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    Sep 16, 2018

    Give Us A King

    Passage: 1 Samuel 8:1-22

    Speaker: Rev. Barbara Parnell

    Category: Discipleship

    If Jesus is our King we need to yield all of our lives to Him, not just the easy things, but all of our thoughts, words, actions, ideas, all that we are and hope to be. As we become more like Jesus, Jesus becomes our true King!

    Last week we began to look at the story of Samuel. You may remember that Vivian told you that it’s a long story in the Bible. She talked about Samuel and his call by God as a young child. Today we find Samuel all grown up. For many years Samuel has been a good leader for Israel. He was a judge, meaning he brought law and order. He brought law and order in two ways - first by judging and secondly, by keeping the people in touch with God through his word and prayer. Samuel called people back to God. Samuel also called on God to have mercy on Israel and save them. Most likely years of relative peace and perhaps some prosperity have gone by. The ark of the covenant has come home and there have been blessings, and an outpouring of God's blessing upon His people. God has been faithful to His covenant. God has kept His promises. 

    Before we look closer at the scripture this morning, keep these questions in mind. We’ve been taught to pray and ask God for situations in our lives, for people, and even sometimes for the desires of our heart. How careful are you when you pray to God for something? Do you truly consider what you’re asking before you ask? Have you considered what might happen if you kept requesting the same thing and God finally granted your request, but with that request came consequences? 

    Our scripture today begins by telling us that Samuel is now an old man. Things aren’t going so well now. He’s appointed his sons as judges. Perhaps he’s done this to help share the load, but it hasn’t worked out too well. Being a judge isn’t hereditary. His sons aren’t at all like Samuel. They’re rascals. They have accepted bribes and perverted justice. The people confronted Samuel and presented their case. You’re old, your sons aren’t following in your footsteps, we know what you should do. Give us a king! Appoint a king for us, so we can be like all the other nations. When Israel thought things weren’t going right, they did what we tend to do. They looked around to see what everyone else was doing. That’s what we need! What they have. Look! They have a modern form of government. No judges! They’ve got kings. Kings rule. That’s what we need. Give us a king, Samuel. 

    The people’s request for a king wasn’t in and of itself wrong. The problem with their request was the kind of king they were looking for. They wanted a king who would visibly symbolize power and security and be able to lead them into battle. Their idea of a perfect king came from their desire to be like all the nations around them. But they weren’t like those nations. They were supposed to be a holy nation. God’s people. Trusting God, listening to God’s Word, praying to God. And God promised that if they did that, they would have all that they needed, blessing and security and everything. Samuel was upset with their request. He’d been serving the people for a long time and now he’s old and they throw him aside. He took it personally. He felt rejected, but he did what he always did. He prayed to God. And God assured Samuel that while they didn’t want to take his wisdom because he was old, that they were really rejecting God. And their rejection wasn’t new to God. They had left God for other gods before. God tells Samuel to let them have their way but to spell out how this new king would operate. Samuel tells the people that their request for a king means one thing. This king will take. The cost of this new kingship will be high. 

    As I’ve studied this scripture there are several things we might take away from it today: 

    Israel looked at their neighbors and they wanted to be like them. They decided if they were going to be successful that they needed to be like their neighbors. They didn’t want to be different. They wanted a king so that they could be like the nations around them. This should strike a chord in our own hearts, as it’s something we live with every day when we so often look at our friends, our neighbors and we want what they have. We play the “if only” game. If only I could have that job, or that car, or that house, everything would be perfect. Or if only I could go to that school, be on that team. Or you fill in the “if only” blank! And so we also want to be like our neighbors. 

    But Israel takes the looking at their neighbor and wanting to be like them a step farther. In asking for a king, they want to put their trust in someone other than God. And God says in vs. 7-9, “This is what these people have been doing ever since I brought them out of Egypt. Ever since I brought them out of Egypt I've blessed them. I've showered them with mercy after mercy after mercy, but they keep turning away from me. They keep putting their faith and trust in someone or something else rather than Me.” This is really idolatry. And it’s a pattern with Israel. Israel had a king already. God! But their new idea of a king doesn’t have God in the picture at all. They don’t even mention God. Their idea of a perfect king, of course, comes straight from their wanting to be like the nations around them. And that means rejection of God! Will you put your trust in God or in kings? That is a question we need to answer, as well as the Israelites. As Christians we’re called to put our trust in God and to follow Jesus, aren’t we? And yet, if we’re honest, that’s not unlike us today as we often put our trust in others…….like even Presidents or other political leaders, when we are really to put our trust in God alone. As believers we have a different agenda to follow, a different lifestyle to live, not a worldly agenda or lifestyle. We’re called upon to be holy, to follow a different king. Israel was called to be different than other nations, then the world around them. And we’re called to be different. Where the world shows hatred, we’re to show love. Where the world watches out for #1, we’re to help others. Where the world wants to be served, we are to serve. Where the world holds grudges, we are to forgive. 

    A second thing to take from this scripture is that Israel asks for something against God’s will. Even when they’re told what will happen with this king. He will take, take, take. He will take your sons, take your daughters, take the best of your fields, a tenth of your grain, your servants, the best of your cattle and donkeys, a tenth of your flocks. And then you….you will become slaves. They are given those consequences. And on top of that Samuel tells them, “the day will come when you’ll want out and you’ll cry to God but God will not answer.” In other words, the cost of this kingship is high. The Israelites see the price they will pay for their king as far less than what they will pay being subject to other nations. What they don’t understand, though, is that God, as their King, will protect them at no cost, if they repent of their sin and serve God with their whole heart. They don’t want to do that. That cost is too high for them because they don’t want to repent. They don’t want to give up foreign gods. They don’t want to serve God alone. And they don’t want God as their King. It’s a spiritual problem. They want to replace God with a human idol! They want a king to do what only God can do for them. And they’re willing to pay a high price for that to happen, for something which isn’t really worth it. 

    What about us? Think back to the questions I posed at the beginning. When we’re making decisions in our lives do we seek God’s will? Does it matter? If God seems to be saying no, do we keep hounding God, keep asking? Consider the stubbornness of our hearts in situations. That stubbornness can get us into so much trouble. God does know best. How often do we demand that God do something? What happens when we do? God sometimes gives us the thing we want, the thing we demand, even though God knows it isn’t right for us or may actually hurt us. Hopefully we learn something from those situations. 

    The final thing to take from this scripture is that our reading today doesn’t end with a king being appointed. The story doesn’t end here. The story goes on and on and later will tell us what God does with the Israelites’ request. Saul, the choice of the people, will enter the scene. He will be anointed by Samuel and serve for many years. Then David, who is God’s choice, will enter the scene. The story will continue through the line to Jesus, the Son of David and our Savior. And we know Jesus, who when Pilate asked “Are you the king of the Jews? replied, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Jesus is a different kind of King. He laid aside his glory and was born in a stable. He spent his time with sinners and outcasts, the lowly in society. He healed the sick, preached on the hillsides. He is a King who gives and gives, even to the point of giving His life on a cross for you and me. But I wonder if we are so different than the Israelites. 

    While we may not be demanding another king, we seem to often make idols of other things. Careers, money, sports teams, social media, you name it. Many of these things take priority in our lives over spending time or even sometimes following our Savior and King. Sometimes we work so hard at trying to be like others, even other Christians, that we lose sight of Jesus. I read a quote this past week that said, “We aren’t called to be like other Christians; we are called to be like Christ.” (Mindful Christianity Today) How true is that! It’s hard to be like him if we have our focus on other things, or other people, first. It seems to me that if we say Jesus is our King that nobody or nothing else can be. If Jesus is our King we need to strive to live as He did, loving our neighbors and enemies, reaching out in care and compassion for the least and the lost, replacing the anxiety and fear in our lives with peace and trust. If Jesus is our King perhaps we should leave our to do lists at the altar and we should consider what Jesus wants us to do each day. How can we best serve Him by reaching out to others. If Jesus is our King we need to yield all of our lives to Him, not just the easy things, but all of our thoughts, words, actions, ideas, all that we are and hope to be. As we become more like Jesus, Jesus becomes our true King! May it be so!