I read the true story about a man who had gone to the hardware store for supplies he needed for a minor plumbing repair job. As he was leaving, the owner said, “See you in a little while.” “Why?” asked the customer. “Is there something else I need?” “No. You haven’t forgotten anything,” he replied. “It’s just that every do it yourselfer does a plumbing job they mess things up and require 3 trips to the hardware store.” “Well,” said the man, “I plan to be the exception.”
When he did return an hour later to get a replacement for a part he’d damaged, the owner looked over and held up 2 fingers and said “See you in a little while.” “Well,” the customer later said “they did not see me in a little while. When the predicted 3rd trip became necessary, I went to a different hardware store.” (Reader’s Digest 1/79 p.63)
Pride is an interesting weakness. It causes us to do (or NOT do) all kinds of things with our lives.
A commentator named William Barkley noted: “Pride is the ground in which all other sins grow.” And Barkley got his wisdom on this from Scripture: Proverbs 11:2 explains that “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” And Proverbs 16:18 tells us “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” James 4:6 further claims “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
In our text today, we’re introduced to a proud man. Now, you wouldn’t think he was a proud man when you’re 1st introduced to him. I mean, he just seems to be a very successful man. He’s important, he’s skilled, and he’s very well-liked. His name was Naaman.
ILLUS: One man described Naaman this way: He was the commander of a very powerful army. Men took orders from him. Men feared him. Men showed him respect and honor. He had a position that other men only dreamed of having. He was a very powerful man. He was also very popular. He had a good name, he was well respected and trusted even by his king, which was unheard of in those days. Most military leaders were feared by their kings. So, he was powerful, he was popular, and he was also a very accomplished man. He was a man of great valor and had won a great number of battles. Naaman was a man any mother would be proud to call son.” (Bradford Robinson)
Naaman was the ultimate success story. A leader of men! Capable, respected and well-liked. (PAUSE) But, he had a problem - Naaman had come down with leprosy. He was unclean, and unless he could be healed he would die.
Now Romans 15:4 tells us that “What was written in the Old Testament was “written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” So, in other words… there’s a reason why God is telling us this story. There’s something about the healing of Naaman’s leprosy that God wants us to see.
Bible Scholars tell us that Leprosy was used in scripture as a symbol of sin. Just like with sin people couldn’t hide the results of their disease; it devastated their lives; it destroyed them from the inside out; and it separated them from God and other people – they became outcasts. That’s what sin can do to us, and that’s what leprosy was going to do to Naaman.
But God healed Naaman of his leprosy.
And, the story of how God healed Naaman is a powerful lesson in how God uses us to bring healing to the sin-sick souls of the lost.
Now 1st consider that Naaman is faced with the tragic knowledge that his life is ruined, and the FIRST person who gives him HOPE is a slave girl. She wasn’t important; she wasn’t influential; she wasn’t a great theologian - she was just a slave. And yet, it was HER advice that started Naaman looking for God. II Kings 5:3-4 says “She said to her mistress, ‘Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.’ So Naaman went in and told his lord, ‘Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.’”
She couldn’t do much, but she did what she could. And what she did was give Naaman hope.
ILLUS: She reminds me of the story about a salesman who’d become depressed. He was having a hard time getting people to buy his product, so he went to a man he respected to share his troubles. He said to his friend, “I guess you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” His friend smiled and said, “Son, your job isn’t to make them drink. Your job is to make them thirsty.”
And that’s what this slave girl did - she made Naaman thirsty for God.
And sometimes that’s all you have to do when a friend is struggling. All you have to do is make your friends thirsty for Jesus, and that doesn’t take great Bible knowledge doesn’t require that you be a great speaker or teacher.
All you need to do is know 3 things: 1) You have to know your friend has a problem. 2) You have to believe that Jesus can fix that problem and give them hope. 3) And you have to SPEAK UP and tell your friend about Jesus. THAT’S IT! That’s all it takes to make people thirsty for God. And if you’re willing to do that you can change someone’s life for all eternity!
So Naaman goes looking for God - and that’s when he visited Elisha. Bear in mind, Naaman is an important man. He’s come to Elisha’s courtyard flanked by a military guard of horses and chariots. And Naaman knows that Elisha knows that he’s coming.
Naaman is a wealthy and mighty leader of men. He’s come bearing expensive gifts of gold and silver and precious garments, and he’s come to the simple home of a humble prophet. Naaman EXPECTS Elisha to be impressed! He EXPECTS Elisha to be honored to receive him. He EXPECTS Elisha to render unto him the deference he deserves. But that doesn’t happen. Elisha doesn’t even come out to meet him. Instead, Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” (2 Kings 5:10) And that’s it! End of interview.
Naaman is furious!!! How dare this petty prophet treat him this way! Who does he think he is? In anger Naaman shouts “‘I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?’ And he turned and went away in a rage.” II Kings 5:11-12
(PAUSE) Now I want you to notice what happened next: “And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 2 Kings 5:13 NKJV
Now, bear in mind, these servants of Naaman’s were PAGANS. They worship foreign gods. They know very little of the God of Israel. And yet… God used them to speak to Naaman.
Now, here’s my point – it is true that Romans 10:14 tells us “… How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” In other words, there are people out there who NEED to hear us talk about Jesus. They won’t hear about Jesus unless we speak about Him. And that’s only logical because we supposedly belong to Him… of course we’re going to talk about Him.
ILLUS: According to one recent survey 43% of millennials stated they either don’t know, don’t care or don’t believe God exists. (The American Worldview Inventory 2021, a survey of the philosophy of life on American adults from Arizona Christian University)
HMMMM! That sounds intimidating… until you think about things from a different angle.
ILLUS: Years ago I read somewhere that one of Abraham Lincoln’s aides was worried that a majority of Northerners disagreed with one of Lincoln’s policies. The aide tried to convince Lincoln to abandon the policy, and Lincoln said something to the effect: “They disagree with me? Well, that means I have to do a better job of explaining it to them.” (I apologize that I can not verify the truth of this story)
Lincoln was convinced he was right… and he wasn’t going to quit talking about it until he’d convinced those who disagreed with him that HE WAS RIGHT! And in the same way… there’s always going to be people who disagree with us on God. Just like the millenials. They reject Jesus, they ignore God, they don’t want Scripture to have any influence in their lives. And that kind of opposition is gonna happen! There’s always gonna be people like that.
But just like Abraham Lincoln, we need to be convinced we’re right and then refuse to shut up! We need to be committed TO DO the best job we can of explaining God to them… and never quit! Because their eternity is in the balance.
But just like that little slave girl, we need to realize that sometimes all we can do is say what we can, and then trust God to do the rest. God can do that because He is not limited by our abilities and our wisdom.
Do you realize that when it came to Naaman obeying God and being baptized in Jordan river - it wasn’t the slave girl that convinced him, and it wasn’t Elisha that convinced him. It was his pagan friends. The slave girl and Elisha did their part, but it was God working through the pagan friends that made the difference. Thus, we need to trust God to take our meager efforts and change lives. So do you should do YOUR part… and then trust God to do the rest!
One last thought: Naaman came to Elisha for healing, but of course, it wasn’t Elisha who healed Naaman - it was God. In fact, that’s exactly what Elisha’s NAME meant. The name “Elisha” means “MY GOD is salvation.” In other words, salvation came from God! And everything in Elisha’s ministry pointing to that truth. Everything, including how he treated Naaman.
Do you realize there are people who wouldn’t have handled Naaman like Elisha did? There are people who would have been more “seeker-friendly.” They would have tried to be more understanding of Naaman’s sensibilities. They might even have given him a 10 point lesson on all the advantages of doing things God’s way.
But instead, Elisha refused to cater to Naaman’s pride and ended up making him mad. Elisha’s actions literally drove this guy away, and Naaman could have died of his leprosy - faced with eternal damnation.
Now, why would Elijah do that? Why offend Naaman? Well, he did that because this wasn’t HIS message - it was God’s. What is God’s message? When John the Baptist preached the message from God was "REPENT, for the kingdom of heaven is near." (Matthew 3:2) Jesus had the same message: in Matthew 4:17 we’re told “From that time on Jesus began to preach, "REPENT, for the kingdom of heaven is near." And when God started His church at Pentecost, Peter preached "REPENT and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38
Over and over again – it was the same message – you’ve sinned and you need to REPENT! Whether it’s pride, or lust, or selfishness, or greed… or whatever; you’ve sinned and you’re going to hell! REPENT! You can’t come to God on YOUR terms. You have to come on His! REPENT!!!!
You need to do what God tells you to do to be healed.
So, what did God tell Naaman to do? "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean." II Kings 5:10
But Naaman initially refused and his pride led him to reject doing this simple thing. He wanted to be healed a different way. He said “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.” And then he complained that the water in the Jordan was dirty… there were cleaner rivers back home he could have gone to.
He was too proud to do things God’s way, and his pride led him to come up with all kinds of theological reasons he shouldn’t get baptized in the Jordan. And yet when he obeyed God he became clean. All he had to do was go down to the Jordan and dunk himself 7 times in the Jordan. How hard was that?
Did you realize that the early church saw a connection between Naaman’s baptism… and ours?
ILLUS: One of the early church Fathers name Irenaeus wrote this: “Naaman dipped himself… seven times in the Jordan.’ It was not for nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from leprosy, was purified upon his being baptized, but served as an indication for us. For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord from our old transgressions, being spiritually regenerated as new born babes, even as the Lord has declared: “Except a man be born again through water and the Spirit he shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Irenaeus, Fragment 34, A.D. 190)
Naaman’s baptism was an illustration of our baptism into Christ. But think about this: Could Naaman have been cleansed without being baptized the way God asked? No. Could he have been cleansed if he’d gone under 4 xs/ 5 xs/ 6 xs and then stopped? No. But was it the water of the Jordan that cleansed Naaman of his disease? Of course not! … it was God, and Him alone who brought the healing. But this “baptism” was God’s way of bringing about the cleansing, to see if Naaman would do this simple thing to please Him.
Just like Peter wrote in I Peter 3:21-22: “Baptism, which corresponds to (the waters of Noah’s flood), now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.”
In other words, baptism doesn’t REMOVE dirt from us. Baptism is God’s way for us to appeal to Him for a GOOD conscience.
Now, it was Naaman’s pride that stood between him and healing. He was just TOO PROUD. And there are people these days who are too proud to obey God; too proud to believe in Jesus; too proud to repent of their sins; too proud to … be immersed in the waters of baptism. Is that what’s holding you back… are TOO PROUD to obey God in believing, repenting, and being immersed into Christ?
Or is it possible that you’re just TOO PROUD to surrender to Jesus?
ILLUS: One evangelist talked with an unbeliever who confessed “I guess I’m just too proud to think that I really need religion.” When the evangelist responded: “Exactly what is it that you’re so proud of?” it shook the unbeliever so much that he actually turned to Christ. (Paul Thigpen, Christian Reader July/Aug 98)
INVITATION
