2 Kings 5:14-27 (New International Version)

14 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 and became clean like that of a young boy.

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 [ a ] 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.

A common attitude in this dog-eat-dog world is, “You gotta take care of yourself. Nobody else is looking out for you.” That attitude can lead to problems. We’ll see how as we consider this Old Testament incident. We will note

IT’S MORE THAN SKIN DEEP

To learn from this account we need to step into the place of Gehazi, the servant of the prophet Elisha. Some pretty heady stuff had been going on. Elisha had once been a servant of Elijah, for an earlier reference mentioned, “He used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.” He became the successor of that great spokesman of the Lord after witnessing his departure to heaven in a whirlwind, accompanied by chariots and horses of fire.

God backed up Elisha’s new position with miracles. He made a city’s water good. He sent boars from the woods to maul 42 youths who had mocked his baldness. Elisha had prophesied victory for Israel, Judah and Edom over rebelling Moab.

We first meet Gehazi when a woman from Shunem hosted Elisha in her home. She even built an extra room on the house for the prophet to use whenever he passed by. The Lord granted her a son in appreciation for her kindness to His prophet. A few years later the boy became sick and died, but Elisha raised him back to life. Another time he turned poisonous food safe and multiplied food to provide enough for more than a hundred men. As the servant of Elisha, Gehazi was involved in those astounding events. Since Elisha had started out that way, maybe he held dreams of succeeding him as prophet.

Then happened the incident at hand. Naaman, a Syrian army commander and attendant of the king, contracted leprosy. Several skin infections went by that name as the term was not as limited as what it designates today. Some types of leprosy involved boils and others caused red spots. Another type turned the skin white. The disease could affect extremities and sort of eat them away. Leprosy also pictured sin in the way it takes over a body. The book of Leviticus contained regulations including the requirement that lepers had to live outside cities, separated from their families and other citizens. There were procedures for being inspected and declared clean of the disease.

The aversion to leprosy seemed to be less of an issue elsewhere. Lepers in other lands still functioned in their positions, although it was annoying to see. Naaman’s wife had a servant girl who had been captured on one of the Syrian raids on Israelite land. The girl spoke up and told about God’s prophet. Naaman journeyed there and eventually met Elisha, who instructed him to bathe seven times in the Jordan River. Disgust filled Naaman at the idea and he was ready to pack up and go home, but his servants urged him to give it a try.

We’ll let Gehazi tell what happened next. “It was no surprise to me. The commander came out of the river with his skin perfectly restored. The leprosy was gone. I know why: the God whom my master and I serve performed a miracle. We’re on the right side. Naaman recognized it and praised the true God.”

You and I recognize that God grants health and many more blessings. We live under His daily care, with our needs met. We don’t always get everything we want but we have enough. Especially do we recognize our blessings if we compare our standard of living with the rest of the world. We live in a good land and a free land. We have abounding blessings, and they are more than skin deep. Praise God for them!

II.

It often happens that with abounding blessings come surrounding temptations, as Satan tries whatever angle he can to trip us up. We never think we have enough. I’ll let Gehazi continue. “A grateful Naaman offered my master a gift. You know what? He turned it down. He didn’t even check out what it was. Can you imagine anything so foolish? I couldn’t believe my ears. After what Elisha had done, it only seemed right. And the Syrian was loaded with goodies: gold, silver and sets of fine clothes. Maybe Elisha didn’t want them, but I have a family to feed. A vacation on the Mediterranean coast would be nice. The Mrs. would appreciate some nice things. And you know all about today’s economy. We could use a little help. Maybe I wouldn’t have to be a servant forever.

“So I decided to take things into my own hands. After Naaman and his group left I beat it after them. When I overtook them I made up a story that two young men from the company of the prophets had dropped in and that Elisha now wanted a talent of silver and a couple sets of clothing for them. I wasn’t asking for too much, you know, because I had seen the load he brought. The grateful man readily gave me two of each. I thought I had it made—and who would ever know? A talent of silver is worth $21,000 according to the commodities market this week. I was feeling on top of the world. They say money can’t buy happiness, but I was happy then. The only question that bothered me was whether I should have asked for more.”

Do you see the problem Gehazi had? He was blinded by greed. He never stopped to consider whether Elisha had a reason for turning down the gift. His eyes only saw the dollar signs. It can happen to any of us. We look at the blessings more than at the giver and what He desires. I’m not saying wealth is wrong. It is a blessing. God wants us to work faithfully and honestly and to enjoy the fruits of our labor. Wealth can also help others and accomplish important work in God’s kingdom. However, when our eyes are blinded by greed we often overlook those other needs like the poor or gospel work. We’re only thinking of ourselves. Oh, we may give a little out of a sense of duty, but nothing near our potential and we don’t really put our heart into it. For example, a writer commented that we Americans eat as much meat in one meal as would feed a family in Asia for a week. Didn’t Pastor Johnston mention in his presentation last Sunday that many of the children in the part of Africa where he had served have meat to eat only a couple times a year? The homes for many people in the world are only huts. What to us are the barest necessities are luxuries in many places. How much do we care? And what about Gospel outreach? Our synod has been recalling missionaries for financial reasons. With reason today’s focus is “Guard your heart against greed.”

The devil knows how and where to attack. If we have a lot, he lulls us into complacency or gets us wrapped up in enjoying what we have. If we have little in material possessions, he fills us with desire for more. We are not virtuous just because we are poor. Not only the rich struggle with greed and love of money.

He might tempt some to be Christians for the perks it offers. Maybe we think being a church member will improve our business, giving us more contacts. Perhaps we see a degree of status in belonging to a particular church or freebies like some meals or support from other members. Or we think we will get God’s favor—that He owes us something if we sign up for His team. Temptations surround us and sadly, we often give in to them.

III.

God doesn’t stop there. In the text we also see confronted sin as Elisha dealt with his wayward servant. We’ll let Gehazi continue. “I unloaded my stash when I returned and bounced in before Elisha. But then things changed. ‘Where have you been, Gehazi?’ Elisha asked. I gulped, but I couldn’t tell the truth. ‘Your servant didn’t go anywhere,’ I lied. It didn’t work. I suppose I should have known better. My master’s response was, ‘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 manservants and maidservants?’ (How did he know what I was planning to do with the silver?) Maybe Elisha did have good reason to decline any gift. The reason he helped Naaman could have been misunderstood, appearing like he did it for personal gain. That’s the way the pagans operate. You have to do something to get the good will of their gods. But the Lord our God is freely good. You can’t buy favors from Him. What was I thinking?

“Then Elisha really lowered the boom. ‘Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.’ It happened right away. I was crushed. But my problem was more than skin deep. It was a selfish and greedy heart that had consumed me. Was the punishment too harsh? While some might think so, there was a serious matter to consider. God’s reputation was involved.

“His action brought repentance. I was devastated at the time, especially thinking how I had caused a burden to be placed even on my descendants. But as I look back, it was an action of loving concern on the Lord’s part. Every time greed tries to take over my heart (and it’s rather often), all I have to do is look at my hand or see my face in the mirror and I am reminded of the danger of greed. It’s in your New Testament that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. God may have troubled my body but He saved my soul.

“Yes, I was truly sorry for my greed. I asked God for mercy and received it. What a relief! Check out a later chapter: I still continued as Elisha’s servant. There was an unusual aspect to the law about uncleanness from leprosy. A complete case, being covered from head to toe, didn’t require separation in a leper colony.”

Like you and me, he was forgiven by Jesus. The coming Savior that Gehazi awaited has come. He paid for our greed and for all other sins. There are worse problems than leprosy. Your soul could be condemned to hell. Jesus paid the price. He rescued us from sin and its consequences. That’s the glorious truth whatever your weakness is. The problem is more than skin deep. You and I have a corrupt heart. We were lost eternally. Jesus does the impossible as we heard in the Gospel reading. He moves us to repent of all sin and to trust in Himself as the Savior. The solution is also more than skin deep. Our renewed heart wants to serve Him. So we share His blessings for the body as we help those in need and for the soul as we bring the good news of our Savior to burdened sinners. We want to say, “Thank you, Jesus!” for all of His gifts, especially His gift of forgiveness and eternal life. And we have plenty to be thankful for. Live in praise to God and in love toward all.