SERMON for the 6TH SUNDAY after the EPIPHANY FEBRUARY 15, 2009 “Will You Not Do It?”
Rev. Kurt Hering, Pastor Trinity Lutheran Church Layton, Utah http://imabaldyii.blogspot.com/ TEXT: 2 Kings 5:1-14 nkj Our focus is on v 13: But his servants came near and said to him, "My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, 'Wash, and be clean'?" Dearly beloved of God, Will you not do it? That is the question before us today. Oh, you are here, and so the answer today is yes, you will wash and be clean. But will you not do it often (like the foot washing of Maundy Thursday is meant to exhort) and will you not do it in order to be as the prophet and take the good news of that washing to those with whom live, and move, and have your being on a daily basis? What can we learn from the Old Testament lesson of Naaman that will help us understand how important this question is for all of us today? 1Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. Bad things happen to mighty and virtuous people. 2Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman's wife. 3She said to her mistress, "Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." There are very ordinary people in the world God has called and given miraculous answers to the life problems of even the mighty and virtuous people of the world that cannot solve their own problems. 4So Naaman went in and told his lord, "Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel." 5And the king of Syria said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothes. 6And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, "When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy." The mighty and virtuous people of the world have healthy self interest in checking out the gifts you have been given. 7And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me." The people of God who have been given the power to do mighty things for the people of the world are often intimidated and fearful of the those people -- or the task they have been given. 8But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, "Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel." There must be and are men given by God to stand up to the intimidation and fear of the people and exhort them to do what is right in the sight of the Lord for the sake of the world that needs to see it and believe. 9So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. 10And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean." God brings the mighty and virtuous of the world, as well as the lowly and immoral, to the doors of our churches to be restored. In fact as we see with Naaman, God makes the mighty and vortuous of the world to be lowly and immoral in order that they might see they NEED to be restored. 11But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, "Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. 12Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage. For some the cure is more despised than their disease. 13But his servants came near and said to him, "My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, 'Wash, and be clean'?" 14So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, 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. It is for the servants of God, his chosen people, to stand up to such as bluster and rail against the cure and offer it anew, offer it repetitively, offer it staunchly and without apology, wavering or changing it to meet the expectations or desires of the world. So let us look one more time at what the story of Naaman means particularly for us here at Trinity. [Back to the top] +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ What is the only cure we have to offer? The forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of sins that is given to us so generously, but in oh so ordinary and even too often despised and rejected things. The announcement of forgiveness upon a spoken and specific confession of sin; the preaching of forgiveness from a pulpit; a tiny bit of water poured over a small and large heads alike; a wispy wafer and a sip of wine – all from a short, balding stooped over man here at Trinity; or a tall, hairy intimidating man at some other church, or a pale, pudgy effeminate fellow in still another assembly of saints; or from you dear people of God who come in all shapes and sizes and personalities. All men, and all just as sinful as the ones to whom we are sent to invite them into the kingdom and give this precious gift of forgiveness unto eternal life. So, dear people of God, “Will you not do it?” The only cure, and the only thing that we should or indeed can be offering to bring people into our sanctuary is the forgiveness of sins that is the very Gospel -- the good news of Jesus Christ conceived, born of the Virgin, tempted by the devil, suffered under Pontius Pilate, crucified on Calvary, buried in a stone cold tomb, raised again from the dead and ascended to the seat of power with the Father – all for you and those you know and love in order to make you His own forever by the forgiveness of sins .... in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. ____________________________________________________________ Free information - Learn about the best office furniture. 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