1 Samuel 9.1-10
[This was my first ever sermon on an Old Testament passage and also my first time preaching in Wycliffe Hall Chapel]
Saul Chosen to Be King
3 Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, had strayed. So Kish said to his son Saul, ‘Take one of the boys with you; go and look for the donkeys.’ 4He passed through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find them. And they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then he passed through the land of Benjamin, but they did not find them.
5 When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to the boy who was with him, ‘Let us turn back, or my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and worry about us.’ 6But he said to him, ‘There is a man of God in this town; he is a man held in honour. Whatever he says always comes true. Let us go there now; perhaps he will tell us about the journey on which we have set out.’ 7Then Saul replied to the boy, ‘But if we go, what can we bring the man? For the bread in our sacks is gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What have we?’8The boy answered Saul again, ‘Here, I have with me a quarter-shekel of silver; I will give it to the man of God, to tell us our way.’ 9(Formerly in Israel, anyone who went to inquire of God would say, ‘Come, let us go to the seer’; for the one who is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer.) 10Saul said to the boy, ‘Good; come, let us go.’ So they went to the town where the man of God was.
I
believe in a big God. A God so big, so
wise, so powerful and so all knowing that nothing can stop Him. I believe in a God who, as we said together,
is the “Sovereign Lord, Ruler and Judge of all.” I believe 2000 years ago God came to Earth,
to this seemingly insignificant space rock in a vast, vast, universe, and
people did see His face, His Glory, His Wisdom and His Power. And it is knowing this God that allows me to
rejoice in the gift of this new day, it is knowing God is so great, yet still,
beyond all imagination, cares and loves someone like me, that sets my heart on
fire with love for Him, Who whilst I was still a sinner came and met me in His
Son and died for me.
There are two things to
take from the Old Testament reading we just heard and, with the full acceptance
of those, a challenge. Firstly, we need a new vision of just how proactive in
history and our lives God has been, a new and fresh vision of the provisions
God has made. Secondly, we need to see
that all of these provisions were working toward the most important event in
history, the death of Jesus which grants us, by Grace, a free and open
relationship with God.
One of
the great things about Old Testament narrative is how it so often flows so
well, it tells a compelling story; at least once you get past the lists of
names. But it is not only internally
coherent: when you read the whole revelation as revealed in Scripture you see a
God who knew what He was doing, a God who set up a history that was written act
by act and scene by scene to fulfil His Divine Will. Often it can be hard to see how something
relates to the bigger picture, how it relates to Jesus the Messiah who saved us
all, but it always does, because, to paraphrase the correct translation of
Revelation, Jesus is the Lamb of God slain before all ages, from the foundation
of the world – Jesus is plan A, always was and always will be, in fact He is
plan Alpha, and plan Omega, and everything else in-between. That all of history builds up to the coming
Saviour is a work of artistic genius, which is hardly surprising seeing as
history, and the Old Testament, were written by the Author of Salvation who through
His Word spoke the universe into existence.
In the
reading we find a series of events which happen to just the right person, at
just the right time, and in just the right place that he may be crowned king
over Israel. As we know, God doesn’t
seem too enamoured with the idea of there being a human king ruling over His
people. And yet, God says at the end of
the previous chapter “Listen to them and give them a king.” This is where we need to take the wider view
of history. God has often used, and
always planned to use, certain things to bring His people and the world to a point
where the time was right for Him to come and reveal Himself in Jesus.
As it says in Romans 5.6:
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for
the ungodly.” “AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME.” This
amazing revelation is found in the middle of an argument about the Law given to
Moses. Why was the Law given to Moses? It was not that people may live in harmony
with God under the Law – for God knew that was impossible. As Paul makes clear the whole purpose of the
Law was to reveal to us just how sinful we are and how powerless we are to save
ourselves – the purpose of the Law was to show our need for Jesus.
And so it was with
kingship. Israel needed to have a
king. Why? Not because the people wanted
one, not because Israel was under attack, but because of Jesus. Israel needed to know that human kings fail,
that they need a divine king to come and save them. Before Jesus came there needed to be a
messianic hope based on Davidic Kingship.
The people also needed to misunderstand the nature of the Messiah that
He might be crucified, that He might not build by strength of arm an army to
combat Imperial Rome, but rather build an army of saints to combat Satan Himself.
It is
in light of this great picture that this story fits into place. It just so happens that the donkey’s of Kish
go missing. It just so happens that this
is at the time that Israel is calling for a king. It just so happens that the donkeys head off
in a particular direction. In the time
of Samuel losing your donkeys was not an amusing cliché but economic disaster,
it could lead to hardship, loss, debt and starvation. Often things in our lives seem to be going
wrong, be going bad, we ask ‘how can this possibly fit with a divine and all
powerful God who loves me.’ Such a thing
is what many of us feel about the death of Jo from St. Aldates.
But Scripture reveals some
home truths for us. Speaking prophetically
of Jesus Christ Joseph declares right at the end of Genesis to his brothers
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is
now being done, the saving of many lives.
So then don’t be afraid I will provide for you and your children.” What
an awesome message, what an awesome Good News - though we humans fail and try
to harm God and one another Jesus used that very evil to bring about our
salvation.
St. Paul writes in one of the most challenging
Scriptures: “we know that in ALL THINGS, God works for the good of those who
love Him.” ALL THINGS work together for
your good. The donkey’s of Kish going
missing and bringing potential financial ruin upon him worked together for your
good. The tough things in life work together
for your good even if you can’t see it at the time, know that God is Emmanuel,
God is with you, God is FOR you and God knows what He is doing.
Now, the very reason all
this needed to happen is seen in what occurs prior to Saul seeing Samuel – and
seen in the contrast to how things work today.
The boy suggests Saul ask God about the donkeys, but there is a hitch,
they have been searching for these donkeys for so long they have no food, no
supplies, nothing to offer to the prophet that they might hear God’s
revelation. To hear what God has to say
Saul couldn’t just get down on his sinful knees and pray, he had to pay a
prophet to hear God’s word. Thankfully
this doesn’t really happen in the same way today, but if you feel moved by the
Spirit to make a donation for this sermon then there will be an offering plate
passed around shortly, no just kidding.
To those of us today who can just pick up a Bible and dive into God’s
revelation, to those of us today who are justified at the Cross and can speak
freely to God without the stain of sin in our hearts, the idea of paying to
hear what God says seems preposterous.
So yet
again, we see that the Author of life is doing something to point to something,
or rather someone. I find it fascinating
that it just so happens that the boy has some silver coins with which to pay to
hear the words of God. Jump forward to
the first century and we find something very different happening, here were
find the religious leaders paying Judas with 30 pieces of silver to shut up not
just God’s words to His people but the very Word of God Himself. What a terrible turn of events, the man they
wanted to crown the new Davidic king, the one they thought was the Messiah, the
one who did miracles, they now pay to kill.
But as we know, it was in killing Him that we were to be saved.
In all of history, never
has 30 pieces of silver bought so much. And
what has it bought? Well for one, we who
by nature are Gentile sinners, having been washed in the blood of the Lamb, are
made completely clean and given free access to come before the Holy God! We no longer pay to know about God and what
He wants, we know it because in Jesus He revealed Himself. As the author of Hebrews puts it, summing up
the history of salvation: “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets
at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us
by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made
the universe.”
I believe in a big God who
was willing to sacrifice His life for me.
I believe in a big God who takes all the pain and suffering and lingering
questions in my life and makes all things work together for my good. Do you believe that this God, who so clearly
has always acted in history, from making donkeys go astray to coming down in
person to meet us, actually makes all things work together for your good? Do we take hold of the gift of having The
Holy Spirit constantly praying inside of us?
Do we take hold of the gift of having King Jesus interceding without
ceasing for us? Do we take hold of the
gift of the Father who searches our hearts that He might do what is best for
us? Do we take hold of the gift of
prayer, of a free relationship with God and rejoice each day about the great
things God has done for us? Do we each day
come up with a new testimony to His greatness?
Do we always, without
fail, value the mercy and grace of God who allows us to address ourselves to
the Eternal Father anywhere, anytime – not just in a mosque like Muslims? Do we with happiness and excitement daily
read God’s revelation and not have to pay for it like those in the so called ‘church
of scientology’. Do we daily know that
when we pray Jesus hears us unlike the chunks of wood and stone worshipped by
Hindus? Do we daily have a personal
relationship with the Divine King Jesus and not just a self-destroying philosophy
of nothing like the Buddhists? Do we
truly grasp the great joy it is to be a follower of the one and only God who
authored all of history, to be a follower of Christ, a Christian – and are we going
to share this joy with everyone we meet?
Because it is only in Jesus anyone can know God and be saved.
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