Sermon Tone Analysis

*Sermon Worksheet & Manuscript*

*Robert L. Hutcherson, Jr.*

*Quinn** Chapel A.M.E.

Church*

*                                        Sermon Preparation~/Delivery*

*2 Kings 5:1-14*

* *

*/“A Servant Heart”/*

*The Reverend Karla J. Cooper, **Pastor*

* July 8, 2007*

\\                                                        *Proper 9 (14)*

\\ Sermon Worksheet & Manuscript

*TEXT*

/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.//a//// 2 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. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria!

He would cure him of his leprosy.”//b//// 4 So Naaman//c//// went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said.

5 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.

6 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.”//d////

7 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?//e////

Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.” /

/8 //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.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house.

10 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.”

11 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!//f//// 12 Are not Abana//g//// 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.

13 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’?”

14 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.

/

/ /

*BODY*

* *

*The events in today's text took place in ancient Israel when Elisha was God's prophet somewhere around 600 B.C. Take yourself back thousands of years to these days.

Our story opens up in DAMASCUS---the capitol of the nation of Syria.

And this is a special day!

For today there is a PARADE!

Now, in this period of history, there was no TV - and very little entertainment - so a parade was a BIG DEAL!

Everyone came out to see them.

And this is no exception.

The whole town is out excitedly lining the streets.

You can almost feel the anticipation in the air as the parade begins.

All of Damascus is decorated for the event-especially the parade route-there are flowers and flags everywhere.

Vendors are selling fruits and sweet meats.

Children are giggling with excitement and LISTEN!

It's starting!

Down the cobbled streets of Damascus comes the victorious SYRIAN ARMY in full parade dress!

There are chariots and archers and siege towers and infantrymen and calvary.

All the soldiers look impressive!

Every shield shines!

Every sword and spear sparkles!

Even the horses look sharp for their tails and manes are braided with colorful ribbons.

The army carries with it the spoils of war from its victories-chests filled with gold and jewels.

And as they pass the king's booth, every soldier salutes in unison.

Now, at the head of this impressive column of military might, on a snow white stallion is the man of the hour....The GENERAL who has once again led his army to victory.

The Bible describes him in this way: His name is NAAMAN.

*

*General of the armies of the King of Syria.

In fact Naaman was a very popular man.

Every one liked him!

You would too if you had known him.

Shining in the sun are the medals NAAMAN has won on the field of battle through out his career as a man of great courage.

Can you picture him as he rides astride that magnificent white steed in the uniform of a general?

Notice that, thrown carelessly across his chest and draped over his arms, is a brightly colored sash-just a bit of decoration to brighten his uniform.

But wait a minute, take a second look at that sash.

That sash is not carelessly thrown over his uniform.

NO!

It is tucked in and very carefully wrapped around one of his arms and one of his hands.

It is almost as if he is trying to HIDE the arm and hand.

Well, the truth is, Naaman WAS hiding something-he was concealing a TERRIBLE fact from the public and maybe even from himself!

The scripture says NAAMAN WAS a great and mighty man-BUT-he was a leper!

The most feared disease of the ancient world had afflicted him.

And because of this terrible truth, Naaman's whole career had come to mean nothing.

His fame, his fortune didn't really matter any more, because of this horrible disease, this curse of leprosy.

a disease so devastating that it will consume the whole body, ending in a horrible, slow, humiliating death.

Today we have medication to treat leprosy.

In the vast majority of the cases it can be arrested in the early stages.

But in NAAMAN'S day....in NAAMAN'S day....to get leprosy was to die.

So do you see how NAAMAN must have felt?

Thanks to this illness, his achievements in life, his popularity with the people and the king, didn't really matter any more.

Naaman, although he was a great man was a leper and because of that his life suddenly means nothing.

In verse 2, the scene shifts from the streets of Damascus to the intimacy of Naaman's home.

On a previous military conquest, the marauding band of Syrians had captured a Hebrew girl and she had been given to Naaman's wife as a household servant.

I think this young girl and Mrs. Naaman had grown close.

Their conversation might have sounded like this: Mrs. Naaman says, "My husband is a good man.

He has received many honors.

The king loves him dearly.

We have everything in life that we could want and more but....(And then tears begin to stream down her face)...but you know he is a leper.

I would give anything if something could be done because life doesn't mean anything to us anymore."

Then the servant girl from Israel, who COULD have been bitter at being abducted from her homeland and home, showing a loving servant heart, replies, "Mrs.

Naaman, back home we worship Jehovah, the TRUE God.

And I wish that my master, Naaman could go there.

There is a prophet in Samaria named ELISHA.

He would heal him of his leprosy-I know he would!

The God I worship has that kind of power.

So, Mrs. Naaman, showing a loving servant heart, excitedly tells her husband.

He goes to his close friend, King Benhadad and tells his friend, the king, of this prophet, ELISHA, whom they say can cure leprosy and of his desire to go there and be cured.

Benhadad says in essence, "No problem, Naaman!

I will write a letter to King Joram and tell him to have you cured!" Upon his arrival, King Joram  freaks out, because HE can’t cure leprosy…and fears an “international incident” Well the Bible says that Elisha, showing a servant heart in verse 8 says, "Send Naaman to me.

Let him come to me and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

He will find that there is a living God."

So, off goes NAAMAN to find the house of ELISHA, following the directions given to him by King Joram.

I can picture in my mind's eye NAAMAN leading his entourage through the narrow streets thinking, "This fellow I am going to see....what's his name?