Rejoice For What Matters

Posted on July 3, 2022

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2 Kings 5:1-14

Psalm 30

Galatians 6:1-16

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Have you ever been proud of something about yourself so much that you just wanted to tell the whole world about it? I think it is part of our fallen nature to have a natural tendency to fall into pride about ourselves and to want to show off to the world what we can do. Being a parent, I can see this happening from a very young age. Your children are constantly doing things to gang your attention and approval. They don’t care what it is you are doing in the moment or how important it is, they want to show you right then and now and they have no patience to wait for you to finish what you are doing. They need and want your full attention. This can later be twisted into a form of pride that can turn sinful in nature. It is at these times that we forget what was really important in the first place and our priorities become messed up. If we are not careful, we can begin to take credit for things that were not even our doing.

I have read and heard the story of Naaman many times. However, this week God showed me a completely different perspective of this story. Naaman was the commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a very important person who had a very important role. We are told that the “Lord” had given him many victories. These were not accomplished by his own merit though he was a valiant soldier, but the Lord was with him when he went into battle even though he did not even know the Lord. Being such an important person, he also had a very big problem that he constantly had to overcome during his battles. He had leprosy. There was no known cure for this disease at the time so it was believed that this disease would continue to progress until he could no longer serve in the army and it would take his life.

Naaman’s wife happened to have a slave girl who was from Israel and she mentioned the prophet Elisha being a man of God and if her master would just see this prophet then he could be made clean. At this point I am sure Naaman would try anything and probably had been trying everything to cure his disease. He requested from the king if he might go to meet this prophet. The king grants his request and sends gifts and riches along as it was custom to do so and a letter to the king of Israel believing that this king would be in possession and control over this prophet. The king of Israel is taken aback when he reads the king of Aram’s letter. According to the letter it looks as if they expect the king to heal this disease himself. Elisha hears about what is going on and summons Naaman to his home. He does something very unexpected though when Naaman arrives. He does not come out to greet him. Instead, he sends out his apprentice to deliver a message of what he should do to be cured. Elisha says that he should wash himself in the Jordan River 7 times and then he would be healed. This upsets Naaman because first off Elisha does not have the decency and respect to come out and greet him himself. Second of all, if all he had to do was take a bath then he could have done so elsewhere and not wasted a trip, or so he believes. He wanted Elisha to come out and perform so big extravagant and magical voodoo over him. This would be the case if Elisha was healing this man by his own power and ability. However, God was the one who was healing Naaman, not Elisha. Elisha was simply the messenger.

After some coaxing from his servants Naaman finally decides to do what Elisha told him to do and he is healed. He goes back to Elisha and offers to pay Elisha with many gifts. Elisha once again does not come out of the house and actually refuses the gifts. Accepting these gifts would be acknowledging that Elisha was the one who healed Naaman and Naaman apparently believes that this is the case. However, by denying these gifts Elisha is acknowledging the truth and what is most important. God is the one who healed Naaman and it was God who gave Elisha the instructions and message of what Naaman needed to do. Elisha is pointing back to what is most important and to what Naaman should be really rejoicing about.

Our Gospel lesson today is found in Luke chapter 10. In the previous chapter Jesus had sent out his chosen 12 to proclaim the kingdom of God and he empowered them to perform miracles along the way, to heal people and to drive out demons. There was one boy in particular that the disciples were unable to heal. He was demon possessed and this demon would just not let go of him. Jesus having spent his time fasting and praying rebuked this demon and the boy was healed. Jesus returned the boy to his father and it says that everyone was “amazed at the greatness of God.” Shortly after all of this Jesus chose 72 more followers out also do the same as he sent his disciples out to do and to proclaim that the kingdom of God is near. Jesus said that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. He needed more workers to spread the good news.

Jesus explained to them all that whoever listens to them listens to him and who rejects them is rejecting him and the one who sent him. Those who would reject the message are rejecting God. Later the 72 returned and they were so excited. The were so excited an amazed and they told Jesus all about their journey. They said, “Lord even the demons submit to us in your name.” These 72 were treading into dangerous waters here and Jesus had to correct them in their path. They were dangerously close to believing that they themselves had the power to do these things. They were also dangerously close to convincing those whom they were helping that the power came from them. They were close to not giving credit to whom credit was do. We can infer that this is the case because of Jesus’ response to them. He replied to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Pride is a dangerous thing in ministry and people are like sheep and can easily be led astray by the pride of a pastor. There are many ministries in our world today that involve healing and driving out demons and they focus their ministry so heavily on these things and people are at times led to believe that there is a power and authority from these pastors. Unfortunately, these pastors also at times become wrapped up in the moment and fame that they experience and they all begin to rejoice in all of these miraculous things that they are witnessing and they forget what matters the most. What matters most is for our names to be written in the book of life. They forget that the power that they have comes from God. They begin to take the focus off of God and start to bring the focus onto themselves. When this happens, they leave a door open for Satan to come in and completely destroy a ministry. I believe that if we were more focused on rejoicing in what matters most, we would have much less pastors falling away. We wouldn’t have pastors accused of child molestation. We wouldn’t have pastors and other church leaders falling into affairs or other addictions. All of these things happen because we lose focus on what matters the most. It doesn’t matter what denomination we are a part of or what church we go to or how big our ministry is. We are all susceptible to falling away when we take our focus off of what matters most. When we take our eyes off of Jesus the perfector of our faith and the one who has granted us authority from heaven to perform His will.

In Galatians 6 Paul tells us to restore those who are caught in sin gently and to help them save face. Paul also addresses this circumcision group who has lost their focus on what matters most. They boast on their numbers whom they are able to convert to circumcision. However, Paul explains that they are not rejoicing in what matters most. Paul says, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.” In other words, keep your focus on what matters most. Let us not lose sight in this because once we do, we may find ourselves lost and unfortunately taking other along with us. Let us rejoice in what matters most.