Prayer of the Day: Merciful Father, through Holy Baptism You called us to be Your own possession. We give You thanks that in Holy Baptism we receive forgiveness of sins, deliverance from death and the devil, and eternal salvation. Bless Your baptized children continually by Your Word and Spirit that we may faithfully keep the covenant into which we have been called, boldly confess our Savior, and finally share the joys of eternal life; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. But his servants came near and 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.

Dear fellow redeemed in Christ Jesus who have been cleansed and sanctified by the washing of water with the Word,

Great problems call for great solutions. When war breaks out between nations, like Russia and Ukraine, or Israel and Gaza, we expect world leaders try to step forward with a “great plan” to solve this “great problem.” In our medical communities, great scientific minds are working hard to combat diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes. Combating these great diseases which affect so many people require a great amount of money. It is estimated that since 1971 when President Richard Nixon declared “war on cancer” that nearly $500 billion dollars have been spent on cancer research. Great problems require great solutions.

In our text we have a great man with a great problem. Naaman was a general for the nation of Syria and their great king, Ben Hadad. The LORD had given Naaman many great victories in battle and he was well respected by the Syrians and valued greatly by his king.

But great Naaman had a great problem. He had leprosy. Leprosy was a skin disease that could affect the whole body. This skin disease would disfigure the afflicted, even causing parts of the nose and ear to fall off. And in Naaman’s day there was no known cure for leprosy.

In Naaman’s home was a servant girl from Israel. This young girl was a believer in the LORD. This Israelite servant girl knew that if Naaman went to see the servant of the LORD in Israel, Elisha, that her master could be healed. Hearing this, the king of Syria sends his beloved general to Israel with 10,000 talents of silver, 6,000 shekels of gold, some expensive clothing, and a letter asking that Naaman be healed of his leprosy. This shows how much Ben Hadad thought of his general and how important it was to him that Naaman be healed.

Now, think of Naaman. Naaman was a great general with a great military mind who had won great battles. Naaman knew when and where to advance his army, and where the greatest amount of force was necessary. He knew how to out-flank the enemy. Naaman was a great general who must have known how great solutions were necessary for great problems.

As Naaman looks for a great solution to his great problem, he arrives at the home of the Prophet Elisha in his beautiful chariot with all of that silver and gold. What a sight that must have been! However, once Naaman knocks on Elisha’s door, the Prophet Elisha doesn’t even come to see great General Naaman with all his silver and gold. Instead, Elisha sends a messenger. “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.”

So much for a great solution to his great problem! This infuriates Naaman. This great general expected a great show of power to deal with his great problem. But there wasn’t. This great man was not even seen by the Prophet Elisha. There was only a message. And the message wasn’t even that great. Great Naaman was to go to the dirty, lowly Jordan River?! Naaman was ready to go home in his rage.

The servants of this great general reply (reading from the NKJV), “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” Elisha had promised a simple solution to his great problem. “Go…wash…be clean!” Elisha hadn’t told Naaman to do something impossible, some great feat like scaling Mount Doom in the heart of Mordor. No, Elisha simply told him to wash in the Jordan with the promise that he would be cleansed. What is there to lose by doing this simple act? Naaman heeds their counsel, listens to the word of the LORD’s prophet, washed in the Jordan River, and was cleansed from his great problem. Emerging from the Jordan River with baby soft skin, Naaman knew that the LORD alone was God. God had converted this great general and made him a believer.

You and I have a problem greater than leprosy. Our problem is greater than a nuclear war, cancer or Alzheimer’s. Our problem is one that each of us was born with and if not resolved before death, will be an eternally great problem. King David spoke of our great problem in our psalm (51:5), “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” Our great problem is sin, sin we were born with, sin we inherited from our sinful parents, and sin we commit every day. These sins separate us from the most holy God. Sin is our great problem.

So what great solution is there for our great sin problem? Man is constantly trying to come up with great solutions to their great sin problems. Psychologists tell guilt ridden patients to confront their past to find the source of their problem. Islamic clerics tell young men that if they kill infidels and die in the process, that Allah will welcome them into paradise for their great works. Mormons are sent on missionary journeys and are baptized for dead people. As Martin Luther struggled with his sin problem, he tried to do great works to please God. He gave up all his possessions and became a monk. He deprived himself of food and slept on the cold, hard floor. He made a pilgrimage from German to Rome, even ascending the 28 stairs of Scala Sancta on his knees (the stairs that Jesus supposedly climbed to enter Pilates house). Like Naaman, sinners are always trying to come up with great works to overcome their great sin.

But what is God’s solution to our great sin problem? God’s great plan of salvation is beautifully simple for the sinner. The Bible simply says, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.” (Mark 16:15a) Much like what Elisha told Naaman, God has said, “Go…wash…be clean,” God promises to wash away sin in holy baptism.

Now, there were many lepers who could have washed in the Jordan at the time of Naaman, but none of them would have been cleansed from their leprosy. Naaman was cleansed because God had made a promise connected to that water: “Your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.”

God has made you a promise connected with the waters of Holy Baptism. On Pentecost, Peter told his audience, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” (Acts 2:38) Peter also writes in his epistle, “Baptism doth now save us.” (1 Peter 3:21) The water of holy baptism in and of itself is not special. Some are surprised and even a little offended that for a baptism an usher will simply get water from the kitchen faucet. We use just plain water. Baptism has power to wash away sins and save ONLY because it has the promise of Almighty God connected to it.

But isn’t it too simple? Isn’t it too easy to take water, apply it to the head, and say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit?” Some argue that such an understanding is too simple. They say you have to be old enough to make your commitment to Christ to be baptized, you have to pray the “sinner’s prayer,” you first have to make your decision Christ, before you can be baptized.

But rejoice dear sinners. Christ is doing something GREAT through this beautifully simple means of water and the word! Something so simple, it can be applied to the head of a premature baby in the NICU.

Baptism is beautifully simple because Jesus has already done all the great works for you. Jesus lived life free of sin. He did the great work of keeping every single commandment, just as God intended. Alone and hungry, He battled Satan in the wilderness and never gave into his temptations, for you who give into Satan’s temptations all too easily. Jesus did it to be your holiness, your righteousness, your perfection.

The great work of living a totally sinless life wasn’t enough. Jesus then did the great work of bearing all your sins in His body and taking them with Him to the cross. On the cross He endured the great anger of God over your sin as He was punished in your place. When Jesus said, “It is finished” from the cross, He was saying that the great work of your salvation was finished. God’s Word had been kept and your sins had been paid for in full. This was God’s great solution to your great problem of sin.

Now in baptism, each one of you have been connected to Christ’s great work for you. “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:27) In baptism, you have been covered with Jesus. You are covered with His holiness and His holy precious blood has washed away your sins. YOU ARE CLEAN.

This is God’s beautifully simple solution to the great problem of our sin. It is so simple that even a newborn infant receives this great cleansing from sin because of the great work which our General Jesus has done for us. It is so beautifully simple that a 90 year old on their death bed can rejoice in the promises of God that they have been cleansed, singing “I have been baptized into Christ!” Hallelujah! Amen!

—Pastor Nathan Pfeiffer

Berea Ev. Lutheran Church
Inver Grove Heights, MN

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