Word of Salvation – Vol. 18 No.33 – August 1972

 

A Man Sent From Judah

 

Sermon by Rev. P. G. van Dam, M.Sc., B.D. on 1Kings 13.21 and 22

SCRIPTURE READING: 1 Kings 13

PSALTER HYMNAL: 120; 273 (with Law); 231 (with Creed);
                                     462; 480; 493 (doxology)

 

Brothers and Sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Our Scripture reading is taking us to the time when the Kingdom of Israel has just been split into two separate kingdoms: the Northern Kingdom of the ten tribes, still called the kingdom of Israel; and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

The Northern Kingdom is ruled by Jeroboam.  Now as you may know, Jeroboam did not want his people to go to Jerusalem, in the Southern Kingdom, to worship God.  Therefore, he had instituted his own worship places, one at Bethel and the other at Dan.  And he had also appointed his own priests.

There is no need to explain that all this was displeasing to God.  And it was for that reason that God sent a man from Judah to Bethel to “cry against the altar” which Jeroboam had erected there.  And we read that this man carries out his mandate with a loud voice and with much courage.

After this he returns to his own country.  However, an old prophet living at Bethel had heard of this man and had gone out to meet him and to invite him to his home and – it says – to eat bread.  But the man from Judah refuses to go with him because – he says – The Lord has told me that I should not eat bread or drink water here.

However, the old prophet insists, using a lie that an angel had been to tell him that he should bring him back into his house that he might eat bread and drink water.

However, when they are seated at the old prophet’s table God uses this old prophet to explain to our man that he had disobeyed him.  Therefore, says God through the old prophet: Your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.

And once the man from Judah goes on his way again, the judgment is executed, without delay; a lion meets him on the road and kills him.

Quite a frightful account this is.  In a way we are somewhat perplexed.  Surely THE important part is that the prophet from Judah had in fact carried out the task for which God had sent him to Bethel.

True, the Lord had forbidden him to eat there.  So, he had been disobedient.  But, surely, that had been only a MINOR thing in the light of the fact that he had been obedient WHERE IT REALLY MATTERED!  Why then should God have punished him so severely?

Still, from this account of the man of Judah the question DOES arise as to what it is that really matters in our church life, and in our lives as Christians!  That is our question for this morning (afternoon/evening).  And it will be good for our children – and even more so for ourselves – to understand the lesson which God is teaching us here.  We must see, then, what this prophet’s mistake was, and how God looked at it.  For only too often this prophet is a picture of the people in the church today; yes, in OUR church also.

He is the typical picture of the people who are faithful in what THEY think is important, but who are NOT always so faithful in matters or in situations which in their view are not immediately concerned with their faith or their church.

We know those situations, don’t we?  In the church, at home, in our work, in bringing up our children, in our social life.  Those situations of which we say: we KNOW we are not doing the right thing; we KNOW that God does not like it when I say or do this thing; when I fail to speak up for him, fail to witness, or go along with others even though I know that what they do is not really to the glory of God.  Or when we start using excuses such as MY mood was not right or; It is only a little thing and therefore it does not really matter all that much.  Or: You cannot always be so very strict.  Or: We must be ourselves sometimes.  Or: We cannot always isolate ourselves; we should not become too narrow-minded.  We cannot always be different.  Well, let us be honest, do we not all sometimes think that our faith and our religion or our church are OBSTACLES in OUR everyday life?

We know from experience that it is very convenient to regard churchgoing and the teachings of the church as ONE thing; and the circumstances of everyday life as ANOTHER.  Don’t we often live that way, really?  Is not that the example we often set before our children?  All the time with the REMARK or else with the ATTITUDE that it is not SO bad.  Well, is it?  And aren’t we often busy to try and make a situation acceptable?

The man from Judah declines the first invitation, but finally he gives in through the false reasoning of the old prophet.  Now, we do not know WHY he gave in, in spite of his earlier intention to abide by God’s command.  Of course, you may say: well the old prophet made him believe that God had changed His mind.  But let us learn right here and now if we did not already know this, but I think we do, that GOD does NOT change His mind.  ‘No’ remains ‘no’, no matter what someone else’s or our own reasoning may be to try to make a situation acceptable.

We all do this sometimes: Trying to make a situation acceptable.  MAKING ourselves believe that God could say BOTH yes and no, if only we reason for long enough.  And which answer should then be the correct one?  Well, there are a couple of rules that should help us here.

Out of every two answers, yes and no, that one is the right one which is the simpler answer of the two.  For the one we arrive at through our reasoning is always the one we have reasoned out because WE prefer that answer!  For the sake of our convenience or profit.

The second rule follows from the answer to the question: For whose benefit is my view, my decision, my action?  Is it for the glory of God’s Name, or is it for my own benefit?

And the third rule is somewhat like the second one: that of the two possible answers it is the one that does NOT suit US which is the right one of the two!

Yes, we are speaking here of God’s rule and of God’s will in our EVERYDAY LIFE.  In the life which is so full of situations which as we are inclined to think are not so important.  And where we do not hesitate to use our own reasoning and preferences, disregarding the rules which we have just mentioned.

It means this: that we are in fact busy making a distinction between being faithful in important things, and not always – if it does not suit us – faithful in what we believe are less important things.

Yes, as far as our theology, our doctrine is concerned, we are men of Judah.  We know where other churches are wrong in their theology and their preaching.  But what about the command not to eat and drink at Bethel?  To eat and to drink, these are the symbols of communion; they also are the things of everyday life.  And to eat and to drink AT BETHEL means therefore to have communion with the false worship in the things of everyday life of this world.  It means this: that in the things of everyday life we share the thinking and the doings of the unchristian world.  And we consider these to be minor things, really.  The things of which we KNOW and of which we SAY that they are not right BUT which are not so very important either.  And we all know what we are talking about here!

But our lesson in this chapter of the man from Judah teaches us that WITH GOD apparently there is not such a thing as a distinction between important and unimportant things.  That such a distinction is one of our own making, to suit our convenience; to suit our desire to compromise.

Apparently, and that is what our lesson shows us, God demands COMMITMENT, ALL the way, ALL the time, and in ALL things.  Yes, in our so-called little things just as much!

In fact, God shows us here that HE considers the minor things to be more important than what WE consider to be the MAIN things.  Apparently they are the MINOR things which matter.

He shows that we may not so easily stumble over the important things but that they are the little things over which we stumble.

It might be a good thing to mention here our Christian liberty.  Many people think that Christian liberty means this: that it does not matter so much what we do, as long as we have faith in our Saviour.  But that is a VERY WRONG understanding.  Christian liberty means that we have been made free from the power of Satan so as to be free to serve Jesus Christ.  It means that we show THAT freedom in all we do by living to the glory of the Name of our Saviour, for the strengthening of our own faith, and for the wellbeing of the soul of my neighbour.  Yes, especially in those little things.  Yes, ESPECIALLY THERE.  Why especially there?  Because it is far more difficult to be faithful and obedient in these so-called little things than in what WE call the important things.  And that is one reason why these little things can often be far more important than what WE call the important things.  Our distinction between important and unimportant – as we’ve just seen – is one that is based on our convenience and has little to do with obedience.

But why is God so insistent on these minor things?  Why is He so wroth when the prophet of Judah goes home with the old prophet of Bethel.  Why?  Because if we do not obey God in the minor things we take the whole thrust away from our message!

Why was God so angry with the man from Judah?  Because of the contradiction in his attitude!  One minute he proclaims God’s righteousness and holiness, The next minute he has fellowship with one of the workers of this forbidden worship which he had been called to condemn.  No compromise, and yet compromise.  He curses the false religion, and the next minute he seems to say: It won’t be so bad, really.  No doubt that old prophet must have thought: It cannot be all that bad.  In his attitude the man from Judah has taken the weight, the thrust, out of his message.

Likewise, so often in the way we live – and not only just in the things which are expressly forbidden by God, but also in the way we join in the manners and in the social life of the WORLD – do we in fact say: we don’t mean what we say.  We show that we are not CHRIST-CENTERED… that our Christian principles and teachings do not really count when it comes to the “little” things of life.  And the world is very alert to notice that; you may be sure of that.

No matter what we SAY in our stand over against the world, over against the thinking of the world, if we do not obey God precisely in the things which in our excuse are not important, then we have thrown away our mandate to speak for God.  Then we are not going to convince anybody.  Certainly not our children, no matter what we believe and say that they should learn from God’s Word!

See, that is the weakness, the danger, the fallacy, the failure of the unchristian distinction between important and not-so-important things.  Between the Sunday and the week…!  Between our words and our deeds…!  And let us be precise, EVEN IF we only give the impression that we go along with SOME of the LITTLE ways of the world we already have lost our cause.

We must be STANDARD-BEARERS of Jesus Christ all the time, in all things, and everywhere.  ACTUALLY and POSITIVELY show that He is Lord, my Lord, my Saviour.  To belong to Jesus Christ, and to show it, that is not a question of how far can I go along with the ways and doings of everybody, with my own conveniences.  No, in that way we have lost the cause, and are in the old prophet’s home before we know it.

And if we fail here we are not only not going to convince anybody, but our own faith will suffer too.  Because God teaches me in His Word that it is in the way of doing good works that we build our faith, and make our faith meaningful.  And by good works I mean HIS works; the works in which we are witness of Jesus Christ, the Saviour and Lord.  Make it a positive faith!

If we do not bear IN OURSELVES the fruits of our faith – yes, first of all in the important minor things – we have become what Jesus calls: unprofitable servants.  As a church, as church members, as husband or wife, as parents.

All of our life must be to the glory of God positively.  All of LIFE; not just the theory.  We all know the answers don’t we?  And what our children need…!  But what about our own LIFE… as parents?  That is where we must start.

No, that is not easy.  Not at all.  It is very difficult.  Yet it is so extremely important that we SHOW that we know the answer to the question: Where in this world and in this time must the CHRISTIAN stand; the one who belongs to Christ?  No, that is not easy – especially not if we are going to be told that we are old-fashioned (and that word is just about the first excuse we use to ease-up on the minor things, is not it?).

But it is PRECISELY BECAUSE it is so difficult to know and to show where a Christian must stand, where our children must stand – IT IS PRECISELY BECAUSE IT IS SO DIFFICULT – that it is so very important and necessary to DO it.  Yes, to DO it.  Live that positively Christian life in the MINOR things.  Remember that these minor things are the major things with God.

But this means that I myself must be busy with God’s Word because it is so very necessary that I myself have an ever increasing understanding of Who Jesus is for ME, as my Saviour and my Lord.

Amen.