Sermon on 2 Kings 5:1-15

In today’s reading we hear the story of Naaman, a great man in high favor with his master, a mighty man of valor. But that isn’t Naaman’s whole story is it? Naaman was also a leaper.
The term Leaper takes on all kinds of meanings in the OT. We would imagine that this meant that Naaman had some type of skin condition, most likely brought about by his sin or so the people of the time would have thought. But if Naaman was such a great man how could he be a sinner cursed with this kind of obvious imperfection? Was leprosy really Naaman’s problem?
The Bible never discusses how or why Naaman was or had become leprous so any discussion of this matter would be pure speculation and irrelevant to what the story of Naaman is communicating to us.
When I was serving as a chaplain at Hope Ministries’ Bethel Rescue Mission I encountered a man that we will call Ricky. Ricky came to the mission directly from living under a bridge in downtown Des Moines. He was a hopeless alcoholic and at 50 years of age had abandoned his wife and two sons. Ricky was tired of living this way and wanted to change but didn’t know how.
Upon further conversation with Ricky I found out that his father had sexually abused him from the age or 5 years old until the age of 12 at which time he had ran away from home. Ricky’s father was a wretched man, an alcoholic who had convinced Ricky that the reason that God had put Ricky on this earth was to sexually gratify his father. Not knowing the difference this was the only idea of God that Ricky had.
I mention Ricky not because he was a great man like Naaman rather because they seem to have the same problem, leprosy. Naaman’s leprosy was external while Ricky’s was internal. I asked myself these questions, “If Naaman’s leprosy had been removed from him by any means other than visiting Elisha, would he have been changed to the degree that we see in the story; if Ricky simply had not been abused, although that is a horrific thing that no one should be subject to, would he truly be free from the alcohol and his anger and hatred for his dad?” My guess is that if Naaman had been healed by some other means then he would still consider himself a slave to his master and if Ricky hadn’t been abused he would still have followed his father’s example of self destructive behaviors. Leprosy was not the problem for these men it was a symptom of a deeper problem that these men shared and that problem was unbelief. Both of these men were sinners condemned to hell because neither had a “true preacher.”
In the Book of Romans St. Paul asks the questions, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Romans 10:14) Both these men were elected by God for salvation but their preacher had not arrived yet. Enter Elisha and well, me. When God is ready to elect a sinner for salvation he sends a preacher with a word for that sinner; a word so powerful that when preached the word itself delivers Jesus himself to the hearer and creates within that sinner a faith that saves. Naaman and Ricky’s problem wasn’t leprosy rather it was sin itself, the sin of not having a preacher.
Elisha’s sermon to Naaman was simple, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” (2 Kings 5:10) It wasn’t the washing that made Naaman clean but the faith in the promise made to him by Elisha that caused him to be clean. How can we tell if this was a successful conversion? By Naaman’s confession of faith after his healing, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel.” (2 Kings 5:15) A confession of faith is a sure sign that a conversion has taken place. Naaman was now free from the burden of his leprosy and his deepest problem of unbelief was now healed thanks to the arrival of a preacher.
What about Ricky? I spent the next two months explaining to Ricky that he had not chosen to come to the mission instead he had been drawn there by God himself because God had a message for him and that message was, “On account of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins both past and present, both conscious and unconscious.” This message of forgiveness, this promise from God himself, set Ricky free. He began to forgive himself and see that God had bigger plans for his life than what his father had told him. Ricky became a model student in the recovery class and was filled with a joy that can only come from the freedom that Christ gives to his chosen. Ricky let go of the hatred for his father and was able to forgive him for his sickening actions. When he had forgiven himself and his father, through the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, he then found his wife and reconciled with her and his sons. Ricky lives with his wife and his teenage sons somewhere in Missouri to this day. His purpose in life is no longer to drink away the problems of the past rather he spends his time loving and serving his wife, his sons, and any other alcoholic that will listen to his story. He truly exists to love and serve God and neighbor.
Both Naaman and Ricky had a true transformation through the hearing of the preached word of God. And now I stand before you today with the same word for you, “On account of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins both past and present, both conscious and unconscious; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Go in peace now to love and serve God and neighbor not to gain God’s favor but because you already have his favor.