What does it mean to be great? This weekend Pastor Steve Andres kicked off our NAAMAN series with a message about the grace and greatness of God.
2 Kings 5:1
Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.
Sandwiched in these stories about the prophet Elisha and God’s people is the story of God's great mercy toward one of Israel’s enemies.
1) God does not abide by our categories of greatness.
At the beginning of the story we are introduced to both Naaman and a servant girl. Their interaction becomes the engine that drives all of the events that follow, and it causes us to ask, “What does it mean to be great?”
2) God sees us as we truly are.
The story calls us to see that Naaman’s identity as a great man was not his whole story, and the girl's identity as powerless was also not her whole story.
3) God frees us to do for others what he does for us.
Through a miracle of grace, the young girl in the story has concern for Naaman, and so shows that she is actually the hero of the story. She refuses to be defined by her situation, and instead has compassion on the very person responsible for her suffering.
“Christian” is the only identity that's received, not achieved.
Timothy Keller
If who I am in Christ is received, then this identity is to be discovered, nurtured and experienced, not performed. It’s an identity that doesn't exclude others who aren’t on my level, because MY LEVEL was NEVER ACHIEVED in the first place, IT WAS RECEIVED.