B, Post Pentecost 3 Proper 5 - 1 Samuel 8:5b–7 "The Royal House of Jesus Christ"
There has been no other leader like Jesus Christ, before
him, or since! Jesus stands head and
shoulders above every other leader. The
political leaders we have today are a far cry from Jesus, or even the kings
chosen by God to reign over Israel.
The political spectrum from conservative to progressive, in
Australia and across the world, in political realms, social realms, in modern
Israel, Islam, other faiths and even the Christian church, are a far cry from
the former Kingdom of Israel. This is
because every rule today is political, driven by popularity and people, and not
by God.
When Israel settled in Canaan, God raised up judges to lead
and adjudicate the tribes of Israel. The
common predicament for Israel was that they “did evil in the eyes of the
Lord”! They followed the ways of those
who lived in other kingdoms and defiled themselves with their gods. Samuel is known as the seventh judge of
Israel, despite there being more than seven judges before him. He is seen as the completion of the judges of
Israel.
So, it’s no wonder Samuel may have felt offended when the
tribes of Israel came asking for a king to rule them like the other nations
around them. We hear the elders of
Israel say, “Now appoint for us a king to
judge us like all the nations.” But the
thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And
Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the LORD
said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for
they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over
them.” (1 Samuel 8:5b–7 ESV)
God allowed Israel to have its king. The first was Saul, then David was chosen by
God through Samuel when Saul was rejected.
When David was nearing the end of his life, he anointed Solomon his son
as King, with Zadok the Priest and Nathan the Prophet in attendance. This occurred when another of his sons,
Adonijah, took it upon himself to become king.
The kingship of Israel from this point on falls into
various levels of corruption after Israel splits into two kingdoms. Two common phrases are heard in the
leadership of the kings. “And he did what was right in the sight of
God. And he did what was evil in the
sight of God”. The Kings of the
northern kingdom of Israel became corrupt and led the people in the sins of the
nations around them. The only exception
was King Jehu who executed Jezebel, and King Ahab’s descendants. However, he also didn’t walk in the laws of
God and led Israel in their sin.
The kings of Judah were not much better, where still most
did not follow God’s leadership. The
rejection of God first happened in the days of Samuel, and in getting their
king Israel and Judah ended up following the sins of the nations around them
who had kings.
It was not meant to be this way! Israel was meant to be a nation of priests, a
blessing to all other nations. When they
camped at Sinai after leaving Egypt, God commanded Moses to tell the
Israelites, “Now therefore, if you will
indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession
among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;
and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These
are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” (Exodus 19:5–6 ESV)
Leadership today unfortunately, but not surprisingly,
follows the same ugly pattern as Israel’s fallen kingship. What begun through a theocracy, focused on
God and trusting in God, lost God’s centrality when the kings became gods to themselves
and the people. Today political messiahs
seek popularity as they preach prosperity so they can be voted into power. It seems the same political problems that
plagued the kingship of Israel and Judah, still pursue those who hold power
over the populace today. And it matters
not whether they are of conservative or progressive ilk because our leaders
reflect us who put them into power, rather than God from whom their authority
exists. We have professional politicians
who care little for their constituents, and they care less for God or his gift
of authority to lead.
God gives us the leaders we want. When we want conservative leaders to conserve
our sinfulness he gives them to us. When
we want progressive leaders to progress our sinfulness, them too he gives to
us. It is not the politicians or the
public service that’s the problem. It is
you and me who put them there!
The problem also existed and continues to exist in kingdoms
where leaders become tyrants. Democracy
continues to crumble as constitutions built on the Ten Commandments, are eroded
and supplanted by our individualism and its great god of pleasure. The great socialism experiments of last
century continue in the wake of Hitler and Stalin, in regimes where people
vanish if they speak out against the mob.
Unfortunately, we have not learnt from our failures through
kingdoms, democracies, and socialisms, where today a “public-pleasure”
socialism has arisen where the individual is god of the self, reflected in the
mirror of electronic devices.
Inside the church this public pleasure socialism is at work
too! All the sins of the Israelites, the
gentiles, and past generations of progressive and conservative Christianity are
being repeated and built upon. Like the
Israelites, we in the royal family, seek to oppose Jesus Christ our King and
stand in his place and in his power.
You and I are called to repentance whenever we remain
silent and fail to stand up for those suffering for Jesus Christ and his gospel
of repentance and forgiveness. When others
are accused for being out of their minds for proclaiming Christ and his word,
to our shame, because of fear we don’t defend them, or the truth of God’s Word.
You and I are called to repentance when God’s love is
watered down into a feel-good fellowship, to the exclusion of the Holy Spirit’s
true unifying work, of bringing us in repentance to the cross. You and I are called to repentance when we’re
tempted to build our own kingdoms, rather than stand in the royal house of God,
a house not made with hands. We’re
called to repentance, when we seek the transient over the eternal, and seek to
put off light momentary affliction and the eternal weight of glory, in favour
of pleasures that are wasting away with our bodies!
This is where we’re called back to Christ the King, and let
him bind the strong man within us, whose spirit is turned against God’s royal
order and the work of the Holy Spirit.
God calls you to confess your sin and trust he truly wants to forgive you.
You are called to trust Jesus as the King of Kings. He is the only man of the people, having died
for the people. No politician ever did
that! And definitely not without sin!
We are now God’s kingdom of priests, baptised into the
priesthood of all believers. The Holy Spirit leads you to stand under the
Word of God, so he can use you for the royal duties of forgiving as Christ has
forgiven you.
You and I are called to be conservative with the
forgiveness of sin, shamelessly desiring this forgiveness that Christ freely
spreads amongst those who believe in him and stand under him in forgiveness.
You and I are called to also be progressive with this
forgiveness too, by submissively nurturing God’s word within! Standing under it, so the Holy Spirit can
continue changing your heart and those to whom you bear Jesus Christ and his word
of forgiveness.
When we live under the forgiveness of sin before the world,
we can be confident we do not sin against the Holy Spirit because we carry the
same spirit of faith as that of Jesus Christ as to what has been written in
God’s Word.
So, like Saint Paul, “we
also believe, and so we also speak,
knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus
and bring us with you into his presence.
For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more
people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer
self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:13–16 ESV)
Just as Jesus walked the way of the cross, led by the Holy
Spirit, for his royal coronation, know that the Holy Spirit helps you carry
your cross for your royal coronation into the kingdom of heaven.
Amen.
