Naaman

I. Let’s pray.

II. Introduction

a. Opening Illustration – When I was younger, I really looked up to my Uncle Doug. He was my dad’s youngest brother so he really was only about 16 years older than I was. He seemed cool and rebellious. He had a fast car, and lived on the edge. Any chance I had to spend with him, I took it because he was just an all around fun guy to be around. Although, in the early years, we never really talked about God or Jesus, he would have probably told you that he was a Christian. But, looking back, I think even he would question whether that was genuine.

Well, a little over ten years ago something happened that would change his life and those around him forever and would force him to seriously consider that question of whether he was a Christian. In 1997, he was diagnosed with brain cancer. Since surgery was an option, he took it. After a successful surgery that left him free, for the moment, of any trace of the cancer, he set out in search of the answer to that question. 5 years later in 2003, the cancer returned and at the age of 38 he passed away. Now, some of you may think of this as a tragedy. Although I miss my uncle, I can smile at the memories of those last 5 years of his life. Why? Because never have I seen a man more devoted to the Lord. He treated everyday as a gift. We talked a lot about God and Jesus then. For whatever purpose his cancer served, God used it to draw him close to Himself and in those final years of my uncle’s life, he lived his life in complete surrender to God.

Hardships are a fact of life, and everyone deals with them differently. It’s always difficult to see how God is working when we are going through them especially since we are too busy blaming God for why they are happening. We even try to pray them away and say “God, GET ME OUT OF THIS!!!!” when we should be asking, “God, what do you want me to get out of this?”

Today we are going to study a man in the bible who knew a thing or two about suffering hardship. [Purpose] In the end, we are going to see how God uses a hardship in Naaman’s life to build Naaman’s character, draw Naaman close to Himself, and ultimately get Naaman to surrender to Him.

III. Explanation

a. Naaman – who was he? We begin by reading 2 Kings 5:1.

i. Read v. 1

b. Naaman:

i. Was Captain of the army of the King of Aram

ii. Was Great man and Highly respected by both the King and by all people

iii. By Him the Lord gave victory to Aram

iv. Seems to be loved even by his slaves

1. In the next verse we see that a little girl from Israel who is in Naaman’s house desires that her master be healed

a. Read vv. 2-3

2. Naaman seems to have been well loved and respected even by his slaves.

v. Finally, Naaman suffered from leprosy.

Through what the Bible tells us of Naaman’s life, we can see that, even though Naaman didn’t worship Him as God:

c. Main Point #1 – God used Naaman’s leprosy to build his character.

i. What’s interesting is that the passage doesn’t say that Namaan did all these things and then became a leper. It seems to say that he was a leper while doing them. Naaman persevered in spite of his leprosy.

ii. When faced with hardships Naaman had a choice of whether to persevere or to give up. Many people in his situation certainly would have given up.

iii. Because of his perseverance he gained the respect and praise of those around him.

iv. Illustration – Jimmy Cook

But, it’s not enough to be thought well of by people around you if you’re living life apart from the one true God.

d. Main Point #2 – Now God would use Naaman’s leprosy to draw him to Himself (Read vv. 4-6)

i. You see, Naaman worshipped the god Rimmon. Naaman probably prayed many times that Rimmon would heal him, yet it never happened.

ii. When he heard that there was a prophet in Israel that could heal him, he jumped at the chance to be healed. Naaman went to his king to have him send word to Elisha’s king and it would all be prearranged when he got there.

iii. But little did Naaman know that this would be leading him to the one true God.

Without the leprosy, Naaman would have never found himself at the door of a prophet. But it wasn’t going to be easy; Naaman needed to do one more thing.

e. Main Point #3 – God used Naaman’s leprosy to get Naaman to surrender.

i. God doesn’t make life easy for us. Why should he have made it easy for Naaman whose faith was so small? (Read vv. 9-12)

ii. God attacked Naaman’s pride by having Elisha ask him to do something that was a huge risk to his personal pride and image if it didn’t work. Naaman was desperate to be healed, but in his position of power he could not afford to be seem desperate. Imagine what would have happened if after dipping himself in the river 7 times, he was still a leper. He would have been made to look like a fool in front of his entire entourage. What respect they had for him might have disappeared.

iii. Yet, because of Naaman’s desperation, he humbled himself and did it. And he was healed. (Read vv. 13-15)

iv. But notice: nobody ever mentioned God; not the little girl, not Naaman, and not Elisha. Yet after Naaman returned from being healed, he recognized that it was God who healed him. Wow.

v. In the end, Naaman’s leprosy pointed him to the one true God and he promised that he would never worship another God except the God of Israel. (Read vv. 16-17)

IV. Application – Ok, so what does a 3,000 year old leper have to do with me today?

a. We all have hardships in our lives. Some we might say are more extreme than others but that doesn’t mean that we diminish anyone’s hardships in light of someone else’s. Everyone’s hardships are real to them.

b. God wants to use our hardships in the same way that he used Naaman’s leprosy.

i. (1) Our hardships can build our character in positive ways or they can reveal our character flaws.

ii. (2) Our hardships do draw us to God or cause us frustration and anger which leads us to push God away.

iii. (3) Our hardships offer us the choice, everyday, of whether we will rely on God or rely on ourself.

c. But it often does come down to choice. Life is full of choices. [INTRODUCE THE BUTTON] There are easy choices such as:

i. When my wife asks if an outfit makes her look fat:

1. I say, “NO” [That was easy]

ii. When a friend asks me to go bungee jumping:

1. I say, “NO” [That was easy]

d. But some choices are not so easy. When we are faced with a hardship (such as leprosy, cancer, financial difficulty, depression, etc…), we have to make a choice of whether we will let God use it to build our character, and if we will let it draw us near to God and if we are going to surrender.

i. There’s no “Easy Button” for those choices.

ii. And it doesn’t get any easier. We’re faced with harder choices every day. And if the Bible is clear on anything, it is clear that the Christian life is hard.

iii. The comfort is that God never intended for us to go through this life alone. We were made to need Him and to worship Him. Behind Naaman’s whole story, there was God working all things out to draw Naaman his knees. And Naaman conceded because God prepared him to do so. How will you respond?

V. Let’s pray.