She Had No Name | Ps. Viny Costa

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Alright, good morning, church! Good morning, you're watching online.

I'm truly glad um you're here this morning, and I'm so excited um to share the word of God um with you.

I feel so privileged uh being here this morning, uh worshiping God with you.

My name is Vini.

I'm one of the pastors here at Celebration Orlando, and over the past four weeks we've been diving into scripture through a more theological lens.

But today, in contrast to that, I want to share something much simpler.

Yet I believe it will be a blessing to you.

So I would love to invite you to open your Bible in 2 Kings chapter 5.

2 Kings 5 · chapter mention

2 Kings chapter 5.

2 Kings 5 · chapter mention

We're going to read 15 verses.

So if you don't read your Bible during the week, I think you're covered.

15 verses.

2nd Corinthians, uh, not Corinthians, 2nd Kings chapter 5.

We're gonna start on verse 1.

Are we ready?

All right, now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aaron.

He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given had given victory to Aaron.

He was a valiant, valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.

Now bands of raiders from Aaron had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife.

She said to her mistress, If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his leprosy.

Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said, By all means go, the king of Aaron replied, I will send a letter to the king of Israel.

So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing.

The letter that he took to the king of Israel read, With this letter I'm sending my servant Naaman to you, so that you might may cure him of his leprosy.

As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, Hey my God, can I kill and bring back to life?

Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy?

See how he's trying to pick a quarrel with me.

When Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message Why have you torn your robes?

Have the men come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.

So Naaman went with his horses and cher and chariots and stopped at the door at Elisha's house.

Elisha sent a messenger a messenger to say to him, Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be cleansed.

But Naaman went away angry and said, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over this pot and cure me of my leprosy.

Are not Abana and Farpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?

Couldn't I wash in then and be cleansed?

So he turned and went off in a rage.

Naaman's servant went to him and said, My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it?

How much more then when he tells you, Wash and be cleansed?

So he went down and dipped himself in a Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.

Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God.

He stood before him and said, Now I know that there is no God in all world except in Israel.

So please accept a gift from your servant.

Fifteen verses.

What a powerful narrative.

And I would love to have a conversation with you about all of this today.

I have titled this message, She Had No Name.

She had no name.

Shall we pray together?

Yes?

God, thank you so much for your presence here in this place.

We are ready to receive from you.

We open up our hearts so you can teach us, you can exhort us, you can encourage us, and we ask that you plant inside of us the eternal seeds that will glorify your name.

In your name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Alright, 2 Kings chapter 5 takes place around 150 years before Christ, during a time when Israel is once again living in a context of war.

2 Kings 5 · chapter mention

The nation has chosen to disobey God.

They have decided not to walk in his ways and not to follow his words.

In fact, Israel is in the middle of a very, very dark season.

The people have drifted far from God, they are doing whatever seems right in their own eyes, and as a direct result of not walking with God and not standing where his blessings flow, they begin to suffer the consequences.

Well, one of the consequences of Israel's disobedience is that the northwestern region of Israel is now under attack by Syria.

That part of the nation is at war, and we know very well war is not good.

War brings death.

War brings slavery.

War tears families apart.

Israel is in conflict, and they are just reaping the consequences of living apart from God.

That's exactly where the story we just read begins.

Israel being attacked by Syria.

Now, bear with me, I want to invite you to imagine this narrative as if it were a movie playing out in front of you.

The nation is shaken, the tension is high, the background is war, and now camera zooms in, and we start to meet the main characters of our narrative.

So again, I would love to invite you to take a look at the cast of our biblical narrative, the one we just read.

Our first character in our story or in our movie, if you will, is Naaman.

He's the big deal.

He's a very important guy.

In fact, in verse 1, the Bible tells us that he is the commander of the Syrian army.

He is a man of honor.

He is a war hero, a trusted voice, close to the king himself.

He's the kind of man everyone looks up to.

That's the guy who wins battles.

We're safe because we have Naaman on our side.

He is respected, accomplished, courageous.

Everything about him says strength, power, victory.

But then, right there in verse one comes our first shocking twist.

He was a leper.

Courageous, strong man, war hero.

But he was a leper.

Leprosy, friends, in biblical times, was the most feared disease.

There was no cure.

He carried not only physical pain, but deep social isolation.

Lepers were cut out from community.

They were seen as unclean.

So please watch the movie with me.

Now we have Naaman, this strong, influential, victorious man.

And beneath all that armor, he's carrying a hidden condition.

He's sick, he's broken, he cannot fix it.

There's nothing he can do about it.

Are you guys here with me?

Are you watching the movie?

In verse 2, the cameras shift, the scene changes.

We are taken into Naaman's house, and there, almost hidden in the background, is a young girl.

A slave, taken from the land of Israel during the Syrian raid.

She finds herself in a different country, serving in the home of the very man who led the army that destroyed her people.

She's in the house.

She's part of the daily life of that family.

She watches everything from the inside.

She sees the fear in Naaman's eyes when the symptoms get worse.

She hears the quiet sobs behind closed doors.

She notices the tension is building, the instability, the desperation who's growing in that home.

And then she speaks up.

And she says, if only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria.

Oh, thank you, LT.

He would cure him of his leprosy.

Just nineteen words.

That's all it took.

But somehow, in those few simple words, there was hope.

Picture the scene with me, my friends.

Watch the movie with me.

Naaman, the powerful warrior, the celebrated hero, is no longer on the battlefield.

He's sitting in silence, not in armor, but in vulnerability, at home, surrounded by his own weakness.

And yet, he listens, and he listens to the word of a young slave girl.

So he goes to the only man who can authorize his journey to Israel to find healing.

The king of Syria.

That brings us to the second character in our movie.

Ben Hadad, the king of Syria, a powerful man, a wealthy ruler.

Naaman approaches him and says, Hey king, hi, there is a young girl in my house.

She's from Israel.

And she said, There is a prophet in Israel that can help me, he can heal me.

Ben Hadad goes, Yeah, man, sure.

All right, let me do this.

I'm gonna write a letter for him.

So you can take him, but not only that, Naaman is now going to Israel armed with a royal letter and carrying a gift fit for a king.

10 talents of silver, 6,000 shekels of gold, ten festive garments.

And let me tell you this, friends, I did the math.

And we are talking about roughly 4.2 million dollars.

Naaman is literally riding from Syria to Israel with 4.2 million dollars on his horse.

And finally, he arrives at the third character in our movie, ladder in hand, and presents it to King Joran.

But here's where things get a little confusing.

Bear with me.

You see, when Naaman talked with the king of Syria, he said and he explained, he was very clear, he said, There is a prophet in Israel who can heal me.

But apparently Ben Hadad wasn't fully listening, maybe he was distracted on TikTok or something.

Because the letter he writes to the king of Israel doesn't mention the prophet at all.

He simply says, I'm sending you my servant Naaman, please heal him, take care of him.

The King Joran reads the letter and he freaks out.

And it's it's where we get a bit of comic relief in our movie right now, right?

Like a royal meltdown is happening right now.

King Joran tears his clothes in despair and he says, And my God, can I kill and bring to life?

What am I supposed to do with you?

This is a trap.

He just wants to, he just wants an excuse to start a war with the entire nation.

We have a Pentecostal in the room.

Glory to God.

Elisha, the fourth character in our movie, is ready to jump in.

He's not in a palace, he's not even in a scene, he's at his house somewhere in Samaria, but somehow, don't ask me how, Elisha hears that the king tore his robes.

How did he hear that?

I have no idea.

Maybe he heard that because, well, he's a prophet, right?

So Elisha sends a message to the palace to the King Joran to carrot three, and he says, Why are you panicking?

Send Naaman to me.

He will know there is prophet in Israel.

Come on.

This is getting so interesting.

Watch the movie with me.

So now Naaman sets off again, this time to Elisha's house.

He knocks on the door and hears the second twist.

Ready?

Elisha doesn't even come to the door.

He doesn't even say, Hey, good morning.

He doesn't greet him, he doesn't shake his hand, he doesn't make eye contact.

Instead, he sends a messenger with a short and simple instruction.

Go wash yourself in the Jordan River seven times.

Naaman is furious.

This is it.

No ceremony, no prayer, no fasting, no honor.

And you want me to go and dip myself in that river?

There are way better rivers back in Damascus, my my townhome.

Naaman storms off in anger.

And here's the irony.

Pay attention to this.

He was willing to give 4.2 million dollars as a gift, but he was not willing to dip in a river seven times.

His pride was greater than his generosity.

How crazy.

After a conversation with his servant, he goes to the Jordan, he dips once, twice, three times, all the way to seventh.

And on a seventh dip, his skin is restored, his body healed, his life is transformed.

Blessed be the name of our God.

Naaman returns to Elisha's home, this time not as a proud general, but as a transformed man.

And he says something incredible.

He says, Now I know that there is no God in all earth except in Israel.

Naaman found way more than just healing.

Naaman found a God.

And then do you know what he wants to do?

He wants to give Elisha a gift.

Do you remember what the gift was?

4.2 million dollars.

And then Elisha goes, no, thank you.

I'm good.

Elisha was like, what I have is not for sale.

You can just go.

Bro, if I was there.

If I was Naaman's servant, I would for sure say we'll take two million.

The rest is yours, but we'll take two million.

Yes.

Naaman leaves healed, humbled, and changed.

This whole narrative is filled of fascinating characters, right?

We've got Naaman, the war hero, a man of influence.

We got Ben Hadad, a wealthy and strategic king.

We've got Joran, the weak king of Israel who took Israel who took took tear his clothes at the first sign of pressure.

We have Elisha, the prophet of God, who doesn't even open the door when a national hero knocks.

Fascinating.

Which character is the most important one?

Who would you pick as your favorite?

Who would you follow on Instagram?

I agree with my friend.

I believe the most important character in this entire story is someone we almost missed.

She had no name.

She doesn't speak more than one sentence.

She is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible, but without her, none of this would have happened.

A young, wounded, slaved girl, taken from her home, ripped from her culture, living in a foreign land with a foreign power under a foreign power, with no rights, no hope.

But even in that place, she chooses to speak hope, she chooses to be a blessing.

She looks at her master's suffering and says, if only he could meet the prophet in Samaria, he would be healed.

Just 19 words, but those 19 words changed the story of Naaman, changed the key the plan of kings, and revealed the power of God.

Listen, she didn't have wealth, she didn't have a title, she didn't have a platform or a position, but what she did have, she gave.

This lady girl, some wonderful bikes, some ladies gender meant nothing.

She had no ring, no rammates, no platform, but she generated something that everyone else in that house lacked.

And I need to say this to you, church, today.

Being a blessing is not trendy in today's world.

What is popular is being blessed.

That's what we want.

But this girl chose to be a blessing right where she was.

She did not wait for better circumstances.

She decided to be a blessing exactly where she was.

I have four little things that I wanted to share with you about her.

They encourage me so much.

And hopefully, this is a blessing to you too.

The very first thing I see here is that she had no name, but she was gracious.

She had no name, but she was gracious.

Can you repeat after me?

She was gracious.

Because come on, let's be honest.

She had every reason to be bitter.

She had been taken from her home, separated from her family, stripped of her future, turned into a slave in a different country, but instead of letting defy her, instead of ruining herself in resentment, she chose to respond with grace and kindness.

Come on.

I think the majority of us would do that, right?

That's good.

Now you're tasting your own poison.

But instead of doing that, she spoke up.

She chose grace over revenge, hope over hate.

She teaches us that pain must never become an excuse to stay stuck in bitterness.

Bitterness rots the soul.

It clouds our vision.

She could have kept quiet.

She could have watched Naaman die, but her choice to let go of bitterness saved a life, started a miracle, changed a nation.

She had no name, but she was gracious, and it's the same true for you, my friends.

You might have a painful story, a broken relationship with your parents, a wound from your childhood, a deep disappointment with your church.

That's still raw.

But the question is, will you let that pain define you, or will you decide to be gracious and a blessing?

Bitterness will reshape who you are.

And if you let it take root, it will change your identity, your perspective, and your future.

And I know we have a lot of people here in this room.

You probably have a crazy story.

And you probably would tell me, Vinny, you have no idea.

You don't know what I've been going through.

And I probably don't.

And I'm sorry.

I'm really sorry for all the hard moments you have you have faced and all the challenges.

Maybe you're here and you say, Vinny, I haven't spoken with my dad for 15 years.

Or Vinny, you have no idea of my what my mother-in-law did.

Vinny, you say that because you don't know my boss.

But let me tell you something, friends.

The question is not who they are and what they did.

The question is, are you going to keep holding on to that bitterness or are you going to choose, like this girl did, to be gracious anyway?

Because bitterness builds walls, but grace opens doors.

She had no name, but she was gracious.

The second thing I see is she had no name, but she was a full of compassion.

Can you repeat that?

Fool of compassion.

Yes.

Naaman's situation, his pain, his disease, the suffering in that household.

And she didn't study that's not my problem.

She didn't study that.

No, she felt it.

She was moved by it.

And more than that, she liked only compension.

It's not just a feeling.

Compassion is not pity.

It's not just empathy.

Compassion moves you.

Compassion does something.

And Luke chapter 7, Jesus is giving into his pity, and then he sees a funeral.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

And then he sees the widow.

And then he realized that that funeral was about her only son.

And the Bible says Jesus was moved with compassion.

Jesus stops.

He speaks to the woman and he raises the boy from the dead.

Compassion takes action.

The girl saw Neaman's condition and said, I need to do something about it.

I cannot stay silent.

How many times do we see pain and we don't have to?

We drive past people on the street.

We hear stories of suffering.

We feel something in our heart.

But we move on.

Let me share with you a personal testimony.

Years ago, when I say years ago, I'm talking about 18 years ago, I traveled through some of the poorest regions of Brazil.

And they I arrived at one house just moments after a father in complete desperation had given his daughter to have sex with a truck driver in exchange for a bag of beans because his family was starving.

On that same trip, I saw a child choosing moldy bread instead of candy because hunger was louder than pleasure.

That trip changed me, my friends.

And I remember praying to God at the end of the trip and saying, I don't ever want to live like I don't care.

I don't ever want to live like I don't care.

Compassion means doing something and not just praying about it.

Because we are really good at praying about it.

And let me tell you something, we have to pray about it.

But if we all we do if all we do is pray and not act, people will still go to bed hungry.

Compassion moves you.

A few weeks ago, I was unloading a truck in downtown.

I was almost done, sweaty, almost done.

And then a homeless man came up to me and said, and it was kind of funny because he said, Hey man, hey man, let me help you.

I'm strong.

That's exactly what he did.

And then I said, Bro, listen, I've got this.

It's I only two more bags and I'm done.

I'm good.

And then he looked in my eyes and he said, I'm hungry.

And then in that moment, God reminded me, I don't want to leave like I don't care.

So I told him, sure, bro.

Do you think you can take care of those two bags?

He said, Absolutely.

He took care of the bags.

I gave him money, he hugged me, he kissed my face, and he said, Thank you, because now I can eat compassion.

She had no name, but she was full of compassion.

My third point, she had no name, but she was full of faith.

Can you repeat after me?

Full of faith.

And I love this about her.

She doesn't hesitate, she doesn't say, well, maybe if the prophet is available, maybe if you go on the right day, maybe if he's feeling spiritual, maybe it will work.

No, no, no, no.

Just simply, if my master would just go to the prophet in Samaria, he would be healed.

She speaks with the certainty of some woman who knows who her God is.

And it's amazing how being a person of faith puts you in a better position to bless others.

Peter had been fishing all night, caught nothing.

He's tired, he's sore, he's coming back to shore, probably discouraged, and Jesus is standing there like, hey bro, what's up?

How was it?

How was the fishing?

And Peter says, terrible, bro.

Didn't catch a thing, no cap.

That's my Gen Z, Peter, by the way.

It was bad.

Didn't catch a thing.

Jesus replied, Well, go back out.

But this time, cast your nets on the other side.

Now Peter could have said, Jesus, I'm good.

I'm exhausted.

I have other plans.

Peter could have made an excuse.

But you know what Peter says?

Because you say so, I will.

Faith is obedience that doesn't make sense.

Faith is trusting God beyond logic and comfort.

Faith is saying, if you say it, I will do it.

And that's what this girl had.

I don't I don't know about you, but I need to grow in this area.

I need to grow in this area.

I want this kind of faith.

Because a heart full of faith is a heart ready to bless.

She was gracious.

She was full of compassion.

She was full of faith.

She had no name, but she was generous.

So generous.

She didn't have what Ben Hadad had.

She had no gold, no silver, no power.

She wasn't like Naaman, respected, influential.

She wasn't like Elisha with a prophetic anointing.

But she had something to give.

She had information.

She said, guys, I know something you guys don't know.

There is a prophet in Samaria, and he can change your life.

God will use him to change you.

Do you know how we call this?

Generosity.

Generosity isn't just about money.

It's about sharing what you have, even if what you have is small.

What you share, or when you share what you have, you bless so many people.

I'm talking about a heart posture.

This girl gave hope, she gave direction, she shared her faith because she was generous.

And you were and you were there thinking, oh Elijah.

No, Elijah is important, but what about this girl?

So gracious, full of compassion, full of faith.

She was generous.

And to wrap this up, she had no name, but she was a missionary.

She was a missionary.

She was in a foreign country, speaking a different language, living in a completely different culture, and even there, in exile, in hardship, in pain, she spoke of her God.

She said that there is a prophet in Samaria, God uses him, and if you go there, you will find more than just healing, you will find God.

Let me tell you this, my friends.

You are not in a winter park, a vido, a popka, Claremont, downtown, Kissimi, Celebration, Samura, Maitland.

It feels like the Holy Spirit is in the room now, right?

Because the pad is on.

You are not in Lake Mary.

Wherever you live, you are not there by accident.

You are there with a purpose.

To do what this girl did, to tell someone about this God who can transform lives.

She was a missionary and you are too.

Of course, if we can go to Cuba, come in.

Zimbabwe for sure.

But it's more than that.

It's being a missionary exactly where you are.

She had no name but she was gracious.

She had no name but she was full of compassion.

She had no name but she was full of faith.

She had no name but she was generous.

She had no name, but she was a missionary.

I believe God is calling you and me to the same, to be a blessing as we grow in his five characteristics here and now.

No excuses.

You have no name like this girl.

But like her, I want to be more gracious.

I want to be full of compassion, full of faith.

I want to be generous, and I want to be a missionary who receives this word.

Let me tell you something.

LT.

This is so weird, but LT is a girl in the back controlling all of this.

Just so you if you could put up the surf day's light for one second.

Of course, my message is not connected with this, with the serve day.

But we said this girl was full of compassion because she did something.

We have an opportunity in front of us to do something that is precious to serve OCC.

And we're going to pack 200, 200 backpacks.

That's all they need for the entire year.

We have the supplies, we have the backpacks.

Do you do you know what we need?

People.

People that like this girl want to say, I'm full of compassion, I'm ready to jump in.

I don't want to live like I don't care.

Would you mind closing your eyes for one second?

Thank you, LT.

I want to ask you a couple of questions before we get out of here.

Maybe you're here and you and you and you think, you know, you know what, Vinny?

I need to grow in one of these areas, or I need to grow in two of these areas.

Vinny, I need to grow in three of these areas, in four of these areas.

Vini, I need to grow in all.

Everything.

You are not alone.

Maybe you're here and you're thinking, I want to let go of bitterness.

I want to be more gracious.

Maybe you're here and you're thinking, I need to be more compassionate.

I need to not only pray about it, but do something about it.

Maybe you're here and you and you say, like this girl, I want to be faithful.

I'm struggling with my faith and I need to grow in that area.

Maybe you're here and you say, you know what?

I need to be more generous.

Not with my money, not with my talent, not with my time, but with what I have.

Everything.

Maybe you're here and you're thinking, well, my life is fine, but I need to be more challenged in the in the area of being a missionary.

Where I am, I haven't shared my faith with others.

I'm not asking you to come to the front today, but I'm gonna ask you to lift your hands in a second.

If you are here this morning and you recognize that you need to grow in at least one of these areas, would you mind lifting up your hands for one second?

Amen.

Just so you know, this is 99% of us.

We're all here together, trying to grow with God and in God.

But before we pray together, I would love to give you an opportunity for you to pray.

And you can just tell God, hey God, I want to be more gracious, I need to be more compassionate, I need to grow in the faith, I want to be a missionary, whatever I am.

I want to be more generous, I want you to give an opportunity to just have a conversation with God and tell him what you need in the area you need him to work in.

We don't want to be like the king of Syria or Israel.

God, we don't want to be like Elijah right now.

We want to be like this girl because this girl looks like you, Jesus.

We want to let go of bitterness, resentment.

We want to be more gracious.

Please work inside of us, God.

We want to be more compassionate, we want to live like we care.

Of course, we will pray about it, but more than this, we're gonna do we're going to do something about it.

Help us, help us to have a heart full of compassion like Jesus.

God, we want to be faithful.

Would you please help us?

We want to grow in this area, we want to overflow in this area, over our kids, our family, our spouses, our church, our friends, because we know that somebody faithful is in a better position to bless others.

God, we want to be more generous.

Everything we have doesn't belong to us, everything we have is yours.

Help us, teach us how to be good stewards of what is yours and challenge us to be more generous.

And I'm not talking about money, God, I'm talking about a posture of our hearts.

She gave what she had.

God, we want to be a missionary like she was, and we want to talk about you not only in Cuba or Venezuela, not only in Ecuador or Senegal.

We want to talk about you right here and right now.

And it doesn't need to be weird, God.

It's just let your love overflow from the inside of us and touch people around you, around us.

Let us grow in that area.

Thank you for your presence.

We ask you, Holy Spirit, as we drive back home, as we're going to have lunch or do any other thing, we ask you stay with us, be with us.

Keep ministering in our hearts.

Keep planting inside of us your seeds.

Eternal seeds for your glory.

We want to grow in you.

And as a community, we want to be impactful like this girl was.

In your name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Would you please put your hands together for God?

Thank you for joining us to learn more about Celebration Orlando, a church devoted to reaching the lost, equipping the found, and helping the hurting.

Follow us on social media using the handle at celebrationorl or visit our website, celebrationorl.org.