"The Four Lucky Lepers"

3. Our Responsibility, verses 9-10

The key verse of this chapter is verse 9, “This is a day of good news, and we are keeping it to ourselves.”

The lepers were forced to live outside the city gate; they were outcasts, kept apart from the city; and they were half-dead, from hunger and their disease. They approach the besieger’s encampment cautiously, expecting to be challenged—and to their surprise they discover the camp is deserted. They do what we would have done—they initially feast upon the abandoned spoils of war…but then they realize that a city is starving. They could rationalize saying nothing. They were outcasts, and it might serve Samaria right to starve. Their conscience won’t allow this. They see it as their duty to inform the city that the enemy has left. They may also have feared being punished once the news was eventually known.

They tell the incredulous good news and it reverberates throughout the city, reaching even the ears of the sleeping king. Cautiously, the king thinks this may be a feint, an offensive tactical withdrawal to lure an enemy to ground where they can be easily engaged. He sends a scouting party to confirm the report. He could hardly spare this team of soldiers, but their plight would be little worse than that which seemed inevitable should they remain in Samaria. The king and his officer are both suspicious—but the officer questions God’s prophet whereas the king questions the enemy’s intent. By the end of the day, Elisha’s amazing prophecy stood fulfilled, and the officer who doubted this prophetic word is trampled to death in the mad rush to get the food left behind.

Evangelism has been defined as “one beggar telling another where he found bread.” We should be ready and willing to present a witness whenever we have the opportunity. When we ask God to give us opportunities to share our faith and invite people to church, He will give them—it’s up to us to look for and seize the opportunities we’re given.

What do people know about us? They likely know some of our political views, what sports teams we root for, our favorite novels and movies, the kind of music we listen to, our favorite restaurants, our likes and dislikes—but what do they know about our faith? We find it easy to discuss all sorts of personal issues, yet clam up when it comes to religion. Witnessing, or faith-sharing, is something we’re counting on others to do. Christians are sometimes like football fans. Go to an NFL game and you’ll see 22 players down on the field desperately needing a rest and 40,000 people in the stands in need of some exercise! We’re badly needed on the field.

Do we care enough about the plight of others to tell them the good news? Their condition ought to overcome our fears. I don’t believe in shoving the message down people’s throats—I believe in tact—but sometimes we’re so tactful we fail to make contact. We need to clearly communicate our faith in Christ to people who are starving for the Bread of Life and afflicted by the disease of sin.