Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

A couple of years ago Heidi and the girls were outside a store and Grace Ann saw a man with a cigarette in his mouth. "What's he doing, Mommy?" she asked. "That man is smoking," Heidi replied. "It is very yucky. It can hurt you, and eventually kill you." Then Grace Ann said, "What happens if you die?" and Heidi responded, "You go to heaven to be with Jesus." Grace Ann said, "Isn't that a good thing?" And Heidi said, cautiously, "Yes, it's very good to be with Jesus." So Grace Ann said, "Well, then should I start smoking?"

We generally don't give kids enough credit for what they know. Even a three year old can use logic like a razor and have a mind like a steel trap. And in this morning's Old Testament reading, we encounter a child who used her knowledge for great good; in fact she is a heroine in the story, though she only gets brief mention.

The events of our Old Testament reading occurred in around 850 or 840 BC, over 2800 years ago. At that time Israel, the Northern Kingdom (Judah was in the South) was in conflict with Syria, located north and east of Israel. Just a few years before this story, the king of Israel had lost his own father to the Syrians, so there was bad blood between these two countries. Syria had raided Israel and even taken some Israelites into captivity.

One of the captives was a little girl, and she happened to wind up as a servant in the household of Naaman, who was the five star general of the Syrian army. Even though Naaman was an unbeliever, not an Israelite, the Lord had blessed Naaman with great success in his career, but he also was cursed with leprosy. Naaman had the resources of the entire Syrian kingdom at his disposal, but they did him no good when it came to his leprosy. But his little servant girl had paid attention to what her parents taught her about the Lord while she was growing up in Israel, and the little girl knew that there was a prophet of the Lord back in Israel who could help Naaman in a way that no one in his home country could, so the girl told Naaman's wife about Elisha and his ability to heal lepers. And to his credit, he listened to this little girl's faithful confession and went in search of Elisha, and as we have heard, Naaman eventually found healing.

Now let's pause for a minute to marvel at what an incredible difference one little child makes with her childlike faith and simple knowledge and words! The little girl knew where help could be found, and simply trusted it. She directed Naaman to the Lord's mouthpiece, the prophet. We can learn from this little girl. We should have a similar childlike trust in Christ's Word and Sacraments, because Jesus has promised that we can find His forgiveness and salvation in Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord's Supper. Just as the little girl pointed Naaman to God's prophet, we can point our neighbors to the Lord's appointed place of salvation, the Christian Church, where the healing Word of God is delivered in Sunday School, Bible Class, preaching, teaching, and the Sacraments.

You can see from this story that evangelism isn't complicated, and God is most pleased with the simplest confessions of faith. On Palm Sunday, after Jesus entered Jerusalem and cleansed the temple, He began to heal the blind and lame, and St. Matthew tells us that the children were crying out in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" This made the Jewish leaders indignant, so Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read [in the Old Testament], " 'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise'?" God loves to hear the simple confession of faith and praises from even the littlest of His baptized believers. In the example of the little girl in Naaman's household, we see that the confession of faith on her lips was able to accomplish what the mightiest general and army could never do, and likewise today the confession of Christian faith on the lips of even children can do more than all the armies of the world because the Lord is the One who has put His Words on their lips so that they can proclaim His goodness to us.

We also see from this little girl's situation that the Lord often works through evil things that happen to believers to bring about His good purposes. The little girl had possibly been taken during a raid conducted by Naaman himself, yet the Lord used her captivity to bless her captor. A pattern in the Bible is that the Lord takes the evil that humans commit and turns it into opportunities of blessing. The most remarkable example of this was when the wicked crowds and rulers took Jesus captive and crucified Him. How could anything good come from the suffering and bloody death of an innocent Man? Yet through His captivity and the shedding of His blood, Jesus freed sinners from God's wrath and condemnation. As Jesus said, "The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for the masses" (Matthew 20:28). God worked through Christ's innocent suffering and death to redeem you from sin, eternal death, and hell, and God turned that evil event into good, because He did not allow Jesus to remain captive to death, but instead brought Him to life to bless all those who put Him on the cross-every sinner. He died for all, with not one of you left out!

Back in our Old Testament reading, while the little girl who sent Naaman to Elisha demonstrated great childlike faith in the Lord, Naaman acts like a typical faithless adult once he has headed off to Israel. After the little servant girl told Naaman about Elisha, Naaman had gone to his king in Syria to get permission to travel to Israel, and the king sent Naaman on his way with an enormous amount of wealth. The king was accustomed to buying favors from men and gods alike. Pagan religion always involves humans doing things that are designed to move the gods to act; sinners assume that God is like us-we can bribe Him, or butter Him up to help us-so it was natural for the Syrian king to think his money could procure Naaman's cure. But as we find out in this story grace excludes works and merit, and there's no way to buy grace!

The pagan Syrian king was focused on wealth and power, so he ignored what the little girl said about there being a prophet in Israel who could help, and instead the Syrian king sent Naaman to Israel's king. Again, it is typical unbelief that assumes that politicians can accomplish more than the Lord's messengers. And on top of that, Israel's king was faithless too, since he interpreted this situation as Syria picking a fight. Israel's king tore his robes in despair because he knew that only God can bring to life, raise the dead, and heal (1 Samuel 2:6 and Deuteronomy 32:39). The king knew that he couldn't help Naaman, and figured that his failure to help would be punished by the Syrians. But the king showed his faithlessness because he had forgotten that God often works through His appointed prophets, His messengers, to accomplish healing and even raise the dead. God had used both Elijah and Elisha to even raise the dead, and so fortunately for the king, the Lord brought the situation to the attention of Elisha, who sent for Naaman to take care of it.

Naaman proceeded on to Elisha with great self-importance, arriving with horses, chariots, gifts, and great pomp. As sinners we think that our show of strength will influence others and get them to act. But while most people are quite taken by fame and money, God tells us in the Bible that He "shows no partiality" (Acts 10:34), that is, He doesn't accept bribes or look at a person's status. Because of that, God's prophets, such as Elisha, don't show partiality either. Elisha didn't care how "important" Naaman was, and so the prophet simply sent a messenger to Naaman with a promise that he would be healed by the power of God's Word, which would take effect when Naaman washed in the Jordan seven times.

This treatment by Elisha really got Naaman riled up. What a snub that the prophet would not even come out and talk to Mr. Five-Star General and at least wave his hand over him to do the healing, perhaps saying abra-cadabra or doing an elaborate ceremony. And what a demeaning task, to wash in the muddy old Jordan river, when much better waters were available in Syria. Shouldn't the healing involve more impressiveness and hoopla? The sinful world clamors for God to make a big show of His saving works, but He doesn't always give us what we want, but does give us what we need.

Fortunately Naaman's servants had their heads on straight and talked sense into Naaman. They said to him, "My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, 'Wash, and be clean'?" So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean." Naaman was healed, and Naaman also came to believe in the Lord, as we hear in the concluding words of our text, when Naaman returned to Elisha and said, "Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel." This story has a happy ending, and it also foreshadows what Jesus says in our Gospel about people coming from east and west to join the people of God in His eternal feast in heaven.

But the main point of this narrative is really the power of the Word of God, powerful even when spoken through lowly human messengers, powerful even when it is attached to water. The child's words pointed Naaman to God's prophet Elisha, and Elisha's words delivered God's promise to heal Naaman through washing in the Jordan. You could say that the Word of God was in that water to heal Naaman, much like the Word of God is in your Baptism, washing away your sins, uniting you with Christ's death and resurrection, and making you pure children of our heavenly Father. Of course, Naaman's bath was not Christian Baptism, but we can see similarities. There was nothing outwardly impressive about that bath in the Jordan, nor does Christian Baptism have any fireworks. But because of God's Word, it does what it says it will do.

The sinful Naaman thought God's prophet should work in an outwardly impressive manner-through magic, or in a crystal clear stream. Today many people think that God should work salvation in the church through great miracles or shows of splendor. Perhaps we too secretly long for more miraculous healings, more outward signs that God is really here with us. Yet the Lord gives us not what we want, but what we need! As He dealt with Naaman, so He deals with us: Jesus does not show Himself to us in person but sends us messengers with His words of promise; and He works through humble words, water, bread, and wine in the means of grace, which are distributed by unimpressive ministers.

And so we should never doubt the Word of God that He places upon the lips of His messengers today. When the message delivered by His ministers is, "I forgive you all of your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," then we must not doubt His words as Naaman did, but rather receive them as God's Words and believe that our sins are forgiven by them. When we are baptized "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," we must not doubt the great promises of Baptism but have confidence that Jesus washes our sins away. And when in the Lord's Supper we receive "the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink," our Lord promises to give us forgiveness of sin, eternal life, and salvation, and raise up our bodies on the Last Day. The power is all in the Word of God, and so all we can say is: "Amen." Let us pray.

O Lord, through Your messenger Elisha You promised Naaman the leper that You would restore his flesh in the Jordan river by the power of Your Word. Likewise, You have promised us in Holy Scripture that you will cleanse us of our sin and restore us as Your children in Holy Baptism by the power of Your Word combined with the water. You have promised to absolve us through the Holy Ministry as often as we confess our sins. And You have promised to give into our mouths Christ's true body and blood as a pledge and seal of our salvation. We beg You to teach us never to forget Your precious gifts of Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord's Supper, but always to find in them forgiveness, eternal life, and a good conscience, for the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.