Longer Tables

Introduction – When the Jar Runs Dry

Do you ever have those days where your soul feels dull? Not bad. Not broken. Just flat.

You’re doing all the right things. You’re showing up to work. You’re taking care of your family. You’re coming to church. But inside—if you’re honest—you feel empty.

It’s like a cell phone that’s always on low battery. You keep plugging it in for quick charges here and there, but it never quite fills back up.

That’s where a lot of us are spiritually. We’re functioning, but not flourishing.

Last week, we began our stewardship series “Jars of Clay” where we are looking at the treasure that God has entrusted us with. Most specifically, last week we talked about material treasure and about the widow and her little jar of oil in 2 Kings 4. She thought she had nothing left, but God asked her to pour anyway. And as she poured, the oil kept flowing until every jar was full.

That was about stewardship of what’s in your hands—trusting God with what you have.

But this week, we shift from what’s in your hands to what’s in your heart. Because you can’t pour from an empty jar.

If your soul’s dry, if your spirit’s brittle, it doesn’t matter how much you try to give—you’ll eventually crack under the pressure.

Today, we’re talking about Stewardship of the Heart—how we care for the inner life God has given us.

The Text

When we turn to 2 Kings 5, we find ourselves in a divided nation, a weary people, and a story that shouldn’t happen. The prophet Elisha is quietly embodying the compassion of God in an age of corruption and war. Just one chapter earlier, he helped a poor widow find abundance through her faith. Now he’s about to meet the most powerful general in Israel’s enemy army — a man named Naaman — who’s about to learn that healing begins where pride ends. This isn’t just a story about skin disease; it’s a story about the heart. And through it, God will show us what it means to be washed and made whole.

2 Kings 5:1–15 NRSV

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. Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant.”

Our story begins with Naaman, commander of the Aramean army. Which is super curious because this guy is an enemy of Israel. This is a very strange episode in Israel’s international diplomacy, but that’s one of the things that is beautiful about Scripture: it defies our logic.

So Naaman’s got medals, rank, reputation. Scripture says:

“He was a great man and highly regarded… but he had leprosy.”

One short phrase—and everything shifts. Powerful, but afflicted. Successful, but sick. Respected, but restless.

You can have all the outer achievements in the world and still carry something on the inside that’s not right.

Naaman’s life is challenged. Leprosy was an incurable skin condition that set people outside of the normal social structure. They were seen as unclean and generally avoided. They were isolated in society, with little hope for redemption. However, Naaman does find a sliver of hope.

But that hope doesn’t come from another general. It comes from a servant girl—a foreign slave in his household.

She says to Naaman’s wife:

“If only my master would see the prophet in Samaria, he would be healed.”

It’s a beautiful moment of reversal. The great warrior has to be led to healing by the faith of a powerless girl.

God’s grace often shows up in places we overlook—in people we underestimate.

Naaman gathers gifts, servants, and a whole entourage, and heads to Israel. He expects a grand ceremony.

But when he arrives, Elisha doesn’t even come out. He sends a messenger.

“Go wash yourself in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored.”

Naaman is offended. Furious. “Aren’t the rivers of Damascus better than this muddy water?”

We’ve all been Naaman before right? We ask for help and then don’t like the help that’s offered to us? Maybe this has been our experience with our health. We go to the doctor and they say hey you are sick but it’s a relatively simple fix. Stop eating XYZ, start eating ABC, start moving your body this many times a week. And all we hear is a list of things that we do not want to do.

Maybe you’ve been this way with your faith too. You’re invited to be part of something - maybe to just come to church or to go deeper in your faith in some way or another and you know deep down that something needs changing in your life but the offer that is extended is like… not what you want. Its seems illogical. It seems like too much work. It seems uncomfortable. We just want to show up and have everything be fixed without much in return from us.

That’s Naaman in this moment.

He came looking for spectacle. God gave him simplicity. He wanted control. God offered surrender.

The Language of Formation

The Hebrew word for “wash” is rachatz, meaning not just to rinse, but to purify for worship. It’s temple language—formation language.

Elisha is inviting Naaman into a ritual act of humility—a spiritual practice, not just a physical cure.

And the Jordan River? That’s no random stream. It’s the river of beginnings—where Israel entered the land, where Elijah’s mantle fell, where Jesus was baptized.

Every crossing of the Jordan in Scripture marks transformation. Naaman’s about to have his.

The Turning Point

Finally, Naaman’s servants persuade him:

“My father, if the prophet had asked you to do something great, wouldn’t you have done it? How much more when he says, ‘Wash and be clean!’”

So he goes. Down into the muddy water. Once. Twice. Seven times.

And when he comes up—

“His flesh was restored like that of a young boy.”

The healed becomes like the humble. Formation begins where pride ends.

Stewardship of the Heart

This is what spiritual formation looks like. It’s not glamorous. It’s not instant. It’s not loud. It’s consistent, humble obedience—allowing God to cleanse, soften, and shape us.

Paul says,

“We have this treasure in jars of clay.”

If your heart is the jar, then formation is how you care for what’s inside.

That’s why we’re talking about small groups today. Because nobody gets healed in isolation.

You need a river to wade into. You need people who will walk with you. You need community.

Rivers of Renewal

That’s what small group ministry that we are going to launch at First Church are going to be. Not programs. Rivers.

Places where pride gives way to prayer. Where you can be known, not just seen. Where you can wash off the residue of a noisy world and remember who you are.

And in January 2026, we’re launching small groups—new leaders, new places, new opportunities to grow.

We need people who are willing to step up and lead. To open their homes, their schedules, their hearts.

And we need everyone to join one—to get in the water.

Because this is how God renews His people. Not through programs, but through people.

Illustration – The Muddy Water Moment

When I was a kid, after a heavy rain, I’d go outside and play in the puddles. I’d come back to the house covered in mud, and my mom would stand there shaking her head. “Don’t you dare track that through my clean floors.”

But I remember the joy of it—the laughter, the mess, the freedom. It wasn’t clean. But it was real.

Sometimes grace feels like that. Sometimes the river God calls you into looks muddy. Sometimes formation feels inconvenient, slow, or awkward.

But if you’ll get in—if you’ll surrender—you’ll come out new.

Invitation

Here’s the invitation today:

If you’ve been feeling spiritually dry, make 2026 the year you get in the river.

When sign-ups open, join a small group.

If you’ve been walking with Jesus for a while, pray about being a Host.

If you think being a host sounds daunting… its easy as H O S T

H: Have a heart for people

O: Open your door

S: Share food

T: Turn on on the video

We’ll train you. We’ll support you. You just bring your “yes.”

How can your table become longer?

What your family, your workplace, and this city need is not more activity—it’s more depth. And God does that work through the river of community, around longer tables that invite people and invite God to be among the people.

Closing

Naaman came up out of the Jordan washed and made whole. Not because the water was special—but because he trusted the One who called him in.

The God who filled the widow’s jars is the same God who healed Naaman’s heart. And He’s still doing both—through us.

So step in. Lead. Join. Grow. Host. Because the miracle happens when we move toward God together.