The Healing of Naaman: How Do We Draw Near to God?

Introduction

This Naaman sermon on 2 Kings 5 follows the healing of Naaman and asks how we draw near to God. Revd. David Hall finds an illness without cure, a girl without freedom and a king without power, all meeting a God without compromise, who calls us to come on his terms and then sends us out in peace.

Well, that was really encouraging. My heart was warmed as we sung and worshipped God together. Just a quick point of detail. I’m not in shirt sleeves because I think summer’s on the way. I dropped a button from my shirt earlier on and I thought a flapping cuff would annoy you and me. So I rolled up my sleeves. But maybe you just take that as a sign that I’m ready for action. I don’t know, but that’s the reason why I’m in shirt sleeves order today. Well, you may be able to have access to a Bible in the pews, which is brilliant. And if you are, I encourage you to look at our passage, 2 Kings 5, 1 to 19, as we look at that in a moment together. This is an amazing narrative. You’ll have heard this as a child, but I want you to look at it as an adult. And I think God’s Holy Spirit will help us see new and really exciting stuff in it. Let’s bow our heads for prayer.

Oh Lord, we’ve been singing and praising you. We’ve been saying your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. And Lord, we celebrate your greatness and your majesty today. And Lord, we marvel that in the person of your son, Jesus Christ, you should visit this earth in order for him to die for our salvation and to save us. We marvel that you should explain in Holy Scripture with such clarity your design for humanity, your plans and your purposes all revealed, nothing hidden. Help us be those who gaze on these riches with open minds, hearts and lives that we might discover in the power of your Holy Spirit what you are saying to us this evening and what you are speaking into our lives right now. This we ask for the sake of your son our saviour Jesus Christ. And in the power of your mighty Holy Spirit. Amen.

Well, we’re looking at, as I said, 2 Kings 5, 1 to 19. I want to look at this passage under a title: The Healing of Naaman. How do we draw near to God? The Healing of Naaman. How do we draw near to God? When I was a child, we used to visit Château-d’Oex every few years and we used to come for a holiday. We’d stay with my grandmother, whose chalet was in the Route de la Braye, and my mother had been one of nine children, so it’s quite a substantial chalet, plenty of space for myself, my four brothers and my two parents for us to pack in. And usually we experienced three weeks of absolutely blazing sunshine, but one year there was almost continuous rain, just like British weather but in Switzerland. And one morning a car raced up to the chalet and my uncle Jean got out and he said, “Quick, quick, get in the car.” So my, me and my four brothers, always ready for an adventure, we all piled into the back. There was no health and safety in those days. We didn’t even think about seatbelts. Five boys, one back seat, plenty of space. And we piled in and he rushed us up to that bridge on the Grand Rue where the river Rousseau de l’Evre crosses under the road. You’ll have walked across there no end of times. And he said to us as he drove, he said, “I heard the sound of the water bursting in a flash flood at the top of the mountain.” And sure enough, as we stood there, just a few seconds after we arrived, the river surged right down under the bridge. It turned brown. It was spitting. You know what it’s like when a river is spitting? It carried soil and it carried bits of trees. And he turns to us and he said, said, “Never in my lifetime have I ever seen the river that violent.” And maybe it’s never been quite so violent ever again, who knows. It probably wasn’t that sensible standing on the bridge, to be honest, with the river like that, but it was Swiss engineering we were relying on, and Swiss engineering is good, and the bridge held. A few minutes later it had all died down, and later. Later on that day we went for a walk and we watched as the Swiss Fire Brigade felled trees and pulled them with winches across the river to try to break the flow of the river, which was washing away the corner of a farmer’s field. This was something quite spectacular. I remember from my childhood. The interesting thing was, staying in the family, the chalet in Château-d’Oex, I was close to that river. I was close to that river. But I needed to get closer to see for myself what was really going on. And today we have come into this place of worship, this church building. And one might say we are close to God here. But I’d like you to think about getting closer to God today, to see his power at work. How do we draw near to God? Well, I want to look at some very difficult challenges here in the story of the healing of Naaman.

First of all, I want to look at an illness without cure, an illness without cure. Verse one: “Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favour, because by him, him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valour, but he was a leper.” In those days, leprosy was incurable. It was shameful. It was a humiliating disease. Lepers were generally shunned by society. They’re often banned to islands or special leper colonies. And it was a measure of what a brilliant general he was that Naaman kept his job. And I find that last bit of verse 1 incredibly poignant. “He was a mighty man of valour, but he was a leper.” What do people say about you? People who know you well, who like you, even love you. If they cite your abilities and your achievements, perhaps they might describe you as a mighty man or woman of valour. Particularly if they’ve seen you on the ski slopes, for example. But what would they put into the second half of the sentence? What would the “but” be? What would be the weakness, the sin, the wrongdoing, the character flaw? Naaman has great natural ability as a leader. But now God wants to touch this sensitive area, which Naaman cannot deal with on his own, which has no human solution at the time. And that’s in a way what sin is, isn’t it? It is an illness without cure. It has no human solution. It has God as a solution in Jesus Christ, but it’s an illness without cure as far as human endeavour is concerned. And I believe if you’re carrying some burden perhaps this evening, God, God wants to touch it by his spirit. So we have here an illness, seemingly, without cure.

We also have another difficult issue in this story, is a girl without freedom. Verse 2: “Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife.” Now most scholars judge that this girl was 8 to 12 years old. Incredibly young. What an extraordinary experience to be ripped out of your homeland, your family, and carried off to a foreign land to work in this way as a domestic servant. In my student holidays, I worked for the royal household in the wash-up at Buckingham Palace. Now, I was a non-liveried member of staff, which meant I had a scruffy uniform because I had no access to the royals. Some staff saw the royals every day, particularly their personal staff, their valets, their dressers and so forth, and their footmen and pages. And it would seem this girl, though she’s just 8 to 12 years old and is a slave in a foreign land, she has access because she’s personal staff. Verse 12. So verse 2, she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife. She also, as well as having access to Naaman’s wife, she has access to God. She believes in him. And this gives her courage. It gives her clarity. It gives her authority. Way beyond her years and her position. Verse 3: “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.’ And the king of Syria said, ‘Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.’” And we marvel at this. I think this is incredible. Here’s a slave girl, she’s no more than 12 years old, and yet she is guiding the actions of a general and of a king. In human terms, your freedom may be limited. You may be young or old. You may even be a prisoner of illness or disability, but never underestimate your spiritual potential to speak of God and his saving grace in a way that changes lives. You will be amazed. When you grant God authority in your life, you will have authority to speak to others spiritually in a way that will change lives. So here we have a girl, seemingly, without freedom.

We also have a king here, my next point, without power. A king without power. The customised Bentley belonging to the late Queen Elizabeth II of England has just come up for auction recently. When the Queen owned it, it had a number of special features. This one caught my eye. She had a special tray put in to the Bentley for her handbag. I like that little touch of comfort. Maybe you have a car with a special tray put in it for your handbag. I couldn’t possibly comment. It was estimated that this Bentley would reach just under 400,000 Swiss francs, more than twice the normal price for a Bentley this age, but I put it to you, an absolute bargain with its cultural heritage. However, it was withdrawn from auction when it didn’t meet its reserve price. Apparently, strong interest in the Middle East evaporated when it was discovered that it was right-hand drive. The most strong person interested in purchasing it wanted to drive it themselves and didn’t want to drive right-hand drive. Can you imagine somebody not wanting to drive right-hand drive their car? Now, the strength of the British monarch is that they reign but they do not rule, and many have marvelled how long it’s lasted when, when so many monarchies fell in the first part, particularly of the 20th century. And the strength to it is they reign, but they do not rule. If they did rule Britain quickly, they would be controversial, wouldn’t they? They’d have to decide the budget and where it got spent and make lots of very, very difficult decisions. And they’d quickly get into trouble. Now, the ancient kings of Syria and Israel both reigned and ruled. And look how quickly they get into trouble. Verse 5: “So Naaman went, taking with him 10 talents of silver, 6,000 shekels of gold, and 10 changes of clothing. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, ‘When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman, my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.’ And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, ‘Am I God to kill and to make alive? That this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy. Only consider and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.’” Notice the distress of the king of Israel, facing a seemingly impossible position. Do you face a seemingly impossible problem today? Ask God to provide a way through. He does here. In this matter, the king of Israel is seemingly a king without power.

Fourthly, and my final point, we have a God without compromise. We have a God without compromise. The preacher R.T. Kendall tells the story of a British couple who were sent out to Israel as missionaries. They were given a home to live near Jerusalem and they discovered, after they’d come to live there, that a dove had come to live in the eaves of their house. They were so excited. It felt like the seal of God on them being in Israel. But they noticed one thing. Every time they’d slam the door, the dove would fly away, way. Every time they’d get into an argument with each other and start shouting, the dove would fly away. One day, Sandy said to Bernice, “Have you noticed the dove?” And she said, “Yes.” He said, “Have you noticed that whenever we argue or we slam a door, the dove flies away?” She said, “Yes, and one day I’m afraid that he’ll fly away and not come back.” Sandy then said these momentous words: “Either the dove adjusts to us or we adjust to the dove.” And this conversation changed their behaviour from then on, just to keep the dove in the eaves of their, our home. In Scripture, the Holy Spirit is described as a dove. And you know, if we ignore God’s commands, we begin to walk away from him. Our heart grows cold and we start to follow in our own way. There’ll be no trumpet sound, no explosion, no big announcement. It’ll be a little bit like a dove that flies away. We might not even notice. But if the Spirit is going to be active in our lives, either we are going to have to adjust to him, or he is going to have to adjust to us. But God says in Malachi 3, verse 6, “I, the Lord, do not change.” And in Hebrews 13, verse 8, we are told, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and forever.” So the logical conclusion we must draw is that we must adjust to God if we are to enjoy his presence in our lives. Is very humbling. And here is the great humbling of Naaman, as he is made to adjust to God. Verse 8: “But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, ‘Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.’ So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. And 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.’” A messenger is sent out to the great general Naaman. We live in a world intoxicated by celebrity and by influences, but Elisha is unmoved by Naaman’s fame, his horses and his chariots. Naaman must wait at the door like, like anyone else. And that’s true of us, isn’t it? Whatever our worldly success and our affluence. We must come to God like anyone else. We must await his will, his timing and his message. And by using a messenger, Elisha is not negotiating. On God’s behalf, he is instructing. And not terribly surprisingly, Naaman doesn’t like that. None of us do. Verse 11: “But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, ‘Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of his God and wave his hand over the place and cure the leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I and not wash in them and be clean?’ So he turned and went away in a rage.” You can see a battle between God’s instruction and Naaman’s opinion. Is there a battle going on in your heart today between God’s instruction and your opinion? Well, listen to the servants of verse 13. And servants very rarely lie. Verse 13: “But his servants came near and said to him, ‘My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you. Will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, “Wash and be clean”?’ So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God. And his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child. And he was clean.” He wasn’t just free of leprosy. His skin was like a child. It suggests a new, fresh start, new beginnings. As if the life he’d lived before, he’d never lived. Complete cleansing, cleansing, all this and more when we come to God on his terms.

What evidence is there that this change is more than skin deep? That Naaman is a changed man in his heart and his soul? Well, it’s his subsequent actions that give us a clue as to, to whether he is what we might call authentic. You know, people come into church, they sing their songs, and I see big crowds in London coming into church. They might feel touched by the emotion of the moment, but what they do first thing on Monday reveals to God if Sunday has reached their heart and their soul. And look at the striking detail here. Verse 15: “Then Naaman returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and he stood before him. And he said, ‘Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel. So accept now a present from your servant.’ But Elisha said, ‘As the Lord lives before whom I stand, I will receive none.’ And he urged him to take it, but he refused. Then Naaman said, ‘If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule loads of earth. For from now on, your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any God, but the Lord.’” Naaman’s gift is refused. Like us, Naaman brings nothing to God, except the sins from which he needs to be forgiven. Indeed, he takes from God two donkey loads of earth so he can stand on Israel’s soil and worship the living God. Naaman is restored. No more a leper. He will now take the arm of the king of Syria, and his heart is tender towards God. And Naaman says this to Elisha, and you can see this is a, a very different man from the beginning of the tale. Verse 18: “In this matter, may the Lord pardon your servant. When my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon your servant in this matter.” So Naaman is now going to be on the arm of the king, and when the king bows he will be forced to bow with him. He’s now going back to a very difficult situation now where God is not honoured, but he’s different now. He’s been washed clean outside and inside. And you might be going from here back into a situation where God is not honoured in the home or the workplace, place, the broader family or some other relationship. But maybe you’re different now. You’ve been washed outside and inside. That’s the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, cleansing us from every sin. In God’s eyes and at his command, you’re clean. So as we conclude, Naaman begins his, his journey back to Syria here, and we begin to prepare to leave this place. How do we draw near to God on his terms, not our own? This story is full of challenges, isn’t it? There’s an illness without cure, cured by God. There’s a girl without freedom, speaking freely. Really. There’s a king without power. His problems are solved by a powerful God. And behind it all, above it all, and over it all, and underneath it all, is a God without compromise who requires us to come on his terms. What does God say to those who humble themselves like Naaman did and who come to him on his terms and then face challenging situations perhaps afterwards? He says what Elisha says to Naaman, and it’s with these words I want to close. The words of verse 19.

Go in peace. Go in peace. Amen. Let’s pray.

So we bow our heads for just a few moments quiet to think about what this means for us, us. Maybe there is something in this story which touches a chord in our heart, and that’s the Holy Spirit just fastening that on our hearts and minds. If so, why not say a personal prayer of your own in your heart to God about that, that one issue that he’s touched on. And then after we’ve had a few moments quiet for that, I’ll be praying, and then we’re going to have a very beautiful solo which will allow us to keep praying to God. Actually, the solo is, Take My Life and Let It Be. It’s a beautiful, prayerful song. So a little moment of quiet now, then I shall pray, and then you carry on speaking and praying to God, I encourage you, when the solo is sung. A moment’s quiet.

Loving Heavenly Father, help me draw near to you.

Thank you that the cross of Christ cleanses me from every stain and provides a cure for the pain, the penalty and the power of the otherwise incurable disease of sin.

Thank you the freedom that is mine in Christ, regardless of my circumstances.

Help me speak boldly of your saving grace to others who need to know your cleansing power in their lives. Thank you that nothing is impossible with you and that you provide a mountain pathway through any seemingly impossible problems and issues I face. As I draw near to you now, I come on your terms, to you, the God who compromises on nothing, not on your holiness, nor your love, nor your grace and your mercy poured out on me, cleansing me from every sin and preparing me to serve you wherever you send me.

So as I prepare to leave this place and go back into this world of both beauty and pain, I ask that the words that you spoke through your prophet Elisha to the transformed man, Naaman, you will also speak to me. Go in peace. For the sake of your son, my saviour Jesus Christ, and in the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. We remain in an attitude of prayer as this beautiful solo, Take My Life and Let It Be, is sung over us.