Are We Listening?

Are We Listening? 2 Kings 5:1-14 New King James Version (NKJV) Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper. 2 And the Syrians had gone out on raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naamans wife. 3 Then she said to her mistress, If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy. 4 And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, Thus and thus said the girl who is from the land of Israel. 5 Then the king of Syria said, Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. So he departed and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. 6 Then he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which said, Now be advised, when this letter comes to you, that I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may heal him of his leprosy. 7 And it happened, when the king of Israel read the letter, that he tore his clothes and said, Am I God, to kill and make alive, that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy? Therefore please consider, and see how he seeks a quarrel with me. 8 So it was, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. 9 Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elishas house. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean. 11 But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, Indeed, I said to myself, He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy. 12 Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, Wash, and be clean? 14 So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. This is the Word of God, for us the people of God, thanks be to God! Let us pray.... Heavenly Father, Creator of the universe, you are the Potter and we are they clay. It is You who shape us throughout our lives into who we are truly meant to be. We come together here today to praise and to worship you. We ask that you bless us with your presence and with a word you would have us hear. We ask these things in the name of Him who gave His life to redeem us from our sins, our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. The story of Naaman is one of pride, arrogance, and stubborness. Naaman was the Commander of the army of Syria. He was a prominent man in their land and probably rather wealthy. The scripture even goes on to say that he was very honorable in the eyes of his king because the Lord had given him victory over Israel, but all of that wealth and notoriety couldn't heal his illness. Naaman was suffering from Leprosy. That term could cover a wide array of skin diseases from that time period. It could have meant something as minor as a rash or sores on the skins. It could have also meant something more serious, such as full blown leprosy that begins with lesions on the skin and then continues until the body basically rots away. It's a slow and terrible way for someone to die. Since the scripture tells us that after washing in the Jordan his skin was restored to him, we must assume that it was indeed leprosy he was afflicted with. Though the verses don't tell us, it would be safe to say that Naaman must have tried every healer, propher, magician, or whatever was available in the land of Syria, but Naaman's wife's servant girl was a native of Israel and knew of a prophet there that she believed could heal him and told her mistress so. We must remember that this servant girl would have been a slave held against her will in the service of their household. Syria had been raiding areas of Israel at this point in history and she would has been a captive taken during one of these raids. So, why would she even be interested in helping the man holding her captive? Don't you think that it was because it was part of God's plan that she tell Naaman to go to Israel? What would have happened if she had not listened to God's call for her? Next, Naaman goes to his king and tells him of the servant's words. Since his king holds him in such high regard, he sends Naaman to the king of Israel with a letter and with gifts of silver, gold, and fine clothing. It seems they were thinking they could buy a healing from God. How many times have we seen that in our lifetimes? When Naaman arrives at the king of Israel's court, he presents the gifts and the letter to the king. The king's first response it to think that it's a trap. He knows that he can't heal Naaman and assumes that the king of Syria is just looking to use this as an excuse to declare war on Israel once more. In fact the kings words were: Am I God, to kill and make alive, that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy? Therefore please consider, and see how he seeks a quarrel with me. Fortunately for the king of Israel, God was calling someone else into the matter. Word got back to the prophet Elisha about Naaman and the request of the king of Syria. The scriptures says:So it was, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. Again, I give you the question: what would have happened if Elisha had not listened to God's call? So now, the commander of the armies of Syria arrives at the door of the prophet Elisha. You can only imagine what Naaman is expecting. Surely there will be some elaborate ritual, the prophet will speak holy words over him by firelight, and there'll be some sort of sacrifice. There must be some great mystery and pomp and circumstance involved in the great ceremony of healing about to be performed. Afterall, he's a very important man to his king and country. No, that's not what happens. Elisha's servant comes to the door and tells Naaman to go wash in the river Jordan seven times and he'll be healed. Naaman is furious! He's been slighted. He's been insulted. Go wash in this muddy little Israeli river? Really now? Why would he do that when he has the great rivers the Abanah and the Pharpar, or the rivers of Damascus in his homeland. And, how dare this Israelite not even come out himself and lay hands on him and heal him properly! Then Naaman's own servants say to him: My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, Wash, and be clean? Do servants normally speak to their masters in such away? Don't you think the Lord may have called them to speak in such a way to a man who could easily have put them to death for questioning his authority over them? What would have happened is they hadn't listened? Finally, Naaman, prideful, arrogant Naaman gives in, submits to God's will for him and washes seven times in the Jordan. He arises after the seventh time dipping in the river with pure skin, clean of any blemish. We know what would have happened to Naaman is he hadn't listened to God's will for him don't we? How many times has God told you what to door put a calling on your heart, but you weren't listening or you were too stubborn to do what He said? Have you ever been at a point in your life where you didn't know what you were going to do or which way your were going to go, but refused to call on God for help? How many of us have ever been so full of pride that when someone told us all you need to do is call on the Lord or turn your problems over to Him that we looked at them like they were a fool? How many of us have thought at some point in our lives that the idea of our sins being washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ sounded too easy and too crazy to be true? How many times have we refused to listen? The story of Naaman has a special meaning to me though. You see, I teach bible study at an addiction recovery center called Naaman's Recovery Village in High Point, NC. The story of Naaman's pride and refusal of help is very similar to those suffering from chemical dependency. They don't want to admit that they have a problem to begin with and then they don't want to admit they need anybody else's help either. All of it a twisted form of pride. The story of how I came to be there also goes along with today's message. A little over a year ago, a friend of mine took some of his grading equipment to Ward Street Mission in High Point to help them with getting an old house in the neighborhood ready to be an addiction recovery center. He was doing this, because he had become friends with a couple of members of the staff there through a ministry called the Peidmont Emmaus Community. Well, after hearing my friend talk about the work they were doing in the Ward Street community, I told my family about it because they had lived in High Point before I was born. As it turned out, they lived a block away from Ward Street Church that was now the Mission. So, I had roots in that neighborhood. Then a friend of mine from church tole me that she was from that neighborhood as well and that her father had run a store their when she was a child. When I asked my brother if he remembered the store, he automatically said Mr. Morgan! You see, my friend's dad, the storeowner was blind and their weren't too many blind storeowners around then. My brother had even walked my friend's dad home a few times. So, the connections to the Ward Street area continued to become prevelant. That ministry stayed on my heart, but I had no idea of how to act on it. I had thought of contacting them, but hadn't acted on it. In the spring of last year, two other friends at my home church sponsored me to go on the Walk to Emmaus. All I knew was that it was a three day retreat to help you in your faithwalk. I would learn later that it was much more than that. The first night at Emmaus all of us entered into a meeting hall and sat in a large circle. In an activity to ge to know each other, we were paired with the person sitting beside us and told to ask them as series of questions and share their answers with the rest of the group. This person was 'your new best friend'. Well, my partner went on to say, 'I'm Sonny Reavis and I'm the pastor at Ward Street Mission. To myself I said; Okay God I get the picture. The next day, we were divided into tables of six people to hear the talks, the testimonies, and to do projects. My assistant table leader introduced himself to us as Sterling Cannon, the Director of Naaman's Recovery Village at Ward Street Mission in High Point, NC. Again, to myself, I said Yes God, I get it!. I got to speak with Sonny and Sterling throughout the weekend and a few weeks later I was invited to training sessions at Ward Street to become part of the pastoral staff at Naaman's Recovery Village. I've been serving there ever since. I wonder sometimes, what would have happened is I hadn't been listening when God called? My friends, sometimes we get caught up in looking for God to speak to us in big ways, but He often speaks in a whisper of gentle nudges, at other times He speaks to us in obvious ways. I just hope that we all put aside our pride and our own self- expectations and listen to what God is telling us. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit....Amen.