Watch Pastor Lauderdale’s Sermon Message titled Has Anyone Seen Gehazi on YouTube.
Last week, we asked a question: Has Anyone Seen Peter?
This week, I want to ask it again. But this time, we’re looking for somebody else.
Has anyone seen Gehazi?
The last time we saw Gehazi, he was right where you would expect him to be—close to the prophet Elisha, close to the miracles, close to the power of God.
Gehazi wasn’t an outsider looking in. He was Elisha’s servant. He had a front-row seat to things other people traveled miles just to experience.
He watched God work.
He watched lives change.
He watched miracles happen.
And yet, somehow, being close to the things of God wasn’t enough to change what was happening inside of him.
That ought to get our attention.
Because Gehazi’s problem wasn’t that he didn’t have access. His problem was what he did with the access God had already given him.
His story can be traced through three words:
Access. Appetite. Aftermath.
Gehazi had access.
In 2 Kings 4 (KJV), he was there when the Shunammite woman came desperately seeking Elisha after her son died. Gehazi saw her pain. He watched Elisha respond. He witnessed God restore life to that child.
Then, in 2 Kings 5 (KJV), Gehazi was there again when Naaman came seeking healing from leprosy.
Naaman was a Syrian commander. He had traveled from another country looking for something Gehazi lived around every day.
Naaman had to make the journey.
Naaman had to humble himself.
Naaman had to dip seven times in the Jordan.
But Gehazi?
Gehazi already had access.
And that is where we need to be careful.
There is a difference between proximity and transformation.
You can sit in church every Sunday and hear the Word.
You can sing in the choir.
You can serve on the usher board.
You can be a deacon, a mother, a minister or even a preacher.
Your hands can be doing the work while your heart is somewhere else.
Gehazi even carried Elisha’s staff. He followed the prophet’s instructions. He had the tools in his hands.
But when Gehazi laid that staff on the dead child, nothing happened. 2 Kings 4:29–31 (KJV)
Why?
Because Gehazi could carry Elisha’s tools without carrying Elisha’s trust.
That is a word for somebody who has been around the things of God for a long time.
Maybe you grew up with a praying grandmother.
Maybe you had a praying mother.
Maybe you have sat under sound preaching and teaching for years.
Maybe you have watched God break addictions, restore families, heal broken hearts and put lives back together again.
You have access other people are still praying for.
Before you go looking somewhere else for what you think you’re missing, look around.
What has God already put within your reach?
Gehazi didn’t lack access.
But he had another problem.
Appetite.
After Naaman was healed, he wanted to reward Elisha. But Elisha refused his gifts. The prophet wanted Naaman to understand that the blessing of God was not for sale.
Gehazi saw it differently.
2 Kings 5:20 (KJV) records his decision:
“I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.”
And that is exactly what he did.
Gehazi chased Naaman down. He lied about why he had come. He took silver and clothing that Elisha had already refused.
But notice something.
Gehazi wasn’t starving.
He wasn’t homeless.
He wasn’t simply trying to survive.
He was already serving in the house of the man of God.
This wasn’t about need.
It was about appetite.
He developed a hunger for something that had not been assigned to him.
That is where Gehazi’s story gets uncomfortable, because all of us have appetites.
The question is whether we are controlling them—or whether they are controlling us.
For some people, it is money.
For somebody else, it is a relationship God never intended for you.
For another person, it is status.
Recognition.
A title.
A position.
The need to be seen.
The need to prove something.
The danger begins when your appetite for what you don’t have becomes stronger than your gratitude for what God has already given you.
Gehazi was standing next to something priceless, but he ran after silver.
He had access to the presence of God, but his appetite convinced him that what he really needed was sitting in Naaman’s chariot.
Be careful what you chase.
Sometimes the thing you think will add something to your life is the very thing that will take something from you.
Gehazi got what he wanted.
But he also got something he never bargained for.
When he returned, Elisha asked him where he had been.
Gehazi lied again.
“Thy servant went no whither.” 2 Kings 5:25 (KJV)
In other words: I didn’t go anywhere.
But Elisha already knew.
Gehazi had grabbed the silver in secret, but God had seen it all.
And then came the aftermath.
The leprosy that had been taken from Naaman was placed upon Gehazi.
Think about that.
Naaman traveled miles trying to get rid of leprosy.
Gehazi was already living in the house where healing was taking place—and went running after the very thing Naaman had come to escape.
He reached for silver.
He came home with leprosy.
That is the aftermath.
Sin always promises you one thing while hiding the price tag.
It tells you what you’re going to get.
It never tells you what you’re going to bring home with you.
And then we reach 2 Kings 5:27 (KJV):
“And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.”
I searched the Scripture because that verse bothered me.
Where is the grace?
Where is Gehazi’s restoration?
Where is the moment when he gets another chance?
Where is the happy ending?
And that is when I remembered Calvary.
If Gehazi’s story were our story, every one of us would be in trouble.
Every one of us has had the wrong appetite at some point.
Every one of us has reached for something we shouldn’t have reached for.
Every one of us has sinned.
But thank God the story did not end in 2 Kings.
God sent His Son.
Jesus went to Calvary.
He bled.
He suffered.
He died.
And early on the third day morning, He got up with all power in heaven and earth in His hands.
That changes the aftermath for you and me.
You don’t have to walk away disgraced.
You can walk away forgiven.
You can walk away clean.
You can walk away healed.
Not because you earned it.
Not because you cleaned yourself up first.
Not because you finally got everything right.
But because grace is a free gift.
Somebody may be saying, “Pastor, you don’t understand. I’m still drinking.”
It’s a free gift.
“I’m still struggling.”
It’s a free gift.
“I’m still caught up in things I know I shouldn’t be doing.”
It is still a free gift.
If you had to fix yourself before you could receive grace, grace wouldn’t be free.
Jesus already paid the price.
So maybe the question today isn’t only:
Has anyone seen Gehazi?
Maybe the better question is:
Where are you?
Are you standing close to everything God has for you but still looking somewhere else?
Has an appetite you haven’t confronted begun pulling you away from the access God has given you?
Are you reaching for something without considering the aftermath?
Wherever you are, you don’t have to stay there.
While the blood is still running warm in your veins, the gift is still being offered.
Grace is available.
Forgiveness is available.
A new beginning is available.
All you have to do is receive it.
The gift is free.
Watch Pastor Lauderdale’s Sermon Message titled Has Anyone Seen Gehazi on YouTube.
