The Divine Crash

Saturday I took a bunch of youth to a christian rock concert.  We didn’t get back until 2am.  I still preached this morning, after 3 hours sleep.  I was/am exhausted and my voice is shot.  However, this morning my District Superintendent came to visit and hear my sermon.  Suddenly I was wide awake and nervous as ever.  I still think the sermon went well but I did go off my notes a little so if you want the full experience please read the notes and listen to the sermon at the bottom of this post, or on iTunes.

Prayer: reveal to us more truth and more God because sometimes the truth is fuzzy and ambiguous and we just can’t figure out what is true.

Scripture: 2 Kings 5:14-19

Have you ever heard that to be a Christian means you serve God with uncompromising dignity and you stand up for God whenever everyone else bows down? What if that isn’t true? What if there were times when it was okay to bow down? What if there were times when keep your mouth shut was more true than speaking a defense of God? Sometimes figuring out the truth of a situation is fuzzy and ambiguous.

Notice what happens in our scripture.

The man healed is Naaman, he had leprosy.

- Commander of the Syrian army that would constantly attack the northern part of Israel

- Servant of the Syrian King Ben Hadad II during the 9Th century B.C.

- Couldn’t be healed in Syria, his wife had an Israelite slave who told them about the prophet Elisha.

- Went to the king of Israel Jehoram who thought it was trick.  Elisha hears about it and summons Naaman.

- Naaman goes to be healed and is told to wash in the Jordan 7 times.  He does and he is healed.

- Naaman decides not to follow the Syrian gods and only follow God.

but then, in verse 19, Naaman asks a curious question: “When I go into the temple of Rimmon and I help my master and I bow down to is it okay?”

Temple of “Rimmon” is probably the temple of Hadash-Rimmon the Syrian god of weather/fertility

Elisha says it is fine and to go in peace.

So now it is okay to bow down in the temples of other gods?

Most commentaries including John Wesley ignore verse 19.

Why would Elisha say this is okay?

Naaman understands that he is not worshiping this god but that he is helping others, namely his boss.

- If he had refused to help the king he could have lost his job and his life.

- If he had refused to help the king he would be considered a traitor and thrown in jail.

- by helping the king he is able to stay close to the king and be able to talk to him about the God of Israel.

Fast forward to paul in Acts 9.

- Paul has just become a Christian and is preaching in the synagogues.

- Eventually the Israelites have had enough of this and plot to kill him

- Paul finds out and instead of standing up and becoming a martyr for Jesus he hides and the disciples lower in him a basket to sneak him out of the city.

If we are supposed to stand up for our faith why is this not a sin? Why is this okay?

two thoughts.

1. If he had stood up and been killed then he would not be able to share the gospel with others.

2. If he had stood up and been killed he would have forced the guards to sin by murdering him.

In both of these events there is one over arching thing that makes their actions not a sin.  Other people.

- Both Naaman and Paul are thinking of other people.  Paul doesn’t care if he is killed for being a Christian.  He writes “Death is gain.” but he cares that he does not force other people to sin.  Naaman knows the god Rimmon is not the true god but he cares for others more than himself.

We are always told to be ready to give a reason for the hope we have. no matter the cost, even if it costs us our life.

But sometimes the best way to do that is to keep our mouth shut.  Sometimes the best way to do it is to scream it from the rooftops.

How do we know which is which?

Which one will help more people? and which one is only helping yourself.

- Jesus says if you deny me among people then Jesus will deny you among god.

- sometimes denying Jesus is the only way to proclaim Jesus.

When you are faced with a choice, which one serves others and which one serves yourself?

Go backwards to the book of Daniel.  Shadrach, Meschach and Abendigo.  They stood up for God when told to bow down and worship and image, all to make the king happy.  At that moment had they given in and worshiped it would have only serve to benefit themselves.  By standing up they were able to serve the king by introducing him to God.

Another place Hosea writes it that God desires mercy and love for God instead of rituals.

In another place Jesus says “love your neighbor” and “deny yourself and follow me.”

Jesus believes that it is more important to serve others instead of himself that he offers his life as a sacrifice to save us.  He could have saved himself.  He tells his disciples that if he wanted to he could call a whole legion of angels to save him but it was better to serve others. He could serve far more by dying on a cross than he could by staying alive.  So he did.  He served others and took on all of our screw ups, mess ups, and sins and they were nailed to the cross with Jesus.

So then, in our everyday life we are faced with millions of decision and millions of questions and most of them are not covered in the Bible but what we find is that the best way to answer them is to discover which way serves others instead of myself.

- when you have to work overtime, who is served your family your boss?

- when you want to go see a movie, who is served your friends or yourself?

This doesn’t mean you do stupid things like drink yourself into the gutter and claim it is for Jesus.  It means if your friend asks you to go to a bar, and you are okay with alcohol then it isn’t a sin.

Story of me going to Hindu temple and eating food sacrificed to idols but then being able to sit in the temple and talk about Jesus to the other students.

- Paul says this is okay.

Sermon Audio

 

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