II Kings 5:15–27
15 Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant.” 16 But he said, “As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused. 17 Then Naaman said, “If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule loads of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the Lord. 18 In this matter may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon your servant in this matter.” 19 He said to him, “Go in peace.”
But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance, 20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “See, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not accepting from his hand what he brought. As the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.” 21 So Gehazi followed Naaman. And when Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?” 22 And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me to say, ‘There have just now come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.’”23 And Naaman said, “Be pleased to accept two talents.” And he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before Gehazi. 24 And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed. 25 He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.” 26 But he said to him, “Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants? 27 Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence a leper, like snow.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, grant us contentment and peace in your dear Son, our charitable Lord and Savior. Amen.
We Need a Charitable Lord
In Christ Jesus, who came to us in our great need so that he could bring us to himself in heaven, dear fellow redeemed!
To help us fully understand the significance of our lesson, we need to know what led up to it. Naaman was a commander for the King of Syria. He was a mighty man of valor who had won many victories for the king. But he was a leper. Yet, through a Jewish servant girl, Naaman learned about a prophet in Samaria who could heal him of his leprosy. After telling this to the king of Syria, the king wrote a letter to the King of Israel telling him to heal Naaman of his leprosy. Of course, the King of Israel was distraught, because how was he supposed to heal this terrible disease? That’s when the Prophet Elisha sent word to send Naaman to him. And sure enough, after listening to Elisha’s instruction to dip in the Jordan river seven times, Naaman was healed! Scripture says, he did everything “according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean” (II Kings 5:14). The Jordan river didn’t have any miraculous powers to heal. But water connected with God’s Word changes everything. Naaman was healed and he declared, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel.”
When Naaman was healed he was grateful. Just like anyone who receives a great gift, we naturally want to show our appreciation and thanks by giving something in return. So, Naaman offered Elisha a gift. But Elisha declined, “As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.” Even with some extra nudging, Elisha still refused to accept a gift. Why? Elisha was a prophet—a man of God—who was teaching this new Gentile convert a lesson on the most important teaching of the Christian faith: GRACE. God’s grace is not something we cannot earn or purchase. It is a free gift. Grace is God’s undeserved love and mercy for Jesus’ sake. By God’s grace Naaman was healed. Elisha didn’t want to receive a gift because he wanted Naaman to learn that grace is not a transaction. I’ll give you this if you give me that. It is a free gift. And what a tremendous comfort this is! God shows us mercy, love, and forgiveness—not because we have earned it or deserved it or given the right amount of money or sacrifices—but because of his grace. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9).
I. Our Greed
But when Elisha refused the gift from Naaman, it did not please Gehazi. He thought Elisha let this commander off easy who was given such a great gift of healing. Why not get something in return? And so, Gehazi goes after Naaman. He fabricates a story about two young men who needed clothing and money, which he planned to take for himself. As soon as Naaman hears his request, he urges him to take more money and more clothing than he had asked for! He even offered his servants to help carry the gifts back. But Gehazi didn’t want Elisha to know, and so he dismissed the servants as he approached the house.
But consider for a moment if you were in Gehazi’s shoes. He faithfully followed Elisha. He was a good servant, but he probably did not receive many of the pleasures of this life. He was, after all, the servant of a poor prophet. He didn’t have much. So, when this opportunity presented itself to receive a great gift he was bewildered why Elisha didn’t accept it. “Does my master know what he is doing? We could put it to good use!” You can imagine him thinking that he could use this gift and maybe even somehow give it back to his master. He probably thought, “I am not stealing, but simply accepting a gift already offered.”
Yet, Gehazi receives a quick judgement—the leprosy of Naaman. While it’s easy for us to understand Gehazi’s motivations, its maybe hard for us to understand the seemingly harsh judgement he received. That’s why this is such an important lesson for us to consider.
It’s easy for us to rationalize sin in our lives, just like Gehazi. We try to convince ourselves that what we are doing is not a sin. However, the most dangerous type of sin is the one which we do not view as a sin. Why? Because when we don’t see it as a sin, we do not repent of it and go to Christ for help.
One of the lies we tell ourselves when trying to downplay a sin is to tell ourselves that our sin doesn’t hurt anyone else. This is likely what Gehazi thought. But is it true? Not only did he have greed, which led to him deceiving Naaman and lying to Elisha, but perhaps, the worst sin he performed was endangering the faith of Naaman, a recent convert. Elisha was trying to teach him about grace alone, but now this was compromised. Gehazi disobeyed God.
We also try to downplay our sin by telling ourselves that it doesn’t hurt anyone else. The person who spreads gossip about their neighbor is not only breaking the eighth commandment but are often rejecting the teaching of grace alone by trying to make themselves appear more righteous than their neighbor. The person who watches porn thinks they aren’t harming anyone. However, in addition to sinning against their own body, they are promoting an industry which abuses their neighbor and corrupts the mind. The person who is greedy for money might not outrightly steal something, but their greed prevents them from showing generosity to God and their neighbor. And remember, sins of omission—failing to do what we should, are just as damning as sins of commission—doing what we should not. The priest and the Levite might not have stolen from and beat the man on his way to Jerusalem, but they were just as guilty as the robbers who did because they failed to help their neighbor who was in need.
Most consider themselves to be pretty good. But the truth is, every single one of us have left many good things undone in addition to our many other sins. And because of this, we deserve hell. Even if we only committed one sin, Jesus Christ, God’s own Son, would have still had to live a perfect life and die on the cross for us. Scriptures states, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10).
Gehazi’s punishment was not harsh. It was loving. Through this, the Lord sought to bring Gehazi to himself. The Lord showed him the greatness of his sin, and his need for a Savior. The leprosy he had was just outward proof of his internal condition. When God shows us the greatness of our sin, it isn’t unloving. In fact, it is love that leads him to do this. It is why he sends the Holy Spirit to lead us to repentance. He does it because he wants us to repent of our sins and receive the forgiveness which alone can save our souls from death.
II. God’s Grace
Our sin and failings, highlight the truth that we need a charitable Lord. We haven’t earned God’s love, nor do we deserve it. This is why we need a God who shows mercy and compassion despite our sin. We need a God who comes to us when we are knee deep in sin to pull us out and rescue us. We need a God whose mercy isn’t a transaction—this for that. Because we could never pay our share. We need a God who saves us by grace alone. We need a charitable Lord. Thankfully, that’s exactly what we have.
Scripture states, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). When we were left helpless and hopeless, half-dead, through Satan’s deceit, Christ came to our aid. He knew we had nothing to give. He knew he would have to suffer and die for our sins. But that did not stop him. He came to earth, born of virgin and was laid in a manger. Not only is it a comfort that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but he lived a perfect life in our place—there was no good deed that he left undone. He loved his parents. He honored them. He cared for his neighbor and helped the sick. When others were in need, he didn’t let his fatigue or tiredness stop him. He prayed for his enemies. He thought, said, and did everything perfectly all the time. And he did it for you. So that through faith in him, he would take your sins away and, in exchange, give you his perfect life. Now, when God the Father looks at you—he doesn’t see someone whose fallen short, gotten angry, and ignored their neighbor. He sees Jesus’ perfect life. Because of this, heaven is our home. Our Redeemer lives, and so shall we. As the Psalmist says, “I shall not die, but live.”
There are really two things that you and I should take home with us today. The first is to be content with what God has given you. Gehazi’s greed led to many other sins, as Scripture warns, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (I Timothy 6:10). The things of this life are just things—they won’t last nor will they make us as happy as we often think. What we need is a God who loves us and who saves us. And we have just that. “Now godliness with contentment is great gain” (I Timothy 6:6).
The second thing we should remember is that we have a charitable Lord. In recent weeks we have seen a lot of tragedies in our nation. The hymn verse is certainly true which says, “The world is very evil.” Yet, we know that the problem is not just the world—but the sin in our hearts. When we see the wickedness in the world and our own shortcomings, sometimes, we can feel like giving up. But God hasn’t given up on this world or us, and so neither should we. It was this world with all its wickedness and corruption, sadness and hurt, that Jesus came to redeem. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” He doesn’t want the wickedness and evil of this world for us, which is why he came to deliver us out of it and bring us to his kingdom of peace and rest.
Yet, until we reach the land of rest where saints and angels worship the Lamb once slain, our Lord Jesus picks us up and provides for us to stay at the inn of his church. That’s why it is good that you are here. In church, Jesus feeds and nourishes us through the means of grace, his Word and Sacrament, until we see him face to face. Here, he gives us the refreshment, encouragement, and forgiveness that we need as we start a new week. He seasons with salt and gives light, so that we can be the salt and light in this world. As we leave here today, may we go knowing that we can find contentment and joy in our charitable Lord and Savior. Amen.