“A young captive girl and a scrawny river”

2 Kings 5.1-14

Pastor Tom Johnson, February 12, 2012

 

She was a young, captive girl. She maybe saw her friends and family killed in violent raids. She was torn from her home, family, and nation. She was led into captivity by Naaman, the commander of the army. Our text describes Naaman as “a great man in high favor” and his slave as “a young captive girl.” She is his wife’s personal servant brought home as a spoil of war. She had every right to feel dehumanized, angry, and overcome with bitterness toward her master and his wife. But instead of celebrating Naaman’s leprosy, her heart is filled with compassion. She lets her prayer be heard by his wife. “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” She is a young captive girl. But she is a great prayer warrior. She is a little girl. But she has a huge heart. She has a low status in life. But she has great faith in God who can heal even her enemies. As the Psalmist (Ps 8) says, “Out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants you have ordained strength.”

And so, at the word of this young girl, the great commander of the king’s army goes to find this prophet. Naaman brings with him somewhere between a quarter of a million—and as much as 4 million—dollars worth of silver and gold. The great man has deep pockets. And it seems that he intends to buy his healing. The letter the king of Israel receives a letter from the king of Syria—the same king that defeated him in battle. And the idea of Naaman coming down for healing strikes him with terror. He tears his clothing and is frozen in fear. It is just as Jesus said, “Unless you become as a little child, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 18:3). It is the faith of a child—the confidence in a strong and loving God—that put Naaman in the right direction.

Naaman goes to Elisha’s house and parks his horses and chariots at the front door. That would be like a general of a foreign army parking their tanks and armored vehicles in front of one of our homes. But like the young captive girl, Elisha is not filled with fear but faith in God who restores the lives of even our enemies. In fact, Elisha is so confident in God’s healing power, that he doesn’t even bother to answer the door himself. Elisha sends a messenger to Naaman to go wash in the Jordan river seven times to be cleansed of his leprosy. Elisha tells Naaman to go take a bath in the river—as if to say that Naaman had a skin disease because of a lack of personal hygiene. Naaman turns around and heads back home in a rage. “It does not make sense. This prophet is nothing like I envisioned he would be. I thought he would come out and show me the respect that a man like me deserves, wave his hand over the spot on my skin, and the spot of leprosy would disappear.” “Wash and be clean?! I’ve seen this river Jordan. It is nothing more than a creek—a far cry from the rivers where I come from—deep and broad rivers—why couldn’t I have just washed in those rather than come all the way here.

Martin Luther, in his catechism asks a similar question about water Baptism. “How can water do such great things?” How can water work forgiveness, life, and salvation? How can water wash away sins? “Certainly not just water,” Luther says, “but the word of God in and with the water…along with faith…and new birth by the Holy Spirit.” The Jordan river may be a scrawny river compared to the rivers of Damascus—but this water has the seal of God’s Word and promise to do what God says it can do.

Naaman’s servants get it. And they calm Naaman down with words of wisdom: “If Elisha asked you to do a difficult thing, wouldn’t you have done it? How much more willing shouldn’t you be to do such a simple thing as ‘Wash and be clean’?” Again, it is just as Jesus said, “Unless you become as a little child, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 18:3). It is the simple—but profound—faith of a child that puts Naaman in the right direction. He washes and he is clean. Our text says, “His skin is restored to the skin of a young boy.” And so Naaman quite literally becomes as a little child.

God’s delivers his promise through the faith of a young captive girl. God’s delivers his power through the water and the word. How true the Scripture—“But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:27).

And so this morning we have the privilege of celebrating God’s promise through young children and God’s power through the water of Holy Baptism—that water, Word, and Spirit infused with the power of Jesus Christ and his Baptism into death and resurrection—a Baptism that cleanses us and sets us free from the power of sin and death. God powerfully works through the faith of a little captive girl, infant twins, and all who have a childlike confidence in him. God powerfully works through a scrawny river, the water along with the Word and Holy Spirit. And he freely and lovingly makes us his sons and daughters.