Sermon for July 8, 2019

This morning I’ll be reading 2 Kings chapter 5 verses 1 through 14.

I’ll be reading 2 Kings chapter 5 verse 1 through 14.

I’ll be reading the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

And I'll be reading the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

In the verses that I'll read this morning,,, we have some information that leaves us wondering,,, until we really study them. They bring out some points that we can use in our day to day life now.

This was written

1 Naaman(nay uh muhn), commander of the army for the king of Aram(Ay-ruhm), was a great man in his master’s sight and highly regarded because through him, the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was a brave warrior, but he had a skin disease. 2 Aram had gone on raids and brought back from the land of Israel a young girl who served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my master would go to the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his skin disease.” 4 So Naaman went and told his master what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5 Therefore, the king of Aram said, “Go and I will send a letter with you to the king of Israel.” So he went and took with him 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and 10 changes of clothes. 6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, and it read: When this letter comes to you, note that I have sent you my servant Naaman for you to cure him of his skin disease. 7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life that this man expects me to cure a man of his skin disease? Think it over and you will see that he is only picking a fight with me.” 8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel tore his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Have him come to me, and he will know there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, “Go wash seven times in the Jordan and your flesh will be restored and you will be clean.” 11 But Naaman got angry and left, saying, “I was telling myself: He will surely come out, stand and call on the name of Yahweh his God, and will wave his hand over the spot and cure the skin disease. 12 Aren’t Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and left in a rage. 13 But his servants approached and said to him, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more should you do it when he tells you, ‘Wash and be clean’?” 14 So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the command of the man of God. Then his skin was restored and became like the skin of a small boy, and he was clean.

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord, as we begin this morning, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

As I read through the scriptures in the lectionary this week,,, I was struck by the fact that the King of Aram had more faith in God to heal Naaman's leprosy than the king of Israel.

I was also curious about the healing of a foreigner when there is no record of Elisha healing any Israelites of leprosy.

I was also caught up in the fact that healing doesn't always equal faith.

And what I mean by that is,,, how many times have you heard that apparently they just didn't believe or have enough faith?

Hopefully God will give us some answers as we study through this scripture today and compare our belief's with what we learn about them.

Beginning in the first verse,,, we see Naaman introduced as a highly respected

and valiant warrior who was also a leper.

Some leprosy can cause lesions that ultimately disfigure the face and limbs.

This kind of affliction would have been an ironic contrast to Naaman’s name, which means “beautiful” or “pleasant,,, according to my Bible Knowledge Commentary.”

In my Holman Christian Standard Bible it's called a skin disease but in the King James Version,,, it was called leprosy.

At any rate this was something that Naaman would have been conscious of and he would have wanted it cured if he could find a way.

In the second verse,,, we read: 2 Aram(Ay-ruhm) had gone on raids and brought back from the land of Israel a young girl who served Naaman’s wife.

In the course of their occasional battles with Israel, Naaman’s forces had captured some Israelites whom they made slaves.

One of these was a young girl whom Naaman had given to his wife as a servant.

Then in verses 3 through 6 we have the unfolding of the events that lead to Naaman going to see Elisha.

Evidently Naaman and his wife were kind to this girl because she seemed worried about Naaman’s welfare.

She told her mistress, who told her husband, that a prophet living in Samaria could cure … leprosy.

This was Elisha; he lived in a house in the capital city,,, which is found in , .

Probably the girl had heard of Elisha before she was carried off as a slave.

Apparently she assumed he could cleanse leprosy in view of his supernatural power.

No leper in Israel, though, was healed in Elisha’s day according to .

If you will remember,,, Jesus spoke these words in the synagogue of His hometown.

He had just told the people that the scripture that He had read from Isaiah,,, were that day fulfilled.

He went on to tell about the widows in Israel that didn't receive help during the famine but the widow in Zarephath in Sidon received help from Elijah.

Then He said these words in Luke:

It says in And in the prophet Elisha’s time, there were many in Israel who had serious skin diseases, yet not one of them was healed — only Naaman the Syrian.”

Jesus’ mention of Gentiles rather than Jews having God’s blessing caused the people to be furious ().

They attempted to kill Him, but He walked right through the crowd (v. 30).

Luke no doubt described a miraculous escape from the angry crowd.

This pattern is seen throughout the rest of Jesus’ ministry: Jesus went to the Jews; they rejected Him; He told of Gentile participation in the kingdom; some Jews wanted to kill Him.

But He was not killed until the proper time,,, when He chose to die,,, not a minute before.

Going back to the scripture,,, in my Bible Knowledge Commentary,,, while talking about the lack of healing in Israel,,, it says that later the slave girl’s faith in the Lord may have been an indirect rebuke to Israel’s King,,, who had no faith in God.

The Aramean king was anxious for his valuable commander to be cleansed, not only because he was a trusted friend but because the dreaded disease would eventually rob the king of his top military commander.

Naaman set out to visit the king of Israel who he assumed would order the prophet to cure him.

Naaman carried expensive gifts to convince the Israelite king to have him healed.

The king of Israel however didn't have the faith of God and was sure that the Aramean king was trying to stir up trouble with him.

This was a lot of Israel's problems at this time.

The leaders at that time were leaving God so far behind and not listening to the prophets that God was allowing them to be punished by the neighboring nations over and over.

Their lack of faith was why that Elisha didn't heal any with leprosy in Israel at that time.

The captured servant girl and the Aramean king had more faith in God than the Israelite king had,,, even though neither of them had seen or heard of Elisha healing anyone with leprosy.

No matter what happens today,,, faith in God is required in all that we do.

We have to remain confidant that God is in control and His way is the best way and the ability to heal is His alone.

Once it's put into God's hands through prayer,,, it's not ours to worry about!

I know from experience that this is hard for us to do!

Over and over in my own life,,, there have been times that I have prayed about a problem and immediately got up from prayer and began trying to solve it on my own.

Don't be as hard headed as I was,,, learn that lesson the easy way instead of the hard way.

In verse 7,,, we see where the Israelite king reads the letter and is convinced that the Aramean king is trying to cause trouble.

My Holman Christian Study Bible says that the Israelite king was upset because he knew that he had no control over the situation.

Not only did he not have the faith that he needed,,, he didn't understand that God's power could transform even Israel's enemies.

Then in verse 8 it says: 8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel tore his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Have him come to me, and he will know there is a prophet in Israel.”

This verse is basically self explanatory.

Elisha has heard about this and sends a message to the king to send Naaman to him and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.

This keeps the king of Israel from making a mistake and sending Naaman away.

Verses 9 tells that Naaman went and stood outside of Elisha's house but verse 10 says that Elisha sent a messenger that told him, "Go wash seven times in the Jordan and your flesh will be restored and you will be clean".

Naaman was an important man and thought that Elisha wasn't giving him the respect that he deserved.

He felt like Elisha should have at least met him at the door instead of sending someone else to give him the instructions.

Verses 11 and 12 explain this and also the fact that Naaman didn't like the thought of washing off in the Jordan river,,, which was much smaller and dirtier than the two rivers that he thought were better,,, in his own country,,, then he left in a rage.

Before we have accepted Christ,,, this could be the attitude that some had.

We don't need this,,, we are good enough on our own.

While the whole time that we are arguing about it we know that something is missing and we are searching regardless,,, hoping to find it.

Or maybe we have decided that we really need God but we don't truly understand how.

So we try to earn our way first,,, or maybe we try to get better on our own because we realize just how bad our sins are and we think that there is no way that God can really love me!

But just like Naaman,,, it's only when we truly humble ourselves and truly realize that we can't do it on our own.

We must trust in the grace of God,,, without trying to add any extra feelings that we might have!

Because it's only when we fully accept the fact that we just aren't good enough and we will never be good enough without Christ,,, that we can have victory over sin!

And of course we know the rest of the story where Naaman listens to the servants and does decide to go wash in the Jordan River.

Then he is healed for his obedience.

Which brings me to the last point that I wanted to share with you this morning.

Naaman's faith in God was greater after the healing,,, not before!

I don't want you to miss this point because I believe that it is important.

So many times we are told that our faith must be greater if we want answers to prayer.

Don't get me wrong now!

I'm not saying that faith isn't important because it is very important!

What I'm saying is,,, that our faith must be in God to allow Him to rule over us not to use our faith as a bargaining tool to get what we want!

That won't work!

We must have the faith to realize according to - "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts".

When we go to God in prayer,,, it must be done with the faith that God will do what's best,,, not what we want.

When God doesn't answer prayer,,, no matter what it is,,, it's not always because of our lack of faith.

That is a possibility,,, but that's between you and God,,, nobody else.

Instead,,, we must trust God and have the faith in God that we know that beyond a shadow of a doubt that God will do what's best for us and whatever or whomever we are praying for.

That's where the true peace of God truly begins to shine out of us that others can really see,,, and that's during times of seemingly unanswered prayers,,, and during those times,,, we know that God is doing His best to take care of us anyway.

So as we leave here today and begin our week,,, I want us to remember Naaman and the healing that he received,,, even though his faith wasn't as great before healing as it was after.

Remember that we must not ignore others when they give us news of God just because of their circumstances.

The little servant girl and the Aramean king had more faith than the Israelite king did and it would have been a different story if they had been ignored.

Also remember that faith in God is so important for everything that we do.

Just because your prayers aren't answered the way that you wanted them to be,,, doesn't mean that God doesn't hear them.

Trust that God knows what He's doing and try to live your life accordingly.

That doesn't mean that it will be easy,,, because usually when a prayer isn't answered the way that we wanted,,, it usually means that the true answer hurts.

God will be with you through the pain and that should help you to get through it.

That's one thing that is amazing about this scripture and that's the fact that you can see God's hand in all of this after you read it but imagine if you had been living it.

It would be different if you had been a part of this while it was going on.

So try to remember that just because we don't understand everything that God is doing,,, don't get discouraged.

God is always there and will help us through anything.

Let these scriptures help us through every day as we go about our week and help us to remember God's faithfulness forever.

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So as we sing our final hymn,,, let me remind you that the alter is always open,,,

If you feel God speaking to you,,, don't hesitate to come,,, maybe you just have questions,,, God will answer,,, you just have to ask Him,,, whatever the need may be,,,

As we sing the final hymn,,, come if needed!

Oakdale - Hymn Page -

Seminary - Hymn Page - 382

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This morning we will gather at the alter to partake of the bread and cup to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.

It's not enough to sustain us physically, but what it represents is intended to sustain us spiritually.

"I am the bread of life," says Jesus, "Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

This morning we invite all of you to participate in Holy Communion.

In the sacrament of Holy Communion, God makes use of physical elements (bread and juice) so that with prayer and faith, they become a means of experiencing God’s grace in a special way.

This represents the union between God, ourselves and other Christians.

Eating the bread and drinking the cup shows that we are remembering Christ's death for us and renewing our commitment to serve Him.

Jesus said, "Do this, as often as you eat and drink in remembrance of me".

We do this by remembering what he did for us by his death and also in remembrance that he is coming again.

In

it says:

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 gave thanks, broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”

25 In the same way, after supper He also took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant established by My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

As we begin, I want to remind each of you that this is the Lord's supper, not ours, and Christ that invites you.

As our ritual puts it: “Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another.”

We do not refuse any who present themselves desiring to receive. Whether you should receive Communion with us is between you and God.

Let's take our hymnals and turn to number 892.

And we will begin reading the bold print together at the top of the page until we get to the red writing where it says all pray in silence,,, then I'll begin with prayer,,, then we will have a short time of silence,,, to give each of us a chance to speak to God silently,,, then I'll close the prayer,,, then I'll begin reading the lighter print below that and we will read the last line together that's in the bold print.

Then we will come and gather around the alter,,, If you can kneel that's fine,,, but if you can't or unable,,, that's fine also. Standing will be just fine.

Let's stand as we begin reading together at the top of the page - #892

Our Heavenly Father,

Who by thy love hast made us,

And through thy love hast kept us,

And in thy love wouldst make us perfect:

We humbly confess that we have not loved thee with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, and that we have not loved one another as Christ hath loved us.

Thy life is within our souls, but our selfishness hath hindered thee.

We have not lived by faith.

We have resisted thy Spirit.

We have neglected thine inspirations.

Forgive what we have been;

Help us to amend what we are;

And in thy Spirit direct what we shall be;

That thou mayest come into the full glory of thy creation,

In us and in all the people;

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Pray in silence) Bow our heads in prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father,,, we come to you this morning and thank you for all the blessings that we have received. We thank you for your Son who died on the cross for our sin's and made it possible to come to you in prayer. I ask for forgiveness for my sins and I know that the Holy Spirit will put before you any that I miss. Now we will take just a few moments in silence to allow everyone to speak personally to you, then I'll finish,,,,. ,,,,

(silence)

Most Gracious and Holy God,,, again we thank you for this opportunity to come before you. Now we ask forgiveness as a church family together,,, for any sins we've committed before we take of your Holy Communion. These things and all others we ask,,, in Jesus' name,,, Amen

The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

If any one sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

And he is the expiation for our sins,

And not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Thanks be to God.

Now you can come together,,,

When all have received, the Lord's table is put in order.

The following prayer is then offered by the pastor or by all:

Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery

in which you have given yourself to us.

Grant that we may go into the world

in the strength of your Spirit,

to give ourselves for others,

in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hymn 130