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Just A Poor Little Servant Girl
By Bob Chance | February 19, 2006
Dr. D. Robert Chance, Senior Minister
In Honor of Rafael Del Valle
We may not be “kings” and “queens” or among those thought to be the “power brokers” of the world but if we are faithful to God’s will and do what is right in God’s eyes we can have an immense influence in life.
2 Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3
She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
2 Kings 5:2-3 / NIV
The Biblical Story :
Naaman is a great military commander. He is an important man. To his great dismay he is stricken with leprosy. Leprosy in Naaman’s day was a dreaded and incurable disease. To have leprosy was worse than awful — it was for all intent and purposes the end of life as he knew it. Much to his surprise he received important advice from the most unlikely source imaginable. A little servant girl of his wife suggested that he go to Israel and go to a great prophet that she knew about who was named Elisha. Naaman went to his king and got permission to go among the Israelites and seek out the great prophet. Naaman was told by Elisha to dip himself 7 times in the Jordan and he would be healed. Naaman was a proud man and he already humbled himself to even listen to a servant girl and to go among foreigners and foreign prophets and ask for healing. He could lower himself no more. He refused. Naaman’s servants convinced him to give it a try and against his better judgment Naaman dipped himself 7 times in the Jordan. Miracously, he was healed.
The surprising person in the great story to me isn’t Naaman. Nor, is it either of the Kings in the story. Nor is it Elisha. These are all key characters in the story but the one who draws my attention today is the unnamed servant girl who dared to tell Naaman’s wife and eventually Naaman that there was a great prophet who could cure him in another land.
The little servant girl, a person of no power, no prestige, no influence, no connections is my heroine in the story. When we let God use us, no matter how unimportant we think we are, no matter how little power we have, no matter how tall or how short we stand in the world’s eyes, we have immense power and influence in God’s eyes.
If you think you can’t make a difference why don’t you think about the story in the scripture today? Ask the little servant girl in the story from today’s scripture. She was just a little servant girl but she made a difference.
Never underestimate the power of your place in God’s world!
If you think you’re too small to be effective,
you’ve never been in bed with a mosquito
Mass media
Big Government
Big Military
Automatic phone systems (press 1, press 2, goodbye”)
Multinational Corporations
We can feel helpless,
Insignificant
Only one little fish in a big ocean.
What can 1 person do?
What difference can I make?
I’m only one?
I. God uses everyone in life — not only “even’ but “especially” the people we may think are the least like likely candidates.
A. A story of a little man from Mexico who was a giant of an American.
Rafael Del Valle was a poor little man from Mexico.
He wasn’t much over 5′ tall.
He spoke poor English.
He played the ukulele.
He entered our church long ago as a small, diminutive, seemingly unimportant little man with no power, no influence, no place of prominence, no influence in our community.
He is dead now. He was only in our church for a short time.
But, I will never forget him. He showed me as much as anyone I ever knew what the pride of being an American citizen meant.
He told he was a “wetback”. I didn’t use the word, he did. It was an ugly word. It is a word that is degrading and dehumanizing. But, Rafael told me how he swam the Rio Grande and was called an “illegal” for many years but was eventually given the chance to become an American.
What I took for granted Rafael del Valle took with great pride and effort. He spoke with great pride about learning the basic principles of being an American and he recited the Pledge of Allegiance from his heart. He was proud to recite the pledge. He spoke the words with a broken accent but they clearly emanated from his heart.
I learned more about the pride and joy of being an American from Rafael Del Valle than anyone I had ever known. He taught me the pride of being an American.
Just as the little chamber maid was a person who wasn’t on man’s list but was an important woman on God’s list Rafael Del Valle was a small man in the world’s eyes yet a very large man in God’s eyes.
B. God uses people we wouldn’t think of using — maybe even you.
The servant girl was a nobody.
She held no position of power.
She had no influence.
She was at the bottom rung of life in Aram. She was just a poor little servant girl. She was slave. She had no status.
God uses everyone.
God sometimes uses the very people we ignore.
God sees differently than we see.
We saw a poor little servant girl who was a nobody.
God saw a brave and strong young lady who spoke up about someone who just might have been able to heal her master’s illness.
God often uses the most unlikely of candidates to accomplish his mission.
God often uses the very one the world would never call on.
God will use the janitor just as surely as he will use the CEO in the big plush office on the 7th floor.
God will us the custodian who cleans the floors just as surely as he will use the professors at the Seminary.
Just this week I was talking with a minister who graduated from Lexington Theological Seminary in 1961-64. He was talking about the professors who played a central role in his theological education. Since I went to Lexington in 1968-72 some of the same people were on my list of influential people. The amazing and beautiful thing was we both mentioned Cary Carter, the custodian at Lexington.
Never forget that God uses you.
Never underestimate your influence or your reach for God.
Never think you aren’t important in God’s plan.
God uses us all!
We all stand before God.
Rich and poor alike, we all stand before God.
We all live to face life — everything that comes in life — good and bad alike.
God will use all of us.
II. We see people in terms of their position or their rank life but God sees us all in terms of our heart.
A. America is a land of where people are seen in terms of their power, their influence, their wealth, their status in life.
America is a land of star power.
B. A story of being an important person in an important place.
I went to an Executive Board meeting of the National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts several weeks ago. It was on the top floor of a historic and old building one block from the White House. The street floor housed one of the most impressive and traditional looking banks I’ve ever seen. It was like stepping back in time. It was beautiful. In order to get on the upper floors you had to be on a special list and go through a security station with guards.
The Guard checked my name against a master list. Some of the names on that list were among the “big hitters” of the D.C. area. I felt special to be on the list. I’m not a very important person but I felt important as my name showed up on the list. After it was verified I was on the special list another guard escorted me through the big glass doors and on to the elevator.
He saw to it that I got off on the top floor where the meeting was being held. I looked out a window and was looking down on the White House. It was impressive. The room was filled with important people. I felt important. I felt “up there”.
God could care less whether I was on the list of important people or not. God doesn’t look at the dark wood panels and the big glass doors. God’s list is based on different things than man’s list.
C. We see the outside — God sees the inside.
We meet someone and think maybe they are a bank president, or a lawyer or doctor.
They must be an important person.
God sees people in terms of the goodness of their heart.
God sees people in terms of the clarity of their spirit.
We see people in terms of who they know
God sees people in terms of who they are.
We someone in terms of their title. We see “Rev.”, or “Dr.” or “Mayor”, or “Boss” or “Col”.
God sees people in terms of their openness to Him.
D. We see a poor little servant girl — God saw a great and influential woman.
A young girl who became a chamber maid of the wife of a great military commander.
We read the story of a great military commander, two great kings and a great prophet and it would be easy to look over a poor little servant girl.
The little servant girl wasn’t on man’s list of important people — she wasn’t on the special list to go the places of influence but she was on God’s list.
If you had asked for a list of the important people in the king’s court the little servant girl wouldn’t have been on it.
But clearly she was on God’s list.
Whose list do you want to be on in life?
Is it more important to you to be a big man or a big woman on man’s list or on God’s list?
In whose eyes do you want to be counted?
Man’s list is one thing — God’s list is quite another.
Whose list do you find your name on?
III. We each have a far reach — when we let God into our lives and when we let him lead us wherever we may be in life.
A. You have a role to play in God’s grand plan.
1. Open yourself to God to be used by Him.
When you speak to others of God’s great love and grace in their lives you are fulfilling that role.
When you open your ears to His voice you are fulfilling that role.
When you listen carefully for his voice you are fulfilling that role.
When you place yourself in touch with his presence you are opening the door to be used by God.
When you yield yourself to Him you are putting yourself on his list of people He can use.
2. Recognize how God uses us all in the “little, seemingly ordinary” daily things of life.
God could be using you to speak to a visitor and welcome him into the church.
God could be using you to make a call on the shut-in who is lonely.
God could be using you to send the note of love and concern to someone who just suffered a large loss in life.
God could be calling on you to step forward and be his hands, his voice, his heart.
3. Take risks for God — He can use you only when you have courage.
The little servant girl took a big risk when she spoke up about the great prophet she knew back in her home.
She stepped out in faith and spoke of what she knew to be true and right.
What about you?
Do you speak up for the Lord?
Do you invite others to church?
Do you say “yes” to God when you are invited to a position of ministry in the church?
4. Let God use you right where you are.
You may not think you are in a position of power or influence but let God use you right where you are.
“Brighten the corner where you are”.
“Bloom where you are planted”.
You will be surprised that you influence as many lives as you do when you let God touch you right you are.
What about you?
Do you let God use you?
Do you stand tall against those who would demean or criticize or belittle ?
We are each able to let God use us — the final choice is ours.
Closing
Just this week I was talking with a minister who graduated from Lexington Theological Seminary in 1961-64. He was talking about the professors who played a central role in his theological education. Since I went to Lexington in 1968-72 some of the same people were on my list of influential people. The amazing and beautiful thing was we both mentioned Cary Carter, the custodian at Lexington.
Never forget that God uses you.
Never underestimate your influence or your reach for God.
Never think you aren’t important in God’s plan.
Naaman was a great military commander.
His wife was a great woman.
His king was a great king.
The king of Israel was a great king.
Elisha was a great prophet.
God used the little servant girl to accomplish his will.
God uses us all!
He uses you too.
We all stand before God.
Rich and poor alike, we all stand before God.
We all live to face life — everything that comes in life — good and bad alike.
God will use all of us.
Topics: Sermons |
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