July 6, 2025 Sermon

Sermon title:  “Naaman the Arrogant General”

Scripture:  2 Kings 5:1-14

(Other lectionary suggestions include Psalm 30, Galatians 6:7-16, and Luke 10:1-11 and 16-20.)

2 Kings 5:1-4

The Healing of Naaman

1Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. 2Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. 3She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” 4So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said.

          A reminder:  Drak Druella will be the preacher next week. We are going to a Celebration of Life event for Harlane’s cousin Mike, who died at age 82 of Alzheimer’s. Drak’s sermon is on Luke 10:38-42, with the title “Present with Jesus.” Today the sermon is about a Syrian general named Naaman, and I have to say that I like this story. It shows a lot of things, including arrogance on the part of Naaman, who changes his mind, and that’s a good thing! It also shows how the ancients got along with each other, even when they were perceived as enemies. And I learned something:  the leprosy that is spoken about was probably more like a skin disease and NOT like the dreaded disease of Jesus’s day. How do I know this? Wikipedia says that Alexander the Great’s armies brought it from India in about 325 BCE. That’s interesting, isn’t it? In 1492 didn’t Columbus’s men bring disease from Europe that killed off some of the native American population? War is terrible and even brings on unintended consequences.

          One of the things I like about today’s Scripture reading is the generosity of spirit that we see in the servant girl. We don’t get her name, but she is so concerned about this foreign general that she wishes he’d let the prophet Elisha do something for him!

          By the way, Naaman’s name means “pleasantness.” And we are told that his men liked him - so he was certainly a decent commander. His arrogance shows when Elisha asks him to bathe in the Jordan River, and his feeling is that the rivers in Syria are every bit as great as the Jordan, so why can’t he bathe in his own rivers? It would be like a man in our country trying to say that the Mississippi River is better than the Thames or the Ebro or the Tiber in Italy. But the lucky thing here is, his own servants talk him into doing as Elisha says. And it is also interesting that this non-Israelite is dealt with in a kind manner. He gets a SECOND CHANCE! In some parts of the Old Testament, God strikes down disobedient sorts - but Naaman gets another chance. I can’t tell you why, but he is dealt with rather generously. Could this be another example of God doing what God wants to do WHEN God wants to do it? Maybe. And one more thing:  Naaman tries to give Elisha gifts for his cleansing activity, and Elisha refuses them. Why? Maybe to show that God’s goodness and generosity can’t be bought. If so, that’s a good point:  the gift of Eternal Life is a GIFT, and there is no way of BUYING such a gift. Just a thought.

Pastor Skip