Who Are You When No One Is Looking? Series:  Questions that Matter Rev. Laurinda Kwiatkowski II Kings 5:1-27

The remote control is an object of honor in our home.  It’s almost like the Holy Grail.  The person who holds the remote control holds a position of prestige and distinguished honor.  The destiny of our TV viewing lies in the hands of the holder of the remote.  This does not come without its problems.  I will identify three of those problems for you today.  Only three.  Number one:  only the people NOT holding the remote seem to know and understand what could be considered as the best viewing for the family, and there exists no hesitation in sharing that information; two: none of us like to be embarrassed by what’s on the television and depending upon who is holding the remote, the channel might not get changed in time, and three, I like to watch commercials and no one else does.  Sometimes the commercial are the best part.  It’s the bigger reason why I watch the Super Bowl every year and not just on the years when the Cowboys are playing.  But lately, good grief, the commercials are more embarrassing than the programs. 
         So one night, we’re watching, probably My Name is Earl or The Office and this commercial comes on.  Clearly a man has cheated on his wife and so I assume that it is just yet one more in a long line of television series about unfaithful spouses.  But NO, it’s a commercial of a different sort and it ends with the slogan:  “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”.  So, I didn’t really get that, at first.  Then I realized what they were saying; you can go to Vegas and do anything you want, no matter, right, wrong, good, bad, just absolutely whatever your little heart or body desires and there are no repercussions because NO ONE will EVER know about this.  Who thought this stuff up?  Maybe it’s the people who recognize that left to our own devices, most people will let sin slip up beside them and become their bed partner.  It’s just one little indiscretion and no one will ever know.  It’s just a little bit of bitterness or hatred AND we can explain its origin.  It’s just a narrow margin of prejudice or gossip.  It’s just one porn flick, it’s just one little tiny white lie.  Just one cheat, just one girl’s night out that went a little too far out.  And we hope that maybe, just maybe, it will stay where it happened and no one saw.  We don’t have to be in Vegas to hope our sins can remain hidden from the rest of the world.   
          Our scripture today is a story about a man named Naaman and a man named Gehazi.  It’s a long story, so I’m going to tell you what happened and then we’ll read together the last of the story.      
          Naaman is a soldier in the army of King Arman.  He had a major problem and that problem was leprosy.  He was a great soldier, he was highly regarded by the King, but he had this whole leprosy thing going on.  Not good.  Well, one day a young Israelite girl who was a servant to Naaman’s wife, said; “your husband should see the prophet who is in Samaria.  He can cure him of his leprosy.”  So Naaman went to his King and asked permission.  King Arman said “by all means, go!”  He gave him silver and gold, he gave him ten sets of clothing and a letter requesting that the King cure him of his leprosy.
         When the King of Israel read the letter, he was more than slightly upset.  He had no idea how to cure someone of leprosy.  He assumed that King Arman was just trying to pick a fight.  He tore his clothes, he said; “Am I God, can I kill and bring back to life?”  But Elisha, the prophet heard about this and sent word to the King that he should send Naaman to him.
         So, Naaman went to see Elisha.  So when he gets to his house, Elisha sent his messenger outside to tell Naaman to go down to the Jordan River and wash himself seven times in the mud from the River.  Naaman got on his high horse, so to speak, and argued with the messenger.  “We’ve go much better rivers in Damascus; I’d do a lot better to wash myself in one of our rivers.   But Naaman’s servant explained to him to do what the prophet had instructed and so Naaman washed himself in the water of the Jordan River and he was healed. 
         Now Naaman has been a lepor and suddenly his flesh was restored and his skin was clear.  His heart was filled with gratitude toward Elisha.  He went back to him, pleaded with Elisha to take something, silver, gold, whatever in exchange for what he had given Naaman.  But Elisha said no.  I can’t take anything for what God did.  Naaman worshiped the God of Israel on that day and accepted in his heart that there was no other God.   

Now read with me, please, verses 19 – 27.

 Elisha knew that there were more important things at stake here and he would not accept anything in return for what he knew God had done through him.  Elisha could  have become a wealthy man on that day, but it would have meant the salvation of another man’s soul.  Elisha was the man God wanted and needed him to be, even when temptation came his way, even when he could have justified and kept secret his actions.  Dwight L. Moody referred to this as “having character in the dark”;  doing the right thing, when no one else is looking.  Another person in this story who showed true character in the dark was the young servant girl who told Naaman’s wife about Elisha.  For goodness sake, she had been taken from her home in Israel and forced to be a servant in the home of Naaman and yet she was still more concerned about Naaman’s salvation than she was about her own set of circumstances.  These two people were instruments of God rather than obstacles to another person’s encounter with God. 
          Gehazi was more than just a messenger.  The name Gehazi is mentioned 20 times in the Bible and it means “visionary”.  Gehazi was preparing to become a prophet.  He was the servant of Elisha.  He had been there to witness many of Elisha’s miracles.  Elisha sent Gehazi as the messenger to give instructions to Naaman on how to be healed.
         Gehazi was still harboring some anger and bitterness toward Naaman.  He had kind of put down the River Jordan.  He had originally argued with God’s commandment through Elisha and questioned his method of healing.  This must have infuriated Gehazi.  Gehazi allowed the actions of another person to twist God’s opportunity for a blessing for his faithfulness; he allowed sin to slide up beside him. 
         Gehazi’s bitterness and anger led him to new heights in his sinful choices.  He decided to go after Naaman and demand payment.  Listen; we must be very careful when we go running after something that God has not sent us after.  We might just end up getting it. 
         Gehazi decides to take credit for what God did.  When God uses us to impact the lives of others, be quick to recognize that we did it because we are called to be faithful to God, not to try to make the person indebted to us. 
         Gehazi then lies, just straight up fabricates this story of two men coming to him and being in need.  He not only compromises his own reputation, he compromises the reputation of Elisha.  He’s saying, even though Elisha swore he wouldn’t take anything from you, he just pretty much changed his mind about that.  So Naaman gives him double what he asks for.  And Gehazi leaves and takes his new found treasure to his home.  Perfect crime.  He knew he could even justify, if he had to.  No one got hurt, I got what I wanted, the guy was a smart alec to begin with and I’ll never do anything like this again.  Sound familiar, at all?  Because it sounds really familiar to me.  Sin leads to justification and justification leads to sin.  Who are you when no one is looking?
         Gehazi had shown what kind of person he was when no one was looking.  He could not be trusted.  And Jesus said “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much”. 
         Several years ago, I worked in an office where someone stole something from me.  It wasn’t anything big or expensive.  But I knew who it was. I told my husband, Robert, it’s really not that big of a deal, it wasn’t even valuable.  Robert said;  “Laurinda, if a person is willing to steal one egg, they’d be willing to steal the whole hen house given the chance.”  Just a little paraphrasing there. 
         Gehazi went in to see Elisha, you know, just like nothing had ever happened.  He’s thinking that his position as God’s prophet in training hasn’t changed.  And Elisha asks him where he’s been.  This is Gehazi’s opportunity to redeem himself.  He could confess all that he had done and seek forgiveness from God.  But somehow, sin had worked its power of deception and Gehazi believed that his sin would stay right where he left it.  What happened out on the road would stay out on the road.  But the only way to end a lie is to confess it.  You can never end a lie by simply telling another lie.  Truth is the only thing that can effectively kill a lie.  We can only be washed clean of our sin by confessing those sins.  We have free will, but when we sin, we become a slave to that sin.  Our lives become so entangled and intertwined with that sin, it begins to rule our choices.  And sin begets sin.  We should not be asking ourselves; “will I be able to get away with this”.   Perhaps we should, instead, make a list of all that will happen as a result of our sin.  Beginning with a broken relationship with God and ending with the broken relationships that God has given us. 
         We are all sitting here, in church, today, but God throws out the same question to us, as Elisha did to Gehazi; “where have you been since the last time you were here?”  “Where have your actions taken you”?  “Where have you been in the secret corridors of your mind?”  “Have you shown character in the dark, as well as character in the light of day”?
         And Gehazi, a man of God, studying with the prophet Elisha, having to choose between confessing his sin or covering his tracks, chose to cover his tracks.  “I didn’t go anywhere”.  He lied.  He lied for some of the same reasons that we lie.  He thought it was the only way he could hold on to what he had, he didn’t think God could somehow make this situation right but in lying he lost far more than he could ever have imagined. 
         Elisha’s heart must have broken because betrayed trust causes intense pain.  Few things hurt more than placing your trust in someone only to have them betray that trust.  Once it has been taken, it is very expensive to replace. 
         And Elisha says to him; “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you?  Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes?” Elisha had heard the lies about him when they passed Gehazi’s lips.
         Jesus calls us to seek first the Kingdom of God.  Is this the time to be taking, is this the time to be thinking only of ourselves, our enjoyment, our pleasure and only what we feel like doing?  Or is this the time to seek first the Kingdom of God?  
         This story ends with Gehazi losing all that was most important to him and in seeking to get from Naaman what he believed he deserved, he found himself with Naaman’s leprosy.  He got what he hadn’t counted on – the consequences of sin.  The result of believing that what happens over here won’t follow us over here. 
     Elisha wanted nothing in return for healing Naaman because he wanted Naaman to see that God is a loving and healing God.  Only God can cure us from the disease of sin.  We must turn to him.
         What happens in Vegas does NOT stay in Vegas, what happens out on the road does not stay out on the road and who we are and what we are in the dark is, in fact, a larger definition of who and what we truly are.

         Who are you when no one is looking?   

Because what you’re meant to be is what God has called you and created you to be; a precious child of God who is loved beyond description, who is redeemed by the death and resurrection of Jesus and who is meant to live in God’s favor.   
         Nobody selling these lies really cares about you, but Jesus does.  No one promoting these deceitful campaigns can bring you peace of mind, but Jesus can.  He’s here to forgive, he’s here to heal and he’s here to help you be what God intended you to be, most especially when no one is looking.