Humility Needed
Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 5:7-19
“Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”
2 Kings 5:15
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Naaman is on a journey to seek healing from leprosy. He first goes to the king of Israel, but that king is not the source of healing. Elisha hears about this visitor from a foreign land and invites the king to send Naaman to him.
Naaman arrives at the house of Elisha, expecting to get a royal welcome and healing from the prophet himself. But instead a servant comes out and tells him to wash seven times in the Jordan River. Naaman’s expectations almost derail his pilgrimage. Generals do not expect to take orders, especially from the servant of a prophet!
In this critical moment, however, Naaman’s own servants redirect his path. These unnamed servants respectfully challenge Naaman not to turn away from an “ordinary task” when he would have willingly done a much more difficult thing. Naaman wisely listens to these servants, humbles himself, and dips into the Jordan River.
Naaman obeys, and he is healed. A journey that began with an unnamed servant girl from Israel ends with Naaman testifying that there is no God in the whole world except the God of Israel. Naaman’s unnamed servants are ordinary people whom God uses for his extraordinary purposes. Because of their words, a follower of God is “born again” in the waters of the Jordan.
God of all grace, thank you for the healing that comes when we humble ourselves before you. Thank you for the community of faith that can encourage us on our journey to you. Amen.
About the author — Jul Medenblik
Rev. Jul Medenblik is a former attorney who was called to pastoral ministry and became the church-planting pastor of a congregation in New Lenox, Illinois. Since 2011 he has served as the seventh president of Calvin Theological Seminary, which, together with Calvin University, is celebrating 150 years of God’s faithfulness in their history as the educational institutions of the Christian Reformed Church in North America (see calvinseminary.edu/150th). Jul and his wife, Jackie, have been married for over 40 years and are blessed with two adult children and a son-in-law.
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