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February 16, 2003: 6th Sunday after Epiphany
Sermon by Pastor J. T. Kim
INSTANT GOD
(2 Kings 5:1-14, NRSV)
[1] Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. [2] Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. [3] She said to her mistress, "If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." [4] So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. [5] And the king of Aram said, "Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel." He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. [6] He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, "When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy." [7] When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me." [8] But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, "Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel."
[9] So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha's house. [10] Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean." [11] But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, "I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! [12] Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?" He turned and went away in a rage. [13] But his servants approached and said to him, "Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, 'Wash, and be clean'?" [14] So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.
(Mark 1:40-45, NRSV)
[40] A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, �If you choose, you can make me clean.� [41] Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, �I do choose. Be made clean!� [42] Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. [43] After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, [44] saying to him, �See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.� [45] But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.
Do you smell something delicious? I believe in the kitchen soups are being cooked in a slow process.
Let�s say you are starving, and you have only three minutes to cook. What would you do? I would have instant noodles.
Do you like instant noodles? I do.
Instant noodles are eaten around the world - 43.7 billion servings annually. You just pour on boiling water, wait three minutes, then enjoy something tasty. And you can store instant noodles on the shelf for a long time.
It has been said that instant noodles changed the food culture of the 20th century.
Instant noodles were invented in Japan shortly after World War II, when the country did not have enough food. At the time, the inventor, Ando Momofuku (now chairman of Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd.) was running a trading and wholesale business for the food industry in Osaka.
He was also the managing director of a credit union. The credit union went bankrupt, and Ando lost all his assets. With nothing left, the truth struck home to him - people need food almost more than anything else. That�s when he knew he wanted to spend his life working in the food industry ....
In 1958, Ando named his instant noodles �Chicken Ramen.� He set up a sales booth in a Tokyo department store and let customers taste them. His noodles were nicknamed �Magic Ramen� and became an instant hit. Thirteen years later, he developed and marketed a new product in a cup called �Cup Noodles.�
Ando�s slogan is, �Make food for the world.� His invention began as a way to overcome a food shortage, and ended up as part of the global food culture.
We are living in an �Instant Age.� Along with the �Cup o� Noodles,� we have many different kinds of fast food, microwave food� all these instant food.
We can use �instant� in practically anything in the world. Instant Cash, Instant Rebate, Instant Messaging, Instant Camera, Instant Mops, and I�ve even seen Instant Clothes on T.V. (it�s like disposable Clothes).
Yes, we live in an instant culture. Save a minute or two here, save an hour there, and life gets busier and busier. We�re all busy � all the time.
Too busy to wait. Too busy to be patient. We want �instant� everything.
Whenever we are in need of something, we want that thing fast� very fast. We�ve got to have that � quick � in an instant moment. We want all we need � RIGHT NOW.
It�s like a man who prays: �God � please give me patience� RIGHT NOW!�
A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake.
Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. �If Jesus were sitting here, he would say, �Let my brother have the first pancake; I can wait.��
Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, �Ryan, you be Jesus!�
Maybe, in a sense, we are all like Kevin who cannot wait.
Look at Naaman in the Old Testament text this morning. He was an impatient man! Naaman didn�t want to use more time. He wanted his healing done the quick way. He didn�t want another task, another journey, or another job. He expected his healing to be done and over with.
When Naaman heard that he had to spend time to go and dip in the muddy Jordan, what was his immediate reaction? He became upset and complained that there were cleaner and better rivers at home near Damascus. If all it took for healing was bathing seven times in a river, he could have stayed home, saved time and swum there.
Who was Naaman? He was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was used to giving orders and getting immediate responses, not getting orders from anybody other than king.
Like Naaman, we are also used to have immediate outcomes. Every little thing needs to be done right away to satisfy us.
Naaman was a busy man. He was a successful general with things to do. He didn�t have time for Elisha sending out a messenger with a detailed prescription.
Naaman expected, maybe, two minutes for this miracle. He expected �instant� healing. He expected a one-stop miracle.
How about us? What do we expect from God?
No matter what, no matter where, at home, in church or on the road, we expect ease and speed. Perhaps this sermon should be shorter.
There are convenient stores, open �24/7,� such 7-11 which we don�t have one in Barstow, which have everything under the sun. We don�t even take the time to say �Open 24 hours a day and seven days a week� any more. Saying �24/7� is short and quick and understood.
And, moreover, why bother to leave home and wait in lines? The world-wide-web online shopping can bring everything to our front door with 24-hour global shipping. Amazon.com, Yahoo shopping, e-Bay� you name it. There are millions online stores. Anything in the whole world is only a click away!
We have instant mashed potatoes, instant delivery, instant credit, instant games, all for our instant lives! What we need is an instant God! Just add prayer and, behold, our hopes and needs are met!
Naaman wanted instant God - in easy, convenient, and quick ways!
But some things are NOT instant. God is NOT instant. God does NOT do what we want when we want it. God does things the right way, not the quick way.
Naaman was a great man who demanded quick and great results. He believed and expected that Elisha would come out, wave his prophet�s hand over the leprosy, pray a prayer, and be done with it.
It doesn�t happen that way, not for Naaman, not for us. We humanity have constructed a world where time is saved, and, as a result, �instant� becomes the norm. But God chooses his own time, and can NOT be ordered what to do.
Naaman�s problem was that he was a successful general of a conquering army. I bet the people in his time did what he told them to do and did it quickly.
He was smart, clever, able, rich, well-dressed and rode around in the latest, updated chariots pulled with sleek horsepower. No one stood in his way. He was a somebody who thought everybody else was a nobody.
Then what happened?
[10] Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean."
Elisha, �the nobody,� in the sight of Naaman, didn�t even get out of his seat for tea time, or step to his front door to greet this general. Elisha just gave instructions.
Elisha�s task for Naaman is anything but instant. Elisha assigned Naaman effort, travel, and time.
If Naaman wants healing, he�ll have to put in effort. If he wants healing, it will be done in God�s time, not Naaman�s. Yes, we can say that Naaman was both proud and impatient.
Just as there is no instant God, there is no instant spirituality. There can be few instant answers to our prayers. However, the apple doesn�t ripen in a day.
You don�t go to church, attend one service, one Bible study class, and expect to be spiritually whole.
God answers our prayers, our hopes and our desperate needs on his schedule, which is eternal, and beyond time, above time.
In one of the last year�s issues of Christian Readers magazine, the article entitled �5 Ways God Answers Prayer,� was a good one.
There are basically 5 categories when God answers our prayers:
(1) �NO, I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH�
Sometimes �NO� to our prayers is better for us. That�s why God says �NO.�
(2) �YES, BUT NOT WHAT YOU EXPECTED�
God knows us and what�s best for us.
(3) �YES, AND HERE�S MORE!�
This is a blessing and more blessings. Grace upon grace!
(4) �YES, I THOUGHT YOU�D NEVER ASK�
God surprises us with His quick and loving answers.
And the last one:
(5) �YES, BUT YOU�LL HAVE TO WAIT�
We don�t understand why we have to wait and wait. But things are done in God�s time, not our time!
Anyhow, God healed Naaman. That�s important!
God will heal us, too, and give us new life. Maybe not in the quick ways we want. Maybe not in the ways we expect when we come knocking on his door, demanding our needs be met. Maybe not even in the ways we think we need.
God does heal wounded hearts. God heals burdened souls, and sometimes bodies, or minds. God heals, God cares, and God loves. God loves you enough to have sent a carpenter to you to teach you the right way.
Jesus was a carpenter, and carpenters have a saying, �You can build it the quick way, or the right way.� The right way is the better way, and the better way takes time.
Christ came to teach that real healing isn�t a matter of perfect skin or good health. Christ came to teach all of us to build our lives around faith in him.
Instant things are pretty much temporary. But God�s time process is eternal.
Galatians 5:22-23 lists the fruit of the Spirit:
It�s� love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Pay attention that �patience� is included!
Believe in him. He leads us to eternal life in heaven, where all our woes and hurries vanish, where there awaits a banquet of slow-cooked goodness.
And, I believe there is no �instant� things in heaven.
2 Peter 3:9 says: The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.
My brothers and sisters in Christ!
According to the Gospel of Mark, Jesus healed the leper immediately. God is the Healer, and nothing is impossible with Him! The most important thing is not the matter of time.
It�s the matter of God�s way and the right way. Let me give you an illustration:
The musicians at the nightclub were complaining about an old piano. The keys would often stick, and the sound was truly hideous.
After months of listening to the grumbling and whining, the owner finally decided to do something about it ... he sent the piano out to be painted.
Painted? Painted? What good would that do?
Yet, as Christians we often settle for a paint job when we need a major tune-up.
We seek comfort ... instead of a challenge. We want rest ... not responsibility. We all too readily accept peace ... and surrender our passion for God. We look for a paintbrush rather than a toolbox.
My brothers and sisters in Christ!
Now it�s time to remember who we are and what we are called to do as a Body of Christ!As Christians we should be responsible for what we say and what we do, representing the Kingdom of God, not presenting personal glorification or not creating any �instant� God.
In many ways, we tend to seek �instant� answers for the things happening in our world. I�m even afraid people might have �instant� commitment � on fire one day and burned out the next day�
Only God � only Jesus Christ is the answer for all our questions.
Rather than figuring out �instant,� and �lame� answers, let us be serious about our eternal relationships with the Lord and our eternal commitment to the Lord.
May God bless you. (Amen)
(Sermon resources adapted from "Homiletics" [Jan/Feb 2003])
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