Naaman
Healed of Leprosy
5 Now Naaman
was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was
a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him
the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant
soldier, but he had leprosy.
2
Now
bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a
young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife.
3 She said to her mistress,
“If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him
of his leprosy.”
4
Naaman went to his master and told
him what the girl from Israel had said. 5 “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”
So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of
silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing. 6 The letter that he took to the king of
Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman
to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”
7
As
soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I
God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me
to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”
8
When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had
torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have
the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman
went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent
a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and
your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”
11
But Naaman went away angry and said, “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. 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.
13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said,
“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’!” 14 So he went down and dipped himself in
the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was
restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
This text records a true story for us
that happened almost 3000 years ago.
That’s sometime after the invention of love and the rose, but before
cupid and chocolate hearts. On this Valentines
weekend we’ll see that…
Our God Loves the Unlikable!
Through these four people we’ll see
the love of God and you’ll notice that “times change people don’t;” these
characters are much like the people around you today.
5 Now Naaman
was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was
a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him
the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant
soldier, but he had leprosy.
Do you know any “Naamans”? I think you do. They are professional, successful, and kind, but they’re not perfect. They get sick – they have troubles like everyone else, but they’re looking for love in all the wrong places. They don’t know Jesus. They have no one to turn to for hope and help.
It’s interesting that in the text the Holy Spirit inspired the author to write that the Lord had given Naaman all of his victories. He was a skilled warrior and was blessed because of his abilities. But there was one other thing he received from the Lord, leprosy. The NIV does a good job of conveying the shock. He’s a great guy, with a great carrier, talented, and… he’s a leper. Picture a stud athlete with attractive features, except for the ashen white color of his skin dotted with open wounds, and he’s losing part of his ear.
On Valentine’s day traditionally a gift of affection is given to a sweetheart. We give gifts to people that we like, such as chocolate and flowers. God gives gifts to the people he loves too. With Naaman we might think that God loves him because he’s successful and strong, but the greatest gift Naaman received from the Lord was… leprosy.
That’s not how Naaman viewed his life. He was thinking, “I have a great job – I love what I do and I’m good at it. I have a wonderful family. Life would be great if only I wouldn’t have this leprosy, then I would really be happy.” He’s not the only one who thought this way.
2
Now
bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a
young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife.
3 She said to her mistress,
“If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him
of his leprosy.”
This is the next person we want to take note of – the
young slave girl. I’m sure you know
someone like this; in fact you may be such a person. You are a Christian who works hard with the
gifts God’s has given you. Working not
as to serve man, but working as if God was your boss and signing your
paycheck. You happily tell anyone who
will listen what God has done for you.
People watch your faithfulness and glorify your Father in heaven. You know of God’s love and you reflect it
every day.
What’s amazing is that this little girl was probably
taken from her mommy at a young age. She
was in a foreign country, and would most likely never see her family again,
assuming they were alive. Her love for
her Savior God moved her to love her master.
He was responsible for her enslavement and she felt sorry for this
guy!! God loves the unlikable. Not only did this girl know it; she lived it.
On
this Valentine’s weekend it’s easy for us to show love to our spouse or girlfriend
because the chances are good that we like them.
When I was in grade school, I didn’t want to give a Valentine to
everyone in my class – I didn’t like everyone.
It doesn’t matter who I like or who you like, what matters is whom God
loves. God loves everyone, even the
people we hate. God loves the
unlikable. He proved it when he sent
Jesus to take away our sins. He doesn’t
think about the kind of person you are before he loves you. He loves you in spite of all that you’ve done
wrong.
4
Naaman went to his master and told
him what the girl from Israel had said. 5 “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”
So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of
silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing. 6 The letter that he took to the king of
Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman
to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”
In the almost three thousand years since this
happened, one thing hasn’t changed – the cost of health care. Naaman’s boss the
king of Aram, thinks this is a great idea. He volunteers to write a letter and gives him
750 pounds of silver ($33/oz = $402,480), 150 pounds of gold ($1770/oz =
$4,132,800) and ten sets of clothes.
Spare no expense. How desperate
do you think Naaman was to go on the words of a
little child that there is a healer in a foreign country? God loves the unlikable. Naaman desperately
hoped this was true.
People today may not have leprosy, but they are
smitten with a disease they cannot cure, with problems and guilt they cannot
handle. It’s at these times when they
will listen to you the little servant girls who knows God’s love. Watch for them.
7
As
soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I
God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me
to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”
In fact Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, wasn’t trying to pick a fight with him! Is it out of the question that the king of Aram should think that the king of Israel would know the
God of Israel? That’s how it should’ve
been, but it wasn’t. The king of Israel,
or at least the king of the ten northern tribes of Israel, was probably a man
by the name of Joram.
At first glance the king’s response seems pious. He gives God credit – these are things only
he can do. He thinks this is all a nasty
trick by an enemy nation to pick a fight.
Joram is the poster child for the
unbelieving Israelites, and today he could serve as the poster child for
nominal Christians too. In fact Jesus
picks up this point when he was talking to the people of his time almost a
thousand years after the fact. There
were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha
the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed – only Naaman
the Syrian. (Luke 4:27)
What did the little slave girl know that Joram didn’t? Joram carried on in the idolatrous Baal worship and spiritism of worshiping at the high places. He knew about the covenant God, but
completely ignored his power and presence.
Joram highly doubted that not only that God
loved the unlikable, but even if God truly existed! Not only does Joram
show his unbelief in God’s mercy and power, he almost chases away a
prospect!
8
When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had
torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have
the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”
Epiphany means reveal.
During this season of the church year we see one example after another
of Jesus revealing that his is God. Elisha is doing the same thing here. He is going to show that God loves dearly the
unlikable Naaman.
9 So Naaman went with his
horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s
house. 10 Elisha
sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan,
and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”
It must have been quite the site. The royal procession stops at the door of the
hut. Elisha
doesn’t even come out to say hello. He
only sends out a servant with simple instructions, wash and be cleansed. Sounds great, right? Simple but it must be effective if this is
God’s idea!
11
But Naaman went away angry and said, “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. 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.
It’s
too simple. He wants a magic show. He wants a major operation or a quest to
complete as if God needs human effort to heal the body. Naaman is
insulted. He wants God to work in his
way, on his time.
13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said,
“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’!”
Naaman has some incredible help,
doesn’t he? His slave girl back home who
by all rights should’ve hated him, shares the love of God with her unlikable
master, and just when Naanam tries to throw his cure
into the river, his servant stops him from making the biggest mistake of his
life. He says, “Why not try it? You would’ve attempted the impossible, why
not do the simple.”
That approach isn’t bad idea when you’re working with
a friend or relative. “Why not come to
church with me? Why not pick up the
Bible? It won’t hurt. You never have to come back again if you
don’t like it. You have nothing to lose,
but everything to gain!”
14
So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man
of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a
young boy.
How
exactly was Naaman healed? It wasn’t the water in the river that
mattered, Abana, Pharpar,
or Jordan. It was God’s command attached
to the water that gave it the power to heal Naaman. So also with the waters of baptism. Isn’t it ridiculous to think that a drop of
water can wash away sin? What does H2O
have to do with guilt? Nothing, but when
God says in Acts 22, Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, that
is exactly what happens. The
water in baptism has incredible power not because it’s holy or blessed by a
priest, but because it’s connected with God’s Word.
How wonderful to see the man’s body made whole, but if
you finish the story it’s even more wonderful to see that the man’s soul is
cleansed too! He realized that he
couldn’t go back to worshiping his old gods.
What did they ever do for him?
By the end of this story Naaman seems so human – so real to us – we love happy
endings. It’s great to hear – we’re
happy for Naaman.
Isn’t it hard for us to remember that he is the commander of the enemy
nation of God’s people? Remember he took
the slave girl hostage. It is hard to
hate someone that you love in Christ.
Could it be that we could even love the unlikable? Could you cast aside your pride and your
knowledge? The servant girl knew it was
true. Naaman
hoped against hope it was true. Joram doubted it was true.
By the power of God Elisha proved it was
true. God loves the unlikable. You can love the unlikable too. Amen.