The "Common" Miracle

THE “COMMON” MIRACLE
Text: 2 Kings 5:1-14

There is a human tendency to always look for the big and spectacular events. With the Winter Olympics starting this weekend in Turin, Italy, the next while will be filled with the miracles showing the limits of human achievement. The opening ceremonies were an amazing testament to spectacle, and I have little doubt that the closing ones will try to have the same impact. I was still living in Calgary during the 1988 Winter Olympics, so I have some up-close personal experience as to what these games can be like. These are events on a world scale… with not just millions but billions of people watching from around the globe. If you’re going to put on a show, then it’s time to really pull out all the stops… and the Olympics are just about the best excuse we have going these days.

Maybe it’s good timing, and maybe it’s God’s grace… but the story from 2nd Kings today is a story of contrasts. It pits the big and mighty against the downright common. It is a reminder that while as human beings we are attracted by the big and spectacular, God often works in very mundane circumstance… and because of that, we often miss what’s really going on. The story of Naaman the Leper General is a story of contrasts.

It’s a great story, but not one that we get a chance to hear all that often. A man of great accomplishments, of considerable wealth and fame, he has everything one might expect of a successful general… except for one thing: he suffers from a disfiguring disease. The story in 2 Kings takes this tangent, to tell the story of this foreigner who finds healing in the most unexpected of places.

Note: This sermon was preached without notes in front of the congregation, the following is the outline notes:

Story outline:
1. Naaman, General of Aram

a. Great military leader. “The Lord has given him victory”
b. Has everything going for him, except one thing. He’s a leper.
c. Normally he’d be an outcast, but his accomplishments are so substantial that he is still able to lead a successful life.
2. During one of Naaman’s many raids, one of the captives is a lowly Hebrew serving girl.

a. She tells stories of the wonders of a great prophet in Samaria, who is
known for working miracles.
Note: Now how often would a captive slave garner the attention of a rich and powerful general?
3. Naaman goes to his king,

a. Not only gets a leave of absence to go, but gets the full royal endorsement…
b. Includes a king’s ransom, as well as a royal letter for the king of
Israel… only the absolute best for his favoured general!
4. Naaman sets out with his big, spectacular entourage, armed with the letter from his King and comes to the King of Israel.

a. Now keep in mind how this might look politically.
i. General of a political rival shows up on the doorstep
ii. has a huge
entourage, travelling like a king.
iii. has a note with him that may be in
flowery language, but it basically says “heal my servant.”

b. King of Israel, of course, reads between the lines and sees a conspiracy that the king of Aram is spoiling for a fight, and is trying to set up an excuse to go to war.
i. Certainly all that more convenient to have Naaman, the top general,
scouting out the defences in person.
ii. “Obvious” spying and yet the King of Israel can’t do anything about it.
iii. The trouble is, Naaman’s visit is legitimate… but the King of Israel is not only suspicious, but starts a loud and public lament about it.
c. Eventually, someone from the camp of the prophet Elisha hears about the king’s complaining.
i. Elisha sends a message to the King of Israel
ii. says “Stop complaining! Let me deal with it.”
iii. Naaman takes up his whole entourage and makes his way to Elisha’s camp.
iv. Keep in mind that in all this time this has been about the big flash, the big show… in grandiose scale Naaman comes to Elisha’s camp.
5. Naaman arrives at Elisha’s house.
a. Finally, we’re getting somewhere!
b. No sooner does Naaman arrive, than a servant comes out and tells him to go wash in the river Jordan seven times.
i. that’s it?? After all this grandiose travelling about, that’s it??
ii. Elisha doesn’t even come out of his house.
c. Naaman is not impressed… he’s used to getting his way.

i. He comes right out and says what most of us have expect when it comes to
a miracle.
ii. He wanted Elisha to come out of his hut, and perform some
sort of grandiose ritual. Calling down oaths to his God, waving his hand over
the spot… doing at least something to at least look like he was doing something.
iii. Then he complains about having come all this way when the waters in
Aram are much cleaner looking.
1. Not sure about you, but the Jordan isn’t exactly a wide-flowing, clean-looking river.
2. It’s all below sea level, and flows into the Dead Sea. Not exactly inspiring.

6. The servant speaks:
a. Convinces Naaman to at least give it a try.
b. Naaman had come prepared for the spectacular… he would have been willing to climb mountains, to do the impossible, all to be made clean… but the possibility of the miracle itself is so mundane that he’s unwilling or even unable to see it.
c. His servant tells him “what have you got to lose? Give it a try!”
d. Sure enough, Naaman bathes seven times in the Jordan and is made clean.


Contrasts in the story:
  • Big spectacular vs. the plain and the ordinary.
  • Notice how the miracle is mediated not through the main actors, but by servants:
    • Serving girl
    • Messenger between Elisha and the King of Israel
    • Messenger between Elisha and Naaman
    • Naaman’s own servant.
    • After all, if Naaman had not listened to his servants, or had not taken the chance to actually wash in the Jordan, there would be no story to tell!
    • The grace in this text is a lesson on how positively ordinary the grace of God can be.
      • How we can miss miracles by not paying attention to the common things in life.
      • If we expect the big show, like Naaman did, we may be in danger of missing the real miracle when it comes.
    • Our greatest moments of Epiphany often come when we often see something “common,” something that we take for granted in a new light or a new way.
      ü Our challenge is to try to listen to the small voices… the unexpected ones, like the servants, those people or instances that seem so insignificant that it seems hardly worthwhile to give it a thought.

Thesis line:
We tend to miss the miracle in the mundane. Instead, we look for God in the grand and spectacular, and not paying attention to those little “common” things that we too often take for granted. The story of Naaman is a story of contrasts, showing how the mighty and powerful becomes healed through things very plain and ordinary.



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