Intro
Naaman, the Syrian, was the Commander in Chief of the armies of Aram. He was a decorated war hero with many victories under his belt. But he had a serious problem: he had an appalling skin disease, for which the Syrian doctors had no cure.
So what happens? Naaman pays a house call on the prophet Elisha in Israel. But it’s not as cut and dry as that. Aram (or Syria, as we know it) was Israel’s enemy to the north. A shaky peace existed with border skirmishes happening here and there. It was a dirty peace, at best, with many tensions for the flames of war to reignite.
Main Body
It just so happened that Naaman’s wife had an Israelite girl, a war slave, as her personal servant. Now stop and think about it. Here’s a girl forcibly taken from her home, hauled off to an enemy country, and forced to work as a slave in the house of an enemy general.
So what does she do? She speaks about the God of Israel, and tells Naaman’s wife about Prophet Elisha, who could heal Naaman of his leprosy. We’d probably be petitioning the government and demanding our rights. Yet, here we find a slave girl confessing her God and Lord through word and deed.
So from this Israelite girl Naaman hears of Elisha. Naaman figures, “Why not go and see the Prophet? Nothing else is working to heal me of my disease.” So he goes to the King of Aram, Ben Hadad II, for a letter, which acted like a passport back then.
Naaman also assumes such a healing won’t come cheap. He takes ten talents of silver (that’s 750 pounds!), 6,000 shekels of gold (150 pounds), and ten sets of clothing. By comparison, the book of 1st Kings tells us that King Omri bought an entire hill in Samaria for two talents of silver (1 Kings 16:24). So Naaman’s serious and he’s willing to pay to get what he wants–healing.
Naaman has his letter from the King of Aram to the King of Israel. It read, “I’ve sent my servant Naaman to you, so you may heal him of his leprosy.” So what happens? This outrages the King of Israel, and he begins to panic. He thinks this is a set up to create a pretense for Aram to attack Israel. The King cries out and tears his royal robes, “Who does this guy think I am, God?”
Naaman then takes his gold, silver, and his large entourage of horses and chariots and heads off to Elisha’s house. As Naaman and his entourage arrive, a servant of Elisha runs out to meet him. It’s not Elisha but a servant. The servant comes with a word from the prophet: “Go wash seven times in the Jordan.” And there’s a promise attached with the word: “Your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”
Now it’s Naaman’s turn to be outraged. This is nonsense! He may not know what the cure for leprosy is, but he just knows it can’t be that. It’s just can’t be. It doesn’t make any sense. It doesn’t sound religious enough.
Besides, the prophet needs to come out and see you, not send one of his flunky messengers. Then, he has to speak strange religious incantation. Then, he has to wave his hand to cure the leper. What’s this foolish word about washing in the Jordan River?
If all I needed was a bath, I could have washed upstream in the waters of Abana or Pharpar. At least those waters are clean. But the Jordan? It couldn’t clean a dirty robe on a rainy day. You’ve got to be kidding, the Jordan? The rivers of Damascus are much more impressive than the Jordan!
This whole washing nonsense lacks real religion. There needs to be more, more than simply water and some word of command. There needs to be something spectacular! After all, I’m a spectacular man. Naaman expected a healer for hire and a first-rate religious show. Instead, he got a bath in the Jordan.
You see, Naaman is just like us, like everyone else in this world. Everyone is his own expert on religion. Everyone knows what he needs and how to get what he needs. That’s what we do with religion. We’re the expert. We choose what we like. We know what’s going on with God–at least we think we do!
Go; wash seven times in the Jordan. What cure is that? “Repent and be baptized,” the Apostle Peter preached. What cure is that for sin and death? Change your mind? Be baptized? Is that all there is to it? You see, if we are the experts we think we are, then God wouldn’t always be telling us to change our mind, to repent!
Repent! The Son of God took on your flesh. He was born of the Virgin Mary and lived the life you should be living. But even more, His death is your death; His death is a death to sin and a death to hell. His resurrection is your justification; it’s God’s declaration that the war between the two of you is over and done! Now He’s your God, He’s your Father, and you’re His child. Repent! Change your mind! You don’t know what you need–but God does and He gives it to you!
That’s a scandal to the world. No, no, that can’t be right. How can all of salvation be wrapped in a man hanging dead on the cross some 2,000 years ago? There should be more. And it just can’t be that God gives me His cross-won salvation in the waters of baptism! There’s just got to be something more, something impressive, something in me, something that I have to do. I have to decide to be washed. Everyone knows that God helps those who help themselves.
But God doesn’t say that. Those words aren’t even in the Bible. Benjamin Franklin said that, not God. And Benjamin Franklin didn’t die to save you. Repent! You need what Naaman needed. Repent!
So run from what you think, run from what you know, and run from the religion that originates within you. Like Naaman, you need to cling to the external Word from God’s messenger.
Thank God for wise friends. They took Naaman aside, and said, “Look, if the prophet told you to do something hard, impressive, or religious, you’d do that, right? If he told you to dance naked around some sacred tree, you’d do that, right? If he asked you for ten talents of silver and 6,000 shekels of gold, you were prepared to give that, right? So why not take that sevenfold dip in the Jordan? What do you have to lose, except your leprosy–and your own, self-made religion?”
As with Naaman, the Lord is calling you away from what you think about religion, faith, and baptism that you get floating in our culture. What Naaman got floating in his religious world and culture was wrong. What we get floating in our religious world and culture is also wrong.
Naaman needed to get in the water, just as the Lord commanded. Naaman’s salvation, his cleansing, was in the water. Your salvation, your life, is in the water, as well. It’s Jesus’ salvation achieved on the cross and delivered in the water. After all, it’s His water and His Word of command. There, your sins are washed away. You are cleansed in the water. That’s why you never outgrow your baptism. That’s why you live in your baptism every day.
The Lord has sent His messenger to you today, not to tell you to dance naked around some sacred tree, but to remind you: You are baptized–not was baptized. Your baptism is both a one-time act and a continuing reality. Men, it’s like marriage: never let your wife hear you say, “I was married.” You mean, you’re not married now? No, you ARE married. You ARE baptized. You are a bearer of God’s name: the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are a child of God. That’s a present-tense reality.
That sounds too easy to be true, doesn’t it? It just can’t be. Baptism can’t do all that. You’re right: Baptism can’t, but God does through baptism! That’s why there is no greater work than holy baptism because God is doing the doing! That’s why the Apostle Peter wrote that “baptism saves you” (1 Peter 3:21).
Conclusion
So in your daily living of life, when you fail so miserably in being a bearer of Christ, run back to the water where you were cleansed. You do that by repenting. Drown again that old, self-made religion and start anew. Trust the external Word. Remember that God the Holy Spirit through the Word has washed your sins away. Now, God’s final Word for you on the Last Day will be: “Welcome, my child.”
Naaman found out what he needed. He needed to go into the waters of the Jordan. In the water with the Lord’s command, He would be cleansed. It’s the same with you: your healing is in the water and God’s command. Where His Name is, there is His Salvation. He’s put His name on you: You are His. “The one who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16). Grant this, O Lord, to us all. Amen.
