Irredeemable
Naaman the Leper
The Servant Girl
Naaman's Wife
The King of Syria
The King of Israel
Elisha
Elisha's Servant
Naaman's Servants
Naaman the Cleansed
Naaman’s Servants
How long does it take to become a prophet? Do you have to
finish a four-year bachelor’s degree and a three-year seminary degree? Consider
the man born blind, he had known about Jesus for maybe six hours and already
he’s declaring to the Pharisees, “Jesus is a prophet” (John 9:17), “One thing I
do know, that though I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25), and he ends by giving
an invitation, “Do you also want to become his disciples?” (John 9:27); in the
end he’s cast out of their sight. A prophet in six hours or less.
Love Confronts and Wounds
Naaman’s servants are going to do him one better. Naaman
responds as you’d expect to Elisha’s messenger: with anger. The Authorized
Version says he was “wroth,” the ESV says he was angry, and we see him storming
away in a rage. He was sure that some great miracle would occur and his leprosy
would be gone in an instant. After all, hadn’t he done everything right? He’d
come with a great treasure, he’d obeyed Elisha to come to him, he had Earned this. Think on that for a long
hard moment. Naaman has not yet relied on grace, humility, or mercy; he is
still walking firmly in his own power. He wanted a grand show, some sort of
magic trick, with Elisha waving his hand over him and declaring him to be
clean. God does not share his glory, and a lot of glory sharing would have
taken place if Elisha or Naaman could have earned his favor.
Further, Naaman is furious that he is called to wash in that
nasty, old, silty, murky, slow Jordan river. Aren’t there better rivers in
Syria? War torn today, it was not always so; the Abana and the Pharpar were
beautiful destination spots with clear water and surging waterfalls. King David
mentions the mountain range that Abana and Pharpar flow from and compares it to
the beauty of Christian unity (Psalm 133:1–3). The Sons of Korah mention the
roaring waterfalls of those mountains (Psalm 42:6–7).
If you could earn
your salvation by visiting a river, then to stand under the cascades of the
Abana would have been the surest way to do it.
William Carey, missionary to Serampore India, spent seven
years before seeing his first Indian, Krishna Pal, come to Christ. When he
baptized Krishna Pal in the Hooghly River an orderly mob of Hindus, Muslims,
and tribalists observed the proceedings. Some in attendance believed they
finally understood Christianity, “They worship the river, just like we do!” The
power is not in the river. The Abana, the Pharpar, the Hooghly, the Ganges, and
the Jordan are just flowing collection points for rain and snowmelt. The power has
always been in the God who is able to wash whiter than snow. We don’t ask, “Are
you washed in the Jordan?” We ask, “Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?”
Enter Naaman’s servants. They are in a much more powerful
position than you may realize. As advisors to Naaman they are well versed in
his power and personality. They expected some grand miracle as much as he, and
we would not fault them at all if they felt indignation in seeing their master
slighted. They may well have asked, “What sign do you do, that we may see and
believe? What work do you perform?” (compare John 6:30).
They could have responded to Naaman with something like,
“You’re right! That so-called prophet doesn’t know who he’s dealing with! He
couldn’t even come to the door?! Let’s go kick it in and drag him out into the
street and execute him!” The story would have ended there: Elisha dead, Naaman forever
a leper and the Lord of Life still
alien to him and his servants. That’s not farfetched, look at 1 Chronicles 19:1–19
(specifically verse 3) and see a set of servants who led their king into a war
that cost thousands of lives, and while it’s not stated, it probably cost each
individually their lives and eternities.
There are a lot of great “but” statements in the Bible, so
don’t miss this one, “But his servants came near” (2 Kings 5:13). There
is no indication that they were in any danger, but we have to always consider
that a person driven to their wits end may lash out in unexpected ways. I
appreciate these servant’s willingness to pursue their master in his anger and
distress; it shows a lot of courage. Maybe they went after him out of concern
for his wellbeing, not wanting him to exacerbate his leprosy with stress as
there are not many illnesses that can’t be made worse by stress or worry.
Maybe they are just on a mission for his health and
happiness. In drug and alcohol ministry we find that many people resonate with
the statement,
Outside of Christianity people
only want something from you, or you’re in the way of what they want.
It rocks the eternal
state of many when they realize,
In Christianity people don’t
want to be served, but to serve, and to love you because Christ loves you.
It could be argued that these servants only want Naaman
healed to preserve their position and guarantee their future employment. There
isn’t much job security in being a general’s assistant if the general dies.
But I think they’ve been transformed by the message before Naaman;
they don’t just go after him, they are about to speak further truth into his
life, for, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an
enemy” (Proverbs 27:6). They aren’t looking to flatter Naaman by encouraging
him in his anger, they’re about confront him in his response. If Naaman was
angry before, they may very well be setting him up to fly into a violent rage.
But love hopes and endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:7), so they know what
they have to do.
Exhort One Another
I don’t think it’s just incidental that there is more than
one servant. There is great wisdom in Jesus sending out his disciples in twos.
There is accountability, companionship, and most importantly in this case,
encouragement. I remember open-air preaching with a dear brother in Atlanta. As
it was my turn I froze and couldn’t get the first word out. My beloved friend
called from behind me, “Don’t you care that these people are perishing?” That
was all I need to open my mouth, “I am here to speak to you about your soul!”
On another occasion I had the opportunity to encourage that same brother with a
Keith Green quote, “Do you see, do you see? All these people sinking down!
Don’t you care, don’t you care? Are you gonna let them drown?”
A faithful friend in ministry is worth his weight in gold.
Do you have anyone in your life that you can pray for like Paul prayed for
Philemon, “I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother,
because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you” (Philemon 7).
It doesn’t tell us which servant speaks, maybe they speak together, or maybe
one is just there to encourage the other. But speak they do.
Put the Bible to Work
How many Bible verses do you have memorized verbatim? How
many do you know the gist of? How many Bible verses do you need to know to be
effective in ministry? Naaman’s servants knew one Bible verse, indeed we may
say that their entire Bible at this moment was one verse long.
And they quote it with power, “Has he actually said to you,
‘Wash, and be clean’?” (2 Kings 5:13, quoting 2 Kings 5:10)! They appeal to his
pride, that if some great thing had been commanded, something that would have
lifted him up and earned him his cleansing, he would have done it in a
heartbeat. But I think these servants have begun to see that God opposes the
proud while exalting the humble. When I taught Middle Schoolers (11–13 years
old), I loved to explain grace this way,
When we get to heaven and
someone, maybe an angel, comes up to us and asks, ‘how did you get in here?’,
if your inclination is to bow up and declare that you’re here because you’re
awesome, or faithful, or any such thing, then you’ve missed the point. But the
real answer to that question is to humbly answer, ‘I shouldn’t be here, but for
the love of my Saviour who loved me and sought me and bought me and to him
belongs all of the honor, power, and glory!’
Imagine the story Naaman could have boasted in if he had
done some great thing to earn his cleansing? He could have been exceedingly
proud, cleansed of leprosy, and devoid of hope.
Psalm 147:6 would not be nullified just because Naaman was
no longer leprous, “The Lord lifts
up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.” Naaman would have been in
more trouble had he grounds of boasting; he needed humility and his servants
helped to get him there.
These faithful and loving servants confront him and point
him towards humility, recognizing that the greatness of the promise came from
God, not from Naaman.
May we all have such friends in our lives who will stand
between us and destruction. Are you that friend? How can your words be used to
save a soul?
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