Garments of Greed 2 Kings 5

Gehazi said,...“Please give them a talent of silver in two bags with two changes of clothes.” Naaman said,” Be pleased to take two talents.” And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of clothes and gave them to two of his servants and they carried them before him.” 2 Kings 5:22-23

Greed. It is a horrible thing. We all like reward. We expect a paycheck when we work, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is expecting more than what we earn that puts us into a tailspin. And it is worse when the greed overtakes us when we did nothing to deserve reward. We are a bystander and still want what someone else has earned.

And here we have Gehazi...servant of Elijah. Elijah had given Naaman instructions for healing his leperousy. An angry and reluctant Naaman eventually did as he was told, and was grateful. He came to Elijah and offered a present to Elijah after realizing that his God was God. This gift Elijah turned down. He did not want a gift or reward. He firmly stated that he would take nothing for his Word from God.

But Gehazi was indignant! Shouldn't Naaman have paid something for this wonderful healing? After all, he was a foreigner and was spared a life of shame misery! So he decided to go take something. And he did it by lying. He lied that Elijah had sent him to get the gifts. He lied about who these things were for. He told Naaman that 2 sons of the prophets had just showed up and Elijah wanted the money and clothing for them. Wow. Here Gehazi was, a servant of the man of God. He had seen God work through Elijah. He saw the power of God, the power invested in Elijah, and was a small part of this work. And somehow he disregarded all of this and used his association with Elijah to enrich himself.

Greed is an ugly thing. We see people who want to be associated with the rich or famous because they want a piece of the action. It is part of who we are. We like to say we know someone with stature. We like to feel like being a child of the King...and we are if we are saved by the blood of Jesus. But it is the desire to exalt ourselves, to enrich ourselves through those associations that can cause us to do unthinkably stupid and selfish things.

Here stood Gehazi, looking upon a man who had power, but suffered much through this disease. Instead of being happy for him, he saw him as a meal ticket. And instead of just being honest and saying he wanted his share of the gift whether Elijah wanted his or not, he lied, using the prophet's name to get what he wanted. Instead of being satisfied with watching the power of God transforming lives, he wanted some payment for it. Instead of rejoicing that someone was saved from idol worship, Gehazi valued stuff more than people or God.

I see this tendency in my life. I do rejoice for people, but that hint of greed shows up...and I scold myself for even having such thoughts. I give and expect a response beyond the one I get back. I somehow feel owed something, and I shudder when I realize that my giving is not pure. It is sobering. It is humbling to see the lack of unadulterated generosity that is truly in my heart. The “shouldn't they pay?” mentality crops up, even in cases of salvation and forgiveness. We all do it. They are or were so bad, shouldn't they have consequences? Do they deserve God's mercy after what they have done? I've stayed “good” and don't see the reward (yet). We become the big brother in the prodigal son story. What about me? No one is throwing me a party, but that guy gets one! So what can I get? I spent years feeling sorry for that “good” son, because I was the “good” kid. But my motives were not pure. They were resentful, as were Gehazi's. And those thoughts and feelings can still overtake me when I feel unappreciated. It is an ugly thing, and that ugliness can lead to great sin, often in the name of godliness. We must watch ourselves! It creeps in, sometimes when we least expect it.

The mercy of God was shown in that, though cursed with Naaman's leprosy, he continued to serve Elijah and even went before the king to tell of the great deeds of God worked through his master Elijah. How merciful. He paid for his selfishness and lies with disease, but God did not cast him out. There were consequences. But he learned...his heart must have repented, and he was spared his job as Elijah's servant and spared becoming an outcast.

The cure for this selfishness is thanksgiving. Had he thanked God for curing Naaman, he would have not been overwhelmed with greed and selfishness. Had he rejoiced with his fellow man, he would have praised God instead of thought of himself. This thanksgiving weekend, let us rejoice with those who rejoice...be grateful for what we have, and never assume that we deserve any reward in watching God work. That is the glorious path that will save us from ourselves.