Strong Faith, Strong Results

Introduction

I want to take this time to acknowledge all the mothers in the room today. Mothers, Grandmothers, Mothers-to-be, spiritual mothers, every woman who loved someone like a mother and nurtured someone. Thank you for essential and needed self and service.

I always want to take a quick second to acknowledge that today can be hard for many of us in the room today. Let me say that if at any moment you find yourself missing someone special to you, it's ok to weep, mourn, and celebrate. All of that is ok and encouraged.

Prayer

Father God, we thank You for Who You are. A great Big God who sees each and every one of us here and cares deeply about us. We ask this day, as we are continuing in this time of worship to You, reading Your Word and hearing Your Word, that You refine us with it. Mold us, make us, shape us, rearrange us so that we can be more like You, and made more into the image of Christ. Help us be a people who love You and love others so much that we are moved into action by whatever it is You are going to show us about Yourself today and what that means in our lives. Help us do this, because all too often our selfish and sinless flesh war against our will to follow Yours. As we are doing this, and as we are coming into Your Word today, we ask that You take away any distraction that we may have, and make it go as far away as it possibly can, because we want to see and we want to know You better. I ask these things for your glory and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.

Context

In today’s text, we will look at an unnamed mother’s strong faith that served her family very well, but more importantly it showed a supreme trust, love, and honoring to her God, our God.

This takes place early on in the book of 2nd kings, which is in the historical section of your Old Testament, 1st and 2nd kings, especially highlights the times after Israel had taken kings for itself, and particularly the seasons when the kingdom divided and squabbled strongly among itself into 2 separate kingdoms. In our chapter today, the kingdom was ruled by King Jehoram, whose father was a wicked and idolatrous king who led the people away from, and yes Jehoram is historically known as much worse than his father. So, the people in the nation were largely far far from God.

During this time, prophets, messengers from God were still in the land, telling the people and rulers of the judgement they will receive if they don’t correct their course and come back to worship God, how to do it, and what pleasures await them if they do. 2 of the best known of the day was the prophet Elijiah, who had just been taken by God back up to heaven, and his spiritual son Elisha, who God had just given the same kind of responsibility and spirit that Elijiah had. So, Elisha took over for his master in many ways and functions, showing the people the power and dominion of the God they had abandoned and the weakness of the gods and idols that they were turning to.

The unnamed mother in our text today, didn’t let the difficulty of her situation, the possible ridicule she could have socially or physically, or anything stand in her way of executing her faith in God in useful and practical ways. What example did she give and it shows us today? That True faith in God will cause you to move. A person cannot truly claim to have a faith in God that doesn’t move, doesn’t act, and often we can be paralyzed from action because we do not have faith in God (and instead have faith in ourselves and our own control) in the particular situations we come across in our lives. Here is the thing, God is interested in Growing your faith, and trusting you with more when you have shown that it is in the right place for the right reason (to Him for Him). And, as the Lord Jesus taught us, faith even the size of a mustard seed can move mountains, even small amounts of faith in the right place for the right reason can and does have huge effects, so let’s jump in and

From the text, I want you to see and do these actions of strong faith that lead to strong results.

Message

The first action of strong faith is to: Serve God how you can 8-10

8 One day Elisha went to Shunem. A prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to eat some food. So whenever he passed by, he stopped there to eat. 9 Then she said to her husband, “I know that the one who often passes by here is a holy man of God, 10 so let’s make a small, walled-in upper room and put a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp there for him. Whenever he comes, he can stay there.”

One day, the prophet Elisha went to Shunem (a small village in the southern part of Galilee). In this place lived a woman of a prominent woman, some of your translations may say the word “great,” I think both words fit well here, as we will see her greatness play out soon. Notice this about her, even though the people by and large had a lackluster relationship with God, she seemed to be a strong worshiper of Him. As she noticed a man of God (the prophet) going by often. She went to her husband, who it seems wasn’t quite a believer that she was, and resolved to show love, care, and hospitality for this servant of God, giving him a room in some prime space in their home, so that he could have a place to stay. This of course would have been most welcomed to Elisha, who would not be used to this kind of kindness and comfort during his time as a prophet. She saw a way that she could serve God with what she had and in the limited ways she was able, and she did it without hesitation, even though she could have been ridiculed by her family and even treated very poorly by her husband for such a suggestion. This woman had a gift of hospitality, love, and marcy, and used it!

Now, it goes without saying that we should all be looking for ways that we can serve God, and a healthy disciple is either actively serving Him in one way or another and looking for a productive way to. However, One thing that every believer at each and every life stage has to come to grips with is that in different life stages we will all have different abilities and even resources to serve Him. For example, the young believer may have the energy and physical ability to serve God in ways that an elderly believer may not be able to, but an elder believer may have the time and resources that the younger brother or sister does not.

No matter where you are or what your stage or resources are, one thing remains true. True faith in God will cause you to move. Yes, the how and way you move will evolve and change over time, this is right and natural. However, at every stage as a follower of Christ in one way or another you move, take action, be a part of the ministry of God, be a part of the ministry of the church body (the bride of Christ) that you belong to. In fact, did you know, speaking to every follower of Christ in the room, that you have been given certain gifts and abilities from God that were given to you to serve the kingdom of God through and alongside with this church body unlike anyone else, only you can do what you do the way you do it. Each and every one of us have a reason and purpose, so then move! If you are moving ,Good! And also be sure that you are doing, how you are moving is for God’s benefit (meeting the mission and purpose of the church) , and not your own or someone else. Be sure that what you are doing fits this life stage and your ability well. This has a hard reality to go along with it, that if you have been doing something for a long long long time, that doesn’t mean it still neads to be done or that you need to be doing it. Just like this woman here, she did what she could with the ability that she had. So then, serve God how you can, putting your faith in God and where He has placed you and not anywhere else.

The next action of strong faith is to: Place your hope in God 11-17

11 One day he came there and stopped at the upstairs room to lie down. 12 He ordered his attendant Gehazi, “Call this Shunammite woman.” So he called her and she stood before him.13 Then he said to Gehazi, “Say to her, ‘Look, you’ve gone to all this trouble for us. What can we do for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?’”She answered, “I am living among my own people.”14 So he asked, “Then what should be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.” 15 “Call her,” Elisha said. So Gehazi called her, and she stood in the doorway. 16 Elisha said, “At this time next year you will have a son in your arms.” Then she said, “No, my lord. Man of God, do not lie to your servant.”17 The woman conceived and gave birth to a son at the same time the following year, as Elisha had promised her.

One day Elisah came to lie down in the room he was given. He had his servant Gehazi call his hostess in. He wanted to return to her kindness, do something for her. So he asked her, would you like me to speak to the king or some other important person for you? To which, she essentially says no, i’m good, I don’t really need or want that, i’m content with my station in life. She leaves, but still the prophet wants to do something for her, so he discusses it with his servant, who points out that despite her youth and her husband's agedness, they still did not have a son, an heir to what they had and to take care of her when her husband was gone. So, Elisha, under the direction of God, had the woman come in, and informed her that within a year's time, she would be holding a baby boy. This of course, would have been a big deal and great hope met for her. She exclaims to the prophets, don’t get my hopes up (clearly she had always wanted a son). Then, as you would see, as unlikely as the situation would be, she and her husband had a son together within the year, as the prophet, just as God had promised.

We’ve all probably said it, “I sure hope this happens or doesn’t happen.” Oftentimes, we use the word hope wrong, or at least in the christian sense. As when we use the word hope, it is that we don’t want something to happen, but expect that it will. Well, this is just the opposite of how we are to hope and have our faith in God. We are to hope and have faith with expectation that what He said He will do, what He promised, is in fact going to happen, so we should proceed as if it is going to.

Now of course, this can be hard to do, the act of faith and hope with expectation, especially as we live in a time and culture that relies and thrives and caters on what can easily be seen, produced, and “makes logical sense.” Sometimes, it’s so hard to have hope in God, to have faith in Him, because we forget that He is a supernatural all powerful being that doesn’t play by the rules that the world does. In fact, He makes the rules. Sometimes, we hold onto things that we should have let go of a long time ago, because we forget that God can work every bit as much in the new way as He did once in the old way. This means, all along the way for you believer, what you need to remember is that True faith in God will cause you to move. So, then where do you need to move? In what direction has God been calling you? Honestly, even if it scares you, where is it? Don’t let the fear of man and the fear of the world or the fear of loss keep you from making the right decision. Instead, come alongside God, and place all your hope in Him; who orchestrates all things for God for everyone who loves Him. Let me make this plain. Even though you may have a hard or difficult decision in front of you, no matter how scared you are from loss, do not be afraid, because God has orchestrated everything to fall in line for your own good believer!

Another action of strong faith is to: Move according to your faith 18-36

18 The child grew and one day went out to his father and the harvesters. 19 Suddenly he complained to his father, “My head! My head!”His father told his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20 So he picked him up and took him to his mother. The child sat on her lap until noon and then died. 21 She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut him in, and left.22 She summoned her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so I can hurry to the man of God and come back again.”23 But he said, “Why go to him today? It’s not a New Moon or a Sabbath.”She replied, “It’s all right.”24 Then she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Go fast; don’t slow the pace for me unless I tell you.” 25 So she came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.When the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to his attendant Gehazi, “Look, there’s the Shunammite woman. 26 Run out to meet her and ask, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your son all right?’”And she answered, “It’s all right.”27 When she came up to the man of God at the mountain, she clung to his feet. Gehazi came to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone—she is in severe anguish, and the Lord has hidden it from me. He hasn’t told me.”28 Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Didn’t I say, ‘Do not lie to me?’”29 So Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck your mantle under your belt, take my staff with you, and go. If you meet anyone, don’t stop to greet him, and if a man greets you, don’t answer him. Then place my staff on the boy’s face.”30 The boy’s mother said to Elisha, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her. 31 Gehazi went ahead of them and placed the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or sign of life, so he went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy didn’t wake up.” 32 When Elisha got to the house, he discovered the boy lying dead on his bed. 33 So he went in, closed the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the Lord. 34 Then he went up and lay on the boy: he put mouth to mouth, eye to eye, hand to hand. While he bent down over him, the boy’s flesh became warm. 35 Elisha got up, went into the house, and paced back and forth. Then he went up and bent down over him again. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. 36 Elisha called Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman.” He called her and she came. Then Elisha said, “Pick up your son.” 37 She came, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground; she picked up her son and left.

The child grew a little older, but one day while still very young, he went into the field with his father and workers and began suffering from a terrible headache. He was sent inside with his mother, and in a matter of a few short hours the child died. Shure of his death, the mother took immediate and faith-filled action. She placed the boy within Elisha's room. She showed confidence, that if God promised her something, that there was a reason for it. So, she set off to see the prophet. She would not be stopped in her endeavor, her faith in God was tested but not forsaken. Seeing her coming from a ways off, Elisha has his servant sent to her quickly. She would not be side tracked, she knew who she needed to talk to. She sets all her effort on speaking to Elisha (the prophet of the powerful and mighty God). When she gets to him, she clings to him, the closest thing she could get to clinging to God physically, she would not be torn away no matter what. In peace she is allowed to cling to Him, and gives her worries to him. I was promised this son, I did not ask for one. Now God has given me a son and taken my son away, it would have been better for me if I had never ever had Him, I am in despair! She moved and moved far according to her faith, she came as close to God as she could get and wouldn’t let go and said she would not leave, it was God she needed.

In a moment of teaching and care, Elisha has his servant sent ahead with his staff (a symbol of authority). He was to take it and lay it on the boy. And you know what, that didn’t work. Just like all the magicians and sooth sayers and false priests would have tried in the land with their trinkets and spells. Without God’s presence, no great work of faith can happen. So, with the servants' failure, it shows once again who we are to have faith in. So, what happens next? The prophet goes to the boy. And. He. Prays. He begs, He pleads for the boy’s life. Look what happens, a miracle. The breath is restored in the boy's lungs, the vision back to his eyes, the color and life came back to his flesh. Then! In completion he sneezes 7 times, after God had breathed the breath of life back into. He was well, and taken into his grateful and overwhelmed mother’s arms! Both the mother and the prophet moved here according to their faith in God.

No believer, no follower of Jesus, no matter how much or how little you can move, is called to a life of faith idleness. Everyone has something important to contribute. Yes, as we said earlier, different life stages and abilities will give different abilities to serve physically, financially, and vocationally. Yes. However, every believer has a base level expectation that applies for everyone and an expectation based upon your giftings and your ability at the time. The extreme shut in, can have the most powerful prayer ministry in the world laying in their own bed. This is moving according to your faith. The new believer has a testimony to share about how Jesus saved them. Doing this is moving according to your faith. Some people will be called to lay aside their career and serve God in ministry. This is moving according to your faith. Some of us have or will retire and can use that extra to serve the church body and bring the gospel to places it wouldn’t have been otherwise with that extra time, this is moving according to your faith. Sometimes, the anguish of loss will hit us so hard that the most we can do that day is pray and bring ourselves to our bibles for answers, there are times when this will happen to each and every one of this, doing so is moving in faith. There will be times, for everyone in this room, that will have to let go of something we have or something we do or some influential position we have because it is no longer our time for that or God has closed that chapter. Here me now, True faith in God will cause you to move. So then, move into the next beautiful chapter according to your faith and not out of fear of loss.

Conclusion

Beloved, see this woman’s example. See how she trusted God in a time when no one else would. Yet she did, and her faith brought such a great blessing to her family. So then, let us all be a people of strong faith and strong results. Let us Serve God how you can 8-10, Place your hope in God 11-17, and Move according to your faith 18-36. And, when you find yourself not able to move, remember this, True faith in God will cause you to move. So then, this is our charge and reminder, a red flag that our faith is probably in the wrong place.

With all of that being said, I would be remiss if I didn’t share the Gospel (or the Good News) of Jesus Christ with you today, for the benefit of both believer and non-believer in the room. This begins all the way back at the beginning, God created everything, and he created all things good. He gave His most treasured creation (us, mankind) the ability of free will, the ability to choose Him or rebellion. Man was deceived by Satan and desired to be like God and sinned (or rebelled against God). This brought the curse of sin and death into the world and it remains with us to this day; which separates us from God. God, though, loved His creation (mankind) so much that He worked through history to redeem all mankind that would turn to Him from sin so that we can experience a full and perfect relationship with Him again. This was through the perfect and final sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the pay for sins. Accepting this free gift from God, makes you new and forgiven. All you have to do is accept this free gift by repenting and believing in the Lord Jesus and you will get to experience the good side of God’s justice forever. So, now that you know this, you can no longer plead ignorance. I invite and urge you to respond today non-believer and apply this to every part of your life believers in the audience today.

Father God, we thank You for Who You are. A great Big God who sees each and every one of us here and cares deeply about us. We ask this day, as we are continuing in this time of worship to You, reading Your Word and hearing Your Word, that You refine us with it. Mold us, make us, shape us, rearrange us so that we can be more like You, and made more into the image of Christ. Help us be a people who love You and love others so much that we are moved into action by whatever it is You are going to show us about Yourself today and what that means in our lives. Help us do this, because all too often our selfish and sinless flesh war against our will to follow Yours. As we are doing this, and as we are coming into Your Word today, we ask that You take away any distraction that we may have, and make it go as far away as it possibly can, because we want to see and we want to know You better. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen