Sunday Morning Service (II Kings 5:20-27)

II Kings 5:20-27

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“An Unprofitable Servant” • 6.18.17 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro.

- Chapter 5 begins with a Syrian General who has come to Elisha to be healed of leprosy. He has heard of this man through his wife's Hebrew handmaiden.

- The Syrian government sends Naaman to Samaria where he meets with Elisha's doorman. That servant transmits Elisha's simple direction, which infuriates the General, who expected more.

- He's about to leave when the servants who have traveled with him, seek to reassure him. He has been given a simple task that will eliminate his fearsome disease. Why not give it a try?

- Still fuming, but willing to try, Naaman bathes in the Jordan river seven times and comes up out of it, healed and whole. God healed the proud General of his leprosy.

- Three servants, not related to each other, nevertheless worked together in a life altering work! One planted, another watered and God brought the proverbial increase!

- What great examples to us! I pray we have taken the true lesson, to point confidently to Christ, to speak plainly of what must be done and to reason passionately with those that doubt.

- Last week, we had servants to praise. This week, we have a servant we wish weren't in the Bible! Let's dive into the fall of Gehazi. Verse 20.

Text

• II Kings 5:20 : "But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, 'Look, my master has spared Naaman this Syrian, while not receiving from his hands what he brought; but as the Lord lives, I will run after him and take something from him.'" : The phrase "But Gehazi" is truly a perfect introduction to this section. He is the antithesis to all that we have seen!

- I would also mention that among the four servants in this chapter, that he is the only one that is named! I leave that to your consideration as we continue.

- Gehazi, whose name means "Valley Of Vision" is identified as Elisha's servant. We first noted his presence in chapter 4 during the Shunnamite Woman's story.

- When Elisha stayed at the her apartment wondering how to bless her, it is Gehazi that sees her need for a son in the face of an aging husband and an uncertain future.

- Gehazi is intuitive and a man with a gift for practical helps. At Elisha's instruction, he runs to see the approaching distraught woman and he runs to place Elisha's staff on her dead son's body.

- For all of this, it doesn't seem that he's that inclined toward spiritual things and the two episodes that I've recalled to our minds illustrate the point in hindsight.

- Turn back a page in your Bibles to chapter 4 and make note of verses 25,26 and 31.

- The Shunnamite woman barely acknowledges Gehazi in verse 26, perhaps owing to the fact that he wouldn't have been very helpful in the current situation.

- Additionally, when Elisha instructs Gehazi to put his staff upon the dead boy, Gehazi returns  and reports that nothing had taken place. I wonder if he even offered a prayer that it might!

- It's not bad for Gehazi to be limited in his gifting. In fact, it would be strange for two similarly gifted individuals to serve closely together. Gehazi's gifts complemented Elisha's well.

- To now, he has served Elisha adequately, but something has changed in Gehazi and it manifested itself at the end of Naaman's visit.

- Specifically, Gehazi watched as Elisha passed on receiving any monetary gift from Naaman.

- Nothing changed visibly, but the Bible records Gehazi's inner monologue and it's very telling.

- The first thing that is off is that even though he is the servant of Elisha, the man of God, it is his opinion and inclination that leads the passage!

- When you are a person who acknowledges that you are a servant of a person, it's not a good idea to then begin to plan apart from Him! Your whole life is His to dictate to!

- "I am God's slave, but I want to do this with my life!" That doesn't work for anyone!

- The second thing we notice is that Gehazi has been stumbled by Naaman's treatment.

- Listen to his words as he talks to himself: "My Master has spared Naaman, this Syrian." Most believe this to be a derisive comment on Gehazi's part.

- Elisha could heal anyone in Israel that he liked, but not Naaman, this Syrian of all people!

-  Earlier, we observed that the Hebrew handmaiden had offered Elisha's help to Naaman. She had been taken captive by the Syrians, potentially witnessing her own family's execution.

- We also mentioned that it would not have been beneath the Syrians to violate her personally.

- She had plenty of reason to hate the Syrians enough to withhold her precious information, but she did not. That may not have been the way Gehazi felt.

- Maybe he didn't feel that they deserved God's help on account of their being a national enemy. Perhaps it was spiritual elitism.

- The Syrians were not in covenant relationship with the God of Israel. We learned last week that they had a temple devoted to Rimmon, perhaps an alias to Baal. He was the "god of thunder."

- It could be that Gehazi reasoned within himself that God shouldn't act on their behalf. They neither offered sacrifices or followed the law!

- One thing we've learned over and over again in our study of scripture is that God desires all men from every nation to be saved!

- Consequently, God will work mightily on behalf of any heathen to endow them with a testimony of His kindness that they cannot simply dismiss.

- Whatever drove Gehazi's response regarding Naaman, it was a direct contradiction to Elisha's heart, who invited the Syrian's visit. There is something to be reckoned with at this point.

- If you are God's servant, doesn't it follow then that you should also follow God's heart? Are there contradictions that you hold onto? Are there people that you would withhold His blessing from?

- I'm constantly surprised by how much racism and spiritual elitism exists in the Christian world today. "Those kind of people" are "those kind of people" because they need Jesus!

- If you count yourself His servant, you should be careful that His heart is your heart and where it isn't, it's best to confess that, agree with God in it's sinfulness and requst He make a change in you!

- Gehazi was unhappy with WHO God chose to heal. He was also unhappy with HOW Elisha had let him go without making him pay! Listen to his rationale.

- "My master healed this Syrian and he won't even accept a reward for it?"

- The NIV picks up on the sense of this text when it renders it this way: "My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought."

- Gehazi believes that Naaman should have been made to pay! Why would he think this? It's not likely that Elisha was in the practice of charging people for God's work through him.

- If that wasn't his practice, then why would this have appeared to be logical? I believe it has to do with Naaman's riches which had been sent by the King of Syria.

- Naaman had opened the treasure chest and offered the entire thing to Elisha. Elisha looked at it and was unimpressed. Gehazi looked at it and saw his retirement! And why not?

- Naaman was carrying around a bunch of treasure that meant nothing to him! Realizing this, Gehazi seizes on the lost opportunity.

- "As the Lord lives, I will run after him and take something from him!" With this one sentence, Gehazi shows that he knows nothing about the nature of true ministry!

- First, notice his low view of God. "As the Lord lives." You know, there is a second part to that.

- "As the Lord lives, before whom I stand!" When Elisha said this, it expressed a confidence in God's call and the awareness that it's completion had God's endorsement.

- Here, Gehazi uses the part of the phrase that gave him gospel goosebumps! He cherrypicks the part that he likes, the Lord's reality, without obliging himself to his responsiblity towards Him!

- This is such a dangerous proposition! Be wary of knowing the right thing to say without having a right relationship to God!

- Second, notice that he sees ministry as a means to an end. "I will run after him and take something from him!"

- This is the exact opposite of how God's ministers are to respond. If a true minister of God is running after someone, it's not to take something from them! Their hope is to give something to them!

- The Apostle Paul was willing to travel to Rome, the proverbial edge of the universe, just so that they would have a gift that would establish them. (Romans 1:9-11)

- This is the same man who acknowledged that he would rather spend and be spent for the sake of the Corinthian believers! (II Corinthians 12:15)

- In contrast to that genuine minister's heart, Gehazi looks at Naaman as a target for his own personal enrichment. Verse 21.

• II Kings 5:21,22 : "So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw him running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him, and said, 'Is all well?' And he said, 'All is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Indeed, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the mountains of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of garments.’" : Gehazi went out after Naaman. What a sad moment! It's bad enough that he had the idea in the first place, but that is common to all of us! We are tempted in many ways and that is not a sin.

- But when Gehazi actually pursued Naaman, he gave in to the sin of covetousness!

- Look at how quickly he digresses from there! On his way, Naaman sees him running, stops his chariot and wonders if something hasn't gone bad.

- Naaman is still riding a significant spiritual crest. He has been touched by the Lord and has found a new life in Him.

- When a minister finds a person in such a condition, he finds an incredibly open person, willing to learn, hungry to know more.

- Sadly, they are the most open and the most gullible! Anyone resembling a Christian, claiming a Christian message will have an audience with them! This was especially true of Gehazi.

- He was Elisha's servant! How could Naaman not trust him? That makes this that much more grievous, when Gehazi opens with an outright lie! "My Master has sent me!"

- It wasn't enough for Gehazi to surrender to covetousness and lying. In the midst of it, he has to drag his Master's name into this!  When we sin in a similar way, is not the same thing true!

- God's Name has been given to you! You represent Him with your life! For good or bad, His Name is associated with us and our sin! Gehazi's actions bring shame upon Elisha's name.

- He spins this tale for Naaman. Two young men, ministers, had come from a far journey. To the Israeli, the mountains of Ephraim were the most remote region of Israel.

- Such a person would be far from home and being in ministry meant that they were quite poor.

- His story was believeable. A person might make a trip in haste and leave behind important items. It also wasn't out of the ordinary for people to damage their clothes on the way.

- The talent of silver would cover their expenses while they remained with Elisha. Do you understand some of the problem here?

- The God that had the ability to heal Naaman's leprosy was altogether weak in His ability to meet the basic needs of His servants!

- That might be a little too nuanced for Naaman's newfound faith. In fact, because he is a new believer, he's quite fond of the idea of how much he would be helping God out! Verse 23.

• II Kings 5:23,24 : "So Naaman said, 'Please, take two talents.' And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and handed them to two of his servants; and they carried them on ahead of him. When he came to the citadel, he took them from their hand, and stored them away in the house; then he let the men go, and they departed." : Gehazi had asked for one talent, 75 pounds of silver! Naaman was happy to give him two!

- Do you see those words: "He urged him." The word is written in the imperfect, which means that he did this repeatedly. The word itself means "to break through."

- When you put those concepts together, you can see even more deception on Gehazi's part! When Naaman offered two talents, Gehazi initially refused, not wanting to overplay his hand.

- This continued on for a little bit until Gehazi finally "gave into" Naaman! Doesn't this make you sick? But then he continued, giving him what he asked for along with two servants to guard him!

- Whatever hope Gehazi had in laying low was squashed by this official looking escort! For those who love the Lord, they should never expect anything different!

- With every sideways glance, Gehazi was increasingly conscious of how wretched his sin was! He's doing what we all do in trying to hide it, but his sin is out in the open!

- If you and I were him, we might wish to get things right right at that moment! The Lord is telling him to simply give this stuff away or confess his sin to Elisha.

- But Gehazi doesn't do that, assuming that if he can simply hide it away in a secure place, that nobody would ever discover. How could he think this?

- Hasn't he ever heard of Achan's story, who stole from the stores of Jericho? After being routed by "Little Ai," God singled him out from among all the tribes of Israel!

- Achan gave up his life because he couldn't keep his hands off of a Babylonian garment! How could Gehazi miss that lesson! Just like Achan, Gehazi will not be getting away with this! Verse 25.

• II Kings 5:25 : " Now he went in and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, 'Where did you go, Gehazi?' And he said, 'Your servant did not go anywhere.' : - Gehazi has just cheated a man that Elisha ministered to and then stood before his Master. Consider that concept.

- This is a man with a tremendous sense of discernment! He is surprised when God doesn't reveal things to him! Who do we think we are fooling with our sinful ways?

- If Elisha is a godly man with incomplete discernment and he cannot be fooled, how much more is the God of the Universe aware of all of our heart's iniquity!

- Predictably, Elisha looks right at him with complete knowledge of what had happened.

- "Where did you go Gehazi?" This reminds me of God's question to Adam in Genesis 2. Like God, Elisha is not seeking information, but confession.

- Elisha doesn't want to pronounce judgment. Like God, he wants to dispense forgiveness!

- Unfortunately, Gehazi cannot be more obvious. He thinks he has been so clever. He's now forced to lie directly to Elisha's face.

• II Kings 5:26,27 : "Then he said to him, 'Did not my heart go with you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is it time to receive money and to receive clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants? Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and your descendants forever.' And he went out from his presence leprous, as white as snow." : What a heart wrenching moment! Gehazi is caught red handed, but worse than that, Elisha reveals details which let him know that he had perfect knowledge of the situation.

- It's as if Elisha were present with him at the time of his sin! What a terrible consideration!

- When we sin, it's not as if we are alone. We drag the Holy Spirit in to witness our sin! Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by making him party to our fleshly outbursts.

- Elisha has seen what Gehazi has done and now he reveals his motive for having done it. Gehazi believed that he could use his service to the Lord as a means of gaining things of the world!

- What was he going to do with 150 pounds of silver and the valuable clothing that he took from Naaman? On his way back he thought about these things.

- "I could make some more money with this!" "I could get some nicer clothes." This cache could personally enrich him. But what about professional interests?

- "I could invest some of that money into agriculture or husbandry!" Perhaps he'd own a share of one of these enterprises and make a little money on the side. There isn't any harm in that is there?

- When those thoughts passed, he considered the power that might be vested in him! He knew what it was like to be a servant. What would it be like to have some servants?

- These thoughts were born to him and they were foremost on his mind as he came back into town. There were no thoughts of charitable use or even a gift toward the Lord!

- Gehazi let greed rob him of the blessing that God would have given him. Why do I say that? Because Elisha asks him "if it's time to receive" these things!

- Our citizenship and our riches are in heaven, where moth and rust have no chance to destroy! For the Christian, this world is not where we receive our goods!

- Certainly, there are those who will gain riches, but they are generally the exception.

- For those most part, those that live out their faith on this planet, will be far more interested in what they can give out than in what they can take in!

- Elisha judged his case and declared his sentence. The leprosy that once clung to Naaman would now cling to he and his descendants forever!

- Gehazi got to keep Naaman's money, but he was also given Naaman's leprosy! One might consider this a bit harsh, but consider why this is done.

- Gehazi wasn't just a normal uninformed person. He was a man with a relationship to Elisha. He has seen miracles and been privy to Elisha's teaching.

- He was a man who had been given great light and he chose to sin against it!

Conclusion
- Gehazi knew the right people, had the right words and seemed to have the right plan and yet, his life remains as an everlasting warning.

- He knew Elisha, but he didn't know Elisha's God. He knew God's Word, but He didn't submit himself to it. He knew God's way, but sought to establish his own.

- This kind of servant doesn't produce other servants. The one with a name is the one that seeks to rob the ones that have been produced!

- Gehazi chose to value something in this life over against what God offered Him in the next! Gehazi's name is associated with vision. Sadly, his was short sighted!

- For such a person, all that is left is the certainty of standing before Jesus, who is neither fooled, nor misinformed about your sin.

- Gratefully, for those in Christ, our sin will be drowned in Christ's blood. Unfortunately, our choices will affect our rewards.

- He will dispense His judgment and it will be thoroughly righteous and our reward or lack thereof will be completely deserved! May we take heed and avoid Gehazi's road!