Houston Congregational Christian Church

Pastor James Manuel
4883 Russia-Houston Road
Houston, OH  45333
Phone:  937-295-3591
Email:  click here

Date:  February 22, 2009

Title:   When the Ordinary Becomes Extraordinary

Call to Worship:   Mark 1:41-42

Prayer:

Scripture Reading:    2 Kings 5:1-14

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable unto You O Lord on this Your day.    

Naaman the man in our reading today had leprosy,    one of the most feared diseases of the times     and in many cases incurable leading to death.     Because Naaman still held his position he probably had a mild form of the disease or in the early stages.    Naaman was commander of the armies of Aram to the north of Israel.

  Israelite captives were taken back to this country.      One of Naaman’s servant girls was an Israelite.    Ironically Naaman’s only hope of being cured came from Israel.  

 This slave girl who was from Israel told Naaman’s wife about the prophet Elisha who could cure him.   2 Kings 5:3,  ‘She said to her mistress---If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria   he would cure him of his leprosy.’    My friends a little girl’s Faith and Naaman quest contrast with the stubbornness of Israel king.   A leader in mighty Aram sought the God of Israel,  v6,  ‘The letter that he took to the king of Israel read----With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.’        Naaman sought the God of Israel but notice the king of Israel’s resentment in his reply,  v7,   ‘As soon as the king of Israel read the letter he tore his robes and said---Am I God?     Can I kill and bring back to life?     Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy?’  

We don’t know the little girl’s name or much about her   but her brief words to her mistress brought healing and faith in God    to a powerful Aramean captain.   You see God placed her there for a purpose and she was faithful.   My friends that’s what God does for us.  He places us in situations where He wants us      and it’s up to us to be faithful to His cause.     No matter how humble or small your position    God can use you to spread His Word.         Look for opportunities to tell others what God can do.    There’s no telling who will hear your message.

Naaman was a great hero,  he was a prestigious man,  a man of power,  position and wealth.   He was use to getting respect.   He was outraged when Elisha treated him like an ordinary person.   A proud man he expected royal treatment.         Naaman almost missed the miracle because he expected the prophet Elisha to do something spectacular.   

He had sent expensive gifts to Elisha,  expecting Elisha to come out and meet him and do something spectacular.    Elisha however,  didn’t even go out to meet him,  instead sent a messenger and said,  v10,  ‘Go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.’      Now one might think that Naaman would say Wow that’s easy enough,  I can do that.    Instead he was highly insulted and exclaimed in anger,  v 11-12,  ‘I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God,  wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.   Naaman said,  why should I wash in that muddy river?       Aren’t our rivers in Damascus better than this one?’    So Naaman turned and left in a rage.  

Naaman was ready to go back home when his servant  said to him in    v13,  ‘Master think for a moment.  If the prophet had told you to do a difficult thing you’d have done it immediately.   The prophet has asked you to do a simple thing.  Try it and see what happens.’    So Naaman went down to the river   dipped seven times and was cured. 

My friends obedience to God begins with humility.   We must believe that His way is better than our own.   We may not always understand His ways of working   but by humbly obeying   we will receive His blessings.   We must remember that God’s ways are always best as Isaiah 2:3 says,  ‘He will teach us His ways   so that we may walk in His paths.’         God wants our obedience more than anything else. 

May I say Naanam left in a rage because the cure for his disease seemed too simple.   He was a hero and he expected a heroic cure.  Full of pride and self importance he could not accept the simple cure of Faith.   Naaman almost missed being cured because he anticipated that the prophet would do something spectacular.  He looked for an extraordinary answer to his problem.             Sometimes people react to God’s offer of forgiveness and help in the same way.     Just to believe in Jesus somehow doesn’t seem enough to bring eternal life.         To obey God’s commands doesn’t seem heroic.           What Naaman had to do to have his leprosy washed away      is similar to what we must do to have our sins washed away.   And that is to humbly accept God’s mercy.  

You see we’re much like Naaman because we often miss the working of God in our lives    or in our Church     because we too are looking for something spectacular,  something extraordinary,  dramatic or unusual. While we look for an extraordinary vision of God    we miss the divine presence of God in our regular worship service,   in the beautiful music giving God praise.       My friends the longing for the spectacular may cause us to miss the presence of God in the ordinary world around us. Psalm 89:15 tells us,  ‘Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim You,     who walk in the light of Your presence.’                          

The Christian pilgrimage is a call to maturity.   Maturity for the Christian is continued openness to God’s Spirit,  in whatever ways God may lead us.      Maturity is learning to serve God without a desire for recognition.     It’s to see a task or need and to do it    without seeking to call attention to oneself.        Maturity is being willing to serve in an obscure place   aware that only God    may see that service and declare it great.    Maturity is serving without waiting for anyone else to praise us or even notice    what we give    or do.     

Elisha didn’t want any recognitions for what he’d done.   He refused Naaman’s money and gifts.    In 2 Kings 5:16 Elisha said to Naaman,  ‘As surely as the Lord lives,  whom I serve,  I will not accept a thing.’     Elisha refused Naaman’s money to show that God’s favor cannot be purchased.    Our money,  like Naaman’s is useless when we face death.   No matter how much wealth we have in this life    it will evaporate when we stand before God   our Creator.    You see it will be our Faith in Jesus Christ that saves us,   not our bank account.    

Let us remember that God can turn any place into a shrine.   For Naaman   God took the dirty Jordan River and turned it into a miraculous shrine for Him.   Naaman thought that God’s shrines,  God’s holy places were only in Damascus.   But God used an ordinary river to produce a miracle.   Of all the famous,  beautiful,  elaborate cathedrals and shrines we may visit we’ll find that there is nothing spectacular about them.  These places are just ordinary common places.    As far as God is concerned we’ll see that---Any Ol Bush Will Do.

Also notice that God can work through very ordinary means to bring  about healing.   In our text we read that God used water to heal Naaman.       Naaman dipped seven times in the ordinary Jordan river and he was healed.    In an age that puts its focus too often on the large and spectacular    from large bank accounts,  large armies,  large houses,   and large or mega churches    we can get lost      and worse God can get lost in the emphasis on---Jumboism.     Many people lose sight of the fact that many of the most important things in life are accomplished by persons like you and me,  as we labor daily in our ordinary,  common Godly tasks.

When God comes into a life   the most ordinary or routine task or place can become extraordinary.     It may not seem that way to the eyes of the world    but it may indeed be extraordinary in the eyes of God.    Jesus touched the lives of some simple fishermen and called them to come and follow Him.      And those ordinary fishermen became a part of the force that pioneered the Church    as God’s instrument to bring  the Good News of redemption through Jesus Christ.

 Hopefully God can give us eyes to see    and ears to hear as Jesus said in Matt. 11:15,  ‘He who has ears let him hear.’          When God touches something or someone with His divine presence    it is never ordinary again.       Any ordinary or common place can become a shrine where God can communicate with us.      All we have to do is remain open,  teachable   and useable to God.