The dermatologist told him to stick tape over the wart on his foot and leave it there even in the shower. He laughed out loud in the surgery, because it sounded absurd, but he tried it, kept the tape on for two weeks and the wart went away. That story opens a sermon about Naaman, a commander of an enemy army, who flew into a rage when the prophet told him simply to wash seven times in the Jordan (2 Kings 5). What stopped him was not that the instruction was hard, but that it struck him as beneath his dignity. Listen if you have long been putting off some simple step because the embarrassment feels bigger than the matter itself.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In 2 Kings 5 Naaman is a powerful, highly regarded commander, yet he has leprosy. What does this story reveal about the limits of power, status and wealth?
- Why did Naaman get angry at the instruction to wash seven times in the Jordan, and what finally helped him obey?
- In this story God works through unlikely people: a young servant girl from Israel and Naaman's own servants. Through whom might God be speaking to you today, even though it is easy to dismiss them?
- The speaker described a moment at the beach when pride made it hard to ask the lifeguards for help. In which areas of your life is it hard to honestly admit that you need help?
- What keeps you from receiving God's gracious gift of healing on His terms rather than your own?
- What is one concrete step you can take this week to humbly ask someone for support or begin restoring a damaged relationship?
