SERMON TITLE: A Little Girl and A Leperous General
SERMON TEXT: 2 Kings 5:1-12
Written and preached by Louis Bartet on November 09, 2003 at Point Assembly of God in Downsville, LA.
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All too often we fail to see the significance of people because they are not the main player in the drama. Like Samuel, we tend to focus on Eliab and overlook David.
We Americans do have an inordinate affection for power, don’t we? We celebrate men of character, but not as much as we laud the man who can hit the ball over the fence, shoot the course under par, or consistently run 8 yards per play. We seem to be unaware that there is a difference between superstars and heroes.
Our age finds it difficult to come to grips with figures like John the Baptist. The political and religious leaders with whom we are familiar generally aspire to be superstars rather than heroes. The distinction is crucial.
•Superstars strive for the applause of the crowd; heroes act without regard for recognition.
•Superstars crave consensus; heroes define themselves by the judgment of a future they see it as their task to bring about.
•Superstars seek success; heroes experience success as the outgrowth of inner values.
•Superstars speak what people want to hear; heroes speak what people need to hear.
•Superstars don’t commit themselves until they’ve checked to see which way the wind is blowing; heroes act based upon right no matter which way the wind is blowing.
•Superstars don’t throw themselves on hand grenades; heroes do!
THE PERSON: A little girl.
How many of you remember Elisha, the servant of Elijah? What about Namaan, the captain of the army of Syria? How many of you can recall the name of the little girl that served Naaman’s wife? Do you remember her at all?
Don’t despair trying to remember her name, because it isn’t given. She is simply referred to as "a little girl" that "waited on Naaman’s wife" (2Kings 5:2). The Hebrew term for "little" refers to that which insignificant or worth less than other things in the same environment.
At some point in time, this little Jewish girl was taken away from her mother by force. The man perpetrating this crime was none other than the commander of Syria’s army, Naaman.
Now, Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man before his master, and highly respected, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria….Now the Syrians had gone out in bands, and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel…" (2Kings 5:1,2).
I don’t know about you, but if I were the "little girl" I would have been, to say the least, angry at my captors.
• They were responsible for destroying my dreams.
• They were responsible for the nightmares that woke me up in the night.
• Because of them, I would never marry a handsome Jewish boy and raise beautiful Jewish children and live on a hill in a nice house in some nice Jewish community.
• Because of them, I was alone in a strange land and surrounded by strange people.
• Because of them, I was miles away from my loving mother and father.
THE PROBLEM: The captor is stricken with leprosy.
If we are the product of our environment, then this little girl should have found great delight in knowing about her master’s plight.
Naaman had ignored the small patch of white scaly skin for days in hopes that it would go away. But instead of going away it grew larger and then numb. It was leprosy and it was spreading beyond his ability to conceal it.
Most of us are inclined to believe that suffering is always the consequence of evil living. This is the argument Job’s friends used against him after he experienced the loss of his wealth, his children and his health.
Eliphaz declared, "Innocent people do not suffer and neither do the upright experience this kind of loss. Those who plow iniquity and sow trouble harvest it" (Job 4:7). In short, "Job you’re getting what you deserve."
Jesus disciples were victims of this same mindset.
"And as He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, ’Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?’ Jesus answered, ’It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him" (John 9:1-3).
God in His sovereignty may allow us to experience adversity in order to accomplish some Kingdom purpose or to prove an eternal truth in a moment of time.
This was definitely true of Paul and Silas in Acts 16. They are beaten and thrown into the inner prison because of their effective ministry to a demon possessed girl. Instead of complaining and questioning why God allowed this to happen, they prayed and sang praises to God. God responded with a jail door opening earthquake, which resulted in the salvation of the jailer. What a reminder of the verity of Romans 8:28:"All things work together for good to them that love the Lord and are the called according to His purpose."
According to James 1, God is at work in our storms producing character in us and accomplishing His will through us.
The "little girl" would not have been out step with contemporary belief if she had reveled in Naaman’s health problem. "Sir, God is punishing you for the act of evil you committed against me, my family and my people." This might float unhindered, but for one problem. In 2Kings 5:1, we are told that Naaman’s victories were God’s doing.
"Now Naman, captain of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and highly respected, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria" (2Ki. 5:1).
God allowed this little girl’s captivity and Namaan was God’s instrument. Why would God punish Naaman for doing His will? No, Naaman’s leprosy wasn’t retribution for his acts against the "little girl." To the contrary, it was an occasion, an opportunity established by God in which "the works of God might be displayed."
My friend, Sam Sasser went through 30 major surgeries, surgeries that were needed to correct problems encountered because of his service to God in the Marshall Islands. When Sam told the surgical team that he wanted to have prayer, the doctor in charge said, "No!" Sam’s response was, "It’s my body and my money, so we’re going to have prayer." Every surgery was preceded by prayer and every time some member of the surgical team came to faith in Christ. Sam’s surgeries were divine appointments in which the purpose of God was accomplished. If we can believe that Jesus died to pay the price for our sins, then why do we have problems believing that God can accomplish His will through our sufferings?
How committed to His Lordship are we? Are you willing to serve God’s purpose or must God serve your purpose? Who’s in control of your life, you or God? Do you trust Him enough to serve His purpose in your captor’s house? Now that’s trust!
THE PRICELESS: She desired his health, not his harm.
There are times when life throws me back on my heels. What I expect isn’t what I experience.
I would have expected this little girl to rejoice in her master’s misfortune. To secretly laugh as the leprosy took Naaman from his family, like he had taken her from hers. "Naaman, you’re getting a taste of your own treachery." But instead of rejoicing in her master’s misfortune, she becomes an evangelist that points him to a remedy.
She said to her mistress, "I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy" (2Ki. 5:3).
What a departure from what I expected, but only because it isn’t what I would have done.
We are not to take delight in the demise of our enemies. To the contrary, we are commanded to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. (See Matthew 5:43-48.)
The little girl’s behavior is perplexing only because it stands in stark contrast to what I would have done.
• I would have kept my mouth shut and let him suffer.
• I would have rejoiced in his suffering and his death.
• He will not die as a hero in battle, but as a leper.
• God has taken revenge on my enemy.
Instead of acting like a fallen daughter of Adam, she takes the high road of Christlike behavior and with a simple statement points her master toward his desperately needed cure.
"The prophet who is in Samaria can cure him of his leprosy."
Corrie Ten Boom was separated from her father and mother, and imprisoned in a German concentration camp. Her crime? Helping Jews escape from Nazi Germany. She not only experienced the horrors of life as a prisoner of the Reich, but she watched her sister die hungry in a flea infested barracks. She would never be reunited with her father and mother. She should have died a bitter old woman, filled with hatred for her captors. Instead, she became God’s apostle of forgiveness. First, God taught her to forgive the very men who were responsible for her suffering and the deaths of her sister and her parents. Then, He sent her to the world with her story of forgivenness and God’s message of forgiveness.
Is it possible that God is seeking to use you in the midst of your less than pleasant situation?
Felix Adler said, "The hero is one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by. The saint is the man who walks through the dark paths of the world, himself a light."
Citation: Felix Adler, quoted in Daily Guideposts (1996). Christianity Today, Vol. 40, no. 7.
If we use military accomplishments to determine the worth of the little girl, she wasn’t worth as much as Naaman. What is it that turns this insignificant little girl into a person of great value? It is the word she shares. This reminds me of Paul’s statement in 2Cor. 4:7—"…we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves". The ability to know and share a now word with someone who needs it increases our value exponentially. Our value is increased to the value of the word that indwells us. Paul exhorts us to "let the Word of Christ indwell you richly." I am only as valuable as the Word that indwells me! How valuable are the words, thoughts and ideas you share?
CONCLUSION
The hero in Naaman’s story definitely isn’t Naaman, but neither is it Elisha. From my perspective it is the LITTLE GIRL. During her brief moment on the scene she speaks a simple word that sets Naaman on the road to healing.
Could it be that her forgiveness was the outgrowth of her trust in God’s sovereignty? Maybe she realized that nothing comes to our life, but that it must first pass through our Father’s hands. Have you taken the time to see what God is doing in your situation, or have you been to busy trying to get out of it?
Could it be that she had invested herself in praying for her master? It’s hard to undermine our hearts when they are invested in praying for the welfare of our Naamans.
Could it be that she had given herself over to the influence of God’s love for Naaman and his wife? Love, genuine agape love cannot rejoice when others suffer. It is full of compassion, in that it not only feels the pain experienced by others, but it seeks ways to relieve that suffering. Compassion is hard because it requires us to go with others to the place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely and broken. [Henri Nouwen]
Who is the Naaman in your life?
• The person or persons who have prevented you from experiencing the life you wanted.
• The person that brought pain to your life.
• The people in your life that you wish had leprosy.
• The person that does their best to keep you from seeing that your situation is a prison cell, not a place of divine service.
Have you forgiven them? Will you forgive them now?
Are you whole enough to say to them what they need to hear to move them toward blessing, wholeness and life?
(C) 2003 by Louis Bartet. May be used for non-profit purposes.
