Sermon – A Kingdom under God – 2 Kings 5:15-27

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – A Kingdom under God – 2 Kings 5:15-27
Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Presbyterian Churches
July 4, 2010

Listen to this sermon.

Good morning and welcome to Beaver Dam Presbyterian church on this Lord’s Day and the day we remember our independence as a country and our own liberty and freedom as people. Today our nation salutes the flag with patriotic songs, fireworks and the Pledge of Allegiance. To whom do we as Americans give our allegiance? The pledge states our reality succinctly; we are “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” This statement put us where we need to be with our government under the authority of God. And because of this we have been and are now richly blessed. Please pray with me.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Today I will be concluding my series of sermons drawn from the Old Testament Books of First and Second Kings and focusing on the ministry of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. We have seen a great struggle between the King of Israel and the God of Israel for control over the people. The King had attempted to change the object of worship of his people from the true God to a false weather god to enhance his own power and control over the people. The king had abrogated the covenant between God and the people where the people were blessed with good land, ample rain, and sunshine that made the crops grow; and the people in return worshiped God and made sure that the poor and needy never go hungry. But Ahab the King was seizing the land and putting the crops into storehouses for trade and to feed his army while the poor and needy go hungry. The prophets have predicted an end to this evil Omri dynasty, and by this time in our story King Ahab has already been killed in battle, and his son Joram was on the throne of Israel, holding on by a thread. This is what a kingdom without God is like. It is based on false worship and greed. But today is Independence Day so let’s look at what a kingdom or a nation “under God” is all about.

In the story that you heard earlier the main character was Naaman, the top general of the army of Aram. Aram was the great enemy of Israel and Naaman had been responsible for the death of King Ahab in battle. He and Joram represent kingdoms without God at war with each other. Let’s compare and contrast kingdoms without God with kingdoms under God:

1. In a kingdom without God Naaman would be considered an enemy, not trusted, and wanted dead. There is no way he would be healed by his enemy. But in a kingdom under God even an enemy is welcome to receive the blessing of healing. And so Elisha offered healing to Naaman.

2. In a kingdom without God a young slave girl would be an object of abuse. No one would ever pay attention to her or put any trust in what she had to say. But in a kingdom under God she is listened to for her wise advice and her relationship with God. And Naaman is blessed by listening to and following her advice leading him to Elisha and healing..

3. In a kingdom without God a request for healing is seen as a threat. The letter from the king of Aram to the king of Israel must have been considered some kind of trick. But in a kingdom under God an enemy’s request for healing is seen as an opportunity to demonstrate God’s power. And God’s power was demonstrated in the healing of Naaman.

4. In a kingdom without God even an offer of healing would not be trusted. Naaman was about to leave when Elisha did not do what was expected. But in a kingdom under God there is faith that God does heal. And ultimately Namaan did believe and did what Elisha instructed him to do and he was healed.

And so Naaman was healed by God, in the Jordan River where the kingdoms without God was overcome by the kingdoms under God. And that brings us to today’s scripture.

2 Kings 5:15 - 27 15 Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Please accept now a gift from your servant." 16 The prophet answered, "As surely as the LORD lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing." And even though Naaman urged him, he refused. 17 "If you will not," said Naaman, "please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the LORD. 18 But may the LORD forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I bow there also-- when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD forgive your servant for this." 19 "Go in peace," Elisha said.

After Naaman had traveled some distance, 20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, "My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him." 21 So Gehazi hurried after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. "Is everything all right?" he asked. 22 "Everything is all right," Gehazi answered. "My master sent me to say, 'Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.'" 23 "By all means, take two talents," said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi. 24 When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away and they left.

25 Then he went in and stood before his master Elisha. "Where have you been, Gehazi?" Elisha asked. "Your servant didn't go anywhere," Gehazi answered. 26 But Elisha said to him, "Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants? 27 Naaman's leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever." Then Gehazi went from Elisha's presence and he was leprous, as white as snow.

We see from this passage the biggest difference between a kingdom without God and a kingdom under God. This difference is:

5. A kingdom without God is based on greed. Gehazi could not handle a gracious offer of free healing and thus demanded payment. But a kingdom under God is founded on grace which has no cost. Elisha knew that God had healed Naaman from leprosy and this healing was blessing from God which required no payment.

We must not be too hard on Gehazi. After all he was just trying to make a little profit for his master. He knew the rules of the game in a kingdom without God: Make money any way you can. But he didn’t realize that the rules had changed. Greed was no longer acceptable. In a kingdom under God, greed is replaced by thanksgiving for all the blessings that we have received from God.

This Independence Day we have been giving thanks for all of our blessing of living in a nation that is under God. In our first hymn today we gave thanks for all the men and women who have served in the armed forces of our country protecting our liberty. We sang the Navy Hymn. In this hymn we sang to the triune God for protection for the sailors who protect us over perilous waters. Then we sang “My Country Tis of Thee” and gave thanks for all those who have gone before us giving us faith and freedom in this good land. In it we acknowledged that we are a nation under the God of our founding fathers.

In 1893 a professor of English literature at Wellesley College in Falmouth, Massachusetts went to Chicago for the Columbian Exposition. She wrote these words about her journey from New England to Chicago, “O beautiful for patriot’s dreams that sees beyond the years. Thy alabaster cities gleam undimmed by human tears.” She then continued her journey through the Midwest, ascended Pike’s Peak and wrote this, “O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain.” And she concluded her poem with a prayer, “America, America, God shed his grace for thee. And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.”

The meaning of this July Fourth Holliday is that we must be ever vigilant to keep our nation under God. In an age when atheists keep prayer out of our schools, people say “Happy Hollidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”, and when Hollywood makes fun of the faithful we are fast becoming a nation without God. And as we have seen from the Book of Kings that this would bring God’s wrath upon us. So we must remind ourselves that this nation has been richly blessed because we acknowledge that God is our leader. If we want our blessings to continue we must continue to be under God.

Two hundred and thirty four years ago today a group of courageous men met in Philadelphia to draft a document to separate themselves from a nation without God and create a new nation under God. It begins this way:

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed …

And the Declaration of Independence ends with this:

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States … And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Lord Jesus, help the United States of America to continue to be under God and to recognize that God is our leader and source of our blessings. On this Independence Day we thank you for the blessings of freedom. And to keep this nation under God we too pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor. Amen.

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