SS1 Is this the time?

This blog first appeared here last February

My favourite chapter in the Old Testament is 2 Kings 5. It is a brilliant story for all sorts of reasons, both literary and theological.

The chapter ends, you will recall, not on a triumphant note but on a note of warning. We do not close with the healed and renewed Naaman heading off into the sunset in his chariot but with the story of greedy Gehazi, Elisha’s servant. He is told in the final verse that Naaman’s leprosy would cling to him and his descendants forever. Then we read Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and he was leprous, as white as snow.

There are many interesting and sobering aspects to this sequel but to just focus on one for a moment, consider Elisha’s two questions in verse 26.

First, he says Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? It is a reminder of the fact that God is the all seeing God. You cannot hide anything from him. That is perhaps a fairly obvious lesson here.

But what about the second question? Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants? Elisha doesn’t say “Is this the time to be greedy, to take advantage of others or to tell lies and deceive people?” What most concerns him about Gehazi, a man who up to this point has given no obvious hint that he is anything less than fully committed to the same high ideals as his master, is this matter of priorities.

These were dark days in Israel, days when idolatry was everywhere and only small remnant remained faithful. If ever there was a time to be giving oneself unreservedly to the cause of Yahweh, this was it. But what do we find in Gehazi? He is all set on money and smart clothes, on commercial ventures in olives or grapes or livestock, on having servants or whatever else it was that he planned to spend his ill gotten silver on. And Elisha is horrified. The issue is not so much how he procured the silver and clothes but the fact that this is what was filling his mind.

The verse raises questions for us too. Is this the time to be thinking chiefly about what money we can make or how good we can look? Are spacious homes, long vacations and expensive entertainments the things that should be filling our heads? Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness says Jesus. Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, he says where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. He warns us very clearly No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Grace Assembly 2010 07

Our evening session was again taken by Gerard Hemmings. He took us to the passage following the one we looked at last night - 2 Kings 6:24-7:20 (the siege of Jerusalem in the time of Elisha). Again his method was to work through the narrative and then make some applications but beginning with the questions of whether we should ever take things into our own hands instead of waiting. He made the point that the Lord is there throughout but only reveals something of his army to the Arameans near the end - thus linking it with the previous section. God as he does so often uses unclean lepers to bring the good news. The application there is obvious.
The promise of divine deliverance - does God keep his Word? Can we wait for the Lord? Three people here take things into their own hands - the mother, the king, the officer - if only they'd waited. The promise is fulfilled but they are shut out of the blessing because they would not wait. Just at the last minute the answer comes. He will always do what he says. Under siege we are often tempted to take things into our own hands but we must rather remember the promises of God's Word and listen to it.
Again this was encouraging and helpful.
Following this session we had a question time to close the day.

Grace Assembly 2010 03

This evening our preacher was Gerard Hemmings, the pastor of Amyand Park Chapel. I was chairing. He preached on that striking incident in 2 Kings 6:8-23. He took us through the narrative and then drew out these two lessons.
1. Remember God's grace. There is a lesson here about showing mercy. What a contrast between the King of Israel and God himself the King. It points us forward to the grace of God enabling people to sit down with him at his table. Gerard drew an interesting connection with what happened many, many years later just outside Damascus (in Aramaic of Syrian territory) when another blinded man was led by the hand. The story in 2 Kings 6 is the trailer for the main feature that is the New Testament period. He gave some modern examples of God saving his enemies - Spies at a Chinese church (see D Ralph Davies), persecutors in Sri Lanka, a militant atheist friend, all of us who believe, etc. We are so few and they are so many and they have one thing in mind but the Lord of hosts is with us so why be ashamed of the gospel? Why be afraid? Why flee? So I will pray for Richard Dawkins and others like him.
2. Do not fear. The problem that afflicted Elisha's servant was that he could not see the spiritual reality. That is why he was so afraid. If we see things as we should then we will be confident. We are forgiven, we have a future hope. Our labour in the Lord is never in vain. Those with us are more than those with them. We know that we will triumph in him. But then again the Syrians are all too real. We can faint or we can pray - as Elisha did. We need to pray for ourselves and for one another. We don't need to send for help. It is there.
Never forget from whom these blessings flow - the one who has all power and yet who laid down his life on the cross that we may know his protection and love.

Philippines 05

Yesterday (Monday) was another full day. Around 11 am Scott Dehoran called for me. Scott and Emmeline have been houseparents at the CCM boys house (Damascus) from its inception two years ago. Scott is from Connecticut and Emmeline is a Filipina. They met in the US and got to know of the work and when a boys home was mooted felt they could take it on in the Lord. Since then, despite the odds, little Daniel has been born which has changed equations slightly but the work continues. He took me to a couple of malls (Manila has many) for a nice lasagne and a little shopping. We shared testimonies. It was good to hear his story of conversion from the world in his late twenties, a heap of troubles and then the more recent stuff. As he said he was born with a wrench in his hand, whereas I would have to think about which end to hold, but we got on well. It was nice to meet Emmeline and Daniel back home again and spend some time there. Later we went over to the girls home where boys and girls had already gathered for a party. We were celebrating the birthdays of Monica (13) and Dennis (10). The roof has been roofed over which provides a brilliant area for recreation. First we had devotions where we sang and I spoke (while Anneline translated) on the healing of Naaman. I chose that story because it's my favourite and because it features a young girl who has a significant role to play. The kids are all really lovely and it was a privilege to be there. They had food and cake and games including musical chairs Filipino style which included some bumps but no tears. The birthday kids also had to choose two or three friends to say something about them and that got a bit tearful. When Scott explained the background in one case I was nearly crying too. Anyway it was soon time to head back and Marilyn kindly gave me a lift. I hope that she and Georgie got back at a reasonable time.The traffic was horrendous.

Spot the mistake 03

Okay what might be wrong here?