Sermon(2 Kings 4:8-10): A sermon for housewives
The original korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025220270
A woman who was blessed and kept the blessing.
Scripture reading: 8 one day Elisha went to Shunem. And a well-to-do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. 9 She said to her husband, 'I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. 10 Let's make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.' (2 Kings 4:8-10)
) -->
The Scripture (Prov 6:16 and below) tells of six or seven things that God abhors: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissention among brothers. Such men can not receive God's blessing. If they are not punished whenever they commit such sins, they should thank God.
) -->
Isn't it funny when a very great man hiding his greatness from people lives modestly among them, but an ignorant man acts proudly before him? Usually the unassuming noble man shows humble weak men an endless mercy and compassion, and pardons, helps them, but shows sternness to those who, relying on their worldly status and wealth, brag before the noble man. Jesus was a noble man who gave grace to the weak and rebuked the strong for their sins.
) -->
It is truly a pity that you have a proud heart when you are a weak man. Because Jesus does not bless people against their will. There were many lepers in the time of Jesus. But there were not many people who came to Jesus humbly and were cured of leprosy. In the Old Testament, there were many lepers in Israel, but none of them were cured by Elisha. only Naaman, commander of the army of a heathen kingdom, was healed of his leprosy. There are haughty lepers! How foolish are those who do not come humbly to the servant of Lord and be healed, but have their finger and nose fall away from their body and at last die? Are you a man who is suffering disaster with an iron will to the end? Jesus says, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." There was famine in Elijah's days, but among the Israelites, none of them treated Elijah and were rewarded with much food during the famine except a widow of Zarephath. only she grabbed the golden chance.
) -->
In the era of the Old Testament, who was blessed by Elisha? A housewife of Shunem got the opportunity. What kind of person was she? She was a noblewoman. Perhaps her husband was the local leader of the region. And she seems to have had assets. You can estimate the amount of her rich when you see how she treated Elisha. However, does every man serve the servant of the Lord just because he is rich? Not always! I made a pastoral visit to an old poor female jibsa (a Korean style deacon) before. She thanked me for visiting and gave me 20,000 won, saying, “It’s not much, but take a meal with the money.” She was very generous for the money was sufficient to buy four bowls of jajangmyon then. If this had happened before then, about 5 years before, I would have rejected to receive the money. (Now I became a somewhat mature servant of the Lord.) I received the money so that her beautiful mind and faith toward God might not come to naught. I think one of the tasks of the servant of God is to let the offerings be holy. The housewife of Shunem was generous, so served the servant of the Lord with her riches. And this woman had eyes that recognized the man of God as the man of God.
) -->
But there is a problem with this woman; she has no son. What is worse, her husband is too old for her to have a son. Her husband is old, so she also must be old. In former days, it was a severe problem for a house not to have a son. The problem of succession of blood and much property arises. But this serious problem didn't matter to her. Giving thanks to God for what the Lord had given her, she didn’t grumble at him over the problem.
) -->
Someone is not blessed by God even though he pleaded with God for blessing, while some other man is blessed by God nearly forcibly even though he didn't show much his interest in the blessing. The woman of Shunem belongs to the latter case. Elisha asked the woman that, unlike other people, recognized Elisha as a servant of God and treated him well. "Do you need anything to live? Tell me. I know many people, many celebrities." This woman didn't give particular answer to the question. She shows herself as a woman who lives well by the grace of God and thanks God. She doesn't have an excessive wish for the blessing. Elisha ordered his servant Gehazi to find out what was needed in her house. The family had no son. Elisha had her come, and said that she would have a son the next year. Now she got a son, and could live confidently! With the birth of her son, the life of this woman came to a complete fruition. She lived successfully as a woman. She became a woman blessed by God. I don't think this is a sex-discriminational remark: Isn't it the biggest mission and the best rewarding thing for a woman born into the world to produce a baby and raise it well? Man, out of doors, makes money hard, at best cultivating crops and raising livestock, but woman, at home, bears a child, the most precious in the world, and brings up the child. Isn't it a blessing for the woman? Isn't it none other than a privilege? Can the joy for a man to raise livestock hard be compared with the joy for a woman to bear a pretty child and raise it? Does a lamb or a calf act cute as much as a child? Woman's grave mission imposed by the Lord is to be a holy chaste wife of a man and to bear a holy child. It is a serious sin to forget this grave mission, to commit adultery when young, to conceive an unclean baby and to bear an unclean child. A sin to the man and a sin to the God.
) -->
Why was this woman of Shunem blessed by God, unlike other women? First, this woman recognized a servant of God as a servant of God and served him with her whole heart. What would a servant of God hope for in the world? He has already given up money and secular glory from the beginning. only one is reserved for him: the pride of a servant of God. The servant of God blesses in the name of God him who respects this pride. I'd been a jibsa and a teacher of the youth-department of a church before I was called by God as his servant. By the way, some of my disciples called me jibsanim, an honorific appellation of jibsa, while others called me teacher. (Jibsa is a kind of position of the laity in church of Korea.) I was very embarrassed that young members of the department who were at most two or three years younger than me called me teacher. Then I made up my mind: 'OK! I may not be a good teacher to others, but I’ll be a good teacher to you.' Until today, I pray for those who called me teacher then. And I pray every day also for all of those who called me by honorable appellations, with a sense of responsibility for them. There was an episode before. A man (a jibsa) older than I called to me, “You!”, knowing that I had resigned as servant of God for a while then. He has a faith which can push away all blessings of God that rush upon him like bullets, an ironclad faith. An armor of haughtiness! He who despises the servant of the Lord must not expect to be blessed with God's blessing. If you want to be blessed by God, you should at least respect the servant of God. The servant of God has the right to bless the believers.
) -->
Another reason why the woman of Shunem was blessed was that she did the work of God in spite of some pain. It was not easy for the woman to invite Elisha, the servant of God, to her house. First of all, others will misunderstand them if Elisha, a male visitor, visits her having no son frequently. The woman's husband also got into an awkward situation. Elisha was a man, though a servant of God. Who would be glad when his wife invites another man, cleans his room, serves food to him, and sometimes attends on him? Knowing this, she persuaded her husband. "This man is really a servant of God." He must be a good man for he believed her sincere words. Husbands, trust your wife! The couple were already blessed because they trusted each other deeply. You can understand why he didn't desert his wife who couldn't bear a son, and didn't remarry a second wife. This woman of Shunem was a lady of virtue and had a special ability to persuade her husband humbly. Occasionally I saw a woman with pretty face turn into an angry, hungry lioness when she got furious and uttered invectives. Women who are conceited and angry are really hard to deal with. The husband didn't desert her because she was meek. A wise woman keeps her own blessings and rights despite her weakness. If a woman with many weaknesses is proud, gets angry often and commits adultery, even God can't help her. Who can stop her ruin?
) -->
It could be a crisis for the family of the woman to invite Elisha. The conjugal trust and affection could have broken down. But isn't it a biblical instruction that you'll get life if you are willing to sacrifice your life? Someone had to invite the servant of the Lord to his home and treat him. That was the work of God. It was the couple of Shunem who risked their love to do the work of God. God may well bless them with a bigger love!
) -->
God is trustworthy and wise. He lets a bigger love arise between them than before. The secret of the strong love was a late-born son. Nowadays, the middle-aged have a crisis. When a man becomes rich, he deserts his wife who is getting older, and loves another woman, leaving his home devastated. Some good men don't do such thing, but have difficulty in making love with wife because of adult diseases or complications thereof, or because of becoming an impotent through accidents. Viagra was the most popular idem before. Maybe today it is still popular. Perhaps there are many who want to buy it seeing that there are smugglers of the idem. It means that there are that much many couples who are worrying about abnormal conjugal relations. But the couple of Shunem had a son in their old age. Nothing mattered! Both the husband and the wife were healthy. The son proves that. This is God's blessing. When is the love of a couple hottest? Isn't it honeymoon period? Who are in the honeymoon period? Those who are already in their twenties parents of elementary school students have passed the honeymoon long before. Those are in the honeymoon who just had a baby, who are now giving breast to the baby and changing the baby's diaper, even if they are old. This couple of Shunem returned to the honeymoon. And they got the son who would succeed to the father. The couple have had all already, and there will be no complaints with them even if they die now. They are blessed so much! Even though the love of the couple could have been in danger, they did the work of God in faith, and received from God a baby, the fruit of the conjugal love. The promise of God that you'll reap as you sow is valid in every respect. As you see, he lives well who helps others much.
) -->
What blessing did the husband of the woman of Shunem receive, a man who had to have his wife serve food to another man? This man has restored his confidence in life like a young man. In Korea also, a son is very important to a family. In the past another woman was hired if the wife couldn't bear a child. If the husband was sterile, even another healthy man was hired secretly so that the family might get a baby for the succession of the family line. Can you understand the pain of the man who had to send his wife to the bosom of another man for a while? If you had your healthy children normally, thank God! You need not feel daunted before others even though you have no children or have only daughters. The husband of the woman of Shunem must have been downhearted from time to time. For example, suppose the husband ran for election of the leader of the village. What would the inhabitants say to that? “Can he do other things well when he can't have a son? And he is old!” But once he had a son, the situation was reversed. They thought, 'That old man is a somebody! He's got a son in that old age. He can do anything difficult well. He is more competent than young Jack living neighbor village, a leader of that village who has no son.' Is there a greater blessing than to be healthy and to have self-confidence in one's old age? Isn't it a misery that a man is an impotent before 50 even if he has many children and much money? Compared with the man of many children and much money who nevertheless goes to hospital every day, how great the blessing the husband received was! He is blessed with health in his old age who has done the work of God throughout his life in spite of some pain.
) -->
If that were all the blessing of God, it could be somewhat insipid. If the God grants the old couple longevity, the couple will not want in anything. If one person of the couple died shortly after the birth of the son, it wouldn't be a blessing. God must have granted the couple health until the full growing-up of the son so that they might bring up the late-born son well. Abraham had a late-born son and lived 75 years more after the birth of the son; Job also lived 140 years after he had children in old age. Perhaps the couple might have been blessed with longevity and had grandchildren.
) -->
There are three kinds of couples in the Bible. First, Ananias and Sapphira. Both of them were dishonest before God. They were killed on the same day when they deceived the servant of God. They kept back part of proceeds as funds for old age, and offered the rest to the early church suffering financial difficulties. How bad is it when they die before they have spent a cent of the money? But how much more was Jesus sad for he was betrayed by them? The name Ananias means ‘Jehovah is merciful.’ Anania received a severe punishment from the merciful God. What a tragedy! The reason why the God unites a man and a woman into a conjugal couple is that they may serve, be devoted to God in one mind. When a couple conspire to oppose God, they will suffer such misery. Of the two, the couple >Nabal and Abigail<, only one was blessed. Nabal was a foolish man who was greedy, ignoring the work of God and human relationships. This man died alone. Abigail was a woman of good character so that she became a queen consort later despite being a widow. A widow held the position which even a pretty virgin can’t dream of easily! Housewives of Korea who are believers, be of good character, and all of you will be honorably used by God someday. You can count on it. Finally, the main characters of today, the couple of Shunem. They were a harmonious family, and didn’t neglect the work of God for the sake of their love. Praise the Lord who lets people reap as they sow!
) -->
(The son of the woman of Shunem dies later. What did Elisha do to revive the kid then? ‘Elisha prayed to the Lord, lay upon the child, putting his mouth upon his mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm.’ In return for the hospitality and favor of the woman, Elisha kissed the dead boy on the mouth to revive him. Who of you could kiss a dead body of a family in return for having been served several times with board and lodging? Which is greater, the favor of the woman to Elisha or the pains of Elisha for the family of the woman? Even if man’s love is great, this love is not to be compared with the love of God. The love of laymen is great, but pastor’s love is much greater than that. The pastor regards such corpselike problems of the laity as his own, and prays to God to solve the problems and to recover the families of the laity. Unexpectedly(!) the love of the pastor for the members of the church is very big. So you must not doubt the love of the pastor itself even when you occasionally feel disappointed with the pastor from a human point of view.)
) -->
Chong Tack Kim
) -->
- Dongtoma Sunshine Church -