Transcript
All right, in your Bibles will you turn with me to the book of Second Kings, chapter eight? Second Kings chapter eight, beginning at the beginning of the chapter. Second Kings chapter 8 and verse 1.
Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, ‘Arise and go, you and your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn, for the Lord has called for a famine. And furthermore it will come upon the land for seven years.’ So the woman arose and did according to the saying of the man of God. And she went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. It came to pass at the end of seven years that the woman returned from the land of the Philistines. And she went to make an appeal to the king for her house and for her land.
Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, ‘Tell me, please, all the great things Elisha has done.’ Now it happened as he was telling the king how he had restored the dead to life that there was the woman whose son he had restored to life appealing to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, ‘My lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son whom Elisha had restored to life.’ And when the king asked the woman she told him. So the king appointed a certain officer for her, saying, ‘Restore all that was hers and all the proceeds of the field from the day that she left the land until now.’
It was 1936 and Rivka Bromberg was only nineteen years old. But she said goodbye to her family in Poland and she left for a new life in Palestine, which at that time was under the rulership of Great Britain.
After World War II she learned that both her parents had been killed in a Nazi death camp at Treblinka. And she believed that her three brothers and one sister had also been killed. In fact her brother Solomon however had actually escaped to Russia. And he had settled outside of Moscow. And he also believed that he was the sole survivor of the family.
Decades passed. And then in 1995 Solomon’s son Alexander was working with an Israeli company in Russia. And he asked a colleague about tracing missing relatives in Israel. This colleague got in touch with the Jewish Agency that seeks to reunite families that were separated during the war.
So in April of 1996 Rivka Bromberg got a telephone call informing her that her brother Solomon was alive and that he was living in Russia. The result was that Solomon, his wife Anastasia, his two sons Alexander and Michael and their two wives took a trip to Israel to visit Rivka.
On July the twenty-third of 1996 they arrived at Rivka’s apartment in the city of Rehovot in Israel. Tears welled up in Rivka’s eyes as the brother that she thought had died in a Nazi death camp walked toward her.
“Sister,” was the simple greeting that he gave her. And then brother and sister embraced each other for the very first time in sixty years. Both of them were gray-haired. Both of them were walking with canes. And they held each other for a long time.
And in a long, happy embrace Solomon kissed his sister’s hand three times. And he said, “I can’t describe the feeling. I want to cry but it wouldn’t be enough.”
During the visit Rivka looked around at the apartment. She saw her own grandchildren and Solomon’s family. And she exclaimed, “Look at this! Look at this!”
Solomon and his family had arrived in time for breakfast. And although I don’t know what they had to eat that morning I am pretty sure that that was just about the very best breakfast that either one of them had ever had.
A brother and a sister who had lost each other had found each other again.
And isn’t it true, my friends, that during the course of life we lose many things? Some of the things we lose are small and some are large. Some are cheap and some are expensive. Some are trivial and some are important. And some of the things that we lose we find again. And some of the things that we lose we never find again at all.
And maybe it will surprise you this morning to learn that the Bible has some very important things to say about the subject of finding and losing. And in those things that the Bible says there is an important message for each of us.
Which leads me to the question that I would like to ask each of you this morning. And my question is this: If you lose it, will you find it again?
And as you probably easily guess that question is also the title of my message to you today. And I always want to fix it firmly on your mind. So here it is again. My question, my title is, If you lose it, will you find it again?
Now I probably don’t need to tell most of you that during the past two years a lot of things have been lost by America. The stock market has gone down. And Americans have lost literally millions and billions of dollars on the stock market. The economy has been bad. And lots of Americans have lost their jobs.
I was watching TV the other day and they said that homelessness was once again on the rise in the big cities of America. Which means that there are people who have lost places to live. And nobody really knows how long the hard times will last.
And since we are living in times like that I think it’s a lot easier to relate to the experience of the woman that we read about in our passage of Scripture just a few moments ago.
Here is a woman who was confronted by a prophet of God. And who was told that hard times lay ahead. Hard times lay ahead.
Now you probably remember this woman, don’t you? She was a wealthy woman who lived in a place called Shunem in the Northern Kingdom of Israel way back in an earlier stage of Elisha’s ministry.
She had observed that Elisha and his servant Gehazi passed their place of residence frequently. And so she suggested to her husband that they make a little room for Elisha so that whenever he passed by he could turn into that room and he could rest and refresh himself.
And because Elisha appreciated her kindness and concern he announced to her through the word of the Lord that in one year she would bear a son even though she had never borne a son before. And the Word of God came true, of course. And a little baby boy was born.
And then he grew for a few years. And then one day he was out in the field with his father who was supervising the reapers on their farm. And his head began to hurt. And he complained to his father. His father had him carried back to the house where he sat on his mother’s knees until noon and died.
Now Elisha did not happen to be nearby. But this grieving mother had a donkey saddled for her. And in company with one of the servants on the farm she went all the way to Mount Carmel. And she cast herself down at the feet of Elisha.
And in response to her grief and loss Elisha came back to her house. He went into the room where the little boy had been placed dead on a bed. He shut the door behind him. He prayed to the Lord. And God answered his prayer.
And Elisha performed what was probably the greatest miracle of his entire career. Because that little boy was restored to life. And he presented him to his joyful mother.
Now a lot of years have passed since then, folks. And it is very likely that the woman’s husband is dead because he’s not mentioned in this passage of Scripture.
And one day Elisha comes to this woman with a stunning announcement. He says to this woman, “Get up with your household and go live wherever you can live because the Lord has called for a famine. And it’s going to come upon this land for seven years.”
Bombshell, folks. That’s the only way you can describe an announcement like this. A bombshell for this woman.
And you know it wouldn’t have been surprising if the woman had replied, “Oh sir, I could never do that. Now I’ve lived in this comfortable house for so many years. It’s the only home that my son has known. And our whole livelihood depends on the produce that has grown on this farm. And if I walk away from all this right now and lose it I may never get it back again. Oh great prophet of God I don’t want to lose these things. I can’t do what you are asking me to do.”
But according to the Bible apparently she didn’t say anything like that. And I am profoundly impressed that the Bible tells us that this woman arose and did according to the saying of the man of God. She did according to the saying of the man of God.
And she and her household went to the land of the Philistines, hostile territory as far as Israel was concerned. And she lived there for seven long years.
She lost her farm, her house and her livelihood in order to obey the word of God.
And do I need to tell you this morning, my friends, that your commitment to the word of God can sometimes best be measured by what you are willing to lose in order to obey it? What you are willing to lose in order to obey the word of God.
Sometimes Christians say, “I know the Bible says I ought to do this or that. But if I do this or that I may lose my friends. I may lose my job. I may lose the support of my family. I may lose my popularity. I may lose this. I may lose that. I can’t do that. I would lose too much.”
There was a man one time who went out as a missionary to the West Indies. His goal was to reach the natives who lived on those islands. But when he got out there he found that most of them worked out in the fields long hours. And when they got back from their work they were too weary and exhausted to listen to him preach. And all his efforts to reach them were a failure.
Until one day he thought of the passage in Romans 12 verse 1 that talks about presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. And this man went to a plantation owner and he sold himself into slavery to that owner. They sent him out in the fields to work with the natives.
And there at odd times and in various situations he was able to talk to them about the Lord. He had lost his freedom in order to bring men and women to the knowledge of God.
Whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it. And whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it.
So you see this woman lost her farm, her house, her land, her livelihood. And she obeyed the word of God.
Now it is just at this point, my friends, when another character comes on the stage in this story. And his name is Gehazi.
You will probably remember Gehazi. He used to be a servant of Elisha the prophet, waiting on God’s prophet for whatever the prophet might have needed.
But one day Gehazi made a terrible mistake. The rich and powerful Naaman, a commander in the Syrian army, had come to Israel to be healed of his leprosy. And after he was healed Elisha had refused to take any of the money that Naaman had brought with him.
And Gehazi said to himself something like this: “I guess,” says Gehazi, “what a waste of money. That man is so rich he doesn’t need all that money.” So he made up his mind that he would run after the chariot as Naaman was headed home. And he made up a story. He made up a false message from Elisha.
Naaman gave him two talents of silver which he brought back to the house. And he hid it before he went into the presence of Elisha.
And just for the record, folks, it has been estimated that those two talents of silver were worth more than seven hundred thousand dollars in modern money.
When Gehazi went into the presence of Elisha he discovered that God had revealed to Elisha exactly what he had done. And when he came out from the presence of Elisha the leprosy of Naaman now cleaved to the body of Gehazi.
And then is the last time that we hear about Gehazi being in the company of Elisha. I think we can conclude he got fired from his job as a servant of Elisha.
Did he keep the money? I don’t think there was any way that he did. You see Elisha knew that he had lied to Naaman about the money. And I am virtually positive that Elisha would have made arrangements for the money to be returned to Naaman with apologies for the conduct of his servant.
So now Gehazi is out of a job, folks. What does he do?
Well remember Gehazi lived in what we politely refer to as a preliterate culture. Which is a polite way of saying most people in Israel couldn’t read. I would say a vast majority of the Israelites couldn’t read a word.
So there weren’t any bookstores on every other corner. Nobody put out a newspaper. Nobody published a magazine. No TV sets to sit in front of. No movie theaters to go to.
So how do people in a culture like that get their entertainment? Well one of the ways they get it is storytellers, storytellers. And in almost all cultures like that the role of a storyteller is very important.
And it looks from this passage as if Gehazi had become a storyteller. I mean he had some of the best stories in Israel, right? The best thing about these stories? They were all true. He had all of these experiences that he had had in the service of Elisha.
And then he gets a great big break, folks. The king of Israel wants to hear these stories. And so he gives an audience to Gehazi. And Gehazi tells him all of the great things that Elisha has done.
So various folks come to his stories. And you know what I think? I think that is really, really sad. This is a sad picture.
Here is a man who had more exposure to the power of God than anybody in Israel except Elisha himself. Here was a man who had the privilege of serving God by serving God’s prophet. And now he’s lost it all. He’s lost it all. And all he has left are his memories and the stories that he can tell.
And you know something? I think when Christians get into the kingdom of God there will be some of them who are a lot like Gehazi.
Oh yes I know nobody gets into the kingdom of God for any other reason than that Christ died for them and they have believed in Him for the free gift of everlasting life. The Bible says, “By grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.”
By grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
But there are some Christians who live kind of like Gehazi did. They live greedily. They live selfishly. They spend their time making money. They spend their time buying stuff. They spend their time enjoying life.
And when they get to the kingdom of God they’ll probably have a lot of memories. Maybe they’ll remember being in a meeting like this lots of times. Maybe they will remember all of the beautiful messages that they heard from the word of God. Maybe they will remember the wonderful Christians they have known, people like Mr. and Mrs. Gill or Frances Dean or Lewis and Phyllis who are down in Mexico serving the Lord at this very moment.
They will have all these memories and all these stories that they can tell. And not very much reward at all. Because they have lost the life they were supposed to live for God.
There was an old man on a late bus once. And he was sitting in the back of the bus. And he spoke up loud enough for the people in the bus to hear him. And he said, “Did anyone drop a roll of bills wrapped in a rubber band?”
And from up in front of him there came several voices, “I did! I did! I did!”
“Well,” said the old man, “I just picked up the rubber band.”
And I think there are going to be some Christians in heaven who because they’ve lived selfishly what they have left from that will be worth no more than a rubber band.
So Gehazi is doing just about the only thing he can do now, telling stories.
And then something very amazing happens. You see as he gets to the story about how Elisha raised the son of a woman from Shunem he observes that standing there in the audience chamber waiting for her turn to speak to the king, she’s come to ask for her land back, he observes that that very woman is right there with her son.
And so all of his listeners get an illustration here. And he pointed to the woman. And he says, “O my lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son whom Elisha had restored to life.”
Well is this a miracle or what? Yeah it’s a miracle I think. And very often God performs His works in our lives by the perfect way He times things and brings them together.
And of course the king wants verification of this. And so he turns to the woman. And she assures him that she is that woman and that this is the son whom Elisha had raised from the dead.
And then everything was easy, wasn’t it? The king appoints an officer in charge of her case to see to it that she gets her land back, that she gets her house back. And that’s not all. He’s to calculate how much the proceeds of that farm had brought in during the seven years that she lived in the land of the Philistines. And he is to see that all of that is paid back to her so that she recovers it all.
Do you see the contrast here, folks? Here is Gehazi who through greed has lost opportunities he will never find again. And here is a woman who through obedience to the word of God recovers everything that she has lost.
He who finds his life shall lose it. But he who loses his life for My sake shall find it.
And know this. No matter what you lose in the service of God you will always recover it either in this life or in the life to come.
So the question is, If you lose it, will you find it again? And the answer is you will find it again if, if you lose it for God.
There was once a very gifted painter, an Italian who lived in the sixteenth century. His name was Paolo Veronese. And on one occasion he was a guest of a family in their country villa. They gave him a room. But he took that room over as if it was his own room. He wouldn’t let a servant come in. He wouldn’t let the maid come in and make the bed.
And every morning the sweepings from the room were put outside the door so the maid could pick them up. He treated the room as his very own.
And then when he got ready to leave he didn’t even say goodbye to the host and hostess. He went off. And when a servant went into the room he found that the sheets on the bed were missing. So he figured the artist had stolen them and he reported that.
But when they examined the room more closely they found the bed sheets wrapped up in a corner like a kind of a roll. And when they unrolled the bed sheets they found that on the bed sheets he had painted a lovely and exquisite picture. A picture in fact that has become famous and is now known as “Alexander in the Tent of Darius.”
For a little while they had lost their sheets. But he repaid them with an exquisite painting.
Dear Christian friends this morning whatever it is that you may lose for God count on it. God will turn your loss into a beautiful, beautiful picture of obedience and sacrifice for Himself. And you will be honored for that forever in the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Yes, if you lose it for God you will find it again.
Shall we pray? Father teach us that no loss in service to You or in obedience to Your Word is a real loss but rather a gain through Your gracious provision and reward. We ask it in Christ’s name. Amen.