Sermon 2 Kings 5: 1-17

Sermon

2 Kings 5: 1-17

“That’s Not How It’s Suppose To Work”

The church had prayed for weeks that the Spirit of God would fall on the community for the up coming revival. They prayed diligently that God would revive them and save the lost. They had high hopes and went out on a limb bringing in one of the best evangelist in the area. As the time drew near so did the excitement and anticipation for what God was going to do. Then it came revival time, the singing was high energy, the preaching was magnificent, the altar was…empty except for a few Christians seeking a deeper walk.. The next night the singing was even better, the prayer was intense, the scripture was expounded upon better than ever and the altar was…empty. The folks at the church didn’t understand, they had prayed, they had fasted, they had financially committed in faith. So, they prayed harder, the preacher preached longer and the altar was…empty. Finally, on the last night one scrawny teen-age boy went to the altar and was saved. What a disappointment, the community was still lost, the church was disappointed, the evangelist went home with only his expenses paid and a sandwich. Expectations and excitement, this church had asked God to work, begged God to work, prayed with His will, and they were disappointed, angry, discouraged. They knew the routine, they knew how it was suppose to work, pray for the Spirit, make good plans, get the best preacher and invite unsaved friends, people are won to the Lord, a community is won to the Lord. That’s how it’s suppose to work.

She was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Interestingly Her father; was a creative, artistic man who could turn his hand to anything. He owned a flooring business in the city and bought a farm not far away where she became a champion horse rider. She described herself as an "immature and headstrong teenager." It was at that point in her life she came in contact with "Young Life" a religious youth organization that works with high school kids. It was at a camp run by "Young Life" that she understood the Gospel and gave her life to Christ. She prayed, "Lord if you're really there, do something in my life to change me around, I'm begging you....! Her friends and mentor were excited, she was a talented artist and maybe God would use that. Her Dad knew she loved horses and could ride beautifully God could certainly use her in that arena. Everything was going along great. One hot summer day the answer came, friends were everywhere, laughter permeated the air, she took a run toward the water, a beautiful dive, then darkness, broken neck, paraplegic. Expectations and excitement, this young lady had given her life to God, she had a wonderful support group. They had asked God to work, begged God to work, prayed with His will, and they were disappointed, angry, discouraged. They knew the routine, they knew how it was suppose to work, God’s saves girl, girl makes commitment, family and fellow Christians support, girl has good life serving God. That’s how it’s suppose to work.

There he stood, hot, sweaty, humiliated and above all still covered in disease. He had lowered himself to listen to a slave girl; he had gained an audience with two kings; he had traveled with his caravan and regiment of soldiers; suffered illness in silence; been dirty and dusty for weeks; carried with him 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and the best of clothing as a gift. Expectations and excitement, this esteemed, honored general had done everything he was suppose to do, he had a wonderful support group. They had given him everything he needed to make the journey; they had encouraged him to seek the healing; how could he go home now, he was disappointed, angry, discouraged. He knew the routine, he knew how it was suppose to work! Prophet comes out in all pomp and circumstance, maybe sing, dance, perform elaborate rituals, then call on the name of whatever god, wave his hand or a rod or something over you and the problem would be solved. That’s how it’s suppose to work. That’s how it’s suppose to work…

NIV    ¹ Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.  ² Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. ³ She said to her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy."  ⁴ Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. ⁵ "By all means, go," the king of Aram replied. "I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing. ⁶ The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: "With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy."  ⁷ As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, "Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!"  ⁸ When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: "Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel." ⁹ So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. ¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed."  ¹¹ But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. ¹² Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage.  ¹³ Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!" ¹⁴ So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. 15 Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Please accept now a gift from your servant.” 16 The prophet answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.” And even though Naaman urged him, he refused. 17 “If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord.”

This is a pretty straight forward story. Naaman, who is of the rich and famous, has the dreaded disease of leprosy. He is so desperate for a cure he listens to a slave girl, goes to the top people, spends allot of money and makes a long trip to get well. He has covered every base. He knows how the world works, he knows how people respond and think. He knows how to go about this.

 

And that’s where we pick up the story, verse 9. Naaman finds himself standing at the gate of Elisha to be healed of leprosy. This man is a warrior, he is not a Hebrew, he is from a nation north of Israel, a nation that warred with Israel off and on for years. This commander of a victorious army has gone to a defeated nation, a defeated God (at least in his eyes); a defeated king of Israel; on the word of a slave girl; with his troops; his money; his letter of reference; his chariots; his caravan; his power; his expectation of being healed and Elisha doesn’t even come out to greet him. He sends a servant which tells him to go wash in the river of a defeated foe and in a conquered kingdom. This prophet doesn’t even acknowledge who Naaman is, he just tells him to go wash in the Jordan. No singing, no dancing, no ritual, no gift giving or receiving. Naaman’s whole understanding and belief system is challenged. No wonder in verse 11 he is angry!  The Message says," He stomped off, mad as a hornet.” Naaman’s expectations and understanding are unfulfilled. How he envisioned the situation working was not at all what was happening.

 

How many times have I/we expected something out of God and it didn’t work like it was suppose to? I mean in the last ten years we really have jumped into our community with all kinds of ideas and attempts to make a difference. For instance…

 

We prayed about God’s will concerning reaching the un-churched those folks who couldn’t come to worship on Sunday. We also set it up attempting to reach the age 19 to pre-children age group. We planned, we sought God’s will, put tables with candles up, we opened an espresso bar, we wore our jeans/shorts and we started a Saturday night service. But it didn’t work like we thought is should, we never attracted those people who couldn’t come on Sunday or who were in that age group. We had wonderful services but our expectations of ministering to a specific group of people never happened. It didn’t work like it was suppose to.

 

We prayed about God’s will concerning building this building, originally one of the reasons was for more Sunday School space and a gym. But it didn’t work like it was suppose to, we still need Sunday School space. We have a gym but we never met the anticipation of having more classrooms. We never had classrooms like we were suppose to.

 

We prayed about God’s giving us a bus ministry here in this neighborhood behind the church. We got a great deal on the bus, we prayer walked, we made bus repairs, we got riders and drivers then no one, not one child would ride. The bus sat idol it never fulfilled what we thought was the plan, it never worked like it was suppose to.

 

You see Naaman’s expectations were based on his understanding, in terms of his experiences, traditions and beliefs. He expected the prophet of the God of Israel to heal him as he understood the way healings were suppose to happen. And by how prophets were suppose to perform.

 

Our expectations are often based on how we see things, how we understand, our up bringing, our backgrounds, our own belief systems or what we’ve seen in other places. We often have confidence in our finite mental abilities or dreams. Our expectations are there out in front, limiting our understanding of the expanse of God’s vision, of God’s Kingdom, God’s plan.

 

Naaman at the promptings of his traveling servants is finally obedient to what the prophet says then is totally and completely healed. That is a wonderful miracle but I don’t really believe that’s why this story is in the Bible. Could it be we have this story because of what happens in verse 17? The fact that, Naaman doesn’t just get healed, he was expecting that. But he finds a living God, a new faith in God, a new testimony of God, he takes with him worship of God which up until that point was not in Syria. A nation, an entire lost people are introduced to an Almighty God because of what happened to one man. The healing of Naaman is awesome, but taking the worship and knowledge of God to people who have never heard of Him is so much bigger. Naaman could have never dreamed what was happening, God’s Kingdom extending beyond national boundaries, cultures, viewpoints, and language.

 

Are you disappointed, angry, discouraged, because your expectations or your expectations of the church, haven’t been fulfilled like you imagined or believed they would be. Have you prayed, believed and acted upon something you felt was in line with God’s will only to see no or little results. Let me give you some good news. God’s plan is still going on, He is still advancing the Kingdom, far above anything we can envision, no matter how grand.

 

You see we can know that we are to pray, to plan, to seek, to do, to be, but we are not in charge of the outcome. We can’t even fathom what God is up to -- it’s so much bigger than us, our church, our thoughts, our dreams, even our world.

 

If Saturday night service had never happened the Methodist Church would have never began their third service, which is ministering in a mighty way to people we didn’t even know existed. Bruce and Deborah Boydston might never have gotten back into the ministry and Pleasant Hill would not have them as pastors. And they are doing an incredible job! Kingdom extension over and above anything we could have ever dreamed! God is active with His plan, Saturday night service did work just like it was suppose to!

 

If we had filled this building with classrooms instead of the wide open spaces, there would have never been room for Kid Connection or Heritage. But when it seemed we hadn’t done what we had prayed about, God’s plan unfolded and now look around at how His Kingdom has been extended to people and places we could have never foreseen! God’s plan for this building turned out just like it was suppose to.

 

Who would have thought that old idol bus and a failed plan for the neighborhood would be bringing children and adults from miles away and ministering unbelievably to an area we didn’t even know about when we bought that bus. Our expectations so far below the sight of God! That old bus is going just where it was suppose to.

 

Naaman sought healing BUT ended up finding God, then taking the worship and knowledge of God back to the nation of Aram. God’s Kingdom far above anything he could have expected or even knew was possible.

 

And the one scrawny teen-ager saved in that “so called” failed revival was Billy Graham. God’s Kingdom far and above anything that church could have expected. That revival worked just like it was suppose to.

 

And that girl who had gotten saved with hopes of ministry as an artist or in the equestrian community but ended up with a broken neck - Joni Erickson Tada. A woman who has taken the story of victory and hope through suffering worldwide! God’s Kingdom far and above anything she, her family, her mentors could have ever expected. That call worked just like it was suppose to.

 

And today where are we???? Some maybe confused because you’ve prayed, believed and not seen anything turn out like it ought to. Some maybe angry or disappointed because you have worked, given time, effort, money and it’s not like it was “was suppose to.” Could it be there are those here today wondering if we are going in the right direction at all and anticipating some kind of understandable outcome?

 

When in reality what we’re looking for, may not at all be what God has in mind. What we are to do is, like Naaman, to seek and be obedient then let God extend in His own way, His own plan, His Kingdom, which is always bigger, better and higher than ours.

 

And like Naaman he thought something was going to be done for him…healing. God was thinking…I’m going to become friends with Naaman. Namaan is getting allot more than a healing he is about to discover me and take me home, home to Syria, to his family, to his people and where ever he goes I’ll be with him.  

 

Be encouraged today, God is on the move, don’t allow what may look like failure to hinder. Don’t allow your own understandings to consume you or be a block. God’s Kingdom can, will and is advancing far and above anything we could ever expect, imagine or envision. Maybe it is working just like it’s suppose too, maybe while we’re looking for results all the time God is just looking at us and wanting us to look at Him, to trust Him, and to move with Him.

 

I hope you will spend some time in prayer with the Lord about this whole concept of “things working like I think they ought to.” Maybe it’s not suppose to look at all like what I think, maybe the I shouldn’t be there at all. May God help us to see with His eyes and to look to Him.