, I’m so glad to receive it from you.

Now with the woman, it’s almost the complete opposite. We see resistance because she cannot imagine something so good that God would bless her with. She is afraid to even hope for it - remember her words, “No, my lord! Don’t mislead your servant.” Don’t even suggest it.

See it revealed even more clearly when she comes to Elisha at Mount Carmel - “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? Didn’t I tell you, don’t raise my hopes?” Hope - and disappointment - are hard, hard things.

Woman had gotten to the point where she didn’t even want to open her heart to the Lord this way, afraid to hope, to believe that God could be so good to her. Don’t get me wrong - I don’t want to suggest that God will give us everything we hope for, all the things we long for.

What I do want to say, though, is that we should never lose hope in the goodness of God. In the beauty of his grace, how lavish and abundant his blessings will be. It may not come in way we want it, as the Shumannite woman discovered. But they will - and do - come. Because this is who God is. Good. Gracious. Generous of heart. God wants to pour his blessings into our lives.

This makes me think of what Dallas Willard writes in his book The Divine Conspiracy, when he writes about the Jesus teaching in Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount. He says to understand Jesus’ teaching - especially the Beatitudes, the Blessed “are’s” - Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn (which, honestly are a bit of headscratchers, how are they blessed?!).

Willard points out that right before Jesus teaches this message, Matthew writes about Jesus going through all of Galilee, teaching - catch this, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and affliction among the people.

Willard’s point is that you can’t understand how Jesus can talk about even people who are poor in spirit or who mourn or who hunger and thirst for righteousness or who are persecuted can be blessed without seeing what’s happening here, Jesus proclaiming about the kingdom of God and then healing every affliction. Jesus is demonstrating all the good that comes in the kingdom - because the true king is now here.

That no matter your situation in life, you can and will be blessed because the kingdom of God is now among us - right here, and you can enter in and be with the king. Willard says that the gospel of the kingdom is that no one is beyond beatitude, beyond being richly blessed, because the rule of God from the heavens is available to all. Everyone can reach it, and it can reach everyone.

And these blessings - what this Shumannite woman received, what Naaman received, all those people who experienced healing in Galilee - are not because they earned them, it’s not because they’re just lucky, or because of the circumstances of their lives, it is because of the goodness of God. How faithful, how gracious he is. The blessings he pours out.

And those blessings are available to us because the rule of God from the heavens, as Willard puts it, is available to all, it’s available to us. This one line from Willard strikes me, You are really walking in the good news of the kingdom if you can go with confidence to any of the hopeless people around you and effortlessly convey assurance that they can now enter a blessed life with God.

Spiritual Disciplines

Enter that blessed life ourselves - Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Closing prayer - time of reflection