KINGS 5: 1-15

Each year the Fortune magazine runs a story called "America’s Toughest Bosses." In the 1993 version, the feature cited a contest run by Jim Miller, the author of a book called The Corporate Coach. Miller asked for the most gruesome description of a boss; the winner would receive a trip for two to Hawaii. The winning contestant described a boss who had issued a memo to his staff that threatened termination for anyone who adjusted the office thermostat without his permission. He had also required employees to show a copy of the obituary if they took time off for a relative’s funeral. Another contestant’s boss had made his staff yelp like dogs to get their paychecks. Some bosses just don’t know how much they are in need of mental healing!

Starting last week, we have been learning the fact that God is the One who heals and cures our broken spirits and ailing bodies. The process of contracting and suffering from disease, as well as subsequent healing and cure, are often outside of the realm of human capabilities and abilities. It is true that while preventive medicine the practice of watching one’s diet and routine exercise can prevent some sickness and disease, we cannot control when we will be stricken with an illness or afflicted with severe ailments. This is due to the complexity and exquisiteness of the human body a complex and intricate system of systems that only God could have created.

Our body consists of 206 bones, wrapped with 650 muscles and seven miles of nerve fibers. Our eyes possess 100 million receptors, and our ears have 24,000 fibers. Our hearts beat some 36 million times a year and pump blood through more than 60,000 miles of veins, arteries, and tubing. Most amazing of all, our brains contain 13 billion nerve cells. As we can see, the only plausible explanation for our bodies perhaps the most intricate and complex system in the universe is that God has created it.

When treating patients who have similar disease, a doctor may prescribe same treatment for both patients; however, physiological response to medicine and treatments vary so greatly between patients that one person may show immediate signs of improvement while the other does not show any response at all. In most cases, doctors let alone patients themselves cannot even control the process of healing. While reading a book some time ago, I learned that George Washington died while being treated for hemorrhage or excessive bleeding. Do you all know what the treatment was for sore throat during those days? An extract consisting of onions boiled in molasses. During the time of John Wesley in the eighteenth century medical records of the time reveal that common treatment for tooth pain was filling the cavity with crushed ladybugs. From the modern medical perspective, such methods seem barbaric and primitive; yet, during those days, such treatments were considered effective and practiced widely. In order for healing to take place, the attitude of the patient, as well as that of the doctor, regarding medicine and treatment procedures is absolutely important. This morning, through today’s scripture, we will look at how Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, gets cured physically, as well as spiritually after contracting leprosy.

In reading today’s scripture, we can discern that Naaman, through his relationship with those around him, was cured of his disease through three stages. From this, we can learn of the three stages of total healing that is applicable to all those who are afflicted. First, in order to attain total healing from spiritual and visceral ailments, we must have humility. When Naaman was afflicted with the incurable disease during those days called leprosy, he happened to overhear a servant girl who looked after his wife. The servant girl was a slave, captured and brought to Naaman by his army in Israel during the conquest. Let’s compare this girl to Naaman. Naaman was the second most powerful person in Syria and its territories, next only to the king of Syria; by contrast, the girl was a prisoner, a servant of meager status who served and waited on the wife of her master whose name does not even appear in the Bible. One day, the servant girl says to her mistress, "If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy." Naaman could easily have dismissed the passing word of this girl as nonsense; yet, out of the desire to cure his illness, he listens with humility.

When Naaman approached the king of Syria with this thought, the king personally wrote a letter to the king of Israel and sends many presents and gifts with him. Like a lightening out of a clear, cloudless sky, the sudden appearance of Naaman’s entourage replete with gifts, presents, and even a personal correspondence from the king of Syria greatly alarmed the king of Israel. Thinking that all this was part of some ruse by the king of Syria to attack Israel, the king of Israel, out of uncontrollable fear, tore his own garments. The important part of all this is that one powerless servant girl a prisoner from Israel profoundly affected, with her words, the most powerful people in the region at the time: Naaman, which goes without saying, the king of Syria, and even the king of Israel. What allowed this girl to throw these powerful men into the midst of great turmoil and chaos? The girl’s unflinching and unvacillating faith in the God of Israel and the Prophet Elisha afforded her the ability to turn on their heads the three most powerful men at the time.

Elisha, upon hearing that king of Israel tore his clothes out of fear, sends a messenger to the king, asking that Naaman’s entourage be sent to him; in fact, Elisha was so confident that he goes on to say, in verse 8, "Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel." Their faith in the living God allowed the servant girl of Naaman and Elisha to possess utmost confidence in their God. A great spectacle took place when Naaman, with all his horses, troops, envoys, and carts arrived at the door of Elisha’s house. It is here that we can think about the second stage of total healing.

The second stage of total healing is submission through true metanoia, or repentance. Metanoia, a Hebrew word for repentance or penitence, means ‘turning around.’ Naaman was cured, of not only his leprosy, but of his spiritual ailments because he experienced true penitence by turning away from all his past sins and habits. The fact that Naaman harbored great expectations upon arriving at the doorsteps of Elisha’s house is quite natural. When the second most powerful man in Syria a nation much stronger and capable than Israel arrives at the door of the house of the prophet of Israel to receive treatment, it is natural for Naaman to expect the prophet to run out barefooted and "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." Therefore, it is natural for Naaman to become furious when Elisha sends his servant out to Naaman to instruct him to "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times."

Naaman, furious beyond belief, decides to return to Syria with his entourage. In verse 12, Naaman is about to turn about and return to Syria, saying, "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?" When Naaman turns and goes away in rage, his servants try to stop and prevent him from doing so. In verse 13, the servants came and spoke to Naaman, saying "

My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it?" They reminded him that the most important and overarching objective is to cure him of leprosy. In fact, they have pointed out to Naaman the cold reality, that despite his stature as the second most powerful man in Syria, as its defense minister he is a mere patient at this time, who had come to this prophet in order to be healed. In looking back, Naaman was a blessed man, who had good people and servants working for him. All of us should remember the fact that these nameless and meager servants played an instrumental role in curing Naaman of the incurable disease. Like it is stated in Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 27, we can see that "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put shame on the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty."

The next point of focus is the fact that General Naaman heeded the advice of his servants and cast away his egotistical desire to return to Syria; instead, he decided to stay and submit to the instructions of prophet Elisha. I mentioned before that the Hebrew word "metanoia" means to ‘turn away.’ True repentance must be proved, or validated, by the act of turning away from, or ceasing, previous habits and sins and turning to God. Naaman repented by humbly retracting his steps while on his way to Syria, out of anger and fury that was fueled by his ego and submerged his body in the muddy waters of the Jordan River, as instructed by Elisha. In verse 14 of today’s scripture, it is stated, "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."

When Naaman cast aside the arrogance and haughtiness that accompanied his social stature, repented with humility and submitted to the word of God, he was able to cure his previously incurable disease of leprosy. However, should Naaman had been satisfied with the result at this point and returned to Syria, although his body would have been cured, his spirit would not have been healed. Naaman’s healing would have been incomplete, for only half of him his body would have been healed.

The last and third stage of total healing must be concluded with confession of faith and the offering of thanksgiving to God. Upon dipping his body in the River Jordan and being cured of leprosy, Naaman returns to Elisha’s house, with all his entourage, to confess his faith. Through verse 15, Naaman expresses his thanks and confesses his faith by saying to Elisha, "Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, expect in Israel; now, therefore, please take a gift from your servant."

 Furthermore, Naaman even vows to make offerings to God alone, as stated in verse 17. Naaman, believing that God cured him of his ailments, boldly confessed his faith in God and turns into a man of religion who knew the proper way of making offerings and sacrifices to God as a sign of his thanksgiving. Naaman was not only cured of leprosy, but his spirit or soul was also healed. He was totally healed by God. Nothing is more capricious than man’s feelings, whose priorities greatly vary according to the situation or the predicament that he is in. Many people who receive miraculous healing of the body often forget to give thanks as time passes, proving that more often than not, man’s vows are as ephemeral as the glass of milk that is left outside on a warm day. Naaman, on the other hand, learns to give true thanks to praise to God and His prophet Elisha for the total healing.

A 22-year old Chinese man was convinced he had mastered the power of his mind. Through his superior control of his thoughts, he believed he could cause things to happen or not to happen. The key, of course, was putting his theory to the test. So he stood on a railroad track near Shanghai and concentrated his thoughts on a speeding train coming right at him. If his theory was correct, he could force the train to come to a stop using his mind power. But his theory was incorrect. This is a true story that comes from a book written by Rob and Kathryn Petra in 1996 titled, "The 176 Stupidest Things Ever Done." No matter how much supernatural or superhuman powers a man may possess, his abilities can never come near those of God. One of the greatest theologians of the 20th century, Karl Barth, often proclaimed, "Let God be God and let man be man!"

When he was stricken with leprosy, Naaman forced himself to forget his social stature and humbly submitted to God and His prophet Elisha; when he did, a miraculous healing took place. After he was cured, Naaman pledge eternal faith and thanksgiving to God through sacrifice and offering thus healing his soul as well. He experienced true total healing the complete healing of both the mind and the body.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse once said, "God is as big as your faith." God will be as big to you as your faith in Him. At this hour, if we truly believe that God possesses the power and the ability to totally heal each and every one of us healing of the soul, the spirit, and the body you will indeed experience total healing, based on your faith. Let God’s miraculous healing power be bestowed upon us all! Amen