Word of Salvation – Vol. 35 No. 27 – July 1990

 

Decisions

 

Sermon by Rev. M. C. DeGraaf on 1Samual 26:8-11

Reading: Matthew 26:26-42

Singing: Ps. H. 301, 251, 237, 240, 195

 

Brothers and Sisters,

I guess most of us would agree that in any many ways our lives are becoming more and more complicated.   As I’ve said many times: There is no question that we can be thankful that the age in which we live is filled with many God-given blessings.   We have mass communication and transportation.   We can go to places and we learn about things that our parents only dreamed of; a flick of the channel and the world opens up for us.  Many of us can live in our own homes filled with modern “technological wonders” – from CDs, through to videos and microwaves…

But of course, the complexity of our times also has a down side.  We’ve spoken in the past about such things as stress, the break-down of the family, the alienation that many individuals feel from one another.

Such things as: two horrific world wars, the human-centred philosophies of last century, and the moral confusion that things like television bring, have further eroded the security that many people (especially Christian people) once felt.

Things are not helped, of course, by the by the fact that our times have also brought with them many new and complicated questions – for instance, on a personal level we see that our age has brought with it а wider acceptance of Drug abuse, Abortion, Euthanasia, Divorce, Pre-marital or extra-marital sex.   And it goes on and on.  All these things raise questions.   Some of us may feel the answers are simple; others are really struggling with the challenges that they bring into their lives.

For us as Christians, at times, some of these questions can be made more complicated because the alternatives can (for some people at least) both be justified from a Christian perspective.

For instance, I’ve heard Christians argue very strongly that abortion should be acceptable if tests show that the child is going to be handicapped in some way.   They argue that God would never want that child or its parents to suffer so this is the only logical alternative.  Some put a similar case forward for euthanasia, that is, the gentle, active putting to death of those who have grown very old and feeble.  After all isn’t this more dignified then wetting your bed or losing your memory?

And in marriage where there seems to be nothing but pain, isn’t divorce kinder and closer to what God says in Genesis 1 then staying together!?

Difficult moral questions are, of course, not new within the church.  During World War II for instance many church leaders were torn between the conviction that rulers should be respected and the belief that Hitler had to be removed.

And what about what we see here, in 1Samuel 26?

In the lead-up and background to this chapter, there is no question that in several ways we could easily justify what Abishai suggests in verse 8.   I mean, first of all, from a purely political and military perspective it was very logical thing to do.  For years Saul had been angry with David.  He had felt threatened by him and had, quite irrationally, been convinced that David was plotting against him.  Because of that, he had forced David to flee from Jerusalem.  He had taken back his daughter whom he had given to David as a wife, and for the last few years he had taken opportunity to pursue and threaten the life of David.  On a few occasions, such as in the wilderness of Ziph, and in Keilah and En-Gedi, David just got away before Saul’s army closed the net around him.   And just in case we think Saul was half- hearted in his determination to capture David, we need only think of what happened in Nob, when Saul had all the priests executed because one of them had been tricked into giving bread to the future king.   Many of the people were becoming tired of the way Saul did things.  David could have been fairly sure of a decent amount of support.

And to be fair, what Abishai is suggesting is not only politically logical, it can also be seen as theologically logical.  After all, David had been anointed by Samuel.  Saul was a rebellious king.  He had sinned against the Lord’s will on a number of occasions.  Most significantly, right at the beginning of his reign at Micmash, already then Samuel had said that God was going to take the kingdom off him.

Surely, Abishai says, this is God’s will, the guards are asleep, you’ve found the king, there is a spear stuck in the ground next to him.  What more could you want?  Let me just finish him off; one thrust and that’ll be it!!

And yet despite the human logic, David, still says ‘no’ to Abishai’s suggestion.   And for a second time Saul’s life is spared by David!  For a second time David takes something from Saul.  He wants to make it clear that he has been merciful, but then he goes.  I know that the kingdom will be mine, I know that Saul has to go; Ι know that we are being unjustly pursued, and that we unfairly have to live the lives of fugitives and traitors.  But I also know that I cannot kill the Lord’s anointed.  God said: Submit to this man, and I will, no matter how hard it gets…!

David wasn’t always that obedient of course.  Nor was he always that wise.  He would also make decisions that were clearly contrary to the will of God and by the end of his life he would have blood on his hands that would be more innocent than the blood of Saul.

And yet here at least, in our passage, we see within that future king, а shadow of Him who was to follow.  A shadow of his great-great-great grandson who would be in that Garden wrestling with His God.  He too, found the obedience a hard one.   Those who claim that obedience to God means peace and prosperity forever don’t know what they are talking about.  In 1Samuel 27 David has to flee to his arch- rivals, the Philistines, for protection.

In Luke 22 we see the drops of blood that Jesus Sweats in the Garden.  In Matthew 27 the nails are driven into His hands.  His desire to serve God, and follow His will takes Him all the way to the cross.  His love of God and God’s creation is greater than His desire to preserve Himself or what He feels are His rights.  He is silent before His accusers.

There’s no question that for many of us, the choices are not that simple.  Often times the questions that we need to wrestle with are hard because they are confusing.  Not because we want to be actively disobedient or self-centred.  And yet in David and in Christ we see some powerful reminders of the principles that are to undergird the Christian life.

We see in them both an active submission to the will of God.  It is active because they’re not just sitting back waiting to see what happens.  They are wrestling: David protects his own life, Jesus pleads for another way if possible.   The Word of God needs to be struggled with.  We need to know what His Will is (and that can be difficult).

And yet there is also that perfect submission: “Thy will be done”, Jesus said.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbour as yourself.  That is perfect submission.

When the doctor comes back with a report that says: your child may be handicapped…  Active submission says: Are you sure?  Is there nothing that can be done?  How can we prepare ourselves for the birth of this child?  But it also says: We cannot take the life of this child!

The children of the elderly actively submit by seeking support during the hard times, by perhaps finding an institution that cares.  But the active taking of a life is still seen as against the will of God, even if that road is going to bring hardship in the years ahead…!  God said: honour your father and your mother.

The young man or woman actively submits by actively seeking a partner who reflects the way of God in his or her life.  And yet he or she does not fall into desperation and feels that anyone would do.

Partners in a marriage actively submit by actively working to reinforce and build a marriage.  They seek to have both partners fulfilled and meeting their full potential through the marriage bond.  And yet they also submit by seeing their will as secondary to the love of God and the love of partner.

Paul wrote that God would never test us beyond our ability.  He also said that we are to obey God’s will – His good, pleasing, and perfect will.  He acknowledges that that is not easy.  In Romans 12 he makes it clear that that obedience only possible through transformation and renewing of our hearts and minds.  But through His grace and His love and His Spirit that too is possible.

When Paul wrestled with the thorn in his flesh, Jesus answered by saying: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”.  Are we willing to seek His power in our lives?  Or do we believe that we need to take that spear ourselves?  Are we willing to listen and submit or do we feel we need to win the battle on our own?  That is not only а lonely road, it is also а road that is guaranteed to end in frustration.

AMEN