church

INI
Fourth Sunday After Trinity
July 5, 2009
Ascension Lutheran Church, Tacoma WA
Paul Naumann, Pastor

FAITH FOLLOWS THE INSTRUCTIONS
II Kings 5:8-14

To the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor
and glory forever and ever, Amen. This mornings text comes from the OT book
of II Kings, chapter five, beginning with the eighth verse, as follows:

So it was, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn
his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes?
Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”
Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of
Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in
the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be
clean.” But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to
myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, an d stand and call on the name of the
LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ Are
not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the
waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and
went away in a rage. And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said,
“My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not
have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be
clean’?” So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to
the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little
child, and he was clean. Thus far our text.

In the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, Who bids us abide in His Word, Dear
Fellow Redeemed,

"When all else fails, follow the instructions." -That phrase is rather revealing.
It's an ironic way of saying that there are certain people who simply can't seem
to read and follow instructions. Sad to say, I'm one of them! When I was a kid,
teachers would write comments on my report card like, "A good student, but
often fails to follow instructions." And it still gets me into trouble to this day - I
don't know how many tax forms and license applications I've had to tear up,
how many home products I've assembled the wrong way -- simply because I
didn't read the instructions. Maybe you've had the same thing happen to you.
You know what the problem is, of course. People like us think we don't need
instructions. We look at a task and think we know how to accomplish it, so we
just go ahead and do it. Usually the wrong way.

Of course, it's no big deal if you're just putting together a bike, or installing a
garage door opener. If you do it wrong, you can start all over and do it right; you
just lose a little time, is all. In our text for today, though, we see a man who
almost lost a lot more than that. A man named Naaman almost lost his life -
and his eternal soul - because he didn't want to follow the instructions. Not
following God's Word in faith was a mistake that Naaman couldn't afford to
make. And neither can we! Today we consider the theme -

FAITH FOLLOWS THE INSTRUCTIONS
I. It accepts the simplicity of God's Word.
II. It trusts the power of God's Word.
III. It receives the benefits of God's Word.

A person with an terminal illness will do strange things - travel to foreign
countries, subject himself to experimental drugs - almost anything, if it offers
the slightest hope of being cured. Naaman was like that. He was the
commander of the army of Syria; rich and powerful, a man of means. But he
also had leprosy, which was at that time an incurable disease. It slowly ate away
at the body's skin and extremities until it eventually killed the sufferer. Naaman
was a leper, and he would try anything to be cured, no matter how slim his
chance s. That's what brought him to the doorstep of the prophet Elisha. The
magic of his Syrian gods had failed to work. "Who knows?" thought Naaman.
"Maybe this prophet's god has a stronger magic." He certainly had nothing to
lose.

As it turns out, Elisha's instructions were simple. In fact, that was the problem
- to Naaman, they seemed too simple, insultingly simple. He was used to having
people grovel at his feet and make long, flattering speeches to him. But Elisha
didn't even come out to meet him. Instead, he sent out a humble messenger
with a simple set of instructions: “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and
your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.”

"GO -- WASH -- BE CLEAN." This was the Word of the Lord, spoken to
Naaman through the prophet's messenger. These were God's simple instructions
on how he could be cured. They would have been easy to follow. Instead,
Naaman went through the roof. “I’m not going to follow these instructions,” he
said, “they are too simple! It's an insult! I couldn't possibly be cured by doing
something so easy!” Naaman didn't just reject the simple instructions of God's
Word, he was deeply offended by them. He was enraged by them. Just as today
- when the simple message of the Gospel so often provokes a reaction not of
indifference, but of great anger and offense.

It is well-said in Proverbs that "He who is quick-tempered acts foolishly.." --
Prov 14:17. Naaman could have spared himself a lot of emotion and
embarrassment if he had just held his tongue and followed the instructions.
Unfortunately, we human beings seem to have a hard time doing that. Isn't it
true? Even for us Christians, sometimes it seems like the easier God's
instructions are, the harder time we have carrying them out. E.g., the Lord says,
"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will
be added unto you." -- Mt 6:33. Simple instructions. And yet we worry
ourselves sick over money and possessions and providing for the future. The
Lord says, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble, I will deliver you, and you shall
glorify me." -- Ps 50:15. Not much mystery there. Simple instructions. And yet
we suffer huge anxiety every time some new challenge arises in our lives. Each
time there’s an illness or accident. As if the Lord has never gotten us out of a
jam before! Another example: the Lord says, "If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness." Again, quite simple. It’s pretty hard to misunderstand those
words! But is it perhaps too simple? It can't be that easy to get forgiveness, can
it? So what happens? – We end up lugging the guilt of past sins around with us
like a heavy suitcase. Even though it s straining our legs and breaking our back
it’s so heavy – we still refuse to put it down! My Christian friends, this is not the
way of faith. Faith follows the instructions.

What does that mean? In the first place, that means that faith accepts the
simplicity of God's Word. Like it or not, the verdict of God’s Word on your sin
is quite simple: The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of
men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all
gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good,
no, not one. – Ps 142:2-3 KJV. Paul says that the Scripture has confined ALL
under sin. – Gal 3:22. Not much wiggle room there, is there? If we say that we
have no sin, (who are we deceiving?) …we deceive ourselves, and the truth is
not in us.

Yes, sadly, the Bible’s verdict on sin is quite simple. What’s truly wonderful is
that the Bible’s cure for sin is even simpler still! The Bible says to you quite
simply, "God’s Son Jesus Christ has atoned for all your sins!" What I mean is
that it’s simple for us. For Jesus, of course, it was not so simple. For Jesus it was
complicated. For Him, it meant living out a perfect life - never sinning once - so
He could give you the gift of His own righteousness. For Jesus, it meant
suffering the curses and jeers of his enemies, the torture of the scourging and
the crown of thorns, and the full force of God's wrath over sin as He suffered
for us on the cross. For Him it was excruciatingly difficult -- for you, it is easy.
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," the Bible says, "and you will be saved." --
Acts 16:31.

Faith follows the instructions, secondly, because faith trusts the power of
God's Word. But there on Elisha's front doorstep, General Naaman wasn't
feeling faith. All he felt was anger. Naaman became furious, and went away and
said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and
call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and
heal the leprosy.’ Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus,
better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So
he turned and went away in a rage.

What did the commander want? He wanted a showy religious ceremony. He
wanted a lot of hand-waving and hocus pocus - that was something he could
believe in. Some people are still that way about religious things, have you
noticed? They want a big church with ornate furnishings. They like to see fancy
vestments on the minister, and hear long liturgical forms that no one can
understand, as though the power of religion was in these things. Ascension
congregation used to meet in a dimly-lit, rather dingy little public hall in
DuPont. Before that we met in people’s living rooms. Now God has given us
this lovely, graceful chapel with its vaulted ceiling and its beautiful stained-glass
windows. But we dare never forget that the power of God does not lie in these
things. It isn’t in outward forms. Some people put their trust in the outward
forms of baptism and confirmation and church membership, and think, "As long
as these ceremonies have been performed on me, I don't have to give another
thought to God." But the power that saves - and the power that gives meaning
to these ceremonies - is the Word of God, and faith which trusts that Word of
God.

The Lord's Supper is another good example. There's nothing magical in the
bread and the wine. You could make the same bread yourself simply by leaving
the yeast out; you could buy the same wine in the grocery store. What gives the
Sacrament its power is the Word of God, "Given and shed for you for the
forgiveness of sins." In faith, we discern the real presence of our Savior's body
and blood in and with the bread and wine. In faith, we trust the power of God's
Word of absolution. In faith, we follow the simple instructions, "Take and
eat...for the forgiveness of sins!"

Finally, when faith follows the instructions, it i s never disappointed. It always
receives the benefits of God's Word!

At some point, the Holy Ghost put faith in the heart of this foreign soldier,
Naaman. Be it ever so weak, Naaman's anger turned to a desperate flickering
hope. It may have been when he finally quit fuming long enough to listen to the
wise counsel of his servants: His servants came near and spoke to him, and
said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you
not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be
clean’?” So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to
the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little
child, and he was clean.

Finally, Naaman broke down and followed the simple instructions -- and what
do you know! It worked! There’s a huge surprise – something God promised
would happen actually happened. But isn’t that what always takes place,
without exception? What God promises will happen happens. Naaman’s skin
was completely clean - better than new. Think what must have gone through his
mind the first few moments after he came up out of the water at the river’s
edge. Can you imagine the joy he must have felt? Can you imagine the relief at
being instantly cured from this repulsive disease, the dread of which had been
hanging over him for years? Yes, I think we can imagine that. Because you and I
have been on the receiving end of God’s grace too, haven’t we? Through faith,
the Lord has cured us of our deadly disease - the disease of sin. God's
instructions to us are just as easy as Naaman's: "GO -- WASH -- BE CLEAN"
No matter what our background, no matter what sins and mistakes and
shortcomings lie scattered in our past, God invites us today to be cleansed.
Come, wash in the blood of the Lamb, and have the damning disease of your sin
instantly cured. It seems too good to be true. It seems too simple to work, but
have faith! God promises that it will! The hymn writer put the invitation
beautifully in the first hymn we sang this morning --

"Today Thy mercy calls us To wash away our sin.
However great our trespass, Whatever we have been,
However long from mercy Our hearts have turned away,
Thy precious blood can cleanse us And make us white today."
-LH 279:1

"When all else fails, follow the instructions." Let that be other people's motto,
but not ours! Let us not wait until "all else fails" before turning to our gracious
God. To provide for us, to protect us, to deliver us from sorrow and heartbreak
and crisis. But especially to give us that cleansing from sin that we each need so
desperately. In His Word,=2 0God has given us simple instructions for
obtaining it: Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, and your
house! In faith, let's follow those instructions now, and from now on. Let's
accept the simplicity of God's Word, and trust the power of God's Word. Then,
without doubt, we will know the benefits of God's Word. AMEN.