Let us start with a serious question this morning. Who is called to be Jesus’s disciple? Who is called to be an ambassador or representative for God? The short answer is each one of us! Now let me ask you this, who can say for sure and for certain that when we are to be deployed as a disciple, ambassadors and representatives, do we do it alone? Is God really with us?
In the Psalms it tells us, “I will bless the Lord who has advised me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”
God being our right hand man! What a statement! If you think about it, there is no other person I would want to be my best friend and advisor than the living God. So I wanted to talk about a concept that has so much meaning to us, even in todays work, that I call The Buddy System!
I remember while in the Navy when we went to certain port visits, it was a requirement that we have at least one buddy from the ship to go out in the town and even return to the boat. The primary purpose of the buddy system was for protection and safety. When something happened, that could go sour, you had support. The whole point of the buddy system is to help support each other, especially in times of need!
But this also consists of a very distinct point that makes all the difference in how we approach things in life if we follow instructions by not going at it alone! If the sailors rejected the notion of the buddy system, it would prove the point of why it was created in the first place; to help, aid, and protect the sailor!
In the Gospel reading of Luke, we find Jesus appointed seventy people to go out into the cities and do so in pairs. Not one disciple went out by themselves! So how did that work out? Well in verse 17 it says Now the seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name!” And He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I have given you authority to walk on snakes and scorpions, and authority over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”
You see, they described here what exactly happened! The name of God, his power, Glory and majesty was sovereign to all the darkness of the world. Each disciple gave Jesus a report basically stating all was successful because God was with them! And to even go beyond that, God was not only with them, God gave them power that was needed!
Just think, what God does for us today, when we listen and obey!
In the reading today from 2 Kings, we find a very intriguing story. In Chapter 5, we find a high-ranking officer in the Syria army called Naaman. Its like the President’s Chief of Staff, but even though Naaman was an important man, he had gotten leprosy. Leprosy was a severe disease that would literally eat away skin, bones, and joints of the body and eventually cause paralysis and even death. In the story, Naaman was so desperate to find a cure that he was willing to try anything!
Now, the one thing strictly forbidden is to converse with the enemy! But that is what Naaman did, as he heard of the prophet Elisha, in Israel, and he arrived at Elisha’s door and relayed to the messenger about Naaman’s request to be cured of his disease. But Elisha himself did not even bother to come to the door. Instead, the prophet sent a messenger back to Naaman and gave the instructions. Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean.
Sounds relatively simple, right! So from here, we should hear that Naaman did exactly that and that would be the end of the story, right? Not exactly! Naaman was absolutely astonished! He expected to hear about remedies, prescription drugs, give sacrifice to the Gods or whatever else, but not just dipping himself in the water of a river!
So Naaman went away disheartened, but one of Naamans servants convinced Naaman to follow Elisha’s instructions. So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, in accordance with the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
What was missing from this story? Naamans not adhereing to God’s direction, not consulting God and even not obeying God’s direction from one of his Prophets! Naaman was an elite loner with no dependence on anything except modern techniques, textbook schematics or remedies, and serums of various forms laced with unquestionable ingredients. The last thing Naaman expected was a simple remedy, to wash in the river! The true meaning of the story friends, was to be obedient to the living God. Naaman’s story of resistance is not unlike the resistance some of us may feel to some of the church’s prescriptions for healing our souls. To depend on God.
We’ve all heard those time-worn prescriptions from the church like, read your Bible, pray every day, attend worship every Sunday, trust and obey, do unto others, take up your cross, believe in Jesus, and many more ... We may well say to ourselves, “Why, I’ve heard those things ever since I was a child. They are okay, but my problems today are too big for such simplistic advice. I need some real help.” How many of us have said something along those lines before?
Serious problems require serious solutions, as long as we have a true buddy to rely on! A genuine friend, everlasting father. Someone we can depend on, no matter how small or large the problem!
In the book of James, we find a very compelling statement about Abraham, “and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God.” Do you get what I’m trying to portrait? Just as Naaman was clearly defiant to listen to God, to have God as his friend, savior and Lord to what Abraham was called a friend of God, so can we!
What sometimes happens to most of us, is when put God on a standby list! When something serious happens, we can’t handle, we reach for that list. It usually consists of friends, family, neighbors and eventually God is called upon. All the while, he is patiently waiting for us to call upon his name! Book of Romans tells us “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Lastly from the Psalms, “He alone is my rock and my salvation, My refuge; I will not be shaken. My salvation and my glory rest on God; The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your hearts before Him; God is a refuge for us.
In closing, today, it’s only fitting to show how having a true, dependable Godly buddy makes all the difference when reflecting on our nation’s Independence. Some people tend to forget that the most significant diplomatic success of the colonists during the War for Independence was the critical link they forged with France. Representatives of the French and American governments signed the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce on February 6, 1778. We desired help from a genuine body of people that was researched and advised upon in a Godly fashion.
George Washington, like most gentlemen of his time and social standing, was acquainted with the Holy Bible, and he liberally seasoned his discourse with biblical phrases and allusions. Washington’s papers contain hundreds of biblical quotations, figures of speech, idioms, proverbs, and allusions. It has been well stated from many sources that God was with George Washington!
In the summer of 1776, General Howe had a British force of more than 400 ships and 32,000 troops stationed around Staten Island in New York Harbor. George Washington gathered about 8,000 American troops to Brooklyn Heights on the western edge of Long Island. The British were able to land about 15,000 troops behind Washington’s lines and inflict heavy losses on the Americans, who were encircled on Brooklyn heights with their backs to the East River. However, the weather again proved to be a deciding factor. Strong winds, an ebbing tide, and incessant rain kept the British from further attacks on the American position, and from moving their warships into the East River to cut off an escape route. Washington, realizing the danger of his position, ordered a nighttime evacuation of Long Island. That evening, at about 11:00 p.m., the wind died down and a thick fog developed, shrouding the American evacuation—and when the fog lifted later the next morning, the British were surprised to find that the American soldiers were nowhere to be found. One American soldier wrote, “Providentially for us, a great fog arose, which prevented the enemy from seeing our retreat.” The outcome of this battle has been described as “so astonishing that many (including General Washington) attributed the safe retreat of the American army to the hand of God”. If the wind, rain, and the fog—termed the “heavenly messenger”—had not intervened for the Americans, they would have been captured, Washington would have been hanged, and the Revolution would have come to an early end.
In celebrating our Independence, we should also reflect upon how God assists us, who call upon him, depend on him, and who is a God that is ecstatic to hear from his children! Throughout scripture and our nation’s history, we see, hear and read about just how God has intervened with his people, who call him buddy, friend, savior and Lord. Who wake up every morning and say ‘Thank you Lord!’ ‘I welcome you into my day Lord!’ ‘I seek your guidance and direction Lord!’
However, Prophet Jeremiah records a warning, “Because My people have forgotten Me… I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy”
Prophet Ezekiel states, “Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, therefore you shall bear the penalty of your lewdness and your harlotry”
Hosea states, He says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”
Remember friends, God is ever present in our lives. Even as a nation, we can forget God, even if its unintentional; and there are consequences to disobedience. Let God be your light, beacon, and banner of hope to live for, and to be the disciple, ambassador and representative He is asking each of us to be, with his help! Just as Jesus sent the disciples of in pairs, we too shall never go out alone! Always remember, friends, there is no such thing as a costless Christian, and as John Wesley has said, there is no such thing as a solitary Christian. Our faith must be shared to be kept. When we go out into the city, we can rest assured, we have a great buddy system to rely on. Rest assured in Gods everlasting arms. Amen