Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity
Sermons. This week we are continuing our sermon
series, Filed Away, where we are diving deep
into 2 Kings chapter 5 and the story of Naaman's
transformation. But how do we know that Naaman
really was transformed? What's the proof that
this encounter with God actually left him changed
and wasn't just something that he forgot the
next day? That's what Rob is going to unpack
for us in today's sermon. Today's reading is
from 2 Kings 5, verses 9 -10 and 14 -27. So Naaman
went with his horses and chariots and stopped
at the door of Elisha's house. Elisha sent him
a messenger to say, Go, wash yourself seven times
in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored
and you will be cleansed. So he went down and
dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as
the man of God had told him. And his flesh was
restored and became clean like that of a young
boy. Then Naaman and all his attendants went
back to the man of God. He stood before him and
said, Now I know there is no God in all the world
except in Israel. So please accept a gift from
your servant. The prophet answered, As surely
as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept
a thing. And even though Naaman urged him, he
refused. If you will not, said Naaman, please
let me, your servant, be given as much earth
as a pair of mules can carry. for your servant
will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices
to any god but the Lord. But may the Lord forgive
your servant for this one thing, when my master
enters the temple at Rimen, to bow down and he
is leaning on my arm, and I have to bow there
also. When I bow down in the temple of Rimen,
May the Lord forgive your servant for this. Go
in peace, Elisha said. Gehazi, the servant of
Elisha, the man of God, said to himself, My master
was too easy on Naaman, this Armenian, by not
accepting from him what he brought. As surely
as the Lord lives, I will run after him and get
something from him. So Gehazi hurried after Naaman.
When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got
down from the chariot to meet him. Is everything
all right? he asked. Everything is all right,
Gehazi answered. My master sent me to say, two
young men from the company of the prophets have
just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim.
Please give them a talent of silver and two sets
of clothing. By all means, take two talents,
said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them,
and then tied up the two talents of silver in
two bags with two sets of clothing. He gave them
to two of his servants, and they carried them
ahead of Gehazi. When Gehazi came to the hill,
he took the things from the servants and put
them away in the house. He sent the men away
and they left. When he went in and stood before
his master, Elisha, asked him, Where have you
been, Gehazi? Your servant didn't go anywhere,
Gehazi answered. But Elisha said 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 or olive groves
or vineyards or flocks and herds or male and
female slaves? Naaman's leprosy will cling to
you and to your descendants forever. Then Gehazi
went from Elisha's presence and his skin was
leprous. It had become as white as snow. This
is the word of the Lord. When it comes to legal
language a smoking gun is that one piece of evidence
that finally proves the case. It's the photograph
that you have of the suspect at the scene. It's
the fingerprint that you found at the scene of
the crime. The smoking gun could be a recorded
phone call where the suspect reveals everything
that happened. A smoking gun doesn't just reveal
what might have happened or suggest what could
have happened. No, a smoking gun determines what
actually really did happen. And when investigators
or when lawyers get their hands on that smoking
gun piece of evidence, they finally know they
have everything they need to make their case
to the jury. Well, today, ladies and gentlemen
of the jury, I want to present to you the smoking
gun. I want to present it to you the undeniable
evidence of spiritual transformation. I want
to show you this morning proof. what it looks
like when someone has had a life -transforming
encounter with the living God. Not speculative,
not hearsay, but real evidence of a real encounter
with the real God that goes beyond a shadow of
a doubt. How do we know for sure when that has
happened? Well, we are continuing this teaching
series, which we're calling Filed Away. We're
looking at this important story that is buried
in your Bibles, the story of Naaman. And Naaman
had an encounter with God. And we can presume
that as a result of that encounter, he was changed
forever. But was he? Really? Do we know that
for sure? Is there any hard evidence to prove
that what happened to Naaman actually made a
difference in his life, that he had actually
been changed by God? You know, if someone were
to look at your life, would they see evidence
in your life of someone who has been changed
by God? If you were put on trial for being a
Christian, as the saying goes, Would there be
enough evidence to convict you? Let's begin a
little bit with a recap. Last week, we cracked
the case of Naaman, this man who had absolutely
everything going for him. He had power, he had
prestige, he had money. He had it all, except
one thing. He had leprosy. And what we learned
last week was it doesn't matter what kind of
amazing life you have made for yourself. Something
is always going to come along and ruin it. And
for Naaman, that thing was leprosy. For you and
me, it will be something else. But when it happens,
there is nothing you can do to fix it. There's
nothing the world can do to help you about it.
And when you come to that point, That point where
you realize you don't have it in you and you've
reached the limit of your own self -sufficiency.
It is then and maybe only then that you will
finally turn to God and you will seek God and
find God. And that's what happened when Naaman
came to God finally empty handed. That's exactly
where God met him. And that is exactly when Naaman
was healed. And you might. think, well then,
absolutely, that was the moment where Naaman
was forever transformed. I mean, who can go through
something like that and not be transformed by
an encounter like that? Well, not so fast. Just
hold on. Because I think it is very fair to ask,
is every encounter with God a transforming one?
Are people always changed when they find God?
And as it turns out, no, it's not true at all.
In fact, we just read in our story about another
fellow, a fellow named Gehazi, who was a religious
professional, someone who was in tight with one
of the greatest prophets of the land and spent
all his days listening to the word of God. And
yet, even with all that religious exposure in
Gehazi's life, he was not transformed. into a
person of grace. So you can have two people,
right, who encounter the same God, but they have
two very different verdicts. One is transformed
and the other is not, which tells us something
very crucial, that you can be around God and
you can still miss God. You can experience grace
and remain unchanged. So today we're not just
asking the question, did Naaman meet God? We
answered that last week. Yes, Naaman met God.
Today we're asking what proves that Naaman met
God? What evidence is there that he was changed
as a result of this meeting? Is there a smoking
gun? Is there real evidence of transformation
here? So ladies and gentlemen of the jury, today
what I want to do is I want to enter into evidence
four exhibits. And I will be showing you that
these, in fact, are concrete signs that, yes,
Naaman was changed by God. But as I do this,
please remember, this is not just about Naaman.
This is about me. And this is about you. And
this is about all of us. Is there proof of transformation
in our own lives? Do we see these exhibits in
our own lives as well? So let's examine the evidence.
court stenographer here, but if you want to take
notes, we've given you some notes to follow along.
So let's begin. Members of the jury, I want to
present to you Exhibit A. Exhibit A, which is
this. I suggest to you that if someone has been
truly encountered by and changed by the living
God, what you will see is a brand new perspective
in their thinking and in their worldview, right?
After all, a real transformation isn't just an
emotional experience. It's not just this religious
moment that you have and then you file it away
and it never affects you again. No, an encounter
with God, if it is real, it should affect your
reality. It should challenge your thinking. It
should change your worldview. Everything should
change absolutely everything and let's be honest
though lots of people encounter Jesus without
being changed in their thinking they hear the
gospel maybe they come to church and They leave
and they don't see the world any differently.
They don't see themselves any differently. They
don't see God any differently either their minds
are Unchanged their mental map is still as it
was But real transformation produces real change
in our thinking. It changes everything that we
thought we knew. And this is what happened to
Naaman. Ladies and gentlemen, look at what Naaman
says after he receives his healing. He says,
now I know. that there is no God in all the world
except in Israel. Now that sentence might sound
simple to you and me, but for Naaman and in Naaman's
culture, it is a revolutionary change in thinking.
Because you see, Naaman lived in a pluralistic
culture, in a culture where there were many,
many gods. There were national gods and regional
gods and cultural gods. So if Naaman had said
after his healing, now I know. that your God
is greater than my other gods, or now I know
your God is just as good as my other gods, that
would not have been a change to his existing
worldview. That would have just slipped God into
his existing worldview. But what he actually
says is, now I know there is no God except the
God of Israel. You see, God didn't just God didn't
just slip into his belief system. God blows up
his belief system. And Naaman moves from believing
in many gods to one true God. He moves from pluralism,
you could say, to monotheism. This is a worldview
revolution. This is a complete reorientation
of your thinking. Now, everybody has a worldview.
Right? Your worldview. You want to know what
your worldview is? How do you answer these questions?
Who is God? What is salvation? Who am I? What
matters most in life? What doesn't matter in
life? That's your worldview. However you answer
those. And Naaman had answers to all those questions
before he was healed. But afterwards, every single
one of those answers changed. And there was no
going back. His world was now rocked. All his
mental map had to be reordered. He couldn't unsee
this truth that he had seen. He couldn't unlearn
this grace that he had experienced. And that's
why I argue that he was truly transformed. He
was totally changed in his thinking. But members
of the jury, members of the jury, when you encountered
God, when you encountered Jesus, did it change?
Everything for you. Did Jesus change how you
understood this world? Did he rock your world?
Or did Jesus just get added to an already crowded
shelf of other ideas and values and beliefs as
one option among many? No, no, no. Real transformation
happens when it produces a real change in our
thinking and worldview. And once that happens,
you can't go back. And so there you go. I submit
it into evidence. This is exhibit A. A genuinely
transformed life shows a new perspective in thinking
and in worldview. And that is exactly what we
see happening in Naaman's life. And now that
I have entered that into the record, I can go
on to exhibit B. Exhibit B says, and here's my
argument, that if someone truly encounters a
living God, it doesn't just change how they think.
It changes how they relate to their possessions
and to wealth. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
don't you find it a little odd sometimes when
people say, I have received the life -transforming
gift of God. I have received the costly grace
of Jesus Christ. I have received the loving forgiveness
of my sins. I have received the promise of eternal
life, and yet they're still anxious about money.
Still measuring their life by stuff. It's suspicious.
Suspicious indeed, and it makes one wonder if
real transformation has actually happened just
yet. Because if you've really received the greatest
treasure in the entire universe, how can you
still be letting these smaller ones control you?
Real transformation loosens our grip on money
and on possessions. It doesn't make them disappear.
It doesn't mean that they're evil now. Money's
bad and evil. No. but it loosens our grip. Because
when God has become your security, when God has
become your treasure, then possessions and wealth
lose their power over us. Now, did this happen
to Naaman? And once again, ladies and gentlemen,
I want to suggest to you that yes, in fact, it
did. Because look, immediately after Naaman received
his healing, he says to Elisha, please accept
a gift from your servant. This was likely an
enormous gift he was offering. Last week we spoke,
it could have been in the order of millions or
tens of millions of dollars. But why would Naaman
do this? He doesn't need to give Elisha anything.
He's already got his cure. He already got his
healing. He received what he came for. There's
really no reason now or obligation to give anything
at all. And yet he insists. Why does he do that?
It's because he's truly changed. This man who
initially brought all his wealth as leverage
now offers it as gratitude. He no longer is attempting
to buy God's grace. He has received God's grace,
and now he's responding to God's grace. The money
is still the same money, but Naaman is not the
same Naaman. Naaman's wealth no longer defines
him. It no longer secures him, no longer controls
him. God has now taken first place in his life.
And that means that all his stuff and all his
money could be put in its proper place. And that
is one of the clearest evidences that actually
grace has really landed, really landed in someone's
heart when God becomes your ultimate treasure.
And everything else kind of fades to the background.
So let me ask you again, ladies and gentlemen
of the jury, this isn't just about name and it's
about us. Has your encounter with God changed
your relationship to money? Or are you still
anxious about it? Still driven by it? Still hoarding
it? Still measuring your life by what you own
or what you might own or how much you have or
what you earn or whatever? True transformation.
does not just show up in our beliefs. It shows
up in our budgets. It's in our giving. It's in
our spending. It's in our savings. Our bank accounts
tell as much about what's going on in us as our
words do. And so I submit into evidence, exhibit
B, a genuinely transformed life shows this new
relationship to possessions and wealth. And again,
I want to state, we see this. loud and clear
in the life of Naaman. Now, exhibit B has been
entered into evidence. I move to exhibit C. Members
of the jury, I submit to you, exhibit C, that
when someone has truly encountered, truly encountered
the grace of God, they don't just think differently,
they don't just handle money differently, but
they actually relate to other people differently.
Transformation produces a new heart of servanthood.
and humility. I mean, it is strange. Again, I
say why some people who claim to know God continue
to look down on other people. They continue to
exclude people. They continue to feel superior
to people. If God has accepted us, knowing all
our flaws and foibles, then surely shouldn't
that mean that we are going to soften our hearts
toward others and show grace and acceptance toward
others, just as God has shown grace and acceptance
to us, it would make sense. Ladies and gentlemen,
the jury, that is exactly, again, what we see
in the life of Naaman. As evidence, I offer you
this. Notice how Naaman over and over and over
again, refers to himself now as a servant. Accept
a gift from your servant. Please let me your
servant, your servant. Forgive your servant,
your servant. This is not by accident. Every
word, I think, in this story is carefully chosen.
You see, when Naaman first came to Elisha, he
came as a commander, as a general, as someone
who ordered people about, as someone other people
served. But after encountering God's grace, Right?
His posture changes. Now he comes to Elisha not
to use him, not to get something from him, but
to serve him. Now he comes with humility. This
is grace. Grace dismantles. Our superiority.
Grace removes the need for us to dominate or
control other people. We don't need to be above
them. We can accept them and we can serve them
because God's accepted us. And in Jesus, God
has served us. True transformation doesn't just
say, I now believe differently. It says, I now
see people differently. I serve people readily.
That is the evidence. And folks, the evidence
is really mounting here at this point. Wouldn't
you agree? Naaman is truly a transformed person
here. But again, I got to come back to you, ladies
and gentlemen of the jury. I have to ask you,
do you have this kind of a servant heart? Are
you humble like this, especially toward people
who are different from you or people who maybe
have less power than you or less status than
you or less influence than you? Do we serve others
or do we expect them to serve? Us, real transformation
will always deflate our egos and point us downward
in humility. And so exhibit C, submitted into
evidence, a genuinely transformed life shows
a new heart of servanthood and humility. And
once again, we see this in the life of Naaman.
And now. We can move to the fourth and final
exhibit I want to share with you today in my
argument. Members of the jury, I submit to you,
someone who has truly encountered God doesn't
just change how they think, doesn't just change
how they handle money, doesn't just change how
they treat people, but it should also give them
a new conviction. In worship, in witness, put
another way, a new conviction, not just about
what they do on Sunday, but about how they live
their lives Monday through Saturday. You see,
a person, as we all know, can behave one way
at church on a Sunday morning and completely
different. the rest of the week. On Sundays,
our faith can feel very sincere, but it can be
absent at work, it can be invisible at school,
it can be completely silent in public. But if
God is truly God, and he's truly the Lord of
our lives and the Lord of the world, then our
faith can't be confined to one day a week. It
cannot be kept to ourselves throughout the week.
So ladies and gentlemen, I want to submit to
you. That Naaman truly lived his faith in the
world for all to see. And this is part of the
story that actually confuses people, I think,
a fair amount. Because at first, what it looks
like is Naaman is going back to his old life.
Naaman is going to go back to Syria. He's going
to go back to worshiping his old god, Rimon,
alongside his king. At first glance, this looks
like a step backwards. It looks like a compromise.
It looks like he's returning to pluralism. But
look more closely. Look more closely. Naaman
asks for some earth. He asks for some Israelite
dirt to take home. Why is that? It is because
in the ancient world, worship was always closely
associated to the land. And so Naaman decides
this is what he's going to do. At least this
is the best interpretation I've heard. He is
going to take back this dirt with him. And when
he goes into the temple and he has to worship
in the temple of Rimen, every time he kneels
down, he's first going to throw down a handful
of this Israelite dirt on the ground so that
every time he kneels down and starts to worship,
it is clear. It is clear to everyone who can
see and a lot of people can see what he is saying.
I may be here in Syria. I may be in this temple.
but I worship the God of Israel. It is a bold
statement. It is not a private statement. It
is a public statement, even for the king next
to him to see this man has changed. His worship
and witness is different. Now you could say,
I suppose Naaman, he could have just stayed in
Israel. Why didn't he just stay in Israel and
worship there? No, he said, I want to go back
to my culture. And I will take the worship of
God into my culture. And I will thereby witness
to God in my culture. In other words, Naaman
goes back to the center of public life. but with
God now at the center of his life. He doesn't
withdraw from the world. He doesn't hide his
faith. He doesn't keep it personal. It's just
between me and God. No, he lives a life of worship
and witness for all to see. And what about us
members of the jury? We live too in a secular
world, right? How do we live out our faith in
the workplace, in our neighborhoods, in our schools,
in our friendships? How do we hold together Sunday
worship with Monday responsibility? Well, Naaman
shows us the way. Let your worship on Sunday
inform your work on Monday. Don't keep your faith
contained within these four church walls, but
let it shape how you live out there in the world
because real transformation shows up in both
our worship and our witness. And so I submit
it to you. There it is. Exhibit D, a genuinely
transformed life isn't hidden. It's lived faithfully
for all to see. And once again, Naaman gets it
just right. So let's just review this evidence.
Review the evidence. Naaman demonstrated a new
perspective in his thinking and worldview. Naaman
developed a new relationship to possessions and
wealth. Naaman gained a new heart of servanthood
and humility. And Naaman lived a new life of
worship and witness. Guys, the evidence is consistent,
ladies and gentlemen. I think it's very compelling.
It is the smoking gun. Naaman, truly a transformed
person. But just before you render your verdict,
Let me just compare Naaman really quickly to
Gehazi. Gehazi. Did Gehazi show a new perspective
in his thinking and worldview? No. Gehazi still
believes that grace should come with strings
attached. It's something that you should earn.
He says that Elisha was too easy on Naaman, right?
His worldview hasn't changed at all. Did Gehazi
show a new relationship to possessions and wealth?
No. Gehazi greedily ran after Naaman for his
own personal gain. He's still consumed by money
and possessions. Did Gehazi show a new heart
of servanthood and humility? No. In fact, did
you hear how Gehazi referred to Naaman as this
Aramean? Gehazi still feels superior and he looks
down on others. And did Gehazi's life witness
to a different way in the world? No. In fact,
he looks just like the world. Where have you
been, Gehazi? Elisha asks. Well, the answer is
in the world, still living and playing by the
world's rules. So, ladies and gentlemen, I don't
think the contrast could be clearer. Naaman,
the outsider, meets God and is transformed, and
Gehazi, an insider, misses God entirely. Now,
I've been using a lot of courtroom language and
drama language here today, but I don't want anyone
to leave here today feeling guilty or anyone
here feeling judged. Because really, you're not
on trial here today. And here's why. Jesus has
already stood trial for us. And Jesus has already
been judged for us. Jesus took upon himself all
our guilt. On the cross, Jesus absorbed all our
sins so that now God looks at us and declares
his verdict once and for all not guilty. He declares
us accepted. He declares that you are made new.
The gospel is not be changed so God will accept
you. The gospel is. God accepts you. Therefore,
be changed. So like Naaman, let's be changed
people. Let's be changed in how we think. Be
changed in how we handle our money and possessions.
Let's be changed in how we treat others. Let's
be changed in our life and witness in this world.
And with that, the defense rests. The verdict
is in. Go and let grace reshape your life. Thanks
be to God. Amen. Thanks for tuning in to this
week's episode of Trinity Sermons. This sermon
was recorded at Trinity Church Streetsville in
Mississauga, Ontario on February 8th, 2026.