2 Kings 5: 19 - 27 - Tenth sermon on the life of Elisha
Below is the outline of the sermon, I preached on 16 September 2012 at West Ewell Evangelical Church, Surrey
Introduction
Because of the content, this is the hardest sermon in the series to prepare and preach.
A tendency in this day to downgrade sin to ‘misdemeanour,’ a ‘syndrome’ or, more popularly, a ‘problem.’
We should see it as God sees it – indeed, it would save many of the problems that we see in the Church today.
We will see how Elisha dealt with the sin that occurred to Gehazi – the servant who had been with him from the beginning of his ministry.
The context, as we saw in the previous sermon (2 Kings 5: 1 – 19), where we learnt about Namaan the general from Aram who had a skin disease, who was referred to Elisha by his maidservant, and who then dipped into the Jordan (despite his misgivings) to cure him from the skin condition.
Namaan wanted to give Elisha a present, but Elisha had undertaken the task for the glory of God and not for material gain.
In this sermon, we will look at:
1. Having a proper perspective of God’s judgement
2. Having a proper perspective of God’s mercy
3. Our attitude – personally and within the church
1. God’s judgement
The two main sins that we encounter can be categorised as jealousy and covertness – both come from inflated, sense of what we think we are owed, turning our attention from God.
Paul gives list of sins (Colossians 3: 5) that belong to sinful nature, includes lust, evil deeds and greed that he equates with idolatry, as we can become so preoccupied with the things around us, i.e. what we want – what we see, feel, sense, hear – that our lives are no longer centred on the One whom we should be worshipping.
It is nothing new as it was seen even among the disciples as to who would be the greatest (Luke 9: 46).
There was also the incident of the brother arguing over inheritance, who came to Jesus, which resulted in the parable of the foolish farmer (Luke 12: 13 – 21).
Many Christians fall into the trap of wanting the lifestyle of those outside of the Church as they regard their own as being too restrictive – without realising that God determined way we live for very good reasons: many of which we are only just discovering now.
The service of God does not put a barrier to prevent temptation – even Jesus was tempted. The key depends on what we do with that temptation – do we fight it with the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit or do we give into it? If we are actively involved in the church, we may find ourselves in places to abuse that power and take advantage – this is why in this church, we have strict financial accounting procedures, and a rigorous safeguarding policy and procedure for children and vulnerable adults in our care.
It is important to note that the leaders in this church are responsible and accountable to and for its members – but the most important person that we report to is God.
The sin of Gehazi was grievous because could have slipped up Namaan in his new faith.
Gehazi was in process of reducing high calling within the prophetic calling to the mercenary vocation that exploited God’s power for personal gain – and we have seen demonstrations in Christian organisations, both here and elsewhere in the world, but can easily be demonstrated within our church and within our lives so we need to be aware of the devil's schemes.
More importantly, the sin of Gehazi was grievous because it gave lie to God’s character – God was not avaricious as Gehazi’s character had demonstrated as his witness before men.
Interestingly, Namaan was more faithful to his new Lord than Gehazi was to his.
In verse 27, Gehazi ‘went from Elisha’s presence’ – literally, he was dismissed from official audience- however, God and Elisha had not finished with him as we shall see.
Although Gehazi gained in money; the flipside was that he had lost his health, honour, peace and service.
2. God’s mercy
Gehazi broke his relationship with Elisha and, more importantly, with God – but that did not preclude a way back to God.
Instead of serving God, Gehazi had made idols, i.e. his love of money and possessions.
How much have we put things or people before God? How many times has God brought us back to Himself? We need to get a better perspective – we need to serve the Creator and not the created.
God is the God of the second etc. chances, but that does not mean that He winks at sin – far from it as He commands that we are holy as He is holy (which we learnt about in previous series) for we are His witnesses to outside world.
Interesting that God not given up on Gehazi for he is mentioned by name again in 8:5.
He was not given a death sentence but he still bore the recognisable evidence of his sin.
When we confess our sin to God, we are forgiven by Him but there may still be effects (e.g. monetary restoration, penal sentence).
There is no proof that he was cleansed from the condition, but God was able to use him as he was – although not in the same way, as there would have been restrictions in being with people. The incident recorded later in 2 Kings was in isolated location and not in the city.
We need to examine ourselves honestly – God is wanting to use us, but may not be able to in the way that initially intended to as sin has disfigured our lives.
3. Our attitude
a. Personal
We can observe in Gehazi a downhill attitude toward people. We can read and hear of people who regard others as milk-cows: getting out of them what we want rather than valuing them for who they are. The evidence can be seen in scrambling over wills and in law suits.
This attitude can be seen in Gehazi’s attitude of avarice (verse 22), deception (verses 23 – 25) and derogation of his superiors (verse 20, ‘this Aramean’).
In verse 21, it is important to note the deliberate lie – he would not stop at anything in order to get his hands on the money.
In verse 25, he evaded the question – like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. This behaviour is Is still happening today: there is no ‘Moral Maze’ as God has clearly set out the way – the best way – that we should live.
In addition, he swore deceitfully by the Lord (verse 20 in contrast to Elisha in verse 16) and covered up for it - so punished for it Leviticus 19: 12 – ‘Do not swear falsely by my Name and so profane the Name of your God. I am the Lord;’ Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5: 1 – 11 where sin was not that they had not brought the whole amount (as they were not forced to bring any of it) but that they had sworn by the Lord that it was the whole amount.
In a personal reflection, I have learnt that do not care what people have or have not left me in their wills for I already have my inheritance in memories and shared experiences.
The emphasis should be that a) we should value people as God made them and b) our inheritance should be God in Christ dying for us (which is beyond price), in Holy Spirit living within us and enjoying the presence of the Father for ever.
We should keep our eyes on Jesus – ‘Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.’ (Hebrews 12: 2). The effect on us is found in preceding verse: ‘…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that easily entangle, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.’ Again, it is important to note: we are not meant to run the race that other people are running.
That entanglement could be a number of things for us: wrong relationships (romantic, business, friends), busyness (could be trying to earn more money to keep up with everyone else or find meaning in job role), materialism, worrying (about self-worth, not relying on God for provision etc.) – all of which involve taking our eyes off God.
b. Church
Historically, and especially in this age, Church has been lackadaisical in its attitude toward those who profess to be followers of God’s way and yet do not conform to His way - it does a disservice to the cause of God and to those who have fallen.
Those who have fallen from following Christ cannot be salt and light as their salt has been corrupted and their light diminished.
Interestingly, although there is much talk about holiness, it is a rarity in the Church generally to talk about discipline – although Jesus and the apostles did not shy away from it, e.g. Paul: ‘Some of these have rejected these [i.e. Paul’s instructions] and shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, who I handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.’ (1Timothy 1: 20)
Regretfully, I have known removal of a number of people from church membership – roughly half of the people have found stronger walk with God and serving God, but I am realistic to say that a number have walked away completely. The common factor was moral/ethical (incidentally, sexual matters), none were for theological.
James reminds (2: 19): ‘You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder.’
People not following Jesus because have theological problems but because of claim of Jesus on every part of their lives.
We can be content to let people go their own way. Like a little boy who was overheard praying: ‘Lord, if you can’t make me better, don’t worry about it. I’m having a real good time like I am.’
Also – illustration- A Sunday School teacher asked her children as they were on the way to the church service: ‘And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?’ One bright girl replied: ‘Because people are sleeping.’ – can be true in pastoral sense, in care for each other
People are walking into hell or having an incomplete life because we are not prepared to confront in love and truth. As stated before, there needs to be in balance: too much love – wishy-washy (problem in the first place), too much truth – shows lack of genuine concern (i.e. point-scoring) and will be seen as harsh.
James (4: 19 – 20): ‘My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.’
Conclusion
None of us are immune from temptation: ‘So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!’ (1 Corinthians 10: 12)
We all need the work of the Saviour.
Queen Elizabeth II stated: ‘History teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves. God sent into the world a unique person – neither a philosopher nor a general, important though they are, but a Saviour, with the power to forgive.’
Peter describes Satan as being ‘like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.’ (1 Peter 5: 8) The good news is that he is now like a lion with no teeth as Jesus defeated him on the cross; but we are to beware since he can still give a nasty suck that can throw us off course.
Continuation of passage in 1 Corinthians 10 (verse 13): ‘No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also prepare a way out so that you can stand up under it.’
The reminder is: the way to stop sin clinging to us is for us to cling to the cross, Jesus’ finished work for us.
We need to get our eyes right – we need to get them fixed on Jesus.
As we step into new stage as a church, we need to:
· Be aware of the sin that might entangle us
· Have our eyes fixed on Jesus
