August 4, 2024
Pastor John Hering
2 Kings 6:8-17
2 Kings 6:8-17
8 Now when the king of Aram was waging war against Israel, he would make plans with his officials, saying, “My camp will be at such and such a place.”
9 But the man of God would send a message to the king of Israel, saying, “Be careful when you pass this place because the Arameans are going down there.” 10 So the king of Israel would send scouts to the place that the man of God had pointed out. So the man of God warned him, and he was kept safe—and not just once or twice.
11 The king of Aram was enraged because of this. He summoned his officials and said to them, “Won’t you tell me who of us is for the king of Israel?”
12 One of his officials said, “No, my lord the king. It is Elisha, the prophet in Israel, who tells the king of Israel the words which you speak in your bedroom.”
13 Then he said, “Go and see where he is. Then I’ll send men and capture him.”
He was told, “Dothan is where he is.”
14 So he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They came at night and surrounded the city. 15 When the man of God’s servant got up early and went out, there were soldiers, horses, and chariots surrounding the city. So his attendant said to Elisha, “Oh no, my lord! What will we do?”
16 He answered, “Don’t be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, open his eyes so that he can see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire, all around Elisha.
It was the middle of the night and there was a Crash! “What was that?” I wondered as I was startled awake by a loud noise and with a jolt. “Has someone broken into the house?” I won’t know until I investigate… but then I drifted back to sleep. The next morning I got up and remembered the noise and began to investigate. Once I put on my glasses so I could see clearly the reason for the crashing noise. A backpack had fallen off the cabin on to the floor. There was no intruder and we were safe. Nothing to worry about. Clear eyes have led to a calm heart.
There are plenty of reasons a person may experience a frantic heart. Maybe your spouse lands in the hospital and you have PTSD from experiencing the same thing when another family member was hospitalized. Parents have frantic hearts when their baby gets behind the wheel of a car for the first time. Children often have frantic hearts when Mom or Dad is late in returning home. Perhaps even right now something is making you feel a bit frantic so that you’re finding it hard to concentrate. But that’s life isn’t it? We just have to get used to frantic hearts as long as we live in a frenzied world without the ability to see clearly all the reasons for these difficult times. That’s why it is so good to be here today. In our Gospel lesson Jesus told his disciples:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled”
John 14:27
Our sermon text from 2 Kings 6 illustrates how we can keep our hearts from being troubled. While fuzzy eyes lead to frantic hearts, the Holy Spirit wants us to
Get A Calm Heart With Clear Eyes
To See Who Is Fighting For You
If you think you have reasons to be frantic, compare them to the problem the prophet Elisha was facing. Word had reached the king of Aram that the reason none of his surprise attacks against Israel had been successful was because Elisha, with the help of God’s omniscience, kept telling the Israelite king where the Aramaeans were waiting in ambush.
9 But the man of God would send a message to the king of Israel, saying, “Be careful when you pass this place because the Arameans are going down there.” 10 So the king of Israel would send scouts to the place that the man of God had pointed out. So the man of God warned him, and he was kept safe—and not just once or twice.
The King of Aram had clouded eyes and thought he had a traitor in his ranks.
“11 The king of Aram was enraged because of this. He summoned his officials and said to them, “Won’t you tell me who of us is for the king of Israel?” 12 One of his officials said, “No, my lord the king. It is Elisha, the prophet in Israel, who tells the king of Israel the words which you speak in your bedroom.” 13 Then he said, “Go and see where he is. Then I’ll send men and capture him.” He was told, “Dothan is where he is.”
So when the King of Aram found out that Elisha was staying in the little town of Dothan, he sent his army to arrest him.
“14 So he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there.”
Doesn’t that sound like overkill? Was a whole army necessary to arrest one little prophet? Sounds to me like hunting a rabbit with a battalion of tanks? But, you know that this whole army wasn’t enough power. For their fight was not with Elisha but with the Lord himself Who Was Fighting For Elisha.
Elisha knew this but his servant did not.
“They came at night and surrounded the city. 15 When the man of God’s servant got up early and went out, there were soldiers, horses, and chariots surrounding the city. So his attendant said to Elisha, “Oh no, my lord! What will we do?”
The servant’s reaction is typical for people with clouded eyes. When we’re faced with a challenge we immediately ask: “What shall we do?” But listen to Elisha’s response:
“16 He answered, “Don’t be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
Elisha had a Calm Heart With Clear Eyes To See Who Was Fighting For Them. What Elisha wanted now was to give his servant clear eyes to see as well.
“17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, open his eyes so that he can see.”
Clear eyes would lead to a calm heart for the servant.
This is also our prayer to the Lord when we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” This is a thank you prayer because we trust the Lord will provide all that we need every day. Today when we come to this portion of the Lord’s prayer think about what we’re praying. “Lord, open my eyes to the many blessings that you will and have given me today. And make me thankful for them!” Or how about this petition: “Lead us not into temptation,” we’re not just praying, “God, don’t let temptations led me to sin.” With this petition we’re requesting: “Help me to see that you’re always with me so that when I am tempted I have your power to overcome sin.” A few months ago in Bible Class we studied Psalm 34:7 that put this trust of God’s abiding presence like this:
“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.”
God isn’t like the firefighter who can come to your rescue only after he has received a call for help. That makes us nervous for by the time he arrives, it might be too late to save you. God is more like a faithful secret service agent who never leaves the side of the President—that calms our hearts. Clear eyes See God Who is Fighting For You to Enjoy a Calm Heart no matter what obstacles you face.
To See Christian Attitudes and Actions
Don’t you want to know how this all turned out? The next verse says,
“18 When the Arameans came down, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike these people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, just as Elisha had asked.”
Look at Elisha’s attitude and actions. When the Aramaeans started to advance because they didn’t see the angel army, Elisha didn’t run and hide; he went out to meet the Aramaeans! What a confident attitude! Elisha knew he could be so bold because he had an angel army at his back. Then Elisha responds with confident actions.
“19 Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the road, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are looking for.” So he brought them to Samaria. 20 When they came into Samaria, Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open their eyes so that they can see.” Then the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw that they were right in the middle of Samaria.”
Elisha then led them to the capital city Samaria where the Israelite king could have easily slaughtered them. But, Elisha’s confident attitude and actions surprised everyone.
“22 He said, “Do not strike them down. Would you strike down a man you captured with your own sword and bow? Set food and water before them so that they can eat and drink and then go back to their master.” 23 So he gave a great feast for them. They ate and drank. Then he sent them on their way, and they went to their master. The Aramean raiding parties did not come into the land of Israel anymore.”
As we sigh in relief, I can’t help but make this point: even though God has promised that his angels will look after us, he hasn’t said that his angels will do our work for us. Elijah led these men to experience God’s grace! I pray our confident attitudes and actions would do the same. Angels don’t invite your neighbor to a Bible study. Angels don’t drop money into the offering plate. Angels don’t teach Kingdom Kids. Angels don’t sit on the Executive Committee to work out the plans and financing for new insurance. You and I are to do these things. But we can do them well because God is with us, his angel army has our back, and with a Calm Heart With Clear Eyes Have a Christian Attitude and Actions.
Yes, we can expect roadblocks along the way that are anything but welcome. I doubt very much that facing a hostile army was on Elisha’s to-do list for that particular day. It certainly wasn’t on his servant’s list. But look at what God was up to. He could have had his angels disperse the enemy long before they came in sight of Dothan, but then Elisha’s servant would have missed the opportunity to see that there was a heavenly angel army and not just a guardian angel or two looking after him. Think what an impression that experience made on the servant. When he had to face major obstacles again, he would have the Christians attitude and actions to face them head on because he had a Calm Heart with Clear Eyes.
I don’t think you will face an Aramean army today, but God’s care and protection is obvious. Cancer doesn’t just strike the families of unbelievers. Car accidents don’t just injure drunk drivers. Job losses aren’t just lamented by atheists. God’s people also face these challenges to serve God’s purpose. But we never face them alone. God sends his angels to keep the evil in check even if we do have to suffer from it. But why should we have to suffer at all? Well, why do parents let their children fall when they’re learning how to walk? Why not just hold the child’s hand wherever they go so they never stumble? Because Mom and Dad know that if they do this, the child will not learn as quickly how to walk. And walking is a lot more efficient than crawling. Likewise God lets us suffer the bumps and bruises of life because he wants us to have a faith that does more than crawl. He wants us to have a faith with Christian Attitudes and Actions that confidently walks in the light of his trustworthy promises.
This will not be an easy path to walk for the devil is working to weaken and destroy your faith. The Apostle Paul wrote:
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against… the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”
Ephesians 6:12
Just as the angels that surrounded Dothan were real, so are the demons that surround us intent on getting us to fall from faith. Satan tempts us to step on the landmine of sin every day. How many times did you blow up last week when you lost your cool over not getting the lunch you wanted, or the peace and quiet you assumed you were entitled to? It’s good for us to be troubled by sinful outbursts like these and not dismiss them, for Jesus said:
“Blessed are those who mourn”
Matthew 5:4
But we should not let our hearts continue to trouble us over our sins. Jesus isn’t shocked by what we’ve done or left undone. He doesn’t say, “Get a life!” Instead he says, “I gave a life, my life to pay for that sin. Be of good cheer. Your sins, all of them, are forgiven.” Therefore God has provided us with our shield against the devil and his army of demons. God has given us baptism where he made us his own dear child. God has given us the Lord’s Supper to assure us that he forgives us and is with us to fight against the devil’s evil ways. Here in God’s house Get A Calm Heart with Clear Eyes to See Christian Attitudes and Actions. Let those Christian Attitudes and Actions show themselves in your life this week.
There are plenty of times when we are going to be scared. Maybe it’s at night when a backpack unexpectedly falls with a “crash!” It’s dark and hard to see what is happening. Yes, while our physical eyesight might not be good, how’s your spiritual eyesight? Fuzzy eyes will lead to a frantic heart. So make Elisha’s prayer your prayer: “Lord, open my eyes so that I can see that you have sent your angels to watch over me. More importantly, help me see that you sent your Son to save me from sin and death.” Have a Calm Heart With Clear Eyes to See Jesus Who Is Fighting For you and to See Christian Attitude and Actions all to God’s glory. Amen!
