Faith Journeys

II Kings 5:1-16

Every person can understand their faith journey by seeing the factors that influenced Naaman.

Introduction:

In the movie US Marshall’s, the actor Tommy Lee Jones is responsible for capturing an escaped prisoner. Because of the status of the prisoner the US Marshalls are given a man from another agency to assist them. They work together throughout the movie trying to capture this man. For the sake of drama there are many near captures.

The fugitive is not captured until the end of the movie. You also come to discover at the end of the movie that the added personnel is not a good guy like you might think. He is really a man who is in place to cover the tracks of a crime and place the blame on the fugitive. The one, who appeared to be trustworthy, was really one of the bad guys.

In the passage we are looking at today, a man named Naaman is in trouble, but he is a man that has a lot of things working for him. These things don’t get Naaman what he needs. There are some factors that could have stood in the way of him coming to faith in God.

Factor I. He was a powerful man

A. A pastor friend was telling me about a brother who had a nice house that was paid for, he had a good marriage, and he seemed to be very content. His question was why would someone like this need salvation? I think this man was a lot like Naaman. Naaman was a powerful man. He was clearly a very good military leader. He was such a good leader that his superiors regarded him highly. Naaman seemed to be a guy who had lots of good things going for him. It really does not seem that he has a problem until toward the end of v. 1 we come across that little three letter word “but”. Even though he had all of things working in his favor he had a problem. There was something that was not right.

B. Powerful people tend to have the opinion that they can take care of anything by themselves. They are often highly independent. They take care of themselves, until that word “but” come into their life somewhere. That person’s obstacles might be a doctor’s report. It might be news of a layoff. It might be something related to someone close. At those times that powerful independent person finds they can’t do anything about it.

C. A person can be someone of power and influence. These are the types of people who have little or no need for outside help. These kinds of people seem to be the kind o9f people who don’t need God. Even Christians are people who can get very comfortable in their life, such that they don’t sense a strong need of God. We should be aware of this danger. We also need to be aware of this situation that can arise in the lives of people who don’t know Jesus. No matter how good or how bad things get, don’t lose sight of your need of God in your everyday life.

Factor II. He needed help

A. Not long ago I decided that I needed to change the spark plugs in our car. I got five of the six plugs changed and I hit a wall. I was not able to do the last plug by myself. It was in a position that I could not reach. I knew I was going to need to get some help to get the rest of the work done. When Naaman discovers that he has leprosy he hits a wall. Leprosy is used in the Bible to describe a number of different kinds of skin disorders. We often like of Leprosy as a disease that steals you body parts from you. It sounds like it almost makes parts of your body rot away. Naaman’s leprosy might have been something like this, or it might have been something more like shingles.

B. Naaman had hit a wall. With all of the ability this man had been given he was not able to deal with this one by himself. He needed someone who could do something more for him. In Jewish culture, anyone found with a Leprosy disease was required to be removed from society. Maybe this was the track that Naaman was going to have to follow. Maybe he had been hiding his disease for a period of time. Now it was almost impossible to keep his problem hidden. Not only was this a problem Naaman could not deal with, but it was a problem society did not know how to deal with either.

C. It can be hard for a person to admit that they don’t know where to turn. They don’t know what they ought to do. For some people this is an easy place to seek help. Others don’t like to admit they are stuck. So they just keep plugging along. Maybe they just don’t want to admit they can’t do it alone. They really need help. It’s not wrong to seek help when you are stuck. What can be wrong is when you don’t seek help when you need it.

D. When you are stuck, is it easier for you to ignore the problem and hope it will go away? Maybe you are a person who readily admits you need help. Before a person will become a Christian they need to admit they can’t make it to God on their own. They need to accept the assistance God is giving to them. That becomes a part of every person’s faith journey. When Naaman saw that he had a need he could not deal with on his own, he was taking a first step in his faith journey.

Factor III. He had powerful connections

A. Just recently we learned of the brain cancer that has infected Senator Ted Kennedy. Many times I think we get the idea that if we have all of our things in order things like this will not happen to us. He is a wealthy man. He is also a man with a lot of influence. It can be hard for us to grasp the fact that a Ted Kennedy is susceptible to the same diseases and the same ailments that affect you and me. Even with all of the great medical attention Mr. Kennedy is receiving his odds are not really great. The truth is that the things that can change my life and yours can also change the life of someone with a great deal of power.

B. Naaman was a man like Ted Kennedy. He was a man who had a lot of influence. We are told in v. 1 the “He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded.” When Naaman asks permission to go seek out Elisha, he speaks to the king of Aram to ask for permission to make this trip. The king doesn’t just give him permission to go, but he sends with Naaman a letter to the King of Israel. Naaman is carrying with him authority from the King of his country to seek out Elisha to ask for healing. He was a man who could do great things. In this one instance he is caught. He does not seem to be able to do anything for himself. So he takes the power and the influence he does have and uses it to seek the help he can receive.

C. The idea that if we get all of our stuff in the right order, we will be able to do anything is a great lie that many have bought into. I read a statistic recently that said many will not come to Christ because they don’t feel they are yet qualified. Too much sin in our life is not a reason to stay away from God. Too many mistakes in our past are not a reason to stay away from God. There is no better time to come to God, because at those moments we will really realize what a great gift we have been given. Jesus Christ died on the cross so we could be forgiven of our sin. So those excuses amount to nothing. Our power or lack of power is not something to keep us from God. Our lack of power should lead us to God who is the source of all power.

Factor IV. He had strong opinions

A. In a Bible study one day one of the men in the group was telling us that his doctor had told him he needed to stop smoking. He agreed, and he had tried, but he told the doctor, write it down. He wanted the doctor to take out his prescription pad and write that down as his prescription. I guess if he got the message in that form he might be more inclined to persist at it. I think part of his reasoning was, if he told me to take a pill I would do it. So, if he tells me this way I need to stop smoking I will do it.

B. Naaman obviously had in mind what Elisha should do for him. It is interesting to me to see how Elisha acts. For us I think this would be like a big black limousine pulling up in front of your house with a motorcade, and a security guard comes and tells you the person in the Limo wants to see you. Rather than rushing out to see who it is or what they want, you tell them, go down to the Grand River and wash in it seven times. You never speak directly to the person who has come to see you. In the cases of Naaman it is horses and chariots, and he sends a servant out to tell Naaman what to do. You never know Elisha might have been at a good place in his novel.

C. Naaman does not like what Elisha has done. He even tells those with him what he thought Elisha should do. "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 2Ki 5:12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage.” He might have been a little miffed that Elisha doesn’t even bother to look at him. He also feels that Elisha’s instructions are way too simple.

D. Imagine the blessing Naaman would have missed out on if he would not have done what Elisha told him to do. I wonder if sometimes we miss out on God’s blessings, because we don’t like the directions he gives us. Maybe he is nudging us toward a person who could use some help. Maybe like Naaman we want healing, but we don’t want to go down a simple path. Don’t miss out on God’s blessings because you don’t like his directions.

Factor V. He had a sensible servant

A. Fortunately Naaman had a man with him with some sense. He poses Naaman with the question, “"My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!" v. 13. In other words if he had done things the way you expected it, you would have been happy. Just because he is telling you to do something you weren’t expecting does not mean you are off the hook. If you really want to be healed then maybe you should give it a try. It is not going to cost you anything. Naaman can see the sense in this so he follows through and does what Elisha told him to do.

B. This would be like one of my children coming to me and saying, Dad shouldn’t we . . . or Dad wouldn’t it be better if. . . Maybe even that was not right. It hurts when little ones see the wrong we do, and it can be hard to accept when a little one has a better idea than us. Naaman was fortunate to have a wise servant with him, who was not afraid to speak up. Naaman exercised wisdom in listening to this servant.

C. Perhaps God could be speaking to you, and it might be coming from a least likely place. We need to be ready to listen when he speaks.

Conclusion:

The only way that Naaman was able to experience God’s blessing and a relationship with Jesus Christ is by getting beyond some of the factors that might have stood in the way of his blessings.