August
11th, 2013 “Pride and Providence” Rev. Heather Jepsen
Sermon
Series: Kings of Summer
2
Kings 5
After taking a break for my family vacation,
today we return for the final installment of our sermon series “Kings of
Summer”. We have spent the entire summer
following the stories of Elijah and Elisha in the Old Testament books of 1 and
2 Kings.
We began with the story of Elijah’s
call to be a prophet, discovering that the God of the Old Testament is a God
who meets people living on the edge and gives them just enough to
continue. We read of Elijah’s showdown
with the rival prophets of Baal and wondered about hedging out bets in our modern
world. We watched Elijah bottom out and
run to Mount Horeb for a direct encounter with the divine which lifted him back
up. We witnessed Elijah speak the truth
to power as he named the sins of Ahab and Jezebel in the murder of Naboth and
the stealing of his vineyard. And in our
most recent sermon from this series we saw the transfer of power between Elijah
and Elisha and we began to realize that it is not all about us. Today we finish the series off, with a study
of pride and providence.
Our story this morning takes place
after Ahab has been killed but before Jezebel has died. Their second son Jehoram is currently sitting
on the throne of Israel. The main
character in this morning’s narrative is Naaman a commander in the army of the
king of Aram. This is the army that
defeated Israel in the battle in which king Ahab was killed. Naaman most likely served as a commander in
that very battle. Though a great
warrior, and respected by his troops and his king, Naaman is stricken with
leprosy which would have been not only a discomfort but a dishonor.
An Israelite slave girl, serving his
wife, happens to mention Elisha the prophet of Israel and Naaman is interested
in the possibility of a cure so he goes to his king. The King of Aram sends Naaman along with a
letter and gifts to the king of Israel asking for healing. It is no wonder that Jehoram the king of
Israel tears his clothes as the rival king, who has already beaten them in
battle, now seems to ask him to do the impossible.
Luckily, Elisha steps up to the plate
and asks that Naaman be sent to him.
Naaman arrives at Elisha’s expecting a great show. He is hoping the prophet will come out and
wave his hands over him. He is hoping
that there will be signs from heaven and a direct encounter with this “god of
Israel”. But that is not what he gets. The prophet doesn’t even come out of his
house. He simply sends out a messenger
telling Naaman to wash in the Jordan River.
It is no wonder that Naaman is upset; the prophet’s actions are
disrespectful towards such a highly honored commander. I mean, the guy didn’t even come out of his
house!
Naaman turns away in a huff but one
of his servants urges him to try the remedy anyway. The great commander would not turn away from
a challenge, so why turn away from a simple cure. In a beautiful scene, Naaman humbles himself
and washes in the muddy Jordan, dubious of the promised cure. By a miracle he is cured, and by an even
greater one, he is converted to the worship of the God of Israel.
Naaman returns to praise God and this
time Elisha does come out to greet him.
He tries to shower Elisha with gifts but the prophet turns him
down. Naaman requests that he may take
soil back with him to Aram so that he can worship the God of Israel on
Israelite land. He also asks for mercy
as he will have to enter the temple of his local deity Hadad the Thunderer in
his service to his king. Elisha sends
him away in peace.
It does not take long before Elisha’s
faithful servant Gehazi hatches a plot to get his own out of the deal. He follows Naaman and requests a gift, making
up a story about visiting prophets. Once
again, Naaman makes a generous offer, double Gehazi’s request and Gehazi accepts
not only the gift but the aide of the servants of Naaman to bring it back. Upon his return, Gehazi sends the servants
away and hides his stolen treasure.
Of course nothing gets past
Elisha. He asks Gehazi where he has been
and his servant flat out lies in his face “I haven’t gone anywhere at
all.” Elisha calls him on the lie and
asks “Is this a time to accept gifts?”
The prophet doesn’t work for personal gain; he works for the glory of
the Lord of Israel. To punish him for
his greed and wrong doing Elisha curses Gehazi and the generations that follow
with the very leprosy that Naaman was just cured of.
Many preachers, including myself,
just love this story. From the ups and
downs to the interesting characters, this is one of the richer Biblical
narratives. One of the wonderful themes
that I find in this story for us today is that of pride. From the pride of the king of Israel to the
pride of Naaman to the pride of Gehazi, there are a lot of puffed up people
strutting about throughout this text. And
more often than not it is the pride of these individuals that blinds them to
the work of God around them.
Jehoram the King of Israel is so
proud that he just assumes that the King of Aram is speaking directly to
him. He just assumes that he is the one
that is supposed to heal Naaman. He
doesn’t even consider that there might be a prophet in the land that could do
the healing. He doesn’t even consider
that there might be power in Israel outside the throne.
Naaman is so proud that he almost
misses his chance to be healed. “I
thought he would come out” he says, “I thought there would be a big show. Doesn’t he know who I am?!? No one disses Naaman the commander of the
great armies of Aram. Wash in the
Jordan, there are plenty of better rivers in the land of Aram. This guy is a joke.”
Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, is so
proud he thinks he can sneak around the prophet. You would think that someone who had spent so
much time with Elisha would be aware of his power and vision. But no, Gehazi is blinded by greed and
convinced that he is smart enough to get away with it, so he takes from Naaman
what was not his to take. His pride and
greed will be his undoing.
Another theme tied to that of pride
is the great role reversals in this story.
Like the upside down kingdom that Jesus is always preaching about where
the last will be first and the first will be last, there is a lot of
topsy-turvy role reversal in this narrative.
The slave girl is lifted up while Naaman is humbled, Naaman is lifted up
in healing and then humbled in generosity, Gehazi the slave is brought down
from his position as Elisha’s right hand man.
Those who seem to be in power, kings and commanders, take a back seat to
those who do not, wives and slaves and servants. It is a wonderful change of position.
Along that line of thinking, the
other really cool thing happening here is insiders become outsider and
outsiders become insiders. Naaman, an
outsider to the faith, receives healing and is converted. Even Jesus remarks about this in defense of
his own ministry to outsiders in the gospel of Luke where he says “There were
also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them
was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”
Naaman the outsider; becomes an insider through healing and faith. By contrast, Gehazi an insider; becomes an
outsider. He who once was Elisha’s right
hand man, now has leprosy. Not only is
he outside the “in” group of Elisha’s followers, now he is outside all groups
together as he must live as an outcast.
I love these narratives because I see
so much of ourselves in these stories.
Unlike our last sermon in this series, there is a lot here that is still
relevant to the modern reader, and while we can learn about God we also have
the opportunity to learn about ourselves.
Like Naaman, we are often so proud,
that we might miss the chance for healing, we might miss the chance for God to
be working in our lives. Like
approaching the prophet, loaded down with gifts and riches, we expect that our
wealth and power will heal us. We spend
money to make it better, and hope that our influence will help us get along in
the world. “Don’t they know who I am?!?”
we ask.
We also come to God expecting a
direct encounter with the divine. Naaman
expected a big show. That the prophet
would come out and wave his hand over the place, that there would be flashes of
light and a booming voice from the heavens.
How often have we longed for such a direct encounter with the
divine? “How can I know God is real if
God doesn’t show himself to me? Why
doesn’t God answer my prayers?” We too
expect a direct encounter with God. And
while we are so busy waiting for that moment, we are blind to all the ways God
is working around us. We are so busy
looking up at the sky, that we miss the ways God is working through the people
around us, we miss the signs of God’s presence that are right in front of our
faces.
Like the characters in this story, we
are often blinded by our pride and we miss the providence of God in our
world. The promise of the providence of
God, is that God is working through all creatures, all people, all creation, to
guide things toward the accomplishment of God’s purposes. Sure, it can hit us in big moments in our
lives, like Naaman’s healing did for him.
But more often than not, the providence and working of God, enter our
lives through small things. From the
word of a trusted friend to the song of a bird, to simple things like bread and
juice, God is working to reach us in little ways in our world.
The trick for us is to not be like
Gehazi. Though he had been up close and
personal with the power of God through his work with Elisha, Gehazi still
didn’t trust that God would take care of him.
That is why he went after Naaman’s riches. Gehazi had an “I’ll take care of it myself”
attitude versus a trust in God. In being
stricken with leprosy Gehazi now has no choice but to trust in God’s
providence, as he has become the lowest of the low in the Israelite social
scale.
Throughout this sermon series we have
learned a lot about the God of the Old Testament. The God of the Old Testament is a sovereign
God, with the power to bring life or death, the power to bless with healing or
to curse with leprosy. The God of the
Old Testament is a God who meets with people living on the edge of life, and
blesses them there not with riches beyond their imaginations, but with just
enough to keep them going. The God of
the Old Testament is a jealous God, who demands our singular attention and
worship. The God of the Old Testament is
a God who is present sometimes in flashy ways, like fire from heaven, but more
often in small ways, like the still small voice in our own hearts. The God of the Old Testament is a God who is
working his providence out through the little things in our world, from the
voice of a stranger to a cup of cool water. The God of the Old Testament is one who
encourages us to speak the truth to power and to work for justice in our world.
While these texts have been
difficult, through this sermon series we have come to find out that the God of
the Old Testament might not be as scary as we once thought. In fact, the God of the Old Testament has an
awful lot in common with the God we find in Jesus Christ. For Jesus the Christ brings healing, welcomes
outsiders, speaks softly, works through simple elements, proclaims truth to
power, lifts up the lowly, meets those living on the edge, and works for
justice in the world.
Thanks be to God for these
wonderfully interesting stories in the Old Testament. And thanks be to God for a story of
providence, that still plays out in little ways in our own lives this very
day. Amen.
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