PROPER 5 (10) - Third Sunday after Pentecost - Year B - June 10, 2018
1 SAMUEL 8:4-11, (12-15), 16-20, (11:14-15) AND PSALM 138 •
GENESIS 3:8-15 AND PSALM 130 • 2 CORINTHIANS 4:13-5:1 • MARK 3:20-35
Every now and then the set Lectionary readings seem to jump out
with a very relevant and contemporary theme.
This week this is the case for me.
Our first reading from 1 Samuel 8, tells the story of those
Israelites coming to see Samuel and telling him that they want a king.
Two questions firstly need to be answered; who is Samuel and who
is ruling the nation if there is no king.
Samuel’s story began when his barren mother prayed for a
child. She promised that if God gave her
a child, she would dedicate him to God.
This is what happened and Samuel lived with the high priest from the
time he was a small boy. Samuel was
immersed in the ways of God and the stories of God’s interactions with His
people from that early age, but most importantly, Samuel was called by God.
God actually woke Samuel from his sleep. Samuel heard his voice from this young
age. For many religion is just that – a set
of beliefs handed down that seem like a good idea and so you follow.
People today trust in God though they haven’t heard his voice, but
some have.
Samuel didn’t merely believe, he KNEW that there was a God and he
knew that God had called him and was concerned for His people.
The Israelites had been miraculously delivered out of the slavery
of Egypt and Moses had been leading them.
After they had finally settled in the Promised Land they kind of did
their own thing, but God had raised up prophets and judges along the way. Really, God was in charge and the Israelites
were free, but for that bit of guidance somehow God would raise up a leader who
always kind of filled the need that they had – sometimes it was for wisdom,
sometimes for deliverance from an enemy, but one thing is for sure, the Israelites
knew that they were God’s people.
Now, the Israelites wanted a king to lead them.
Samuel felt rejected. God
explained to him that it wasn’t Samuel that they had rejected but in fact, they
were rejecting the leadership of God.
The Israelites were free.
God had freed them from slavery.
They were free from the tyranny that might come from a king or
dictatorial leadership, and in fact they were so free that God respected their
free will and told Samuel to give them what they wanted.
A facebook friend recently posted “Being SAVED is Easy..STAYING SAVED is a Full Time Job..Just ask the 2
Million+ (Minus 2!) that DIDN'T ENTER the PROMISED LAND!” You can argue with me if you like, but those
who left Egypt were saved from Slavery and that was a fact and they stayed
saved from the slavery of Egypt.
Mistakes they made, yes…. As humans do.
Let’s not hold it against them, but learn from them and especially learn
from God.
God respected the free will of the people he saved because that is
what freedom is; the freedom to make choices.
It doesn’t mean that God leaves your life or becomes disinterested. The kings that followed were anointed by God
and chosen as the ancestry of Christ.
Samuel was told that before he anointed the king he needed to warn
the people about what this would mean for them.
Australian society is quickly changing. The ignorance of those uneducated in the
reality of our Christian heritage, means that they want to deny any good
influence of the Church in the history of our nation. Honestly, there have been so many bad
incidences, that it is sometimes very hard to blame them. But I feel like there are two things to be
considered.
1.
God has given them and us, the
free will to make our own choices and we know He even respects our bad choices –
so we need to respect this in others too – NOT that we have to adopt these for
ourselves – but that we shouldn’t lose respect for, or sight of, the dignity
that each person has, just because of their choices.
2.
I sense that someone needs to
warn Australian society where their choices will take them.
Our Gospel reading for this
weekend shows the rejection of God’s Kingship yet again. The people were flocking to Jesus to the
extent that his family couldn’t get to him and he couldn’t freely eat…. but yet
he was rejected.
Some of our churches are full
and some are nearly empty. A full
church is no indication that people are following Jesus. Some are curious about this religion stuff
and some go because it is a habit that keeps family members happy.
Some go to church because it is
a place where they have found acceptance and friendship, good values to teach
the kids, kids clubs so they can go out, or their friends are there.
Some go to church, and due to
their charisma and talent they find a place of importance and purpose. We all want these things. We can use Christian jargon and lead Bible
studies, but it still doesn’t necessarily mean that God is our king.
When there is a wedding or a
funeral the church is full again. It’s a
momentary glimpse at eternity, but no indication that Jesus is accepted as
King.
The readings this week
challenge us to this one thing; What will we do with our God given free
will. Will we serve Jesus as the King of
our lives?
We have been freed from the eternal
consequence of sin by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Have we accepted that gift? And now that we are truly free, our free will
is still respected and God loves us. But….
Who will you serve as King?
Yes…., in my book, there is
really only one correct answer yet I understand and respect that you might not
make this choice and I won’t judge you for that….. But I do challenge you to
consider the benefits and consequences, and to ask yourself if you can make
Jesus the Lord of your life, God, your king?
Bob Dylan SERVE SOMEBODY