Scripture Text (NRSV)

 

2 Kings 5:1-14

 

5:1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. 

5:2 Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. 

5:3 She said to her mistress, "If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." 

5:4 So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 

5:5 And the king of Aram said, "Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel." He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. 

5:6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, "When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy." 

5:7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me." 

5:8 But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, "Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel." 

5:9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha's house. 

5:10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean." 

5:11 But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, "I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! 

5:12 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?" He turned and went away in a rage. 

5:13 But his servants approached and said to him, "Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, 'Wash, and be clean'?" 

5:14 So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.

 

Comments:

George	I have been enjoying the comments on this web site; this is my first contribution. So, I'll start things off here with some ramblings. One of the things that strike me in this story about Naaman is the fact that he was one of--if not the greatest of--enemies of Israel at that time. Yet God extends mercy to this ailing man as he humbles himself and acknowledges God. Even in the time of the Kings of Israel, God was thought of as the God of all creation and all creatures. But interesting, too, that it takes an act of faith before the healing takes place. Naaman is to take a dip in the river Jordan. Does not make a whole lot of sense to him, but this act carries a great symbolic message about baptism and spiritual renewal. in Israel, Baptism was used in later times as an initiation rite for proselytes to be added to the fold of believers (besides the obvious circumcision). Just some thought starters.
R. in D-town	Some more thoughts to get a discussion started: I am stuck on the water issue here. The Jordan is a very dirty river and Naaman did not want to go in it, but Jesus was baptised in this very river. There is also a lot of message sending: King of Aram to King of Israel Elisha to king of Israel Elisha to Naaman
Joye in MD	What grabbed me in this text is that Naaman is asked to do something easy -- jump in the dirty river. It's easy but beneath his dignity! Sometimes God asks us to do really hard stuff and sometimes what seems to be easy stuff. But regardless, what God asks us to do is act in faith. this is where I'm wrestling with this text. My tentative title is "Go Jump in the River." Some of our folks believe that they can't do the great and mighty things, and therefore can't (won't) do any thing at all. I remember Mother Teresa writing something like (& I can't get the quote exactly) -- I believe that what I do is just a drop in the ocean, but if that drop were missing, the ocean would notice.
Rick in Canada, eh?	Hi all. Joye, another Mother Teresa quote is, "We can do no great things, only small things with great love." Gotta love that! On another note... Anyone ever think about preaching about the girl in this story? Taken from home, family, land, etc., made a slave in "The Enemy's" house, and she suggests how her new, imposed master can be healed! If that were me (confession time!), I'd more likely be thinking, "Oh, good! That's what he deserves!" R. in D-town, guess you can add her to your list of senders!
Dave in IA	I've been to the Jordan River. Seven dunks in the Jorday would GIVE you a skin disease.
Ponderin' Pastor in WI	Have you noticed that God, at every turn in the story, is working through humble servants? What we have here are powerless powerful ones and powerless ones through whom God's power is revealed!
John in Pitts	Sermon Title? "When God Doesn't Do It Your Way"
JK in VA	I'm thinking about how in the real world we live in we are constantly having to be reminded-- especially the gullable have to be-- things like "you get what you pay for" and "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". Yet, in this scripture, Naaman is sure these sayings are true and they are not. The difference? God is always trustworthy. His promises are always true. Even when we are told we are saved by grace through faith and we're sure there's some catch and we have to do some work we haven't been told about yet, his promises are always true. In this case, you get it without paying for it at all-- and it sounds too good to be true-- but everything is possible with God.
JG in WI	My focus may be on this little servant girl. What tremendous spiritual insight did she have? Neither Elijah nor Elisha had healed any lepers before this (see Luke 4:27). How did she know Elisha could effect this healing? Here we have another beautiful example of God taking someone who is otherwise unknown and making her the agent of a miracle.
RevRobin in PA	My sermon title is "A Matter of Choice". I'm particularly interested in talking about the choices we make as the broken (Naaman and the NT Leper) and as the revealers of God's compassion (the servant girl, Elisha, Jesus, and the NT Leper). Thanks to JG in WI for reminding us of the Luke 4:27 reference to the servant girl's revelation of Elisha's mission. You all rock!
smalltowngal February 11, 2006	Saturday morning postings - it's been a busy week. I'm wondering if the Jordan was a dirty river 3000 years ago, or if this was a form of racial prejudice. The king of Israel has no faith - he's sure this is procovation for another attack. Naaman had his own expectations of what healing would look like. He had to let go of them in order to be healed. My topic is the requirement that we let go of our own set of rules, our "list" as Frederick Smith calls it in What God Wants for Your Life - our list of things that we think God has to do or what we have to do in order to be productive, whole individuals. And we have to realize that God doesn't have a list of things he has planned for our lives - he doesn't check them off every day like a book keeper. We have the gift of free will - to believe or not, to have faith or not, to love or not. We have to get down to the bedrock - faith or fear. Can you imagine Naaman's emotions as he goes in for the 7th time?
preacherlady	My sermon is Rx FOR Good Health. Naaman wanted to get well, but he didn't want to follow orders. How many of us have been to the doctor and were told to do a specific thing , but ignored the instructions? After all Naaman was used to giving orders, not taking them. Naaman was more than physically sick Naaman was afflicted with a Spritual disease. He didn't want to do as God asked his ego got in the way of his faith.!

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