Sermons

September 19, 2021

2 Kings 5:1-19

Like Naaman, many of us expect God to require something “great” of us in order to satisfy his will.  But the insight of Naaman’s servants was that God usually calls people to relatively “simple” obedience.  Naaman balked at washing in the Jordan.  In the same way, many believers today balk at seemingly insignificant actions such as prayer, bible reading, a kindness shown to a poor person, keeping one’s word, and other uncelebrated behaviors that demonstrate compliance with God’s will.  Likewise, many unbelievers scorn God’s “simple” requirement of confessing one’s sinfulness and placing faith in Jesus’ work on the Cross for salvation.  Surely God must require more than that!  Yet God is not impressed by greatness; he looks for faithful obedience to what he has asked.  What does it say, then, if we minimize his relatively easy demands as too “small” or too “lowly”?  Jesus said that is we are unwilling to show faithfulness in routine, everyday matters, we can’t expect to be given larger responsibilities (Luke 16:10).