Do You Know What You Need?

2 Kings 5:14–27

Maybe you can think back to a time when either a parent or a teacher said something along the lines of, “You’re not fooling me. I know exactly what you’re thinking.” Or, “I know exactly what you want or what you did.” Your stomach drops and your first thought is, “No way. There’s no way you know what I think about because if you did…” Whew. And what about now? If someone came up to you now and said, “I know all the things that you think about, what you really think about, I know what you want, what you really want.” For me, that is terrifying. I think if you knew exactly what I wanted, you’d never look at me the same again. But here’s a question. Why are we so much more uncomfortable with a human being knowing the ins and outs of our heart than when God does? Because He does. Always. Our text gets into this today, into God knowing the thoughts and priorities of His people, their wants, and their needs. So I’m going to catch you up a little bit on that. We are in second Kings. Second Kings is a lot of Elisha’s ministry. Elisha was the prophet who followed after Elijah as the main prophet of Israel. Elisha was known for his faith and God worked miracles through Elisha as he healed people and did all these wonderful things in the name of the Lord. Earlier in this chapter, a servant girl had recommended that her general be healed of his leprosy when he goes to Elisha for it. But this general, Naaman, was his name. He wasn’t too pleased with the method that Elisha wanted to use. He wanted to dip into the Jordan River seven times. Then his leprosy, let me know leprosy is a disgusting, skin-eating disease, then it would be healed. Now we’re all caught up. Naaman goes to Elisha and he dips into the river seven times and his leprosy is healed and these words follow. “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.” Isn’t that awesome? This powerful general sees the healing power of our God and he thinks this is the one. This is the only one. Whatever Elisha says about this God, that’s it. I’m in. And then he even tries to offer him gifts. He urges him. Elisha refuses. So Naaman thinks, “I need some soil. Can I take some soil back to my land?” And we might think that sounds a little crazy, but I think it’s very human. This is if I were to go to the seat of Galilee and take just enough water to get back through the airport or if we went and got onto Lambeau Field and snuck a little bit of turf into our pockets. He wants a little bit of this wherever he goes. This is normal. But what happens next, this is so cool to me. Verse 18, you see Naaman’s wheels turning. He thinks, “Okay, I believe in one God, now the God of Israel, but I know that when I go home, there’s this thing my master does and I’m right alongside with him. And now that I think about it, it’s kind of iffy, maybe even wrong. Can I have forgiveness?” Naaman’s conscience is at work. His needs are quickly becoming what he wants. We need to be like Naaman. His confession of faith quickly turns to a confession of a possible sin. Elisha’s answer, “Go in peace.” I would pray that our confession of faith would sound as bold and as loud as Naaman’s does here amongst his servants and his attendants, people who have only seen him at a high status of power and authority. Naaman’s God of leprosy healing is your God too, and I would pray that our confession of faith would sound the same. I would also pray that our hearts would work in the same way as Naaman’s here. Being alert even to the potential sins in our lives, Naaman knows that every thought and deed should please our gracious and good God. And so he is already troubled by the thought of his heart being led astray. But Elisha gives him these words, and when we are like Naaman, knowing what we need and wanting it most, receive these same words from Elisha. “Go in peace.” Peace is yours. Peace. The God with the power to heal diseases, to know all things, also freely gives peace and forgiveness. How does he do it? Jesus came to the earth and took on flesh, and through his death on the cross, you have this peace, the same peace that Elisha gives to Naaman. You might think that when you look at the cross, you just see pain, but there is healing power going on. You might think you just see suffering, but there’s peace. Peace is yours through Jesus Christ. Enter Gehazi. Here’s what we know about him so far. He’s Elisha’s servant. Good. And up to this point, he has obeyed his commands. The chapter before, he obeys Elisha’s commands as he heals a young boy in the name of God. Awesome. What we see from Gehazi in chapter 5 can only be described as greed and evil and sin. Gehazi knows what he needs. He’s seen the power of God, and he’s seen Elisha’s faith. But he puts what he wants above what he needs. What I see from Gehazi in chapter 5 is a mirror, and it’s scary. He lies a lot instinctively. He thinks, “If Elisha refused a gift from Naaman, that means Naaman still has a gift that he is ready to give away, and I don’t even know what it is, but I want it.” So he lies. Detailed, crafted, crafty, intentional lies just to get something he wants, and he doesn’t even know what it is. His wants are above his needs. I see a mirror. If I asked you to think about the priorities in your life and put a list together of them, a few things would come up right away. Family, financial stability, physical health, our walk with God, our reputation, our relationships. These are all blessings from God that we can rightfully put in our heart on our list of priorities, for sure. But if I asked you if you perfectly prioritize God on your list of priorities, if he’s always at the top, I think you would feel totally comfortable and fine turning to the person next to you and saying, “I don’t always get it right. Sometimes I put money first, and sometimes I worry too much about what people think about me. I put status first. My priorities are not in order.” And you would feel fine knowing that the person next to you would say, “Same here. I forgive you.” And they would not look at you any differently. But I don’t think that this text is totally about that. Because I think Gehazi, a day before this, would have felt totally fine turning to Elisha and saying, “You know what, Elisha, sometimes I put material gain over God. My priorities just aren’t in order.” I think he’d feel fine knowing Elisha would forgive him and say, “Me too, man.” But I don’t think that that’s what this text is completely about. There are specific sins and priorities and desires in our hearts that we would be terrified if anyone would read them out loud. I would be terrified to confess them to even my closest friends. This is what this text is about, the greed in Gehazi’s heart. Elisha asks Gehazi, “Where have you been?” He even gives him a chance. And Gehazi says, “Your servant didn’t go anywhere.” He cloaks his gross and obvious greed with fake and pathetic piety. I’m looking in a mirror because my heart does the same. Who are we fooling with these lies as we bluff the all-knowing God? God asks this question, “Where have you been?” It’s a question from God. Let it go straight to your heart. Because my answer to that question, “Where have you been?” It’s scary. Can we honestly tell him, “I haven’t been anywhere. I’m all good.” I know I can’t. Elisha’s response is, “Was not my spirit with you? Is this the time?” And Elisha continues to list what seems to be everything on Gehazi’s greed-infested mind, clothes, vineyards, flocks, herds, slaves, and, as Gehazi states earlier, just something, anything. What does that list look like for you if a list was read of those things you want the most? I know mine. It’s scary. Elisha says, “Is this a time? Was not my spirit with you?” It’s a God who knows you so well, grabbed my microphone and read aloud our lists. Who could stand? Who could stand? God, the Father sees you in your sin. And he says, “Was not my son with you?” And he was. His son took on flesh and lived in our sinful world and was tempted just the same. And while our priorities can so often be our sinful wants and not our spiritual needs, his priority as he walked to the cross, was you. While our priorities are so often rooted in sin, his priority as he walked to the cross was rooted in love for sinners. His want was your need. And you know this. By God’s grace, you believe this to be true. God asks the question, “Where have you been?” And my answer is scary. My answer is never good enough. But when God asks the question, “Where have you been?” His son answers for you and he answers, “I was on the cross.” Giving the people what they need. And so God can say to you, “I know you. I know what that list looks like, what you think about, and what you want. And I love you. I know what you need. I forgive you.” God says, “Go in peace.” Amen? Amen.