Unclean Gentiles

You are God’s Valentine

Valentine’s Day is coming. It’s a day of “love”. Isn’t it weird that we help our kids give out Valentine’s Day cards to everyone in the class, but I only gave Valentine’s Day cards to 3 people and suddenly I’m in trouble.

I got this email this week. “You are God’s Valentine!”

Isn’t that sweet?

You are the apple of God's eye-His dearly loved valentine! He cares so DEEPLY for you and loves spending time with you. He longs to meet with you! Will you consider pausing this Valentine's weekend to take time to tell God how much you love Him?

Now… that’s true. God does love you, He cares for you, all of those things. I want to know and receive the love of God for me.

But is the purpose of life for me to bask in the love of God? To receive and enjoy it forever?

It’s kind of convincing? I feel like that could be on a Hallmark card somewhere.

And there’s truth in there… but there is also danger in there. The danger of Gehazi.

But first, a story about leopards.

Naaman Healed

2 Kings 5:1–14 (ESV)

1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.

He was a “leper” (not as Dylan once read it, leopard).

Leprosy was a catch-all for all kinds of skin diseases, not just the specific disease we call leprosy today. Naaman was probably one the more functional side, without actual rotting body parts falling off, but “unclean!”

2 Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife.

3 She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

4 So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.”

5 And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.

6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

7 And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.”

8 But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that 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 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.”

11 But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.

12 Are not 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 went away in a rage.

“A great man may expect some great thing.” Instead, of a grand public miracle, a humble private bath.

It doesn’t match, it doesn’t meet his expectations. He is slighted Elisha didn’t meet him in person, he deserves that level of respect, he is a “great man” after all.

Maybe that’s exactly why Elisha, at God’s direction surely, gives him instead a little test of faith.

Instead “it is a great word...”

13 But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”

14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

The servants are kind of the heroes in this story. First the little girl, a kidnapped slave, but she shows enough love to point to God and His prophet.

The servants of Naaman stop the guy from walking away after traveling hundreds of miles. Dude, it’s worth a quick bath, yeah?

The tiny, tiny, tiny faith of Naaman. God asks just a little step of faith. Dip once. dip again. Yeah… I know it might be annoying, but dip again.

Just enough faith to dip seven times in the river.

Half-hearted Worship of Naaman

2 Kings 5:15–19 ESV

15 Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant.” 16 But he said, “As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused. 17 Then Naaman said, “If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule loads of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the Lord. 18 In this matter may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon your servant in this matter.” 19 He said to him, “Go in peace.” But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance,

Loads of earth - to prepare a sacred place for an altar. Naaman doesn’t know anything about YHWH.

Rimmon - Syrian version of Baal.

“Go in peace” acknowledgment of covenant relationship with speaker and his god.

Shalom! Lech le Shalom.

In TOTAL contrast to the story of Naaman, we have Gehazi. The “servant of Elisha.”

Gehazi Punished

2 Kings 5:19–27 (ESV)

19 He said to him, “Go in peace.” But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance,

20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “See, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not accepting from his hand what he brought. As the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”

Time to GET PAID $$$.

21 So Gehazi followed Naaman. And when Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?”

22 And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me to say, ‘There have just now come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.’ ”

23 And Naaman said, “Be pleased to accept two talents.” And he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before Gehazi.

24 And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed.

25 He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.”

Now the heart of Gehazi is truly revealed. Was he going to get extra donation? That would have been wrong still, but at least not selfish and greedy. Gehazi wasn’t going out to get Elisha’s forgotten donations, he was absolutely grifting, stealing the money. He saw a chance to profit off the miracle of God.

26 But he said to him, “Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants?

27 Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence a leper, like snow.

“Did not my heart go?” (Maybe: you broke my heart, Gehazi)

Why is this so wrong?

It transforms the devotion of Naaman into a transaction. Now the “miracle” is a bought and paid for service, rather than the undeserved act of a merciful God.

Gehazi was the Israelite, and a man in close proximity to Elisha, the prophet of God. Maybe even a prophet or a prophet-in-training himself, this was one of the “chosen people” of God!!!

This is the “super Christian” in the story.

So we have this contrast, Naaman who shows the tiniest bit of faith and, even though he gets almost everything wrong, he goes in “peace” with God. Shalom. Healed and his heart directed towards YHWH.

Gehazi, who should have every reason to have grown his faith, great believing, God fearing, God following, God loving mentors… his heart is full of wickedness and deceit.

And this was the pattern over and over for the prophets, for Jesus himself:

Luke 4:24–28 ESV

24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.

God’s seeks the Sinners

Look at how little God asks of Naaman, here. Like the story of Ruth, who makes it into the hall of fame for a tiny little fib, we see how little a seed of faith God is looking for.

Faith as small as a mustard seed. What does he ask of Naaman?

This is one of the GREAT stories in the Old Testament

God’s sicks the Self-Righteous

If God were just playing a numbers game, wouldn’t he still want to hold onto even chuckle-heads like Gehazi?

Be careful, all you “chosen ones.” You “Valentine’s of God.” Do we see ourselves in the path of Naaman, we may not know much but our hearts are turned toward God? Our faith may be small… but it’s enough to do what God has asked us to do next?

Or, if we are honest, are we wearing the name of God, “Jesus”, “Christian” and we are really just in it for what we can get. Maybe it’s money. Maybe it’s the approval of friends and family. Maybe it’s respect.

Doxological

What is the purpose of life, the universe and everything?

You might say “42.” The real answer is Jesus.

Is the purpose of it all that more people would know Jesus as their personal Savior? Is the purpose “evangelical?” No.

Maybe the purpose of it all is that God wants people who are more fully sold out for him. As A.W. Tozer said “not more Christians, but better Christians.” Is the purpose discipleship? No.

The purpose of it all. You, me, church, Elisha, leprosy, healing, all of it… the chief purpose of man and all Creation: “to glorify God.”

God is glorified when his Creation repents on turn back to him. When people take even the smallest turn of faith, hearts a bit toward Him, that is only by faith alone, by grace alone, by the Spirit of God alone, in Jesus alone.

Praise God, Naaman brought home some dirt. Doesn’t understand worship AT ALL! But God is glorified.

God is glorified when hypocrisy is unmasked and exposed. When fake believers or people calling themselves “Israelites”, “prophets”, “assistant prophets”, “assistant to the prophets”, or “Christian” are exposed for self-righteous greedy monsters.

Jesus has no chill when it comes to “such as these.” These are the Pharisees and Saducees, these are the people Jesus “turn-the-other-cheek” Christ throws tables at!

God isn’t glorified when people lie and cheat in his name. He hates it. He is glorified when that is exposed as corruption and punished. Sometimes we are sad and maybe confused, but God is after the heart. And it isn’t good for those who see Jesus’ name being used for evil, it isn’t good for those who are cheating or stealing in the name of God to get away with it. Their chance at redemption is on the other side of confession and repentance!

Gehazi should praise God for his new leprosy, that it might bring him to repentance. That’s his hope, that’s an act of grace!

Be Like Elisha

He shows grace and wisdom to the “outsider.”

He speaks truth and judgment to the “insider.”

(Wouldn’t it be incredible if this was what our churches were famous for?

Yes, go and make disciples.

Yes, go and be better disciples.

In all things: to God be the glory.