Sermon Notes, October 23, 2016
Rev.
Garry McGlinchy
Pastor
Garry continued the sermon series based on the book Kings and Presidents:
Politics and the Kingdom of God by Timothy R. Gaines and Shawna Songer
Gaines. This week’s sermon is titled
“The Cost of Grace,” and is based on 2 Kings 5:1-19.
There’s
a lot going on in this passage. First,
we meet the commander of Aram’s army, Naaman.
Aram had a long-lasting back-and-forth feud with Israel. We can deduce from the scripture that Aram
had the upper hand at this time because of the presence of the unnamed girl who
was captured from Israel and made a servant of Naaman’s wife.
We
learn pretty early on that Naaman has leprosy.
Leprosy was one of the most feared diseases of the time. It’s a contagious disease that affects the skin,
mucous membranes, and nerves, causing discoloration and lumps on the skin, and
in severe cases, disfigurement and deformities.
Because most cases of leprosy were highly contagious, many lepers were
forced to live in quarantined leper colonies.
So the fact that Naaman still held his position as the commander of the
Aramean army suggests that either he had a mild case of the disease, or that
the disease was in its early stages.
Either way, his life would have been cut drastically short.
So
this unnamed servant girl from Israel does the only thing she knows to do. She points him in the direction of the
Prophet of God. She didn’t tell him to
go anywhere else. She didn’t tell him to
take anything with him. She simply told
him to go. It’s clear that this wise
unnamed servant girl was living in the world of the Kingdom of God.
However,
Naaman does not live in such a world, and therefore he doesn’t follow her
advice entirely. Naaman goes to the king
of Aram and relays the girl’s message to him.
And the king does what kings do.
He failed to hear what the unnamed slave girl was saying and decided to
do it his way! He sends Naaman to the
king of Israel instead of the prophet of God.
The king of Aram sent Naaman with silver, gold and elaborate clothing as
gifts to the king of Israel, along with a letter asking him to heal Naaman. In other words, the Aramean king was trying
to buy grace to heal his best commander.
We
can understand the Aramean king’s motive.
His best man has an infectious disease that is life-threatening, and he
was willing to do whatever it took to cure him, even if it meant going to his
nemesis! However, his good intentions
were misguided and misdirected. You can imagine how this gesture might have
disturbed the king of Israel. His
response was one of grief. How can he
possibly fulfill the request to cure Naaman of leprosy? So he tears his robes in grief.
This
is where Elisha comes in. Elisha, the
prophet of God, the very person that a little unnamed slave girl was talking
about, has the king send Naaman to him.
So Naaman, with all of his gifts makes his way to where Elisha is. And get this; Elisha doesn’t even come out to
greet him. He doesn’t accept his
gifts. Doesn’t offer him anything to eat
or drink. Nothing! Instead, he tells
this well-respected army commander to go and wash in a small and dirty river!
In
true ruler fashion Naaman gets angry at Elisha’s directions. First, Elisha doesn’t show him the respect of
greeting him, and then adds insult to injury by instructing him to wash in the
Jordan. Obviously, Naaman had never
dealt with the One True King before!
Naaman heads for home, toting all his lavish gifts with him. Fortunately, he found some wise counsel in
his servants. And he listened to their
advice. In a moment of humility he found
himself by the dirty little river, and with great hope and great faith, he
stepped into the water to wash. He was healed!
But
Naaman’s lesson isn’t over. After his
miraculous healing, he returns to Elisha, not the king of Israel nor the king
of Aram, and acknowledges the One True King above all kings. But he’s still under the impression that he
owes something to Elisha. He couldn’t
help but want to put a price tag on the healing and forgiveness that he
received.
Through
this story we see that those living in the world of kings cannot seem to hear
the voices of the powerless. (Gaines)
Our unnamed Jewish slave girl saw this first-hand. Even though Naaman relayed her message, the
king of Aram disregarded it for his own plan.
Think about this for a moment.
Our Constitution starts out, “We the people. . .” The idea is that our government is “by the
people, for the people. . .” Do you feel
like you are heard by political leaders?
On the flip side of that we learn that those
who live in the world of the Kingdom hear the voices of the powerless and take
them seriously. They understand favor
and grace to be offered freely, making bartering unnecessary. (Gaines) Elisha took Naaman’s request seriously not
because of who he was, but because of the condition he was in. Elisha directed Naaman, the enemy’s best man,
to healing. He took no reward or payment
for the action. He even offered Naaman
forgiveness for the times he would have to take his master to the pagan temple
for worship.
God
is a God that listens to your every word!
He isn’t concerned with your position in life; rather He is concerned in
the direction you are heading, and desperately wants to help you to follow in
His footsteps. Not only does He listen
to your cries, but he offers grace to all of us free of charge.
We
live in a society that functions on contracts and price tags. We have leaders who promise salvation at a
cost. Jesus has already taken care of
the contract and cost of our salvation. So
the reality is this: whatever way the election goes, on November 9th
God will still be God, and He only requires us to simply follow Him!
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