6th Sunday of Epiphany 2/12/2006 Text: 2 Kings 5:1-14 Title: You want me to do what?
6th Sunday of Epiphany
2/12/2006
Text: 2 Kings 5:1-14
Title: “You want me to do what?
Let us pray. Lord God, Creator and Maker of us all, speak in the calming of our minds and in the longings of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.
Friday morning I found myself stuck as I writing my sermon. I decided to take a break and cruise the internet. I checked out the Barna Group web page. It is a well respected Christian research group. Their web page listed their latest survey. It was pretty interesting as I found that in the United States 85% of the people surveyed identified themselves as Christians. Out of that group 33% said that they believed that they are saved, but that their faith had no really meaning for them. 37% of the 85% who identified themselves as Christians said that they did not believe that Jesus was their Savior, plus their faith had no real bearing on their life.
Now, that only leaves 7% of the 85% who said that they are Christians. These 7% say that they believe in Jesus as their Savior and that their faith has a meaningful impact on their life. I can tell by the expressions on your face, that your thinking that surely couldn’t be right, for after all we are a Christian nation, and being a Christian means that you believe in Jesus as your Savior and that your faith has an impact on your life.
Well, all we have to do is just look at our own church on an average Sunday morning. If the weather is too nice, people stay away, if the weather is too bad, people stay away. In fact for some people, if the weather is just right they stay away. I think that shows the importance of faith in their lives.
The figures are even worse when you take Sunday morning Bible study into account. Barna didn’t break those figures down because they are so low that they have little if any statistical worth, except to show that the vast majority of those who call themselves Christians, don’t see any need to spend any time studying God’s Word on Sunday morning. Again, just look at how few people attend Sunday Bible class.
Everyone I have ever talked to always thought they had good reason for not regularly attending church or Bible study. I think I have heard them all, but there is one excuse that stands out above all others. It is that the worship service is just plain boring. There is no excitement, except maybe for those times when I misspeak a word, but other than that the service is the same old thing, boring, boring, boring.
You need to remember that I sat in those pews for some 50 years listening to pastors tell me how sinful I was, and how Jesus Christ died for my sins, thus making me holy in God’s sight. I heard all those things and I have to tell you that for a long time I found the whole service pretty boring.
I firmly believe that most of the people that find the worship service boring do so for one of two reasons. They either simply do not believe that they are really sinful enough for Jesus to die for, or they think that all it takes to be a Christian is to say, “I believe in Jesus.” whatever that might mean.
Those that think that way think that all they have to do is know Jesus and say that he is their Savior. That’s it, say the words and you are automatically forgiven, and go to heaven. They believe that they can say that and then get back to life as usual. It is easy.
Being saved is easy and yet it is so hard. That is why I picked the Old Testament reading to talk about today, for it speaks directly to the problem of why so many Christians are turned off when the Good News of Jesus Christ is preached.
As we look at the Old Testament reading we see that Naaman is an important man in his society. He has Leprosy. That is a pretty frightening, and in that time, a deadly disease. He must have been in the very early stages, for he was not banned from the presence of the king or his own household as far as we can see, but how far along the disease is, is not what the Old Testament reading is about.
Our Old Testament reading for today is not about him. It is not about the kings, the slaves, or even Elisha. It is about God and how he healed Naaman in the river Jordan.
I can’t imagine anyone more surprised than Naaman when Elisha sent his servant out to tell Naaman to wash 7 times in the River Jordan. I am sure that he expected Elisha to come out of his house and do something really dramatic. You know, something like calling on the name of God in a loud voice, with his arms extended, asking God for a mighty sign and then there would be this amazing flash of lightening or something like it, and he would be healed. It just had to be that way, for after all he was an important person.
But, that did not happen. I can just hear Naaman now, as he shouted in a rather loud and angry voice, “ You want me to do what?” “Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?"
There is an old saying, “Beggars can’t be choosers.” Well if there was ever a beggar who couldn’t afford to be a chooser it was Naaman. He could only look forward to a life of misery. But you see Naaman wasn’t satisfied with how God was going to heal him. He wanted to be healed his way or not at all.
Fortunately calmer heads prevailed and he did what he was supposed to do. I am sure that he was not happy as he submersed himself seven times in the water. He probably grumbled and maybe even swore under his breath the whole time, but he did what he was told to do and the power of God healed him. This of course led to his acknowledging that the God of Israel was the mighty God, which was the whole purpose of his being healed.
A number of years ago I saw a beer commercial that shows that people today are still much like Naaman. They want what they want their way, and their way only. The commercial opens up with a scene of a man crawling across a desert; he is obviously dying of thirst. He needs something to quench his thirst if he is going to remain alive.
We see a man run over to him to see if he can help. Just as the man gets to him, the dying man looks up at his savior and says, “Do you have any Stroh’s beer?” The other man looks a little surprised as he tells him, “No, but I have some nice cool water.” The dying man replies, “No thanks, I have a hankering for a Stroh’s.” as he crawls off into the burning hot desert.
You see he was not content in having his thirst quenched. His thirst had to be satisfied his way, or it wouldn’t be satisfied at all. He was another classic example of a beggar who was a chooser but could not afford to be one.
We too are beggars who can’t afford to be choosers. Because we, just like Naaman and the man in the Stroh beer commercial, have a serious problem. It is worse than the disease of Leprosy, worse than being terribly thirsty, worse than anything you can imagine, for we are all fall short of the glory of God. I
God solved the problem though, for instead of treating us like the beggars we are, and giving us only a scrap of his mercy, he gave us this own dear Son in order that we could be washed completely clean in our baptism and restored to full spiritual health.
Naaman learned that beggars can’t be choosers. We all need to learn the same lesson. If we are going to come to God, it has to be on his terms. There is no flash of light, no clap of thunder, no music that makes you all tingly.
All there is, is his invitation, “Wash and be clean.” Wash your sins away in the blood that Jesus Christ shed for you on the cross and be clean in the eyes of God forever.
It’s true, I used to be bored with the worship service, but a long time ago, long before I even decided to become a pastor God set my heart on fire. What use to be boring is now exciting, and how could it not be?
For how can anyone that truly confesses that Jesus is their Savior not sit in church on a Sunday morning and hear about what God has done for them and not rejoice?
How can anyone that professes the Christian faith not look at the cross and not thank God that his Son died on it? How can anyone that is taught the true meaning of the Lord’s Supper not come to the rail with a thankful and repentant heart as they eat the very body and blood of Jesus Christ given and shed for the forgiveness of their sin?
Don’t be a Naaman. Be like the leper, in our Gospel reading, that came to Jesus, and dropping to his knees in grateful submission said to him, “If you are willing, you can make me clean."
Come to God’s house every Sunday in humbleness. Come, expecting Jesus to speak to you through his Word and Sacraments. Come, let him heal you of your sin. Amen
2/12/2006
Text: 2 Kings 5:1-14
Title: “You want me to do what?
Let us pray. Lord God, Creator and Maker of us all, speak in the calming of our minds and in the longings of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.
Friday morning I found myself stuck as I writing my sermon. I decided to take a break and cruise the internet. I checked out the Barna Group web page. It is a well respected Christian research group. Their web page listed their latest survey. It was pretty interesting as I found that in the United States 85% of the people surveyed identified themselves as Christians. Out of that group 33% said that they believed that they are saved, but that their faith had no really meaning for them. 37% of the 85% who identified themselves as Christians said that they did not believe that Jesus was their Savior, plus their faith had no real bearing on their life.
Now, that only leaves 7% of the 85% who said that they are Christians. These 7% say that they believe in Jesus as their Savior and that their faith has a meaningful impact on their life. I can tell by the expressions on your face, that your thinking that surely couldn’t be right, for after all we are a Christian nation, and being a Christian means that you believe in Jesus as your Savior and that your faith has an impact on your life.
Well, all we have to do is just look at our own church on an average Sunday morning. If the weather is too nice, people stay away, if the weather is too bad, people stay away. In fact for some people, if the weather is just right they stay away. I think that shows the importance of faith in their lives.
The figures are even worse when you take Sunday morning Bible study into account. Barna didn’t break those figures down because they are so low that they have little if any statistical worth, except to show that the vast majority of those who call themselves Christians, don’t see any need to spend any time studying God’s Word on Sunday morning. Again, just look at how few people attend Sunday Bible class.
Everyone I have ever talked to always thought they had good reason for not regularly attending church or Bible study. I think I have heard them all, but there is one excuse that stands out above all others. It is that the worship service is just plain boring. There is no excitement, except maybe for those times when I misspeak a word, but other than that the service is the same old thing, boring, boring, boring.
You need to remember that I sat in those pews for some 50 years listening to pastors tell me how sinful I was, and how Jesus Christ died for my sins, thus making me holy in God’s sight. I heard all those things and I have to tell you that for a long time I found the whole service pretty boring.
I firmly believe that most of the people that find the worship service boring do so for one of two reasons. They either simply do not believe that they are really sinful enough for Jesus to die for, or they think that all it takes to be a Christian is to say, “I believe in Jesus.” whatever that might mean.
Those that think that way think that all they have to do is know Jesus and say that he is their Savior. That’s it, say the words and you are automatically forgiven, and go to heaven. They believe that they can say that and then get back to life as usual. It is easy.
Being saved is easy and yet it is so hard. That is why I picked the Old Testament reading to talk about today, for it speaks directly to the problem of why so many Christians are turned off when the Good News of Jesus Christ is preached.
As we look at the Old Testament reading we see that Naaman is an important man in his society. He has Leprosy. That is a pretty frightening, and in that time, a deadly disease. He must have been in the very early stages, for he was not banned from the presence of the king or his own household as far as we can see, but how far along the disease is, is not what the Old Testament reading is about.
Our Old Testament reading for today is not about him. It is not about the kings, the slaves, or even Elisha. It is about God and how he healed Naaman in the river Jordan.
I can’t imagine anyone more surprised than Naaman when Elisha sent his servant out to tell Naaman to wash 7 times in the River Jordan. I am sure that he expected Elisha to come out of his house and do something really dramatic. You know, something like calling on the name of God in a loud voice, with his arms extended, asking God for a mighty sign and then there would be this amazing flash of lightening or something like it, and he would be healed. It just had to be that way, for after all he was an important person.
But, that did not happen. I can just hear Naaman now, as he shouted in a rather loud and angry voice, “ You want me to do what?” “Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?"
There is an old saying, “Beggars can’t be choosers.” Well if there was ever a beggar who couldn’t afford to be a chooser it was Naaman. He could only look forward to a life of misery. But you see Naaman wasn’t satisfied with how God was going to heal him. He wanted to be healed his way or not at all.
Fortunately calmer heads prevailed and he did what he was supposed to do. I am sure that he was not happy as he submersed himself seven times in the water. He probably grumbled and maybe even swore under his breath the whole time, but he did what he was told to do and the power of God healed him. This of course led to his acknowledging that the God of Israel was the mighty God, which was the whole purpose of his being healed.
A number of years ago I saw a beer commercial that shows that people today are still much like Naaman. They want what they want their way, and their way only. The commercial opens up with a scene of a man crawling across a desert; he is obviously dying of thirst. He needs something to quench his thirst if he is going to remain alive.
We see a man run over to him to see if he can help. Just as the man gets to him, the dying man looks up at his savior and says, “Do you have any Stroh’s beer?” The other man looks a little surprised as he tells him, “No, but I have some nice cool water.” The dying man replies, “No thanks, I have a hankering for a Stroh’s.” as he crawls off into the burning hot desert.
You see he was not content in having his thirst quenched. His thirst had to be satisfied his way, or it wouldn’t be satisfied at all. He was another classic example of a beggar who was a chooser but could not afford to be one.
We too are beggars who can’t afford to be choosers. Because we, just like Naaman and the man in the Stroh beer commercial, have a serious problem. It is worse than the disease of Leprosy, worse than being terribly thirsty, worse than anything you can imagine, for we are all fall short of the glory of God. I
God solved the problem though, for instead of treating us like the beggars we are, and giving us only a scrap of his mercy, he gave us this own dear Son in order that we could be washed completely clean in our baptism and restored to full spiritual health.
Naaman learned that beggars can’t be choosers. We all need to learn the same lesson. If we are going to come to God, it has to be on his terms. There is no flash of light, no clap of thunder, no music that makes you all tingly.
All there is, is his invitation, “Wash and be clean.” Wash your sins away in the blood that Jesus Christ shed for you on the cross and be clean in the eyes of God forever.
It’s true, I used to be bored with the worship service, but a long time ago, long before I even decided to become a pastor God set my heart on fire. What use to be boring is now exciting, and how could it not be?
For how can anyone that truly confesses that Jesus is their Savior not sit in church on a Sunday morning and hear about what God has done for them and not rejoice?
How can anyone that professes the Christian faith not look at the cross and not thank God that his Son died on it? How can anyone that is taught the true meaning of the Lord’s Supper not come to the rail with a thankful and repentant heart as they eat the very body and blood of Jesus Christ given and shed for the forgiveness of their sin?
Don’t be a Naaman. Be like the leper, in our Gospel reading, that came to Jesus, and dropping to his knees in grateful submission said to him, “If you are willing, you can make me clean."
Come to God’s house every Sunday in humbleness. Come, expecting Jesus to speak to you through his Word and Sacraments. Come, let him heal you of your sin. Amen
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 4:00 PM
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