Sermon: The Unexpected Ways of Grace – 2 Kgs 5 (5/17/26)
Introduction
Scripture
Turn to 2 Kings 5.
Today, we continue to study the lives of Elijah and Elisha.
The Spectacular versus the Mundane
In today's world, people love the spectacular and the heroic.
For instance, we love to watch movies and read books about people who make great sacrifices and accomplish great feats...
The Lone Ranger riding in to save the day...
Rocky Balboa going the distance...
Frodo taking the ring to Mordor...
Luke Skywalker destroying the Death Star...
Captain America standing alone against Thanos and his army...
Katniss volunteers as tribute...
Elsa stepping into her power in Frozen...
The boy with the loaves and fish offering what little he had...
We love the sports stories where a player puts his team on his back, rises up against all odds, and defeats his or her rival.
We love the human stories of someone who fights all the way to the top of Mount Everest...
Or the firefighter who risks everything to save the life of a stranded child in danger of the flames...
But often God's greatest works are not through the dramatic courage and impossible sacrifices of mighty people performing heroic actions...
God often does his greatest works...
Through the little guy...
Through ordinary faithfulness...
Through simple, uncreative obedience...
Church, listen...
Because of your appetite for the spectacular and the grand...
Many of you are missing what God can do and wants to do in and around you...
Many of you are waiting for some grand assignment while neglecting the simple obedience right in front of you...
You are living spiritual mediocrity because you have undervalued the importance of...
The little things...
The ordinary means of grace...
And simple obedience.
Let us read this historical biblical account filled with kings, commanders, treasure, and miracles...
But let us pay attention to HOW GOD REALLY WORKED.
Scripture
2 Kings 5.1 | Naaman, commander of the army for the king of Aram, was a man important to his master and highly regarded because through him, the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was a valiant warrior, but he had a skin disease. (CSB)
Who's whom...
King of Aram...
The king of Aram was likely Ben-Hadad II.
Aram (Syria) was Israel's powerful neighbor to the northeast.
Damascus was its capital.
Your Bible might say, "Syria" instead of "Aram."
Aram is the biblical Hebrew name...
Syria is the later Greek name...
The borders of ancient Aram (Syria) and modern day Syria are very similar.
Aram (Syria) and Israel were (are) in perpetual conflict.
Naaman...
Very high ranking official and successful military commander in Aram.
The thing to note here is that Naaman was not an Israelite!
He was an enemy to the Israelites.
Naaman had everything...
Power
Authority
Fame
Success
But the most important thing about Naaman was not his successes.
The most important thing?
But he had a skin disease...
Naaman had the dreaded, painful, debilitating, deadly, and incurable disease, LEPROSY.
In the Bible, leprosy was both a real disease and a picture of sin...
2 Kings 5.2 | Aram had gone on raids and brought back from the land of Israel a young girl who served Naaman’s wife. (CSB)
So, here was have a nameless young girl...
There is no way to read this without acknowledging that this is a very bad situation.
Human trafficking...
Child abuse...
Inappropriate power imbalance...
2 Kings 5.3 | She said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his skin disease.” (CSB)
Interestingly this young woman seeks to help save the life of her kidnapper.
This young girl is not powerful, but she knows the truth.
And in this story, knowing the truth matters more than holding the power.
She points Naaman to a prophet of God who lives in Samaria (Israel).
Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel.
2 Kings 5.4 | So Naaman went and told his master what the girl from the land of Israel had said. (CSB)
This is a pretty high level cabinet meeting...
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff meets with the President...
2 Kings 5.5 | Therefore, the king of Aram said, “Go, and I will send a letter with you to the king of Israel.” So he went and took with him 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing. (CSB)
Not only do we see some of the world's most powerful people, we also see great treasure.
Silver
10 talents or 750 pounds or 11,000 troy ounces
$848,000
Gold
6,000 shekels or 150 pounds or 2,200 troy ounces
$9,980,000
Ten sets of clothing...
The cost depends on whether they came from Walmart or Target...
Total Value:
Nearly $11,000,000.00!
2 Kings 5.6 | He brought the letter to the king of Israel, and it read: When this letter comes to you, note that I have sent you my servant Naaman for you to cure him of his skin disease. (CSB)
Now we add another powerful person to the cast...
King of Israel...
Joram, the son of Ahab...
Interestingly, the diplomatic letter goes from king to king, not to the prophet...
2 Kings 5.7 | When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life, that this man expects me to cure a man of his skin disease? Recognize that he is only picking a fight with me.” (CSB)
Joram panics because he knows he cannot do anything about Naaman's leprosy.
2 Kings 5.8 | When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king: “Why have you torn your clothes? Have him come to me, and he will know there is a prophet in Israel.” (CSB)
Now we add a fourth high profile character to the cast...
Elisha...
Interestingly, the most likely Hebrew pronunciation of Elisha would be the way we say Alicia.
I know we have a few Alicias here today...
Elisha encourages Naaman to come to him.
2 Kings 5.9 | So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. (CSB)
Let us try to picture the scene because there is some humor here, intentional or not...
Horses and chariots were weapons of war...
Naaman was the commander of the enemy...
Elisha's house would have most likely been a very humble, one-room abode on the outskirts of town.
So picture...
Picture Vladimir Putin rolling up to your one-room shack with a full entourage of Russian tanks and attack helicopters...
Putin and his special forces can look in and see you sitting in your recliner eating chicken wings and watching Big Bang reruns...
WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN?
2 Kings 5.10 | Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, “Go wash seven times in the Jordan and your skin will be restored and you will be clean.” (CSB)
Elisha does not come out to meet Naaman.
He does not even hit pause on the sitcom...
He just sends out a servant who gives some odd instructions...
Go wash seven times in the Jordan (river)...
The command is simple, but it is not simplistic.
The simplicity of the command exposes the complexity of Naaman’s pride.
2 Kings 5.11 | But Naaman got angry and left, saying, “I was telling myself: He will surely come out, stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the skin disease.(CSB)
2 Kings 5.12 | Aren’t Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and left in a rage. (CSB)
Naaman is shocked...
He was Naaman!
He had a letter from the king of Syria...
He had horses and chariots...
He had $11 million...
Naaman was desperate for healing from leprosy and he was looking for some grand gesture.
Naaman wanted there to be...
Some great feat...
Some extraordinary display...
Some great challenge...
He was put off by the command to go take a bath in some muddy creek at the bottom of the hill.
2 Kings 5.13 | But his servants approached and said to him, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more should you do it when he only tells you, ‘Wash and be clean’?” (CSB)
Naaman's servants point out his folly...
Naaman wanted the path to healing to involve some kind of heroics...
"Give me $11 million..."
"Eat the berries off an evergreen on the summit of Mount Everest..."
"Fight a giant eagle with the jaw bone of a tiger you killed with your bear hands..."
"Go on a 40-day fast..."
"Obtain some prayer cloth or ancient relic..."
"Seek some heavenly vision or sign..."
His servants suggest that he submit to this very basic, very simple command.
2 Kings 5.14 | So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the command of the man of God. Then his skin was restored and became like the skin of a small boy, and he was clean. (CSB)
According to the command of the man of God...
Note that Naaman follows the instructions PRECISELY...
Go to Jordan river...
Dip himself...
Seven times...
This would have been a dramatic miracle...
From leprous skin to young skin...
From a death sentence to new life...
But something also happened on the inside of Naaman...
2 Kings 5.15 | Then Naaman and his whole company went back to the man of God, stood before him, and declared, “I know there’s no God in the whole world except in Israel. Therefore, please accept a gift from your servant.” (CSB)
2 Kings 5.16 | But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, in whose presence I stand, I will not accept it.” Naaman urged him to accept it, but he refused. (CSB)
Naaman confesses that there is no God in the world except the one true living God.
That is the greater miracle!
Then he tries to pay for the gift...
Maybe this was gratitude, not payment...
But Elisha does not want there to be any confusion.
This is the hardest thing for people to understand...
God's gifts come through faith and grace not merit or payment.
2 Kings 5.17 | Naaman responded, “If not, please let your servant be given as much soil as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will no longer offer a burnt offering or a sacrifice to any other god but the Lord. (CSB)
Naaman came to Israel wanting clean skin.
He leaves Israel wanting to worship the Lord.
2 Kings 5.18 | However, in a particular matter may the Lord pardon your servant: When my master, the king of Aram, goes into the temple of Rimmon to bow in worship while he is leaning on my arm, and I have to bow in the temple of Rimmon—when I bow in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord pardon your servant in this matter.” (CSB)
The first evidence of Naaman’s new faith is not that he has all the answers, but that he now has a troubled conscience before the Lord.
2 Kings 5.19 | So he said to him, “Go in peace.” After Naaman had traveled a short distance from Elisha,(CSB)
Naaman goes home with clean skin, a new confession, a tender conscience, and the peace of God.
The Unexpected Ways of Grace
Now, this historical account has all the big pieces you need for an exciting movie plot...
Big pieces...
International geopolitical tension...
Two kings...
One military hero/villain...
A high profile religious leader...
$11,000,000 in precious metals...
But in the end, everything turns on the...
The industry of the little guys...
The embrace of the ordinary...
The scandal of the narrow and uncreative way...
Let us look at these one at a time...
I. The industry of the little guy.
Easy to Overlook...
This is easy to overlook in the account, but did you notice that every good and important thing that happened, happened because a little guy or girl said something.
There are three hinge points in the story...
Each hinge point is marked by a nameless servant speaking truth.
First, all of this got started because the nameless servant of Naaman's wife spoke the truth.
Scripture
2 Kings 5.2 | Aram had gone on raids and brought back from the land of Israel a young girl who served Naaman’s wife. (CSB)
2 Kings 5.3 | She said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his skin disease.” (CSB)
Notice that Naaman did not get this counsel from...
The leading physicians in Syria...
The high priests of Rimmon, the Aramean storm god...
The king of Syria or his nobles...
He got this counsel from a humble female foreigner...
She was someone about as far down the social ladder as you could go.
Second, when Naaman arrived at Elisha's home, he got instructions not from Elisha but from Elisha's nameless servant.
Scripture
2 Kings 5.10 | Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, “Go wash seven times in the Jordan and your skin will be restored and you will be clean.” (CSB)
Third, when Naaman is enraged at the apparent insult to his pride because Elisha sent the message by a servant instead of bringing it himself, it was a group of unnamed servants in his entourage that talked him back onto the right course.
Scripture
2 Kings 5.13 | But his servants approached and said to him, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more should you do it when he only tells you, ‘Wash and be clean’?” (CSB)
Isn't that odd...
This story is not about the heroic actions of two kings, one commander, and a prophet...
THIS STORY IS ABOUT THE FAITHFUL WORDS OF HALF-DOZEN OR FEWER NAMELESS SERVANTS.
God reveals himself to a pagan military commander and saves his soul, all through the industry and counsel of a few wisely placed servants.
Application
God still works through the industry and counsel of the little guy.
God has placed all of us in unique positions to speak words of truth and exercise gospel influence where no one else can.
This is God's normative pattern...
God used Joseph, a forgotten prisoner, to preserve Egypt and ultimately the Hebrew children...
God used Moses's mother and sister to protect the one who would be the liberator of God's people.
God used Rahab, a marginalized woman...
God used Ruth, a widowed foreigner...
When God wanted to feed the 5,000 plus, he used a little boy and his sack lunch...
Do you know the story of D. L. Moody?
Moody was one of the greatest preachers in history.
He became a Christian in 1855...
He preached to over 100 million people...
For his lifetime, he shared the gospel with more people than anyone else in history.
He later becomes the forerunner for the ministries of Billy Sunday and Billy Graham...
How did this great evangelist get started?
He was a shoe salesman at a small department store...
A local lay person and Sunday School teacher, Edward Kimball, stopped by the store and challenged Moody to follow the Lord.
The rest is history...
God has put you and me in strategic places to make a gospel difference...
You may never have a title or get the headlines...
Like the half-dozen little people in this 2 Kings 5 account, you may be the nameless, faceless hero no one knows about...
But, through Christ, you have the capacity to make a difference in many lives.
Listen to how Jesus said this...
John 14.12 | Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. (CSB)
What will you do?
Maybe...
Maybe you are the servant who goes to the troubled commander and points him to the Lord...
Maybe you are the servant who shares the details of God's plan...
Maybe you are the servant who encourages the wavering man to stay on the path that God has put him on...
Let us commit ourselves to being the HINGE in the spiritual journey of people around us!
Who has he placed you near?
You are in someone's house...
You are in someone's office...
You are in someone's family...
You are in someone's circle of friendship...
You are in someone's moment of anger, pain, pride, confusion, or need...
The world remembers the names of kings, commanders, and prophets.
But in this story, the kingdom turns on the faithful words of servants.
So be faithful in your little place.
Speak the word God gives you.
You never know whose healing, whose obedience, or whose salvation may be waiting on the other side of one faithful sentence.
II. The embrace of the ordinary.
The Scripture narrative......
Through his prophet and the servant of the prophet, the Lord told Naaman to go to the Jordan river and wash himself seven times.
2 Kings 5.10 | Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, “Go wash seven times in the Jordan and your skin will be restored and you will be clean.” (CSB)
What did Naaman think of that instruction?
Was it too hard? Too demanding?
2 Kings 5.12 | Aren’t Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and left in a rage.(CSB)
NO!
It was not hard enough...
It was not sophisticated enough...
It was not heroic enough...
What do you think Naaman thought might be demanded of him?
Clearly he thought money would be demanded.
He brought $11 million with him.
If the word from the Lord would have been...
You must pay $5 million...
He would have paid...
You must pay $10 million...
He would have paid...
You must pay $20 million...
He might have tried to negotiate but at least they would be speaking the same terms.
If the word from the Lord would have been...
"Eat the berries off an evergreen on the summit of Mount Everest..."
"Fight a giant eagle with the jaw bone of a tiger you killed with your bear hands..."
"Go on a 40-day fast..."
"Obtain some prayer cloth or ancient relic..."
"Seek some heavenly vision or sign..."
He would have done all of those things.
What was demanded of him?
Go wash seven times in the Jordan
Simple faith/trust expressed in simple obedience.
The question was never, "IS NAAMAN MIGHTY ENOUGH TO HEAL HIS LEPROSY?"
Naaman would never been mighty enough for that.
GOD IS THE HERO OF THE STORY.
God is the only one who can heal.
The question was always, "WILL NAAMAN FULLY TRUST THE LORD?"
What does this teach us today?
Despite what so many believe, God is not looking to bless some extraordinary heroic faith...
He may call you to do something extraordinary and heroic...
If he does, you should...
But, God is looking to bless your SIMPLE FAITH expressed in SIMPLE OBEDIENCE.
Let's play a game of IFS...
If I told you that if you sowed a seed of faith and gave me $25,000, then the Lord would take away your struggle with...
Struggles...
Porn...
Alcohol...
Drugs...
Sexual sins...
How many people would write me a check?
Not a small number...
Maybe I would need to lower it to $5,000 to catch some...
Maybe I would need to raise it to $100,000 to entice others...
But if I gave you an offer to do something hard and heroic with your money in order to grow in your fight against sin, many people would do it.
By the way, that is how TV preachers buy jets.
I could get me a jet!
If we talked about the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, and self control), and told you you could have this fruit in abundance if...
If you fasted for 40 days...
Of if you went on some pilgrimage walking up some tall mountain...
If I described the perfect forgiveness of God and said if you performed some great mystical ritual you would have experience no shame and perfect forgiveness...
How many people would sign up for the ritual no matter how difficult, costly, or weird?
But what if God just said...
Meditate on Scripture every day...
Pray daily confessing your sins...
Get regularly plugged into a faith family where you will be lovingly challenged and sweetly encouraged...
Walk in obedience in the small and regular things of life...
If you look at history of Spirituality in the last 50 years...
In fact, we could look 2000 years back and find the same thing...
You will discover all of these spiritual and religious practices that people embrace to find peace...
They seem to change every few years...
I wish I had time to trace through a bunch of these, but I'll give you just one illustration.
In the late 1990's many Christian pastors were advocating 40-day food fasts.
The idea was that if you went on one of these 40 day fasts, it would revolutionize your Christian life...
Add the fruit of the Spirit...
Help you walk more closely with the Lord...
Provide spiritual strength and wisdom...
I'm embarrassed to tell you I advocated for these.
I did two 40-day fasts.
Many people in my church did a 40-day fast.
What were these 40 days fasts?
First, they were not something ever commanded in Scripture.
The Scripture commands fasting but not that particular type of fasting.
You should always be alarmed if a Bible teacher instructs you to do something that is not instructed in Scripture.
Preachers should not take anything away from Scripture...
Preachers should not add anything to Scripture...
Second, they were an attempt to get close to the Lord apart from what the Puritans called, the regular means of grace.
Church, there is a better way...
We spend a lot of time talking about biblical spiritual disciplines...
In generations past, Christians called these the means of grace.
The Bible gives us simple, straightforward, clear steps to grow and strengthen our faith, to abide in Christ, and to have the fruit of the Spirit.
2 Kings 5.13 | But his servants approached and said to him, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more should you do it when he only tells you, ‘Wash and be clean’?” (CSB)
Before you look to some extraordinary heroic measure or some modern so-called Christian therapeutic practice, start with the simple biblically prescribed means of grace.
Joshua 1.8 | This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do. (CSB)
III. The scandal of the narrow way.
Naaman wanted to develop his own way to gain God's favor.
He did not simply say...
That way is too ordinary.
He also said, "Why must it be that way?"
We have seen that he came prepared for a very large cash gift....
Then he suggests maybe he could do some sort of cleansing ritual in the better rivers of Damascus...
2 Kings 5.12 | Aren’t Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and left in a rage. (CSB)
What might have happened if Naaman would have forged his own solution to the leprosy?
I'll tell you...
No matter how clever, sincere, logical, expensive, or popular his plan might have been, it would have failed.
God gave Naaman one way...
One narrow way...
And God said if you come to me in this specific and only this specific way, then I will heal.
The narrow way was not about being restrictive...
It was about clarity about how God applies his love and grace...
This echoes what we see in the New Testament...
And this is not only the scandal of Naaman’s story.
This is the scandal of Christianity.
Jesus said...
John 14.6 | Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (CSB)
Jesus did NOT say...
I am A way...
I am one truth among many...
I am one path for sincere religious people...
I know people have imagined many other paths...
Many of those are clever...
Sincere...
Logical...
Popular...
It is scandalous today to say that there is only one path.
Maybe I'm wrong.
But if the Bible is clear.
If I'm wrong, it is wrong.
If I'm wrong, Christianity is wrong.
The Bible knows no other way to be accepted by God than through surrendering to Jesus...
Christianity does not give me permission to preach many ways to God.
If there are many saving ways to the Father, then...
Jesus was wrong in John 14.6.
The apostles were wrong in Acts 4.12.
Acts 4.12 | There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved. (CSB)
The gospel is unnecessary.
The cross is optional.
And Christianity collapses into something very different from the faith once delivered to the saints.
So, with Naaman...
2 Kings 5.14 | So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the command of the man of God. Then his skin was restored and became like the skin of a small boy, and he was clean. (CSB)
His skin becoming like the skin of a small boy is a picture of complete cleansing.
What disease had ruined, God restored.
What shame had marked him, God removed.
And that is what Christ does for sinners.
He does not partially cleanse.
He does not merely improve our condition.
He washes us, forgives us, restores us, and makes us clean before God.
Conclusion
May I point out one more important truth?
This historical event that happened around 850 B.C. is mentioned in the New Testament.
Nine hundred years later, Jesus mentions it.
Luke 4.27 | And in the prophet Elisha’s time, there were many in Israel who had leprosy, and yet not one of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” (CSB)
What was Jesus pointing out?
One thing that stood out to Jesus in this story was that the man who was cleansed was not one of the Israelites.
He was a Syrian...
He was a Gentile...
He was an outsider...
Jesus was reminding his listeners that the God's salvation is open to all people...
We work hard to embody that at First Baptist Church...
I want you to hear today...
No matter your group, your tribe, your family, your politics...
No matter your troubles, your sin, your past...