“The Hidden Power of God”
2 Kings 5:1-14

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
The Baptism of Our Lord—January 10, 2021

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Some years ago when we lived in Wisconsin it was big news when one of the wealthiest men in America, who lived in the state, a multi-billionaire whose companies printed most of the magazines published in the United States, died after falling from the dock into the lake on his estate.  Because of his wealth foul play was suspected, but the evidence proved it was a tragic accident.  In the process of the investigation it was reported in the news that he was on anti-depressant medication.  I understand there can be lots of causes for depression and such medications can be a wonderful blessing for many people.  But, I have to admit, my first reaction when I read about this billionaire was: “DEPRESSED?  With five BILLION dollars?”

We THINK that enough money and power should be able to overcome anything.  But, in today’s Old Testament Reading, a very wealthy and extremely powerful man is confronted with a devastating crisis that even he cannot conquer.

“Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria.”  Syria at the time was the most powerful nation in the world, and Naaman was their top military commander.  This made him one of the most powerful men in the whole world.  He was also highly regarded by the king of Syria.

I read once that in the White House your status is determined by the number of feet between your office and the Oval Office.  The President’s staff actually do have this all measured out and they know down to the inch who is who in the order of importance.  The other carefully measured factor, down to the minute, is how much “face time” you get each week with the President.  Well, Naaman was “a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master.”  The way that is worded tells us that he was one of the few men who had direct access to the king.  In today’s world, he would have had the prime office in the West Wing right next to the President.

“He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper.”  It seems this great and powerful and wealthy man had contracted a disease which today can be treated with antibiotics, but in those days was considered living death.  At this point it was probably just the beginning of the disease, but eventually he would lose all his power and prestige and be exiled from society.  He had conquered entire countries, he had at his fingertips all the power and wealth of the greatest nation on earth.  But against this dreaded disease he was powerless.  Surely the king had tried everything at his disposal to help his honored servant.  Not even the king’s own royal physicians could help him.  On the king’s orders, the pagan priests had offered sacrifices and called upon their gods, but nothing happened.  Then, from a very unexpected source, comes a ray of hope.

“And the Syrians had gone out on raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife.  She said to her mistress, ‘If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.’”

To the people of Syria, Israel was a minor, insignificant and very backward country.  It seemed crazy to think that anyone there could accomplish what all the royal power of Syria could not.  But, still today, people will do desperate things, even go to another country, seeking a cure for what their doctors say is incurable.  And so, “Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said.  ‘By all means, go,’ the king of Aram replied. ‘I will send a letter to the king of Israel.’  So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing.  The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: ‘With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.’”

The king of Syria is following the proper diplomatic procedure, sending royal gifts and making a formal request from one king to another.

“As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, ‘Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!’”  The irony is, the pagan king of Syria has more faith in the God of Israel and his prophet Elisha than the Israelite king does.

“When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: ‘Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.’  So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house.  Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, ‘Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.’  But Naaman went away angry and said, ‘I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?’ So he turned and went off in a rage.  Naaman’s servants went to him and said, ‘My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, “Wash and be cleansed”!’  So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”

In this story, God is reminding us that there are circumstances and situations and problems in which we are helpless and must rely totally upon him and trust in his Word and promises. Spiritually, all of us are like Naaman, for we are all infected with the spiritual disease of sin.  As David says in Psalm 51, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”  And, like Naaman, we are powerless to cure this disease.  We could never do enough to make up for our sin, as Paul says in Romans, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

But, just as the Lord came to Naaman with good news of a cure for his disease, the Lord has Good News for you.  Paul says in 1st Corinthians, “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”  Just as Naaman’s leprosy was washed away in the waters of the Jordan River, your sins have been washed away by the river of blood flowing from your Savior’s side.  Just as Naaman’s flesh “was restored like the flesh of a little child,” your soul has been cleansed and restored in the sight of God.  As Peter say, “For you have been born again . . . through the living and enduring word of God.”

Naaman almost did not receive the great blessing of a cure for his disease because it seemed to him to be too humble, too simplistic, not the way he thought it should be.  God’s great and mighty power is often hidden in things and places and people that seem simple and humble and not the way we would expect them to be. 

Holy Baptism appears to be just a simple sprinkling of water.  But, like the washing of Naaman in the Jordan River, Holy Baptism has divine power to cleanse and heal our souls, because, as Martin Luther reminds us in the Small Catechism, “Baptism is not simple water only, but it is the water used according to God’s command and connected with God’s word.”  That’s what was so special about Naaman washing in the waters of the Jordan River: It was according to God’s command and empowered by his word and promise.  And that’s what is so special about the waters of Holy Baptism.  As Luther says, “It is not the water itself that does such great things, but the word of God which is in and with the water, and faith, which trusts this word of God.”

Holy Communion appears to be just a symbolic eating and drinking, nothing more than a nice ritual.  But, Paul says in 1st Corinthians, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?”  You truly receive in this sacred act Christ’s own body and blood, to strengthen you in the true faith unto life everlasting.

The Bible appears to be a 2,000 year-old dusty collection of antiquated stories that doesn’t have much to say to our modern world.  But, Paul says in Romans that in the Scriptures we have been “entrusted with the very words of God.” 

When Jesus preached in his hometown synagogue, the Gospels tell us the people responded, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? . . . Isn’t this the carpenter? . . . And they took offense at him.”  Jesus of Nazareth appears to be just a carpenter turned rabbi some 2,000 years ago in a far off corner of the ancient world.  What impact can he possibly have on your life today in the 21st century?  But, as the Lord proclaims at Jesus’ baptism in today’s Gospel Reading, “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 

He is more than just a carpenter; he is more than just a rabbi; he is more than just a man; he is the very Son of God.  As Paul says in Colossians, “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things . . . by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

Just as God worked to heal Naaman of leprosy through the waters of the Jordan River, he works to heal you of the leprosy of sin, through the waters of Holy Baptism: “Baptism is not simple water only, but it is the water used according to God’s command and connected with God’s word.”

Just as God worked to heal Naaman of leprosy through the waters of the Jordan River, he works to heal you of the leprosy of sin, through the bread and wine of Holy Communion: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?”

Just as God worked to heal Naaman of leprosy through the waters of the Jordan River, he works to heal you of the leprosy of sin, through the written and proclaimed Scriptures, “the very words of God.”

Just as God worked to heal Naaman of leprosy through the waters of the Jordan River, he works to heal you of the leprosy of sin, through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, his Son, your Savior: “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Amen.