Last week, I was studying the story of Naaman and Elisha from 2 Kings chapter five. It’s a great story of healing and of God’s mission beyond the borders of Israel. His renown spreads as Naaman, a pagan from Syria, becomes a worshipper of YHWH. You get a glimpse of God’s mission and his intention to bless the world through Israel, a truth that was explicitly stated in God’s covenant with Abraham – “through you all the nations of the earth will be blessed.”

All of that is incredible. But I was particularly struck by a character in the story that doesn’t even have a name. She is just referred to as ‘a young girl’. The young girl, a slave taken from her home in Israel as a slave by a Syrian raiding party, is the unnamed hero of the story. This Israelite girl serves in Naaman’s household, waiting on his wife. She demonstrates a resilient faith and a true love, even for her captor, by pointing him to Elisha, a prophet of God who could heal Naaman of his leprosy.

I mentioned all of that in the sermon last Sunday.

What I didn’t have time to explore, but has been incredibly impactful to me, is how this story emphasizes humility. Naaman needed to learn some humility. That is often highlighted as a key point of the narrative.

But the young slave girl highlights the need for another kind of humility. She isn’t even name, but she pointed Naaman to God. She was instrumental in the story – without her sharing the good news, there’d be no story. But we don’t even get her name.

Are we ok with that? Are we ok being forgotten as long as people are helped and God is glorified? I think that is something we need to dwell on. We live in a culture that constantly encourages us to build our brand. Young people, and this is nothing new, want to make a name for themselves, make their mark on the world, etc. And making a mark is good – but make it a cruciform mark, a mark that points people to Christ, not to yourself!

I have a sticky note on my computer monitor. It reads, “preach in such a way that you’ll be forgotten, but Christ will be unforgettable.” That statement is aspirational. I don’t always succeed in that goal, but it is my ambition. Do I make that my ambition in life beyond the pulpit? Not as much as I’d like.

Maybe we need to replace “preach” with “lead,” “serve,” or “live.”

Live like the little girl who pointed people to the salvation of God, but whose name has been lost to history. Serve like John the Baptist, who pointed a finger at Jesus and said, ” He must increase, I must decrease.

picture from Matthias Grunewald, noted for John’s long finger pointed away from himself to Jesus.