Sermon for Pentecost 21, October 13, 2024
To Him who
loves us and has freed us from our sins by His own blood and made us a kingdom
and priests to God His Father—to Him be the glory and the power forever.
Amen.
2 Kings 5:14-27 14So he went down and dipped in
the Jordan seven times, just as the man of God had said. Then his flesh was restored like the flesh of
a small child, and he was clean. 15Then
he and his whole escort went back to the man of God. He stood in front of Elisha and said, “To be
sure, now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. Now accept a gift from your servant.” 16But Elisha said, “As surely as
the Lord lives, in whose presence I stand, I will not take anything.” Even though Na’aman
urged him to accept something, he refused.
17Then Na’aman said, “If you do not want anything, please
give me, your servant, as much dirt as two donkeys can carry, for your servant
will never again burn incense or sacrifice to other gods, but only to the
Lord. 18But may the Lord
forgive your servant this one thing: When my master goes into the house of
Rimmon to bow down there and he supports himself on my arm, then I too have to
bow down in the house of Rimmon. When I
bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant this one
thing.” 19Then Elisha said to
him, “Go in peace.” When Na’aman had
gone some distance from him, 20Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man
of God, said, “My master was too easy on this Aramean, Na’aman, when he did not
accept anything that he brought. As
surely as the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from
him.” 21So Gehazi chased
after Na’aman. When Na’aman saw him
running after him, he got down from his chariot to meet him. He said, “Is everything all right?” 22Then Gehazi said, “Yes,
everything is all right. My master sent
me to say, ‘Look, just now two young men from the hill country of Ephraim, from
the sons of the prophets, have come to me.
Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.” 23Na’aman said, “Certainly! Take two talents!” He urged Gehazi and tied up the two talents
of silver in two bags with the two sets of clothing. Then Na’aman gave them to his two servants,
and they carried them ahead of Gehazi. 4When
he came to the hill, he took the gifts from them. Then he hid them in the house and sent the
men back, so they left. 25Then
he went in and attended his master.
Elisha said to him, “Where were you, Gehazi?” Gehazi said, “Your servant didn’t go
anywhere.” 26Then Elisha said
to him, “Didn’t my heart go along when the man got down from his chariot to
meet you? Is this the time to take
silver, or to accept clothes or olive groves or vineyards or sheep or cattle or
male and female servants? 27Na’aman’s
leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went out from his presence,
leprous like snow. (EHV)
Dear fellow redeemed,
What does
it cost to attend your church?
Surprisingly, that is a real question I have been asked. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, though,
because our experience in life teaches us that nothing is truly free. Someone always has to pay no matter what the
claim. Freebies offered at stores are
only free because the cost is buried in other goods being sold. Government handouts always have to be paid
for by other taxpayers.
All this has convinced the natural man that he
must pay even when coming to believe in God’s free grace. Not realizing how great God’s free providence
has been for us, it is assumed that we will always have to pay for anything
that helps us. Therefore, we have to
learn that God’s mercy is not for sale.
Na’aman had taken a chance on a servant girl’s
promise that the prophet, Elisha, would be able to heal his leprosy. It was truly his last hope for a cure. Yet, when Elisha told that powerful soldier
to wash himself seven times in the Jordan River, the man was offended. It seemed far too simple, too unlikely for
the muddy waters of the Jordan to cure anything, but of course, the power
wasn’t in the water, but in God’s promise to heal Na’aman through faith in the
promise.
Na’aman almost returned to his home in a huff,
uncured, but other servants intervened and convinced him to take a chance on
God. It changed Na’aman’s life in every
way. “Then his flesh was restored
like the flesh of a small child, and he was clean.” This was a hardened soldier, a man among
men. His skin had undoubtedly bore the
scars of war and training, plus the leprosy had begun to eat away at the skin
turning it sickly white with disease.
Yet, at the promise of God given through Elisha, he returned to Elisha
with the radiant skin of youth.
More than Na’aman’s skin was healed
though. While previously, the man
worshipped a multitude of gods, none on which could help him, now, Na’aman
believed in the One true God, the God of Israel, Abraham, and Isaac, the God we
also believe and serve.
As an experienced man of the world, Na’aman was
now so grateful, that he was ready and willing to pay handsomely for his cure. The prophet, however, understood that
Na’aman, and those he would touch and teach back in his heathen country, needed
to know that God’s mercy is not for
sale.
At other times, Elisha had readily received
gifts from fellow believers, but Elisha knew that Na’aman still needed to learn
how freely God gives His mercy.
Therefore, Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives, in whose
presence I stand, I will not take anything.”
Even though Na’aman urged him to accept something, he refused. Now, you and I understand that the Church
carries out its mission of bringing the Gospel to the world through the
offerings made by the members of the body.
We give these offerings in grateful thanksgiving for all that God does
for us.
At the same time, we are convinced through the
Word of God that nothing we do could ever pay for what Jesus has done for
us. Nothing we could ever offer would
equal the value of the forgiveness and salvation won for us on the cross by the
shedding of Jesus’ precious blood for the sins of the world. St. Peter was moved by the Holy Spirit to
write, “You know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life handed
down to you from your forefathers, not with things that pass away, such as
silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like a lamb without
blemish or spot.” (1 Peter 1:18-19)
In other words, God’s mercy is freely given,
but a price was paid, for it was purchased for us by the most expensive
exchange ever made when “God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin
for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” (2
Corinthians 5:21) The holy, innocent Son
of God, who had no sin at all of His own, laid down His life to pay for all the
sins of the world, and because of Jesus’ holy substitution, you and I and all
who believe in Jesus as our Savior are counted pure and righteous in God’s eyes
for Jesus’ sake.
Na’aman’s assumption was an honest mistake, and
in gratitude for this miracle that saved his life and his soul, Na’aman was
determined to remain a faithful follower of the One True God. He also knew his position in life would make
this a challenge. Na’aman was his king’s
right-hand man, so to speak. He realized
that to continue in that service, he would be required to enter a heathen
temple, and even help his master bow down before an idol as he faithfully
carried out his vocation. Thus, he asked
for forgiveness for that appearance of idol worship forced upon him. Then Elisha said to him, “Go in
peace.” This shows us that God
judges what is in the heart, regardless of what appearances might be, so we can
continue to serve God faithfully, even when sometimes we are forced to do
things that might be problematic.
Obviously, this can only be taken so far. We are always to serve God rather than men,
but there are times, such as with Na’aman, where we will seek forgiveness for
the gray areas of life.
Now, the real problem of living a faithful life
soon became apparent in the servant, Gehazi.
By outward appearances, Gehazi was a faithful servant of God as he
served God’s prophet, Elisha. Yet,
inwardly, we see in him a frothing cauldron of sin—greed, envy, deception, and
dishonesty—all combined to bring that servant to destruction. We might assume this foreshadows how Judas
would be led into damnation through greed.
Gehazi imagined that Na’aman should have paid a
price for his cure. That servant decided
that since Elisha permitted him to leave with his wealth intact, it certainly
wouldn’t hurt anyone if Gehazi helped himself to some ill-gotten profit. Greed clouded his judgment. The servant forgot the greater lesson that God’s mercy is not for sale.
Therefore, Gehazi ran after Na’aman, lied to deceive the man into
sharing his wealth, and further continued his deceptions hoping that Elisha
wouldn’t notice what he had done. When God’s
prophet called Gehazi to account for his sin, Gehazi continued in his lies and
received due judgment for his wickedness.
Now, to the world,
this might seem a little crazy. Why
would Elisha care whether this foreigner was deprived of some of his riches so
that a poor servant could finally have some prosperity? Isn’t that the way our world seems to be
going? We hear so many promises from
politicians trying to buy votes who say that the rich must pay their fair share
so that the poor can become equal. But,
the ways of the world are not the ways of our God. While we might fanaticize about having equity
in life, in reality, it never really works in a world troubled by sin. Likewise, if we had to pay for our place in
God’s kingdom, no one would ever gain entrance.
We would all be too poor, too dirty, too diseased with sin to come into
His presence. We would be forever
condemned.
Thank God, God’s mercy is not for
sale. Though not one person in the
history of the world deserved God’s patience and merciful kindness, God sent
His Son into the world to live holiness for us, to walk in our flesh as one of
us, and finally, to bear our sins as Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, was led to
the slaughter on the altar of the cross at Golgotha. There, Jesus shed His holy, precious blood so
that our guilt would be washed away as perfectly as Na’aman’s leprosy was
healed in the Jordan’s waters. While the
world might consider Jesus’ death a shameful thing, it is for us life and hope
everlasting.
Forgiveness bringing
salvation is the most expensive gift ever purchased, yet it is given to us freely
without money or cost, so that we are made right with God and perfectly clean
in His sight. What do we charge to come
and hear that Good New’s? Not one
penny. Yes, God accepts our offerings
and uses them to spread His Good News in our world, but He doesn’t need our
gifts, nor does He accept them if we imagine that we might be paying for
forgiveness.
Instead, with loving
kindness for those of us who could never purchase our freedom from the devil’s
control, God grants us life and hope and peace in His kingdom of grace. Forgiveness and salvation come to us completely
free through the hearing of the Gospel, by the gift of the Holy Spirit in the
gentle washing and Word of Baptism, and again in the body and blood of our
Savior and Redeemer, freely given to us to eat and to drink in the bread and
wine of our Lord’s holy Supper.
Rejoice, dear
friends, and be glad, God’s mercy is not for sale. Rather, His merciful kindness is now given to
you for your everlasting good in the gracious gift of God’s love through faith
in His Son. Amen.
Now to the King eternal, to the immortal,
invisible, only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
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