I want it, and I want it now….
Opening Statement…. I want it, and I want it now….. have you ever heard any one make that comment, or at least a comment like that?
I know if you will listen to kids play…or fight you might say.. you may hear them screaming “I want it I want it I want it I want it…. Mine mine mine mine mine….”
And we call that Childish don’t we….
But now, I remember a time when I probably sounded the same way… and I was no longer a Child… physically anyway.
Most of you know that my father was in the military… and I grew up traveling all over the country and different parts of the world.
And we were poor as I grew up. I think one sad commentary about our nation, is the fact that many of our military personnel often times have to get on food stamps just to feed their family.
For years now, fighter jet pilots have been leaving the air force because they could get a job with Federal Express and be able to take care of their family much better than they could when they defended the freedoms of our country….
Anyway, while I was growing up, my family was poor, of course I never realized it at the time. But, we seldom had new things…
I remember that bologna was a staple in our house..
I have talked to many people who have been in the military and they have told me the same tales of their term…
Bologna, soup, anything cheap just to make ends meet.
And its not just military personnel, people from all walks of life have to do the same thing.
My mother would get odd jobs as often as she could. But when you move every two years or less, it is difficult to get a very good job.
We never had much when I was growing up. But my parents worked hard, and saved, worked hard and saved, worked hard and saved.
And when my father retired… he was able to pay cash to have his house built.
I noticed that as soon as I was out of college, out of my parents house, and living on my own.. that my parents started spending money left and right.
My dad bought a brand new truck, they bought one of those big satellite dishes… whatever they wanted, they got.
I think I realized at that time that it must be expensive to raise Children…. And boy is it….
But I have said all that to say this…. Even though I grew up fairly poor…. Even though I watched my parents work hard and save all of their lives… even though I knew what hard work was all about….
As soon as I got out on my own…. I wanted everything my parents had… and I wanted it immediately.
I wanted a new house. I wanted a new truck, I wanted anything I set my mind to and I wanted it NOW!!!!
Now, I don’t understand why I felt this way. Many people I know from my generation felt the same way. And so many people today feel like this. Some people even have the idea that someone owes them all of these things just because they exist….
While I was preparing for this message I thought of the movie Willie Wonka and the chocolate factory. Surely some of you have seen Willie Wonka and the chocolate factory….
Any way, there was this one girl named “Baruka…” and she saw the geese that laid golden eggs. Then she started singing this song of how she wanted this and that and she did not want to wait… remember that..
And as she was singing she climbed up on the educated eggdecater… and she sang, “Don’t care how… I want it now” …. And then she fell down the garbage chute… and Gene Wilder, who played Willie Wonka, said……. She Was a bad egg. That was a great movie.
I want it… and I want it now……
And You owe it to me…….
Of course that type of thinking only comes from young people of today doesn’t it?
I mean, it would not come from any one say.. back during the times of the prophet Elisha would it?
Well, lets take just a few moments and look at the account of a man called Naaman in 2 kings Chapter 5.
Read 2 kings 5:1-15
Well there you go…. Naaman wanted it now…. He wanted instant healing. Look again with me at verse 11.
Read verse 11.
Here was this man, this man that was in a prominent position. This man that was important to the king.
Look at verse 1 again,….
Read verse 1
He was an important man, a commander of the kings army and the Bible says that many victories had been won through this man.
I am sure that he commanded respect.
I am sure that he told people what to do…
And I am sure that when he told people what to do….. they did it….
And here was this important, prominent, victorious commander of an army, who has come with basically a letter of recommendation from his king… and he has traveled this distance to be healed.
He is sent to Elisha’s house, with all his horses and chariots, he stops right at the door of Elisha’s house………
And Elisha.. did.. not.. even ..come ..out.. and ..see.. this.. man.
Well, how rude can you be…. First Elisha asked for the man to be sent to him… and then he would not even come out and see him…. He sent messengers outside to tell him what to do…
Why would Elisha be this way? Why did he not come out and see this man in person? Why did he do something that may even be seen as rude as far as we are concerned??
Well, I really think I know why…… and we will get to that in a moment.
But first, lets talk about Naaman for a moment. Lets talk about how he seems to want something instantly.
Now, Naaman lived thousands of years ago… but he would probably fit right in with our society today.
I have stated this morning that we usually believe just the younger generations of today want everything now…
And I understand that many people today do have a wrong attitude about life.
But if we were going to get honest with ourselves today…. Most of us have become people that want things instantly..
ILL. Back in 1967, experts predicted that by 1985 technology would have taken over so much of the work we do that the average American work week would be only 22 hours long, & that we would work only 27 weeks a year. As a result, one of our biggest problems would be in deciding what to do with all our leisure time.
Well, we know that prediction did not come true, but society sure is aiming for that mark.
We have computers now that we can carry around with us that have more information on them and are faster than the original computers that were so big they would barely fit in this Church…
Every 15 months or so computers are doubling in speed and the amount of information they will hold…..
Yet when I turn my computer on, I find myself telling it to hurry up.
I can print a full page of text in about 4 seconds…….but I think it takes to long.
The Internet has so much information on it that you can find virtually anything you want in a matter of minutes…. Yet it takes to long….
We have gas logs in our homes so all we have to do is turn a knob or push a button and we have instant heat…. Not cutting any more wood…
We microwave entire meals in a matter of moments … and it seems to take forever.
We have instant potatoes and instant gravy….
Breakfast use to be a major chore…. It would take a long time to cook a breakfast. Even oatmeal… you had to cook oatmeal…. Now even oatmeal is instant
So, years ago, to take the work out of making breakfast, these companies came out with something called cereal, where all you have to do is sit at the table, get a spoon, pour the milk in and eat….
But I guess that takes to long.
So, then they came up with pop tarts and toaster pastries…
but I guess it takes to long for the toaster to heat up.
So then they came up with granola bars…. Just unwrap them and eat on the go….
We have become a society that is obsessed with getting everything instantly…. Instant cash from the ATM machines…..
Instant this and instant that and is it any wonder that so often we have become like Naaman,……
Now…. Just like Naaman….. we want an instant God.
Look at verse 11 again…..
Read verse 11
Naaman became angry because he thought that Elisha would come out to him, stand there, wave his hand over him… call on the name of the Lord God and then he would instantly be healed…….
He wanted his healing… and he wanted it NOW…….
And we act just like Naaman some times. We pray for something specific and if we do not get it immediately…. We think God does not care…
Save a minute here, hoard an hour there, and life gets busier. We’re all busy. Too busy to wait. Even for God. We want instant everything. One of our deepest desires is to have everything in our lives happen precisely when we want it to, at the very moment of our desire, hope or need.
If we’re dirty, we want to be clean.
If we’re hungry, we want to be fed.
If we’re poor, we want to be rich.
If we’re ignorant, we want to be wise.
If we rent, we want to buy.
If we’re in debt, we want to be debt-free.
If we’re sick, we want to be cured.
We’re afflicted with what some call the Acceleration Syndrome.
We want all this now just like Naaman….
Naaman didn’t want to use more time. He wanted his healing done the quick way.
Naaman didn’t want another task, another journey, another job. He expected his healing to be done and over with.
When Naaman heard that he had to spend time to go and dip in the muddy Jordan, he complained that there were cleaner and better rivers at home near Damascus. If all it took for healing was bathing seven times in a river, he could have stayed home, saved time and swam there.
Naaman was used to giving orders and getting immediate responses, not getting orders from others.
Like Naaman, we, too, have grown used to immediacy. Every little thing needs to be instantaneous to satisfy us.
Naaman was a busy man. He was a successful general with things to do. He didn’t have time for Elisha to sit around sending out a messenger with a detailed prescription. Naaman expected, maybe, two minutes for this miracle. He expected instantaneous healing. He expected a one-stop miracle.
Friends, What do we expect from God?
No matter what, no matter where, at home, in church or on the road, we expect ease and speed. I have actually heard of drive up churches… and a few years ago a preacher advertised 20 minute church. From the time you come in the door and start singing to the time you are out in less than 20 minutes….. instant Church…
We want everything instantly….
Maybe this sermon should be shorter.
So we shop in super-stores, open 24/7, which have everything under the sun. We don’t even take the time to say “Open 24 hours a day and seven days a week” any more. Saying 24/7 is short and quick and understood.
We have instant delivery, instant credit, instant messaging, all for our instant lives! What we need is an instant God! Just add prayer and viola! our hopes are met!
Naaman wanted instant God.
But some things aren’t instant.
And friends….God isn’t instant.
God doesn’t do what we want when we want it. God does things the right way, not the quick way.
Naaman’s idea of the Lord God is a God who does his bidding. At the very least he expects Elisha to do his bidding.
Naaman was a great man who demanded quick and great results. He believed Elisha would come out, wave his prophet’s hand over the leprosy, pray a prayer and be done with it.
But It doesn’t happen that way, not for Naaman, not for us.
We’ve constructed a world where time is saved, where instant is the norm. But God chooses his own time and can’t be ordered what to do.
Elisha’s task for Naaman is anything but instant. Elisha assigned Naaman effort, travel and time. If Naaman wants healing, he’ll have to put in effort. If he wants healing, it will be done in God’s time, not Naaman’s.
You could argue that Naaman’s problem here is not impatience, but pride. Elisha’s instructions were humbling, and Naaman’s resistence had nothing to do with the speed with which the healing could take place.
It’s a good argument. but pride mixed with impatience is a recipe for spiritual poverty and disease. And Naaman was both proud and impatient.
There is no accelerated, or instant spirituality. There are very few instant answers to our prayers. The apple doesn’t ripen in a day. You don’t go to church, attend one service, one Bible study class, and expect to be spiritually whole.
Now, don’t misunderstand. God can and may answer your prayers in the blink of an eye.
He can and may heal you of your ailment within a moment….. but he may not.
I truly believe that God works through Doctors and through Medication. He has given mankind the wisdom and knowledge to make sick people better. The things I see them doing in hospitals today can be described as nothing less than miracles…. But even then we want in instantly.
I was talking to my doctor recently and he was giving me a prescription for some medicine. And he kept telling me over and over how it would take some time to work and finally I said,
Doc, I understand….
And He said well, so many people today come in seriously ill, and they expect me to give them a pill that will make them better by morning….
God can work that way my friends…. And I have seen him work that way. I have seen God perform instant miracles…
But the point is…We do not have control over God…
God is not some puppet or robot for us to command…….
We don’t demand immediate healing in a prayer and expect God to listen to us…..
We come to God with awe, and respect… we come to God realizing that He wants the best for our lives… he has promised us that… and he knows what is best for us…..
We should come to God asking that his will be done…
We may shave minutes and seconds off our daily lives using instant anything, but none of that changes God’s time, or the length of our days on earth, or how God chooses to respond to us.
Friends, God does answer our prayers, our hopes and our desperate needs on his schedule, which is eternal, and beyond time.
The Bible teaches us that God’s timing is perfect…
But notice something today frines……
God Did heal Naaman.
And God will heal us, too, and give us new life.
Maybe not in the quick ways we want.
Maybe not in the ways we expect when we come knocking on his door, demanding our needs be met.
Maybe not even in the ways we think we need.
Friends,God does heal wounded hearts.
God does heal burdened souls, and sometimes bodies, or minds.
God heals,….. God cares, …..and God loves…. On his perfect schedule…
The Bible teaches that God loves us enough that in the fullness of time… Gods perfect time… he sent his only son to teach us the right way.
Christ came to teach that real healing isn’t a matter of perfect skin or good health.
Christ came to teach all of us to build our lives around faith in him.
I mentioned earlier that I feel like I know the reason Elisha did not go out to Naaman before he was healed…..
Well, I personally feel like Elisha did not come out and see Naaman before he was healed… because Elisha knew who the healing is truly from.
And Elisha did not want the respect and gratitude… that should only come to God…
Yes, we want an instant God… and God does not necessarily work instantly….
But let me tell you one thing that God does do instantly….
One of my favorite passages of scripture has become 2 Cor 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
The Bible teaches us that if you ask Jesus Christ into your heart… you will instantly become a new creation….
God will instantly save your soul for all eternity… if you but ask….
