Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Contemporary)
Even the proud and powerful need grace. In this sermon, Rev. Jon Jordan unpacks the story of Naaman, a Syrian commander whose healing teaches us what it means to receive God’s grace with humility and gratitude. Naaman wanted to earn his healing, but God had other plans—grace could only be received, never achieved.
Naaman’s cleansing in the Jordan River foreshadows the transforming grace found in Christ. Rev. Jordan connects this Old Testament story to Luke 17, where another outsider—a Samaritan leper—returns to give thanks. Both Naaman and the Samaritan remind us that grace always comes to the unlikely, that pride blinds us to God’s gifts, and that gratitude is the natural response of a healed heart.
Naaman’s cleansing in the Jordan River foreshadows the transforming grace found in Christ. Rev. Jordan connects this Old Testament story to Luke 17, where another outsider—a Samaritan leper—returns to give thanks. Both Naaman and the Samaritan remind us that grace always comes to the unlikely, that pride blinds us to God’s gifts, and that gratitude is the natural response of a healed heart.
