weekly sermon

1-8-12

Our Faith At Work

I had an uncle, actually the uncle that gave me the name Rocky, who worked at an elevator/escalator company. He worked at the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport most of his career. He was very good at what he did with the company and really made a name for himself. He had a very good job, made a very good salary and had a very nice house and family. He had made very wise investments and was, in my eyes, very wealthy. He finally came to the age of retirement and announced that he was going to retire. He even made up little business cards of his "retirement company". Things could not have been better for him. He had a fantastic wife, who he had been married to for most of their lives, and five fantastic kids that had gone to do great things as well. Right after he had announced his retirement, he acquired a toothache and went to a dentist. The dentist told him there was nothing wrong with his teeth so he went to a doctor for an ear ache. The doctor informed him that he needed to see a specialist. The specialist told him that he had cancer in his lymph nodes. The great career he had, the great name he had made for himself and all the weath he had acquired, meant nothing at all now. All he wanted now was to be able to stay alive for his wife and family and enjoy his retirement. Within four months he had passed away from this cancer.

Grab your Bibles and turn with me to 2Kings 5:1-27, "The king of Aram had great admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him the LORD had given Aram great victories. But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy." I told you the story, above, becuase in very much the same way, Naaman was exactly the same way. Naaman was a captain, of the Syrian army, that had gained great fame for his many victories in battles. The king rewarded Naaman greatly because of his victories. Naaman was a very popular and rich captain, but none of that mattered because under his great armor, Naaman had a problem. Naaman was a leper. Leprosy is like cancer today, terminal. There was no cure in his time. At the height of his career, the powerful and mighty commander, is now powerless. When Naaman was rich, popular and great, he did not need God. When everything is going great in our lives, we have no time for God. Often times we do not even acknowledge Him. We just live our lives however we want, doing what we want and anytime we want. When something terrible happens, THEN we turn to God. What did Naaman do? Let us read on.

(2)"At this time Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman's wife as a maid. (3)One day the girl said to her mistress, "I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy." (4)So Naaman told the king what the young girl from Israel had said. (5)"Go and visit the prophet," the king of Aram told him. "I will send a letter of introduction for you to take to the king of Israel." So Naaman started out, carrying as gifts 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing. (6)The letter to the king of Israel said: "With this letter I present my servant Naaman. I want you to heal him of his leprosy." There is something that we should notice, of great importance, here. The Syrian's worshipped a false god and did not follow the one true God, the God that Israel worshipped. With that being said, notice that there was a young girl, who was captured and forced to live in an area that did not believe in and would not discuss our God. Let us put our selves in her place for a minute. How would we survive in a world that did not believe in God? I bring this up because I want us to notice the great faith of this young girl. She is in a land where she is not allowed to mention God and yet she is brave enough to take a stand for what she believes. Naaman, who is on his last leg, has nowhere to turn and decides to take her advice. He goes to the king and the king also displays some faith when he sends Naaman to Israel. This one little girl, using her faith in God, caused faith to start to spread to the others. Let us see what this small amount of faith caused. As we can see, all because Naaman was at the end of his rope and had nowhere to turn, he started relying on God. This all started because of a young girl that would show faith and plant one small seed. Naaman went because he had nowhere else to turn, but we need to see what else would happen to him.

(7)"When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in dismay and said, "This man sends me a leper to heal! Am I God, that I can give life and take it away? I can see that he's just trying to pick a fight with me." (8)But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes in dismay, he sent this message to him: "Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet here in Israel." (9)So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha's house. (10)But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: "Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy." (11)But Naaman became angry and stalked away. "I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!" he said. "I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the LORD his God and heal me! (12)Aren't the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn't I wash in them and be healed?" So Naaman turned and went away in a rage." There are a couple of things to notice here. First I want us to notice how Naaman truly thought of himself. Elisha has sent a messenger out to tell him to go wash himself seven times in the Jordan river. Did you notice what Naaman did? Naaman was furious. How dare a small unknown human with a subordinate God send a measly messenger out to the mighty, the powerful, the wealthy and most well known captain of the land. He can not come see me himself? I am all that and a bag of chips and you treat me like a mere bag of trash? Who do you think you are talking to? What do you mean you want me to wash seven times in the Jordan river? Do you know that the Jordan is the nastiest river around? Do you know who all and what all has been in that river? Why can't you come out here and wave your magic wand and "poof" I am instantly cured? Oh does this remind us of anyone? Look deep now, I am sure you will find out who I am talking about. We wander around in our daily lives and live just the way we want until we get in a bind and have to turn to God. Once we turn to Him we think it should be an instant, just add water, miracle. Yes, I want a miracle and I want it now!!! Well guess what, even if that did happen, how many folks are standing in line wanting that instant miracle to happen right now? Take a number please. So Naaman is upset that he, a famous movie star, is not being treated as such and is going to leave. Something else happens. Let us find out.

(13)"But his officers tried to reason with him and said, "Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn't you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, 'Go and wash and be cured!'" (14)So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child's, and he was healed!" Did you notice what just happened? A simple faith, from a young maid, flooded over to Naaman's officers. Let us remember, to live and be included in this area, you must believe the way they believed. These officers believed in the same god as the rest of the Syrians and that not being the one true God, yet they convenced Naaman to heed to the advice and follow the instructions sent down from the God they did not believe in, hmmm coincidence? I think not. Naaman did follow God's instructions, even though they were not what he expected them to be, and was healed. We have often said that God works in mysterious ways, and He does. Just because we do not understand how God works does not mean that it will not work. When faith, in God, comes into play, it does not matter if it is conventional in our minds or not, it is the work of God that works. Once we finally take that HUGE step in our faith, I have often talked about, what happens, besides the miracle we wanted? Let us find out.

(15)"Then Naaman and his entire party went back to find the man of God. They stood before him, and Naaman said, "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant." (16)But Elisha replied, "As surely as the LORD lives, whom I serve, I will not accept any gifts." And though Naaman urged him to take the gift, Elisha refused." If you noticed up at the very top of this message, Naaman brought much silver, gold and fine clothing to buy his miracle. What did Jesus have to say about that? Jesus says, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt 16:26) God knew we would offer anything we had, materialistically, to receive our miracle, just as Naaman did. Remember it is NOT by our works, or our money, but it is the gift of God. Elisha knew where his heart was, with God. He did not need or want all this silver and gold, he only wanted God. Did Naaman learn this simple lesson?

(17)"Then Naaman said, "All right, but please allow me to load two of my mules with earth from this place, and I will take it back home with me. From now on I will never again offer burnt offerings or sacrifices to any other god except the LORD. (18)However, may the LORD pardon me in this one thing: When my master the king goes into the temple of the god Rimmon to worship there and leans on my arm, may the LORD pardon me when I bow, too." (19)"Go in peace," Elisha said. So Naaman started home again." As we can see, Naaman did learn that there was but one true God. Naaman also knew that the king in his land would still worship the god of Rimmon. Naaman would go back and bow down only to his God and in turn that would plant seeds in the mind of the king. Naaman was doing his part to give the word of God to all he came in contact with. What happens when we lose site of God and lean on our own understanding?

(20)But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God, said to himself, "My master should not have let this Aramean get away without accepting any of his gifts. As surely as the LORD lives, I will chase after him and get something from him." (21)So Gehazi set off after Naaman. When Naaman saw Gehazi running after him, he climbed down from his chariot and went to meet him. "Is everything all right?" Naaman asked. (22)"Yes," Gehazi said, "but my master has sent me to tell you that two young prophets from the hill country of Ephraim have just arrived. He would like 75 pounds of silver and two sets of clothing to give to them." (23)"By all means, take twice as much silver," Naaman insisted. He gave him two sets of clothing, tied up the money in two bags, and sent two of his servants to carry the gifts for Gehazi. (24)But when they arrived at the citadel, Gehazi took the gifts from the servants and sent the men back. Then he went and hid the gifts inside the house. (25)When he went in to his master, Elisha asked him, "Where have you been, Gehazi?" "I haven't been anywhere," he replied. (26)But Elisha asked him, "Don't you realize that I was there in spirit when Naaman stepped down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to receive money and clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and cattle, and male and female servants? (27)Because you have done this, you and your descendants will suffer from Naaman's leprosy forever." When Gehazi left the room, he was covered with leprosy; his skin was white as snow." Once we take our eyes off of God, as Gehazi had done, and start looking at a personal gain from the work of God, we will soon find out that God is still in charge. Gehazi thought he would profit from the works of God, but it in turn cost him and his descendants his life.

God is with us always, whether we want to believe it or not. God still performs miracles whether we believe it or not. The one thing we must understand about happenings in our lives is that it happens in God time and it works the way God wants it to work. Naaman wanted an instant miracle. Did he receive it? Actually he did, once he put his whole faith in God and relied on the works of God and not his own works. If you want to see God at work, even sometimes instantly, put your whole faith in Him and watch Him work. Over in Luke, Jesus had this to say about Naaman; Luke 4:27 "And 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." All Jesus was saying is, there were many that were lost to leprosy but none would put their faith except for Naaman. Because Naaman did put his whole faith in God, he was not only cure but also saved. Naaman stated that there was no other than the one true God and he would worship only Him.

God used a maid to save a dying general. God used a group of servants to lead Naaman to do the right thing. They were set close to their Commander, close enough to see his real problem and then give the right advise. Today we are these servants. When God puts us close to someone, colleagues, loved ones, neighbours, friends, He gives us the privilege to know some things about the person (his pain, hurts, illness, etc.), God does it so that we can speak a word that would give them hope, a word that can sustain the weary (Isa 50:4). They need someone who will reach out and touch them, who will love them, who will see their pain and tell them where they can find help.

God has placed you where you are to make a difference. Treasure the privilege you have that no one else has. And let the words we say bring hope and life them. As in Naaman’s case, it makes a difference whether the person will live or die. Shannon states all the time that folks are sent to us for a reason and God will reveal that reason eventually and we will know what it is that God wants us to do for them to show them the way to God's work, and we do.

Are you facing a crisis in your life, like Naaman, a physical ailment that has been a lingering problem, a crisis in your marriage? Can you trust God? Would you pray and submit to His way? All you need to do to get started, on the road to this most wonderful life, is to say a simple prayer with me.

Say this simple prayer with me, Dear Lord, I want you to be the Lord over my life, forgive me of my sins, and give me the gift of everlasting life. Amen.

If you have said this simple prayer, then we believe that you have received salvation. We would love to rejoice with you, so please drop us a note, in our link, to let us know and confess Jesus before man, so that we may send you a few things that we hope will help you in your new Christian walk.

With Love in Christ,

Pastor Stone