Presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 14 September 2008
by Captain Michael Ramsay
*The italicised portions of this sermon were omitted from either one or both presentations*
So we have an election coming up again – the third in four years or the fourth in five years, something like that – all the ‘experts’ admit without a doubt that this one will be a waste of taxpayer money - even our PM who wants it, admits that it won’t change the working dynamics of parliament. But it’s a contest, a game like any other and he wants to win it.
Now I have gotten to know the former MP for our area, Brian Fitzpatrick a little bit – our paths naturally cross a fair amount. We don’t agree on everything by a long shot but he is certainly a nice enough fellow. Not too long ago I was present for a speech by Fred Bradshaw, our local MLA. It struck me. It reminded me of part of our text today - 1 Corinthians 15: 20ff. Let me paraphrase his speech and many other political speeches that I have heard based on that passage:
Our party’s leader has indeed been raised high. He is first of a new breed of premier. You see devastation came to this province from the previous government, but the resurrection of the economy comes through our new government. For as with the old premier all of us were as good as dead, so with our new premier all will be made alive.
But each in his own turn: first the premier, then his party members and supporters; then, by the time the next election, the whole province which belongs to him. Then the time will come for the next election when, of course, his majority will be so big that it is like he will be handing over the kingdom (I mean province) of Saskatchewan to God himself.
Continuing on…For our premier will by that time have destroyed all dominion, authority, power, of the former regime: indeed there will be no more problems in this province at all. And we’ll re-elect our premier and our party again and again, for he will reign forever in order to put all our troubles and crush all our enemies under his feet. Then the last enemy will be destroyed as we realise that the premier really “has put everything under his feet.”
It is amazing how political speeches have started to sound like scripture or sermons these days. This is a tongue-in cheek paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 15: 20ff, of course but I think it makes a point. You see, the more I listen to political speeches and the more I watch the news the more I realise that the world really is crying out for a Messiah. The USA every 4 years like clockwork parades out at least one possible new Messiah. Look at how people talk about Obama – particularly before McCain announced his running mate - there is no mention of his past failures only an almost messianic hope for a bright new future as if he is the one.
For all its strengths, my friends, this is one of the main downfalls of western democracies. Every election people (albeit fewer and fewer people) are mistakenly looking to parties, politicians, ideologies, platitudes, and other such nonsense to solve our problems - as if that is where our salvation comes from.
You know what? If Obama or McCain wins the next US election, the US is not going to cease to be the world’s Superpower. He is not going to withdraw their troops from the more than 100 countries they are in. He is not going to beat their swords in the ploughshares (Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3). He will not be a ‘prince of peace’ (Isa 9:6). He will not end poverty (Matt 26:11; Mark 14:7). None of the presidential candidates can walk on water (Matt 14, Mark 6, John 6). Not one of them has been raised from the dead…
Likewise in Canada: unemployment is not going to go down because of a change or a majority government; regardless of who is elected services will not improve so much that the blind will see and the lame will walk; a majority government by the Conservatives, Liberals, NDP, or even the Greens, is not going to solve all our problems (Matt 15:31; Lk 7:22). Not one of our federal leaders – no matter what their ads tell us – not one of them can walk on water; not one of them has been raised from the dead.
There is a leader though who has – and he’s not running in the election – there is a leader who has done all that - and he lived 2000 years ago. This leader who lived 2000 years ago, he did all these things and more. He even preached good news to the poor and then like all great leaders - he died. Jesus died but – it didn’t end there and this is important…listen to what Paul says:
1 Corinthians 15: 1-4: “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the good news (gospel) I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this good news (gospel) you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…”
This is actually one of the most important parts of the Christian faith – Paul says that it is because of the good news (gospel) that Christ died for our sins…was buried…and raised from the dead - because of his death for our sins and his resurrection, we can be saved.
It is only because of the resurrection that we have any hope at all actually because – if Christ wasn’t raised from the dead then what is the point of meeting here once a week? If he just died and moved on to whatever is next, well, what’s the big deal? Why then would he be different from Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Tommy Douglas, Mother Theresa, name your person… Why would he be so special? He wouldn’t; he would just be another person, would he not?[1]
Now I considered starting to preach from 2 Corinthians this week but the resurrection really is the central part of the Christian message of hope for the future, and as such I can tell you that we would most certainly be remiss if we read Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and did not even discuss, this most important event. It would be like reading ‘Anna Karenina’ without the train episode or being in the washroom during the revealing scene in the ‘Crying Game’ or missing the final play in last year’s Grey Cup game after waiting for 18 years… we just can’t pass up this opportunity to discuss the resurrection. It is the most important event in Christianity. Christ was dead and he came back – just like the Grey Cup. We were dead in our sins and we will come back, we will be resurrected too and as we come to Christ, we will be saved!
But how do we know that Christ was raised from the dead? It says in vv. 20-23 that Christ was the first fruits of the resurrection (1 Cor 15:20-23). He was raised from the dead. His body was gone from the tomb (Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20) – How do we know?
Paul points as evidence to this all of the witnesses, of whom he was one. He says as we read in 15:5-8: “…[Jesus] appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also…” There were also the women at the tomb (Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20). There were all those recorded in the Gospels and Acts and so many in fact, in both number and account – believe it or not – that historically there is more evidence for the resurrection of Jesus, than there is for the very existence of Socrates or even of Julius Caesar’s historic crossing of the Rubicon which led to his entire reign[2] but, even so, some will always be stubborn. Some will always be ignorant to what is before them and some will -sadly – choose to reject Christ. There is lots of evidence that Christ was resurrected. We know that he was dead and he came back and we wait for his return again because we were dead in our sins and we will come back, we will be resurrected too and as we come to Christ, even we will be saved!
Still – with all the assuredness, with all those witnesses and the preponderance of evidence – some people argue that Christ did not actually rise from the dead. Some say that the person that people saw after he was raised wasn’t Jesus. Some say it was someone else. The fact that Jesus was not recognised at first by a couple of people on the road – the fact that people did not recognize him has been a bit of a stumbling block for some but I must confess that I don’t know why. On the road to Emmaus (Luke 24) you will remember the story, two of the disciples are talking and Jesus comes up beside them and joins in the conversation but they do not recognise him. Some say this is because Jesus mysteriously hid himself from them. While this is possible, I find it much more likely that they just simply did not recognise him.
The people Jesus was walking with were probably not some of his closest twelve: they were other followers of his. And I don’t know about you, but I’ll confess to you that I don’t always recognise people right away. I don’t always recognise people that I should recognise too – if you catch me out of context. If you appear before me in the wrong setting, I might not know who you are. I can tell you that once, I spoke with a very good friend of mine for a solid block of time before the light bulb went off in my brain as to who they actually were…now they had changed somewhat in the time since I last saw them and I certainly wasn’t expecting to see them then but when who they were was revealed to me, we had an exciting conversation. I imagine that it might have been similar here – they weren’t expecting to see Jesus and he had changed somewhat.
He later appeared in the locked room to his disciples and to Thomas, the disciple who longed for concrete proof of the resurrection, Jesus even held out his physically resurrected body’s hand for him to feel the nail holes (John 20). We all – when we stop to think about it – we all know that he was resurrected; we all know that he was dead and he came back. We were dead in our sins and we will come back, we will be resurrected too and as we come to Christ, even we will be saved!
Or will we? Will we be raised from the dead? Will we really? This is supposedly what our hope is in – the future resurrection – when we join Christ in His Kingdom (on the new earth). Is it real? Will we too be resurrected?
There were a number of theories about what happened to the dead in Jesus’ day just like there are a number of theories that our float about in ours. Paganism outright rejected it then just like paganism outright rejects it today. Then it concentrated on a shadowy underworld from which no one would return[3] or in Plato’s thinking there was even a place from which maybe no one would want to return.[4] Judaism wasn’t convinced of it. The Sadducees denied the resurrection before the Pharisees. You may remember the fight scene we discussed last summer, in Acts 23, where Paul is even punched in the mouth by Ananias the High Priest.[5] There are a number of theories about life after death but that Jesus really did rise from the dead on Easter morning, leaving an empty tomb behind him and the hope ahead is not be in doubt. That we were dead in our sins but that we can be saved and that we will be resurrected too should not be in doubt! Look at what Paul says in our text before us today:
Verse 20-23, which we paraphrased earlier: “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.” We will all be resurrected so we can all be saved if we turn to, if we vote – as it were from our earlier analogy – if we vote for Christ.
Now this is interesting too. Being born and raised on the west coast. I can remember watching the election returns come on election night and it is always exciting but you know what – I can never remember a time when the election wasn’t over before the polls were even closed on Vancouver Island. The PM’s party had already won before we even finished voting. This is the same as with Christ. We have until the polls close; we have until we breath our last breath to cast our vote but Christ has indeed already won the election
Continuing on from verses 29 – the resurrection is important: “Now if there is no resurrection, (Paul says) what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I die every day—I mean that, brothers—just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained?”
This is important. This resurrection is real for all of us. I quote Justin Martyr, the great second century Christian apologist – not too long after the apostle, making the same argument as Paul, he says: There are “some who are called Christians…who say there is no resurrection of the dead, and that their souls, when they die, are taken to heaven…godless, impious heretics [Justin says]… do not imagine that they are Christians.”[6] Justin, like Paul, is speaking about the resurrection of the dead. We are not simply ghosts as some suppose. We aren’t simply some spirit wandering around after we die. Rather, like Christ, we will be resurrected. Now I don’t want to get too deep or controversial here at all but it is really interesting there is a phrase in academia that is being – I think, quite rightly – circulated these days – that is “life after, life after death.”[7] This is to remind us that there will be an end to this age and that Jesus, who has already been raised from the dead, is coming back. This, though the phrase is new, has been the common understanding throughout most of Christendom, thanks to Paul and Justin and others.
In the Reformation, it is interesting that people believed so much in the resurrection – but some of the average people actually thought that God was limited in that he needed all our actual parts to resurrect our physical body; they ignored the fact that it all decays anyway – so you would find that some people would even crush and burn their enemies’ bones so that they wouldn’t be resurrected at the end of the day: this fate caught up – among others - the great reformers Wycliffe and Ulrich Zwingli.[8] As if somehow that acts of man could stop the Lord and the resurrection of the dead. This resurrection that the scriptures speak about is important but we can’t stop it and, Paul says, later on in this chapter that the perishable (out earthly bodies) will be clothed with the imperishable: our actual physical bodies be resurrected like Christ who is the first fruits of the resurrection and we will be changed. Some of us will be saved.
You see in the last 75-100 or so years, much of pop culture has just used the resurrection as a euphemism for ‘going to heaven’ – well the NT doesn’t use it this way. Church history, Paul and the NT realise that there is still a time in the future when we will all be raised and at that point - some of us will be raised to eternal salvation and some of us – well – some don’t want that gift – some of us are still refusing that gift but it is there for all who want it and this is important: there is the resurrection, there is judgement at the end of the day and any of us who call on the name of the Lord at anytime before our life here ends can be saved! Jesus died and rose again so that whosoever may, will be saved.
You see Christ is our salvation. He was born and he died because of our sins 2000 years ago but then something miraculous happened. He did not just pass into the next life. He rose from the dead. He rose from the dead and as such he is the leader who we should follow. In Christ there should be no division!
He is raised and he is coming back. He is our salvation. We should remember this as we cast our votes very soon that there is no other name by which we may be saved. Christ is the leader who deserves our support. He is both liberal in His love and conservative in His consistency. He is neither a small ‘d’ democrat nor a small ‘r’ republican. He is a captital 'M' Monarchist – He is a King and He is the Son of the King. And unlike all those others who are trying to get us to turn to them for our salvation, He has actually run the race and won the election already – we are just waiting for the polls to close, so if you haven’t already gone out to vote for Him then go out and vote for Christ for there is no other name through which we may be saved. The Lord raises up mere earthly governments and he topples them but when the eternal polls close and he does come back, make sure that he has your vote so that we will all be a part of His victory party at the resurrection of the just.
All salvation comes from Christ alone.
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[1] Now I don’t time here to go into a full discussion on the historical validity of the resurrection but I would point you briefly to NT (Tom) Wright, the Bishop of Durham; JD (Jimmy) Dunn and even the apologist Ravi Zacharias and others for more detailed arguments.
[2] Cf. The Titus Institute: http://www.titusinstitute.com/defendingfaith/jesusrose.php ; James Patrick Holding. On Comparing the Rubicon to the Resurrection: http://www.tektonics.org/qt/rubicon.html
[3]Cf. Bradley S. Billings. ‘“The Angles who Sinned…He Cast into Tartarus’ (2 Peter 2:4): Its Ancient Meaning and Present Relevance.” Expository Times, 119. no. 11, pp. 532-537.
[4] NT Wright. Jesus’ Resurrection and Christian Origins* (Originally published in Gregorianum, 2002, 83/4, 615–635. Available on-line at: http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Jesus_Resurrection.htm
[5] Acts 23: 1-11: Punch in the Mouth ('The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day). Presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 23 September 2007 by Captain Michael Ramsay - http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/09/acts-23-1-11-punch-in-mouth-or-terrible.html
[6] Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, 80. Cited From Richard B. Hays, Interpretation: 1 Corinthians, 259.
[7] NT Wright. 'Jesus' Ressurection and Christian Origins: http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Jesus_Resurrection.htm
[8] Cf. Ulrich Gabler, Huldrych Zwingli: his Life and Work. Translated by Ruth C.L. Gritch. (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1986), 150-152.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
1 Corinthians 7 21-24:Don’t Worry, Be Happy; It’s Just Adiaphoron
Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on August 31, 2008
By Captain Michael Ramsay
06 April 2014 version available here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2014/04/1-corinthians-717-24-dont-worry-about.html
Today’s passage speaks about slavery. This is actually a big social justice issue in the Salvation Army. Coming up this 28 September, The Salvation Army is asking us all to pray for the victims of today's sex slave trade. Social Justice is something about which we are very concerned.
Now when I think of justice, I must confess the first thing that comes to my mind these days are my daughters (6&7), they are concerned about justice – particularly as it relates to themselves. I don’t know how many times from downstairs, I hear, “Daddy she hit me” or “Daddy she won’t stop touching me” or “Daddy it’s not fair; why does she get to do that?”
I remember this too from when I was a child – there is nothing new under the sun (Eccl. 1:9) - that justice is usually more about justice for ourselves than for anyone else. I can remember when I was a child whenever I felt hard done by; whenever I felt that the world was ganging up on me; whenever I would get a detention for something that I didn’t do at school or whenever I got in trouble for something that my little sister did at home – all of a sudden justice became important. It is funny how important justice is when we feel wronged. Now, when I got upset about this unjust world that was ganging up on me, I would do something. I would do something: I would complain.
I would go to my mom. I would rant on and on about how life is treating me so poorly and how my rights are being trampled and how I deserve so much more and when I inevitably finish my whining and complaining and making much of an ado about whatever, my mother would answer my complaints with these important words of comfort.
“Michael, suck it up – stop your whining – deal with it.”
In the 80’s there was a song that would sum it up in a more positive phraseology – it was Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry. Be Happy”[1]
This is actually part of what our text today, 1 Corinthians 7:21-24, is talking about– and I’ll come back to that in a minute. First we should address a real social justice issue here because if we don’t it may bug some of us a little bit – after all how can we sing “Don’t Worry. Be Happy” when we are talking about slavery.[2]
One thing that we should make clear in this passage is that Paul is not saying that slavery is good (cf. re slavery.1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:28, 4; Eph. 6; Col. 3-4; 1 Tim 1:10, 6:1; Titus 2:9; Phil 1:16).[3] Paul is not endorsing slavery here[4] – but neither is he condemning it - and many of today when we think of slavery will immediately get images in our minds of Amistad[5] and the other slave slips bringing kidnapped people, bound and subdued to be tortured and abused when they are sold on the US slave market. This – like the illegal sex slave trade of today - was slavery at its worst for sure and be convinced that Paul is not explicitly addressing the 17th - 19th century American slave nor the 21st century's sex slave with his “don’t worry, be happy” as it were – these events are too far in the future for Paul to even consider.
Slavery was very different in the world of Paul’s day and, as Richard B. Hays cautions us, what is known about ancient slavery and how Paul is using this illustration are important. Hays:
“Slavery in the ancient Greco-Roman world was a pervasive institution but was not invariably perceived as oppressive… Dale Martin’s book ‘Slavery as Salvation’ has shown that slavery provided for many people not only economic security but also upward social mobility. To be the slave of a powerful master could be an honourable station, and slaves were sometimes highly educated and entrusted with major administrative responsibilities…many of the early Christian converts came from these lower ranks in society, being either slaves or former slaves.”[6]
The institution that we refer to with the word ‘slavery’ then wasn’t inherently bad like we would say it is today. It was just a different economic system and as that was the case Paul did not outright condemn it (but cf. 1 Tim 1:10) – nor did he exalt it. It was simply a common way to express one employer-employee relationship of his day. Paul actually isn’t speaking about the institution at all he is speaking about the people involved in it (and some of them – like some employees of today- were certainly abused.)
But how does this apply to us? None of us are here are directly involved in the slave trade and not all of us are involved in employer-employee relationships. How does this passage of scripture affect us? There are a number of ways. One is as it relates to the prosperity heresy that is prevalent in parts of the US and Korea today – this heresy says that God – like a Genie or an employee at your command - God only wants you to be happy and rich; so if things are going well and you are getting rich then God is blessing you but if your selfish desires aren’t being met, if things are going poorly for you or if you can’t make ends meet or if you even get ill (or go bald – like the prophet Elisha) then that must be because you have sin in your life. Now we all know this is wrong from the Law and the prophets (cf. Elisha and Amos) and we all know this is wrong from the story of Job and also know this is wrong from Luke’s account of the Beatitudes (Blessed be the poor…Blessed are the hungry; Luke 6:20ff…) and Paul intentionally strikes out against this heresy here in his verse (cf. also Ps 73; Acts 11:29; 20:35), as it were, of the song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”[7]
Paul says here that whether you are a slave or whether you are free, it is not an indication of favour with God. He is saying rather that it doesn’t matter. The Greek word that Paul uses here is significant; it is ‘adiaphoron’ and this literally means ‘an indifferent matter.’ He is saying, as he does elsewhere, that whether you are free or a slave, Paul is saying it is ‘adiaphoron’. It is an indifferent matter; so don’t worry, be happy because all believers can experience that we really have been bought new by our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 7:23, 6:20. cf. also Gal. 3:28).[8]
This is neat actually, if we look at this pericope (1 Cor. 7 21-24) in the context of all of Chapter Seven[9]. In verses 1-16, Paul is talking about marriage and how one should not get divorced –but if one’s spouse dies then they are certainly free to re-marry (cf. Romans 7:1,2). And then he talks about circumcision and slavery, (vv.17-20; 21-24) and then continues (v. 25 ff.) talking about marriage and virgins and marriage again and how one is bound to one’s husband or wife until death (7:39).
In the middle of this discourse about being married for life – Paul brings up the topic of slavery. So what is Paul saying? You've heard the expression, 'the old ball and chain'? Is he saying that being married is like being a slave? I think I’ve heard some people say that…He also brings up circumcision – that can hurt – so what is he saying? Is he saying that marriage is as pleasant getting circumcised? No, I don’t think so.
How this whole chapter ties together is actually quite interesting. There is an early refrain that Christians used to repeat when they were being baptised. It went along the lines of “for into one Spirit we were all baptised into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and we were all made to drink one Spirit”[10] (1 Cor 12:13). Or, as in Galatians 3:28, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female; for all of you are one in the body of Jesus Christ.” This is neat because in Chapter Seven, Paul talks about the slave and the free (vv. 21-24), the male and the female (vv 1-16, 25-39), the Jew and the Greek (vv.17-20). He brings it all together and why does he do it like this?
Why does he lump these things together? He does it to let his audience know that none of these things that mattered so much to people then and there – gender, nationalist (or racist) pride, and status issues – he does this to let them know that none of these things matter at all. It is important for us too today to know that the things that matter so much to us today – gender issues, nationalist (or racist) wars, wealth and status issues, our petty differences with one another - these things that matter to us today are just ‘adiaphoron’, a matter of indifference. They don’t matter. So we really shouldn’t worry (Matt 6:25ff; Luke 12:22ff; cf. Matt 10:19, 13:11; Luke 12:11, 21:14) about these things we should simply be happy in the Lord (Philippians 4:4; cf. Matt 5:12; Luke 6:23; John 16:22; Ro 5; Philippians 2:17-18, 3:1; 1 Pet 4:13)
The concerns of this world: our employment, our status, our wealth, our pride, whatever it is that is getting under our skin, this stuff means so much to people, they are all ‘an indifferent matter’...it reminds me of a fictional story.
At the end of the last century there was a revolution in one of the North Western African countries. As it became obvious that the government was going to fall, the wealthy North Americans had to flee. They really made it just by the skin of their teeth. Some boarded the last plane out and others just managed to get on an oil tanker that was leaving. Everyone got out just in time before the freedom fighters liberated the country.
A disappointing thing happened on the plane. You see it was a commercial airline that had a first class section that had so much more comfortable seating than the rest of the plane. Now on this plane were all rich, famous and important people. One of them first got it in their mind that because of who they were they deserved the good seats. Then someone else; then the next; soon everyone on the plane was fighting. They were so busy fighting that they did not notice that the plane was going down...in a sad irony while they were fighting about who was the most important in this life – the plane crashed and they all wound up faced with the next life – where none of the things of this world matter anymore.
As our lives are like this plane going down or like the Titanic after it hit the iceberg, worrying about our wealth or status or pride or the small selfish things that try to bother us in this life is like, as the expression says, 'rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic'. It is ‘adiaphoron’ - it doesn't matter! This is what Paul is saying in Ch 7. So then, if these don't matter, what does matter?
What matters is what will happen when Jesus returns. What matters is not our happiness in this short voyage on a sinking ship (or crashing aero plane), what matters is our AND OTHERS’ eternal salvation. Our life here is going to end – as such our position and our petty complaints and whining in it doesn't matter – what really matters is what happens afterwards and afterwards though all may be eligible for heaven, some will choose to crash and burn and experience the fires of hell but others - others will choose to be saved.
I am reminded of the 'Empress of Ireland'. It was a ship that sank in 1914. “When the 'Empress of Ireland' went down with a hundred and thirty Canadian Salvation Army officers on board [29th May 1914], one hundred and nine officers were drowned, and not one body that was picked up had on a life-belt. The few survivors told how the Salvationists, finding there were not enough life-preservers for all, took off their own belts and strapped them upon even strong men, saying, "I can die better than you can;" and from the deck of that sinking boat they flung their battle-cry around the world – Others!”[11]
The boat of our lives is sinking. No man knows the time or the hour when it will end (Matt 24:26, 25:13; Mark 13:32; Lk 12:39-40, 46). Are we more concerned with having a comfortable deck chair or we are serving God by handing others the life-preservers?
This is very much what the scripture here is saying: Nothing else matters but serving Christ and experiencing salvation. All else in this world is ‘adiaphoron’ – it is an indifferent matter.
So whatever it is that is getting in the way of us praying for the salvation of the world; whatever else it is that we are concerned about; whatever selfish thing that we have been worrying about; whatever it is that is stopping us from serving the Lord and giving our life-preservers to the lost, I invite us now to come and bring it to the Lord because like Paul says, when in our world, to live is Christ, then we are certain, that when we die, it will indeed be gain (Philippians 1:21).
Let us pray.
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[1] The song reached number 1on the top 100 Billboard in September of 1988.
[2] JustSalvos: Men women and children are trafficked across borders at a rate of one per minute: http://www.justsalvos.com/userfiles/file/traffic_a4_LOWRES.pdf
[3] He speaks more than once in scriptures about how masters shouldn’t mistreat their slaves.
[4] This is important because there is still slavery of the worst kind going on today – Coming up this 28 September, The Salvation Army is asking us all to pray for the victims of the sex slave trade. We are presently fighting the sex slave trade and the Army has even appointed Canada’s previous leader, Commissioner Christine MacMillian (a great women you can read about her in the September edition of the Salvationist) as an ambassador to the UN on Social Justice issues. Danielle Strickland, (another great women) who was one of the Officers who sent Susan and I into training to be Officers holds The Salvation Army’s social justice portfolio in Australia. Social justice is important to The Salvation Army and slavery is one of the things we are currently fighting. Now, historically, you know of course too that Christians helped to end the legalized world slave trade (cf. 1 Tim. 1:10) and the person who wrote the great anthem of the Church, ‘Amazing Grace’, John Newton, himself, was a reformed slave trader who gave it up after accepting the Lord and he was one of the influential Christians who worked to end this world slave trade.
[5] There was a famous 1997 movie about the 1839 mutiny aboard this boat.
[6] Richard B. Hays. Interpretation: First Corinthians. P. 124.
[7] W. Harold Mare. The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:1 Corinthians/Exposition of 1 Corinthians/VII. Christian obligation to live according to God's call (7:17-24), Book Version: 4.0.2: Observe, however, that the Bible teaches that Christianity does not guarantee material or social betterment but makes it a matter of individual responsibility (cf. Ps 73; Acts 11:29; 20:35).
[8] J. Paul Sampley. NIB X. ‘1 Corinthians’, p.881.
[9] Michael Ramsay. Mark 3:20-35 The Family of God. (Feb. 17, 2008) available on-line at http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/02/mark-320-35-family-of-god.html: An “inclusio” is a story within a story and this is sort of like that here albeit in an expository letter form.
[10] J. Paul Sampley. NIB X. ‘1 Corinthians’, p.882.
[11] http://www1.salvationarmy.org/heritage.nsf/36c107e27b0ba7a98025692e0032abaa/df2ca83194d5599b802568cd00377023!OpenDocument
By Captain Michael Ramsay
06 April 2014 version available here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2014/04/1-corinthians-717-24-dont-worry-about.html
Today’s passage speaks about slavery. This is actually a big social justice issue in the Salvation Army. Coming up this 28 September, The Salvation Army is asking us all to pray for the victims of today's sex slave trade. Social Justice is something about which we are very concerned.
Now when I think of justice, I must confess the first thing that comes to my mind these days are my daughters (6&7), they are concerned about justice – particularly as it relates to themselves. I don’t know how many times from downstairs, I hear, “Daddy she hit me” or “Daddy she won’t stop touching me” or “Daddy it’s not fair; why does she get to do that?”
I remember this too from when I was a child – there is nothing new under the sun (Eccl. 1:9) - that justice is usually more about justice for ourselves than for anyone else. I can remember when I was a child whenever I felt hard done by; whenever I felt that the world was ganging up on me; whenever I would get a detention for something that I didn’t do at school or whenever I got in trouble for something that my little sister did at home – all of a sudden justice became important. It is funny how important justice is when we feel wronged. Now, when I got upset about this unjust world that was ganging up on me, I would do something. I would do something: I would complain.
I would go to my mom. I would rant on and on about how life is treating me so poorly and how my rights are being trampled and how I deserve so much more and when I inevitably finish my whining and complaining and making much of an ado about whatever, my mother would answer my complaints with these important words of comfort.
“Michael, suck it up – stop your whining – deal with it.”
In the 80’s there was a song that would sum it up in a more positive phraseology – it was Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry. Be Happy”[1]
This is actually part of what our text today, 1 Corinthians 7:21-24, is talking about– and I’ll come back to that in a minute. First we should address a real social justice issue here because if we don’t it may bug some of us a little bit – after all how can we sing “Don’t Worry. Be Happy” when we are talking about slavery.[2]
One thing that we should make clear in this passage is that Paul is not saying that slavery is good (cf. re slavery.1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:28, 4; Eph. 6; Col. 3-4; 1 Tim 1:10, 6:1; Titus 2:9; Phil 1:16).[3] Paul is not endorsing slavery here[4] – but neither is he condemning it - and many of today when we think of slavery will immediately get images in our minds of Amistad[5] and the other slave slips bringing kidnapped people, bound and subdued to be tortured and abused when they are sold on the US slave market. This – like the illegal sex slave trade of today - was slavery at its worst for sure and be convinced that Paul is not explicitly addressing the 17th - 19th century American slave nor the 21st century's sex slave with his “don’t worry, be happy” as it were – these events are too far in the future for Paul to even consider.
Slavery was very different in the world of Paul’s day and, as Richard B. Hays cautions us, what is known about ancient slavery and how Paul is using this illustration are important. Hays:
“Slavery in the ancient Greco-Roman world was a pervasive institution but was not invariably perceived as oppressive… Dale Martin’s book ‘Slavery as Salvation’ has shown that slavery provided for many people not only economic security but also upward social mobility. To be the slave of a powerful master could be an honourable station, and slaves were sometimes highly educated and entrusted with major administrative responsibilities…many of the early Christian converts came from these lower ranks in society, being either slaves or former slaves.”[6]
The institution that we refer to with the word ‘slavery’ then wasn’t inherently bad like we would say it is today. It was just a different economic system and as that was the case Paul did not outright condemn it (but cf. 1 Tim 1:10) – nor did he exalt it. It was simply a common way to express one employer-employee relationship of his day. Paul actually isn’t speaking about the institution at all he is speaking about the people involved in it (and some of them – like some employees of today- were certainly abused.)
But how does this apply to us? None of us are here are directly involved in the slave trade and not all of us are involved in employer-employee relationships. How does this passage of scripture affect us? There are a number of ways. One is as it relates to the prosperity heresy that is prevalent in parts of the US and Korea today – this heresy says that God – like a Genie or an employee at your command - God only wants you to be happy and rich; so if things are going well and you are getting rich then God is blessing you but if your selfish desires aren’t being met, if things are going poorly for you or if you can’t make ends meet or if you even get ill (or go bald – like the prophet Elisha) then that must be because you have sin in your life. Now we all know this is wrong from the Law and the prophets (cf. Elisha and Amos) and we all know this is wrong from the story of Job and also know this is wrong from Luke’s account of the Beatitudes (Blessed be the poor…Blessed are the hungry; Luke 6:20ff…) and Paul intentionally strikes out against this heresy here in his verse (cf. also Ps 73; Acts 11:29; 20:35), as it were, of the song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”[7]
Paul says here that whether you are a slave or whether you are free, it is not an indication of favour with God. He is saying rather that it doesn’t matter. The Greek word that Paul uses here is significant; it is ‘adiaphoron’ and this literally means ‘an indifferent matter.’ He is saying, as he does elsewhere, that whether you are free or a slave, Paul is saying it is ‘adiaphoron’. It is an indifferent matter; so don’t worry, be happy because all believers can experience that we really have been bought new by our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 7:23, 6:20. cf. also Gal. 3:28).[8]
This is neat actually, if we look at this pericope (1 Cor. 7 21-24) in the context of all of Chapter Seven[9]. In verses 1-16, Paul is talking about marriage and how one should not get divorced –but if one’s spouse dies then they are certainly free to re-marry (cf. Romans 7:1,2). And then he talks about circumcision and slavery, (vv.17-20; 21-24) and then continues (v. 25 ff.) talking about marriage and virgins and marriage again and how one is bound to one’s husband or wife until death (7:39).
In the middle of this discourse about being married for life – Paul brings up the topic of slavery. So what is Paul saying? You've heard the expression, 'the old ball and chain'? Is he saying that being married is like being a slave? I think I’ve heard some people say that…He also brings up circumcision – that can hurt – so what is he saying? Is he saying that marriage is as pleasant getting circumcised? No, I don’t think so.
How this whole chapter ties together is actually quite interesting. There is an early refrain that Christians used to repeat when they were being baptised. It went along the lines of “for into one Spirit we were all baptised into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and we were all made to drink one Spirit”[10] (1 Cor 12:13). Or, as in Galatians 3:28, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female; for all of you are one in the body of Jesus Christ.” This is neat because in Chapter Seven, Paul talks about the slave and the free (vv. 21-24), the male and the female (vv 1-16, 25-39), the Jew and the Greek (vv.17-20). He brings it all together and why does he do it like this?
Why does he lump these things together? He does it to let his audience know that none of these things that mattered so much to people then and there – gender, nationalist (or racist) pride, and status issues – he does this to let them know that none of these things matter at all. It is important for us too today to know that the things that matter so much to us today – gender issues, nationalist (or racist) wars, wealth and status issues, our petty differences with one another - these things that matter to us today are just ‘adiaphoron’, a matter of indifference. They don’t matter. So we really shouldn’t worry (Matt 6:25ff; Luke 12:22ff; cf. Matt 10:19, 13:11; Luke 12:11, 21:14) about these things we should simply be happy in the Lord (Philippians 4:4; cf. Matt 5:12; Luke 6:23; John 16:22; Ro 5; Philippians 2:17-18, 3:1; 1 Pet 4:13)
The concerns of this world: our employment, our status, our wealth, our pride, whatever it is that is getting under our skin, this stuff means so much to people, they are all ‘an indifferent matter’...it reminds me of a fictional story.
At the end of the last century there was a revolution in one of the North Western African countries. As it became obvious that the government was going to fall, the wealthy North Americans had to flee. They really made it just by the skin of their teeth. Some boarded the last plane out and others just managed to get on an oil tanker that was leaving. Everyone got out just in time before the freedom fighters liberated the country.
A disappointing thing happened on the plane. You see it was a commercial airline that had a first class section that had so much more comfortable seating than the rest of the plane. Now on this plane were all rich, famous and important people. One of them first got it in their mind that because of who they were they deserved the good seats. Then someone else; then the next; soon everyone on the plane was fighting. They were so busy fighting that they did not notice that the plane was going down...in a sad irony while they were fighting about who was the most important in this life – the plane crashed and they all wound up faced with the next life – where none of the things of this world matter anymore.
As our lives are like this plane going down or like the Titanic after it hit the iceberg, worrying about our wealth or status or pride or the small selfish things that try to bother us in this life is like, as the expression says, 'rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic'. It is ‘adiaphoron’ - it doesn't matter! This is what Paul is saying in Ch 7. So then, if these don't matter, what does matter?
What matters is what will happen when Jesus returns. What matters is not our happiness in this short voyage on a sinking ship (or crashing aero plane), what matters is our AND OTHERS’ eternal salvation. Our life here is going to end – as such our position and our petty complaints and whining in it doesn't matter – what really matters is what happens afterwards and afterwards though all may be eligible for heaven, some will choose to crash and burn and experience the fires of hell but others - others will choose to be saved.
I am reminded of the 'Empress of Ireland'. It was a ship that sank in 1914. “When the 'Empress of Ireland' went down with a hundred and thirty Canadian Salvation Army officers on board [29th May 1914], one hundred and nine officers were drowned, and not one body that was picked up had on a life-belt. The few survivors told how the Salvationists, finding there were not enough life-preservers for all, took off their own belts and strapped them upon even strong men, saying, "I can die better than you can;" and from the deck of that sinking boat they flung their battle-cry around the world – Others!”[11]
The boat of our lives is sinking. No man knows the time or the hour when it will end (Matt 24:26, 25:13; Mark 13:32; Lk 12:39-40, 46). Are we more concerned with having a comfortable deck chair or we are serving God by handing others the life-preservers?
This is very much what the scripture here is saying: Nothing else matters but serving Christ and experiencing salvation. All else in this world is ‘adiaphoron’ – it is an indifferent matter.
So whatever it is that is getting in the way of us praying for the salvation of the world; whatever else it is that we are concerned about; whatever selfish thing that we have been worrying about; whatever it is that is stopping us from serving the Lord and giving our life-preservers to the lost, I invite us now to come and bring it to the Lord because like Paul says, when in our world, to live is Christ, then we are certain, that when we die, it will indeed be gain (Philippians 1:21).
Let us pray.
----------------
[1] The song reached number 1on the top 100 Billboard in September of 1988.
[2] JustSalvos: Men women and children are trafficked across borders at a rate of one per minute: http://www.justsalvos.com/userfiles/file/traffic_a4_LOWRES.pdf
[3] He speaks more than once in scriptures about how masters shouldn’t mistreat their slaves.
[4] This is important because there is still slavery of the worst kind going on today – Coming up this 28 September, The Salvation Army is asking us all to pray for the victims of the sex slave trade. We are presently fighting the sex slave trade and the Army has even appointed Canada’s previous leader, Commissioner Christine MacMillian (a great women you can read about her in the September edition of the Salvationist) as an ambassador to the UN on Social Justice issues. Danielle Strickland, (another great women) who was one of the Officers who sent Susan and I into training to be Officers holds The Salvation Army’s social justice portfolio in Australia. Social justice is important to The Salvation Army and slavery is one of the things we are currently fighting. Now, historically, you know of course too that Christians helped to end the legalized world slave trade (cf. 1 Tim. 1:10) and the person who wrote the great anthem of the Church, ‘Amazing Grace’, John Newton, himself, was a reformed slave trader who gave it up after accepting the Lord and he was one of the influential Christians who worked to end this world slave trade.
[5] There was a famous 1997 movie about the 1839 mutiny aboard this boat.
[6] Richard B. Hays. Interpretation: First Corinthians. P. 124.
[7] W. Harold Mare. The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:1 Corinthians/Exposition of 1 Corinthians/VII. Christian obligation to live according to God's call (7:17-24), Book Version: 4.0.2: Observe, however, that the Bible teaches that Christianity does not guarantee material or social betterment but makes it a matter of individual responsibility (cf. Ps 73; Acts 11:29; 20:35).
[8] J. Paul Sampley. NIB X. ‘1 Corinthians’, p.881.
[9] Michael Ramsay. Mark 3:20-35 The Family of God. (Feb. 17, 2008) available on-line at http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/02/mark-320-35-family-of-god.html: An “inclusio” is a story within a story and this is sort of like that here albeit in an expository letter form.
[10] J. Paul Sampley. NIB X. ‘1 Corinthians’, p.882.
[11] http://www1.salvationarmy.org/heritage.nsf/36c107e27b0ba7a98025692e0032abaa/df2ca83194d5599b802568cd00377023!OpenDocument
Monday, July 28, 2008
1 Kings 2:1-4: Don’t forget your roots.
Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on July 27, 2008
By Captain Michael Ramsay
(Note: below is just the written text. The actual spoken sermon turned out to be very different - the Lord is good. The Lord is faithful.)
Friday Susan, the girls and I headed out to the Silver Stream fair – the Connaught fair. That is near where my grandma grew up. We even saw the old school and the old bell from those days. Afterwards we headed out to the Silver Stream cemetery and saw where some of our relatives’ were laid to rest.
This area of Saskatchewan has real significance for me and it always has even before we ever lived here. It is part of our history. It is a part of our family. It is a part of our life. Last week too, my mom’s cousin who owns a farm in the New Osgood area came to our church in Tisdale with a nephew who is helping him out for the summer. They invited us back to the farm afterwards. This was neat. The girls loved seeing the cows up so close. I enjoyed talking to my mom’s cousin and seeing where our family’s first quarter of land was in the area, where the old homestead was; I saw where my grandfather went to school and the old cemetery there where the remains of some of my relatives were laid to rest. North East Saskatchewan, New Osgood, Silver Stream, this whole area from Tisdale to Nipawin is my family’s old stomping ground and the kids and I are really enjoying getting to know it and a bit more about our roots.
For all of us, our history and the things we learn from our Christian family traditions are very important roots from which to draw for generations to come. Likewise, upbringings in anti-Christian households are many times a struggle to get over that can be every bit as brutal as any addiction. Traditions, roots, history, good and bad, generational curses and generational blessing have bearings on us all and they had a bearing on the patriarchs, on Moses, on David and on Solomon. David did not want Solomon to forget his roots.
David inherited a significant covenant blessing (2 Samuel 7) and in the first few chapters of 1 Kings here we see that Solomon receives for himself a part of that blessing – albeit conditionally. Now David, as sure as he was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), was still just a man and he was not necessarily the best father in the world but he is still the vehicle for the blessing of Israel and indeed the world.
David was to have a descendant sit on the throne forever and now he does in the person of Jesus, the Christ. David himself was one of the most powerful kings that Israel would ever have and the founder of a dynasty that would last without a break for the millennium and now with the advent of Christ, the re-established kingdom will ultimately last forever. King David was a man after God’s own heart. God loved him and in his early days he followed the Lord religiously sought the Lord’s council in everything he did, and was walking in a strong relationship with YHWH. These are the roots that David wants to pass to Solomon, to the people of Israel.
Remember that Solomon wasn’t even born though before much of David’s heroic deeds had been accomplished already. He wasn’t born until long after David was made King of both Judah and Israel; until after a civil war or two; and until after the relocation of the capital city to Jerusalem but still Solomon must have heard the stories about his father, his history, and his roots when he was growing up.
He must have heard the stories about how his father and his cousins (Aunt Zeruiah’s kids – Joab, Abishai and Asahel) how they lived their life on the edge for a long time fighting as mercenaries and committing all sorts of heroic acts. He must have heard about how David was anointed as a young shepherd boy and then rose to be King of this Kingdom. He must have heard the stories about how his dad had slain the giant Goliath and about how he was victorious in the civil war. He must have heard how his dad loved and served YHWH.[1] These are part of his roots. These are a part of our roots as believers. These are his (our) good roots.
But there are other roots that Solomon has as well. When the princes were growing up, the King, David, was not around, which may explain some of their rebellion against him. There were some problems too when Dad, David was around. You remember how David met Solomon’s mom right? – Bathsheeba? She was bathing on a rooftop, he saw her, he wanted her, she slept with her and then he murdered her husband.
David had his warts (and some pretty serious ones at that) but they key is that he repented as repentance is needed and he indeed is remembered as a man after God’s own heart. This repentance is an important part of David and his life and his heritage for his descendents (It is one of the major differenced between he and King Saul.).
In our story today, the king is now long past his effectiveness however. He is impotent politically and in other ways as well (1 Kings 1:2-4). He is dying. He has been persuaded by the prophet Nathan and by Solomon’s mother to make Solomon king (1 Kings 1:11ff) and as he does so he gives an important charge to his son, his successor, as he tells him not to forget his roots, he says:
1Ki 2:2ff “I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, show yourself a man, 1Ki 2:3 and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go, 1Ki 2:4 and that the LORD may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’
These are important words of advice that David passes on to his successor, to his son, as he is leaving office for the final time. These are words that should stick with Solomon his whole life because look – this is important - 1Ki 2:4: the promise - that is part of his roots – the promise that Solomon is inheriting with his Kingship – the promise which relates through 2 Samuel 7:16 all the way back to Genesis Chapter 11 (verses 3) where it says that all the nations of the earth will be blessed through Abraham – this promise here is conditional. David tells Solomon that ‘IF your descendants watch how they live, and IF they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’ This is important and it is meant to frame his entire kingship.
I don’t know if you have ever had moments like that that stick with you forever. When I was a teenager I had a very close group of friends. We were a diverse group of teenagers. We – not unlike David and his men at times, I’m sure - were both rebellious and ‘good kids’ all at the same time. Sure we may have skipped class once to often, and done some other bad things in those days but many of us did pray, read the Bible, talk to and about God a lot and / or go to church. I came to know the Lord as a young child and that has always been the important part of my roots.
When we were teenagers, we were still used by God to good effect, when we remembered to put Him first of course. This is the time in my life where I can actually relate to David quite well. I was certainly a part of the late night partying crowd, whose members got in trouble but – and I praise the Lord for it – as I was there, I was able to spend many teenage nights staying up all night talking to my friends who had lost family members, who had been arrested, who found out they were pregnant, who were in trouble. I was able to stay up all night leading my friends to the cross of Jesus Christ.
The Lord put me where He would use me and just as He used others to minister to me,when I was in crisis, He used me to help out my friends. Through a series of crises we had become very close to each other and I had become even closer to my Lord. I remember when I was coming to the end of those days of strong fellowship and beginning new days of post-secondary education.
God speaks to me though a friend and I will never forget it. I can remember just before I went of to College where – separated from my intimate friends - my struggles and my whole life would be very different. I remember walking along the street talking with Trevor – an old friend – we were talking about the things that 18 year-olds talked about cars, girls, politics, God, when all of a sudden Trevor –out of nowhere - tells me not to forget my roots. “Don’t forget your roots,” he says, as I go off to school.
This was to be very important for me to hear. As I went off to Teacher training, then into the business world, as I started to build a career in the business, education and publishing magazines, as I was establishing businesses and running colleges, Trevor’s words came back to me, “don’t forget your roots.”
Don’t forget your roots. For me this meant a lot. For me my roots and helping friends in crisis and telling them about Jesus. And indeed for all of us who share a Christian heritage these are our roots as well. We mustn’t forget our roots. We mustn’t forget what God has done through our ancestors in the Bilbe, Moses, Abraham, David. We mustn’t forget what the Lord has done through us and we musn’t forget our roots which are indeed Jesus Christ and the Gospel of Salvation. We mustn’t forget these roots.
It is important too for Solomon to remember his family’s, his ancestors roots of serving God - particualrly if the promise that Solomon inherits is conditional – while how does Solomon do at observing what the LORD our God requires: Walking in his ways, and keeping his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses. How does he do at remembering these roots of the Law of Moses?
As a young ruler Solomon genuinely asks YHWH for wisdom. When he is still a young ruler, Solomon begins work on the temple in Jerusalem so that people can come from all over Israel to worship God in this magnificent structure. That’s good. It is gigantic building - but interestingly – Solomon makes his own house even bigger (1 Ki 5-8).
But as Solomon gets older, instead of looking to his roots and looking out for the poor, the needy, and the oppressed, he divides the historical tribes of Israel and makes slaves of his own people so that he can do all this building.[2]
He promotes the worship of other gods and Solomon even disobeys the command from God not to intermarry and not to get horses from Egypt (Cf. Deut 7:1-6; 17; 20:16-18; Joshua 9; Judges 2:1-5) and in all likelihood Solomon uses these and his chariots as weapons of war against his own people. Solomon, 1 Kings 11:6 says, Solomon, “he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done.” He seems to have forgotten his roots.
1 Kings 11:9 says, “The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD… So the LORD said to Solomon, "Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees… I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you.” King Solomon did not ‘defend the cause of the poor of the people, deliver the needy, and crush the oppressor’. He did not remember his roots and the united Kingdom of Israel died with him.[3]
Solomon was promised so much if he would just follow the Lord but instead he was led astray by his wives and his disobedience and indeed he lost his complete inheritance – it was torn from him.[4] Solomon – as we will see as we read through 1 Kings fails and war and division come to his country again as Solomon forgets his roots.
But God saves us all – He saves whosever will be saved - in spite of the fact that Solomon did not live up to his potential, of course. Even though Solomon falls, the Lord still blesses the world through Abraham (cf. Genesis 12-17) and God still has David’s descendent, Jesus, sitting on His throne forever. The Lord is faithful; like the good news of Romans 3:3,4 says, “what if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means!” By no means! The Lord is still faithful.
The atonement offered through Jesus’ death and resurrection was a general atonement for ‘whosoever may be saved.’ God is faithful in this and if we are unfaithful like Solomon, it cannot change that faithfulness of God but it may effect our reaping of the benefits.
Solomon lost the Kingdom for his son because he forgot his roots of David, Moses, Abraham, the Word of God and YHWH. Well, how can we avoid that same trap? How can we avoid that separation from God?
We can do this by remembering our roots. We can remember our roots by sharing testimonies with each other, by telling what the Lord has done in our lives. We can remember our roots by reading our Bibles and seeing what the Lord has done for and through Abraham, Moses, Israel, and throughout history. We can remember our roots by coming to the Lord and praying, talking to him. We can remember our roots; we can turn to the Lord and live.
- shorter version ends here-
-longer ending continued below-
This is like we learned in studying King Saul recently (1 Samuel 28 & 29). People fail. When we try to do things on our own we fail. We know this from Solomon and we know this in our own lives. We know that some people choose the devastating consequences that come from serving themselves and making their decisions by doing what they see as right in their own eyes instead (Judges 21:25) and thus separating themselves from God, instead of seeking the Lord through prayer and study. We know that some people, like the Israelites in the desert (Number 13), die outside of the promised inheritance that is there just waiting for us (repeat). We know that we, like Solomon, if we fail to serve the Lord, we can fail to possess this inheritance.
But we know also from the stories of Abraham (Gen 12-17), Samson (Judges 13-16), and David (1&2 Samuel) – of whom we have read lately - that no matter what happens, the Lord is always faithful. He never gives we don’t have to die outside of the promise, we don’t have to because He NEVER gives up on us. He NEVER gives up on us.
This is an important thing to remember. So let’s remember our roots as people of God. Let us remember as Abraham, Samson, David, and other heroes of the faith did (Hebrews 11) – who even though they all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) – as they repented, as they turned to God they were saved. So then as Jesus proved himself faithful by dying on the cross because of our unfaithfulness, let us turn to him in faithful obedience, remember our roots, call upon the Lord, and be saved.
May all that come behind us find us faithful.
----
[1] Captain Michael Ramsay. 2 Samuel 13-18: Taking Matters in His Own Hands: the Story of Prince Absalom. Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps November 18, 2007. Available on-line at: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/11/2-samuel-13-18-taking-matters-in-his.html
[2] He makes slaves of everyone in the country EXCEPT the ones from his home province. He doesn’t make the people from Judah, his own tribe, do any of the work. Right, that would be like Harper saying everyone starting tomorrow must spend two years doing hard labour – except Toronto, Ontario, where he was born – and we in Saskatchewan or wherever, you must make up the difference.
[3] Captain Michael Ramsay. Psalm 72: The Credit Card of Justice and Righteousness. Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps July 01, 2007. Available on-line at: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/08/psalm-72-credit-card-of-justice-and.html
[4] This has consequences because remember too that this covenant that Solomon has transgressed relates to the covenant that a descendant of David will never fail to sit on the throne (2 Samuel 7) and that all the nations of the earth will be blessed though Abraham (Genesis 11:3). The promised salvation from God was intermingled into this commission to Solomon and Solomon has let down his father, Solomon has let down his sons, Solomon is a disappointment to his roots, and Solomon has let down even all the inheritors of this promise including you and me.
By Captain Michael Ramsay
(Note: below is just the written text. The actual spoken sermon turned out to be very different - the Lord is good. The Lord is faithful.)
Friday Susan, the girls and I headed out to the Silver Stream fair – the Connaught fair. That is near where my grandma grew up. We even saw the old school and the old bell from those days. Afterwards we headed out to the Silver Stream cemetery and saw where some of our relatives’ were laid to rest.
This area of Saskatchewan has real significance for me and it always has even before we ever lived here. It is part of our history. It is a part of our family. It is a part of our life. Last week too, my mom’s cousin who owns a farm in the New Osgood area came to our church in Tisdale with a nephew who is helping him out for the summer. They invited us back to the farm afterwards. This was neat. The girls loved seeing the cows up so close. I enjoyed talking to my mom’s cousin and seeing where our family’s first quarter of land was in the area, where the old homestead was; I saw where my grandfather went to school and the old cemetery there where the remains of some of my relatives were laid to rest. North East Saskatchewan, New Osgood, Silver Stream, this whole area from Tisdale to Nipawin is my family’s old stomping ground and the kids and I are really enjoying getting to know it and a bit more about our roots.
For all of us, our history and the things we learn from our Christian family traditions are very important roots from which to draw for generations to come. Likewise, upbringings in anti-Christian households are many times a struggle to get over that can be every bit as brutal as any addiction. Traditions, roots, history, good and bad, generational curses and generational blessing have bearings on us all and they had a bearing on the patriarchs, on Moses, on David and on Solomon. David did not want Solomon to forget his roots.
David inherited a significant covenant blessing (2 Samuel 7) and in the first few chapters of 1 Kings here we see that Solomon receives for himself a part of that blessing – albeit conditionally. Now David, as sure as he was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), was still just a man and he was not necessarily the best father in the world but he is still the vehicle for the blessing of Israel and indeed the world.
David was to have a descendant sit on the throne forever and now he does in the person of Jesus, the Christ. David himself was one of the most powerful kings that Israel would ever have and the founder of a dynasty that would last without a break for the millennium and now with the advent of Christ, the re-established kingdom will ultimately last forever. King David was a man after God’s own heart. God loved him and in his early days he followed the Lord religiously sought the Lord’s council in everything he did, and was walking in a strong relationship with YHWH. These are the roots that David wants to pass to Solomon, to the people of Israel.
Remember that Solomon wasn’t even born though before much of David’s heroic deeds had been accomplished already. He wasn’t born until long after David was made King of both Judah and Israel; until after a civil war or two; and until after the relocation of the capital city to Jerusalem but still Solomon must have heard the stories about his father, his history, and his roots when he was growing up.
He must have heard the stories about how his father and his cousins (Aunt Zeruiah’s kids – Joab, Abishai and Asahel) how they lived their life on the edge for a long time fighting as mercenaries and committing all sorts of heroic acts. He must have heard about how David was anointed as a young shepherd boy and then rose to be King of this Kingdom. He must have heard the stories about how his dad had slain the giant Goliath and about how he was victorious in the civil war. He must have heard how his dad loved and served YHWH.[1] These are part of his roots. These are a part of our roots as believers. These are his (our) good roots.
But there are other roots that Solomon has as well. When the princes were growing up, the King, David, was not around, which may explain some of their rebellion against him. There were some problems too when Dad, David was around. You remember how David met Solomon’s mom right? – Bathsheeba? She was bathing on a rooftop, he saw her, he wanted her, she slept with her and then he murdered her husband.
David had his warts (and some pretty serious ones at that) but they key is that he repented as repentance is needed and he indeed is remembered as a man after God’s own heart. This repentance is an important part of David and his life and his heritage for his descendents (It is one of the major differenced between he and King Saul.).
In our story today, the king is now long past his effectiveness however. He is impotent politically and in other ways as well (1 Kings 1:2-4). He is dying. He has been persuaded by the prophet Nathan and by Solomon’s mother to make Solomon king (1 Kings 1:11ff) and as he does so he gives an important charge to his son, his successor, as he tells him not to forget his roots, he says:
1Ki 2:2ff “I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, show yourself a man, 1Ki 2:3 and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go, 1Ki 2:4 and that the LORD may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’
These are important words of advice that David passes on to his successor, to his son, as he is leaving office for the final time. These are words that should stick with Solomon his whole life because look – this is important - 1Ki 2:4: the promise - that is part of his roots – the promise that Solomon is inheriting with his Kingship – the promise which relates through 2 Samuel 7:16 all the way back to Genesis Chapter 11 (verses 3) where it says that all the nations of the earth will be blessed through Abraham – this promise here is conditional. David tells Solomon that ‘IF your descendants watch how they live, and IF they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’ This is important and it is meant to frame his entire kingship.
I don’t know if you have ever had moments like that that stick with you forever. When I was a teenager I had a very close group of friends. We were a diverse group of teenagers. We – not unlike David and his men at times, I’m sure - were both rebellious and ‘good kids’ all at the same time. Sure we may have skipped class once to often, and done some other bad things in those days but many of us did pray, read the Bible, talk to and about God a lot and / or go to church. I came to know the Lord as a young child and that has always been the important part of my roots.
When we were teenagers, we were still used by God to good effect, when we remembered to put Him first of course. This is the time in my life where I can actually relate to David quite well. I was certainly a part of the late night partying crowd, whose members got in trouble but – and I praise the Lord for it – as I was there, I was able to spend many teenage nights staying up all night talking to my friends who had lost family members, who had been arrested, who found out they were pregnant, who were in trouble. I was able to stay up all night leading my friends to the cross of Jesus Christ.
The Lord put me where He would use me and just as He used others to minister to me,when I was in crisis, He used me to help out my friends. Through a series of crises we had become very close to each other and I had become even closer to my Lord. I remember when I was coming to the end of those days of strong fellowship and beginning new days of post-secondary education.
God speaks to me though a friend and I will never forget it. I can remember just before I went of to College where – separated from my intimate friends - my struggles and my whole life would be very different. I remember walking along the street talking with Trevor – an old friend – we were talking about the things that 18 year-olds talked about cars, girls, politics, God, when all of a sudden Trevor –out of nowhere - tells me not to forget my roots. “Don’t forget your roots,” he says, as I go off to school.
This was to be very important for me to hear. As I went off to Teacher training, then into the business world, as I started to build a career in the business, education and publishing magazines, as I was establishing businesses and running colleges, Trevor’s words came back to me, “don’t forget your roots.”
Don’t forget your roots. For me this meant a lot. For me my roots and helping friends in crisis and telling them about Jesus. And indeed for all of us who share a Christian heritage these are our roots as well. We mustn’t forget our roots. We mustn’t forget what God has done through our ancestors in the Bilbe, Moses, Abraham, David. We mustn’t forget what the Lord has done through us and we musn’t forget our roots which are indeed Jesus Christ and the Gospel of Salvation. We mustn’t forget these roots.
It is important too for Solomon to remember his family’s, his ancestors roots of serving God - particualrly if the promise that Solomon inherits is conditional – while how does Solomon do at observing what the LORD our God requires: Walking in his ways, and keeping his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses. How does he do at remembering these roots of the Law of Moses?
As a young ruler Solomon genuinely asks YHWH for wisdom. When he is still a young ruler, Solomon begins work on the temple in Jerusalem so that people can come from all over Israel to worship God in this magnificent structure. That’s good. It is gigantic building - but interestingly – Solomon makes his own house even bigger (1 Ki 5-8).
But as Solomon gets older, instead of looking to his roots and looking out for the poor, the needy, and the oppressed, he divides the historical tribes of Israel and makes slaves of his own people so that he can do all this building.[2]
He promotes the worship of other gods and Solomon even disobeys the command from God not to intermarry and not to get horses from Egypt (Cf. Deut 7:1-6; 17; 20:16-18; Joshua 9; Judges 2:1-5) and in all likelihood Solomon uses these and his chariots as weapons of war against his own people. Solomon, 1 Kings 11:6 says, Solomon, “he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done.” He seems to have forgotten his roots.
1 Kings 11:9 says, “The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD… So the LORD said to Solomon, "Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees… I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you.” King Solomon did not ‘defend the cause of the poor of the people, deliver the needy, and crush the oppressor’. He did not remember his roots and the united Kingdom of Israel died with him.[3]
Solomon was promised so much if he would just follow the Lord but instead he was led astray by his wives and his disobedience and indeed he lost his complete inheritance – it was torn from him.[4] Solomon – as we will see as we read through 1 Kings fails and war and division come to his country again as Solomon forgets his roots.
But God saves us all – He saves whosever will be saved - in spite of the fact that Solomon did not live up to his potential, of course. Even though Solomon falls, the Lord still blesses the world through Abraham (cf. Genesis 12-17) and God still has David’s descendent, Jesus, sitting on His throne forever. The Lord is faithful; like the good news of Romans 3:3,4 says, “what if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means!” By no means! The Lord is still faithful.
The atonement offered through Jesus’ death and resurrection was a general atonement for ‘whosoever may be saved.’ God is faithful in this and if we are unfaithful like Solomon, it cannot change that faithfulness of God but it may effect our reaping of the benefits.
Solomon lost the Kingdom for his son because he forgot his roots of David, Moses, Abraham, the Word of God and YHWH. Well, how can we avoid that same trap? How can we avoid that separation from God?
We can do this by remembering our roots. We can remember our roots by sharing testimonies with each other, by telling what the Lord has done in our lives. We can remember our roots by reading our Bibles and seeing what the Lord has done for and through Abraham, Moses, Israel, and throughout history. We can remember our roots by coming to the Lord and praying, talking to him. We can remember our roots; we can turn to the Lord and live.
- shorter version ends here-
-longer ending continued below-
This is like we learned in studying King Saul recently (1 Samuel 28 & 29). People fail. When we try to do things on our own we fail. We know this from Solomon and we know this in our own lives. We know that some people choose the devastating consequences that come from serving themselves and making their decisions by doing what they see as right in their own eyes instead (Judges 21:25) and thus separating themselves from God, instead of seeking the Lord through prayer and study. We know that some people, like the Israelites in the desert (Number 13), die outside of the promised inheritance that is there just waiting for us (repeat). We know that we, like Solomon, if we fail to serve the Lord, we can fail to possess this inheritance.
But we know also from the stories of Abraham (Gen 12-17), Samson (Judges 13-16), and David (1&2 Samuel) – of whom we have read lately - that no matter what happens, the Lord is always faithful. He never gives we don’t have to die outside of the promise, we don’t have to because He NEVER gives up on us. He NEVER gives up on us.
This is an important thing to remember. So let’s remember our roots as people of God. Let us remember as Abraham, Samson, David, and other heroes of the faith did (Hebrews 11) – who even though they all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) – as they repented, as they turned to God they were saved. So then as Jesus proved himself faithful by dying on the cross because of our unfaithfulness, let us turn to him in faithful obedience, remember our roots, call upon the Lord, and be saved.
May all that come behind us find us faithful.
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[1] Captain Michael Ramsay. 2 Samuel 13-18: Taking Matters in His Own Hands: the Story of Prince Absalom. Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps November 18, 2007. Available on-line at: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/11/2-samuel-13-18-taking-matters-in-his.html
[2] He makes slaves of everyone in the country EXCEPT the ones from his home province. He doesn’t make the people from Judah, his own tribe, do any of the work. Right, that would be like Harper saying everyone starting tomorrow must spend two years doing hard labour – except Toronto, Ontario, where he was born – and we in Saskatchewan or wherever, you must make up the difference.
[3] Captain Michael Ramsay. Psalm 72: The Credit Card of Justice and Righteousness. Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps July 01, 2007. Available on-line at: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/08/psalm-72-credit-card-of-justice-and.html
[4] This has consequences because remember too that this covenant that Solomon has transgressed relates to the covenant that a descendant of David will never fail to sit on the throne (2 Samuel 7) and that all the nations of the earth will be blessed though Abraham (Genesis 11:3). The promised salvation from God was intermingled into this commission to Solomon and Solomon has let down his father, Solomon has let down his sons, Solomon is a disappointment to his roots, and Solomon has let down even all the inheritors of this promise including you and me.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
I Samuel 31 2-4: the Arrows of the Enemy
Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on July 13, 2008
By Captain Michael Ramsay
Did you ever have one of those days when nothing seems to go right? I remember my first day of University. It was big deal. I attended community college before but heading off to University is still quite intimidating. Moving from a small campus, which the college I went to was, (it had only three buildings on its campus and just a few people in those days) to the big University was quite significant.
UVic was a lot different from Camosun. It is much bigger: UVic has a population of about 20 000 people!1 If UVic was here, it would be the one of the larger cities in the whole province! It is a little intimidating. There are so many buildings, so many people, so much to know.
I try to be prepared though. I go to the campus the day before. I have people show me the building that my classes would be in. I have people show me how read the boards in order to find my classes. I even print out my class lists a whole month before so that I will know when and where my classes are. I have all my books. I put gas in car the night before. I am ready. I am already.
The next day – my alarm doesn’t go off! When I wake up and look at my clock it is five minutes before class is supposed to start; so, I run out the front door as fast as I can and I jump in my car, I turn the ignition and…nothing. I turn it again and…nothing. I turn it again…nothing. Nothing. At this point I am quite upset and am actually practising my creative English skills quite a bit – if you know what I mean.
I run back into my house and call everyone I can think of who has a car. I finally get a hold of Dan who comes and drives me to the school. I run across the campus to the education building. I frantically try to find the class that I am in and try to sneak in the back door without being found out. No luck, I am caught. I am half an hour late for an hour-long class on my first day of school at the big university. I try to elude capture but I am caught. I am caught and the teacher draws attention to me. All I want to do is hide and the teacher is having fun drawing attention to me. I just want to sit down. I just want to hide in the back but my teacher has caught me trying to hide and is targeting me to make a point about punctuality and I am caught. I am vulnerable and in front of the whole class, she is exploiting my tardiness.
I am quite embarrassed by the time she is done shooting me with these arrows of humiliation. When I am finally released from the front of the class to go to sit down as the teacher asks for my name to check it off the list.
“Michael Ramsay,” I say.
“Michael Ramsay?”
“Yes, Michael Ramsay”
“…There is no Michael Ramsay on the list.” I look around again…the students all have musical instruments. This is a music class. Not only am I half an hour late for class – I am half an hour late for the WRONG class. I am embarrassed. I am really embarrassed and I just want to hide.
In our story today we read about Saul when he is caught and he is unable to hide. The archers have found him and they are exploiting his weakness; he was in the wrong class at the wrong time and the teacher, the archers have found him.
1 Samuel 31: 1-6: Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines pressed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him critically.
Saul said to his armour-bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me."
But his armour-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. When the armour-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. So Saul and his three sons and his armour-bearer and all his men died together that same day.
Saul was a man who took so much of his decisions… he took so much of his life in his own hands. Remember when he was about to be made King; what does he do? He, taking matters into his own hands, hides among the baggage (1 Samuel 10:22).
Remember when Samuel was apparently late for offering the sacrifice, what does he do (1 Samuel 13:8-13)? He takes matters into his own hands and offers the sacrifice himself.
Remember when David, the son of Jesse, is anointed and makes friends of King Saul’s children (1 Samuel 16:1-13, 18:28-29), what does he do (1 Samuel 19-30)? He takes matters –and a spear - into his own hand and tries to kill both David (1 Samuel 18:10) and his son with the spear (1 Samuel 20:33).
Remember - just before the battle of today’s passage - when he wouldn’t wait any longer for an answer from the Lord, what does he do? Saul takes matters into his own hands, and consults the witch at Endor (1 Samuel 28). Now Saul is pressed from all sides. It looks like there is no hope for escape and what does Saul do? He takes matters in his own hands; he takes his life by his own hand (but cf. 1 Samuel 16:14). Saul dies.2
So what do we do when life is pressing us from all sides? What do we do when various arrows come flying at us?
What about the arrows of embarrassment and fear of failure? I was humiliated in that music class and honestly, it was difficult for me. You see I can be quite competitive and in post-secondary (when I was in my early 20s). I had developed almost a fear of failure and so whenever I ran into a situation in where I might not be able succeed at the level I had set for myself, I would pour more and more time into it. I would pour more and more of my own effort into it. Don’t mistake what I am saying here about that: work ethic is important and good things come out of hard work. 3
There is a problem with this though and the problem with this is the one we learned from Ecclesiastes and 1 Samuel 17: the battle is not to the strong and the race is not to the swift (Eccl. 9:11); the battle belongs to the Lord (1 Sam 17:47). When we forget this and when we try to do things just on our own strength, when we try to do everything on our own and when we fail, we are often destroyed.
I had a friends of mine who responded to University just like I did by pouring her whole being into her courses. When she did fail – whatever she considered failure – she felt utterly destroyed. She tries to drown herself when she doesn’t do as well as she had hoped. She recovers and is doing really well these many years later but at this time, she was as utterly destroyed as Saul and his sons on Mt Gilboa, when the arrows found them.
What about other arrows that the Enemy fires at us? What about the arrows of death and loneliness? These are arrows that strike many of us when we try to defend against them on our own. I have heard many stories of husbands who die shortly after their wives pass away for just that reason. The one they love is gone and when they try to deal with that on their own, they can’t. I know of people, who have never drank before, who become alcoholics on the passing of a spouse. These arrows of death and lonliness are powerful arrows that can cut any of us down and when we are found fighting on our own strength, we will fall.
What about the arrows of wealth and success?4 Isn’t true that even many of us here today can get so caught up in the business or the trappings of the wealth and success (and I don’t care who we are in this country – even the poorest person in this country lives in the wealthiest per cent of the world) of our society that we can forget God; we can forget about prayer and we can forget about the Bible? Isn’t it true that instead of building a solid relationship with our Lord and Saviour that we can be distracted by things that it seems our wealth provides, like work, gardening, hobbies, TV, family, or even boredom? Isn’t it true that we can be so distracted by the affluence of North American society that sometime we can forget about the shelter our Messiah offers and sometimes we can walk straight out into the arrows of the Enemy; sometimes we can be separated from our Lord and sometimes – maybe - some even die.
I am reminded of a storybook that my daughters have about two real life women pirates. They love the fact that the heroes are girls! (As I’m sure some of the people here do as well!) The heroes are strong women. They are pirates and they are on a very successful pirate ship. They, as well as the male captain and all the male crew, are getting quite wealthy and quite proud and quite content.
One day the two lady pirates are on duty on deck while all the men are drinking, gambling and indulging themselves below - they’re slacking off. They’re slacking off and a ship from the British Royal Navy (the superpower of their day) shows up. The women man the battle stations. The women call the men. The men don’t come up. The women call the men again. The men still won’t come up. (There must be a game on!) The men are too busy drinking, gambling – slacking off. The Navy vessel is getting closer and closer. The women call and the women call but the men, the men remain beneath the deck eating, drinking, gambling – they are just slacking off. They never come up. The soldiers board the ship and take almost everyone captive. The women fight to save the lives of their comrades and themselves but they are captured and – had they not been spared because tehy were pregnant – they would have died on the gallows with all their men folk because the men preferred to indulge themselves rather than to keep a lookout.
This is like Saul. He had many chances to return to the Lord. In many of the episodes that we read, he could have repented; he could have turned to the Lord. When he was about to be made King, he could have repented from hiding among the baggage (1 Samuel 10:22). When he took matters into his own hands and made the sacrifice for himself, he could have repented and cried out before the Lord (1 Samuel 13). When he wouldn’t wait any longer for an answer from the Lord, instead of taking matters into his own hands and consulting the witch at Endor (1 Samuel 28), he could have repented; he could have turned; he could have called upon the Lord tirelessly, without ceasing (Cf. Luke 18:1-8). And Saul now as he is pressed from all sides and it looks like there is no hope for escape. Even in this last moment he could call upon the name of the Lord and be saved (cf. Acts 2:21) but instead he takes his life in his own hands. He took his life by his own hand.
This is what we must remember. We must remember what was spoken to us through David in 1 Samuel 17: the battle belongs to the Lord. We have to follow him. We can’t like those men on the pirate ship who give up keeping watch. No man (or woman) knows the time or hour of our Lord’s return. No one knows the time or hour when our name will individually be called. Some of us will live one hundred years. Some of us will live forty. Some of us will live more and some of us may live less.
Jesus, the scripture says, will return like a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2). When he does the question to us will be: have we truly been serving Him or have we - by making our own decisions without consulting the Lord about our work, our family, or our health - have we been serving ourselves? When the Lord comes back, those of us who serve Him; when the Lord comes back, those of us who turn to Him; when the Lord comes back, those of us who realise like David did that the battle does belong to the Lord, we will be raised to eternal life in His Kingdom.
Those of us who continue to do things on our own though – like King Saul – those of us who continue to make up our own minds and continue to serve our own whims – those of us who serve ourselves instead of the Lord will not be in His kingdom but there is still good news: no matter how long we have been serving someone other than the Lord, it is not too late as long as we are still alive. It never too late to turn (repent); it is never too late to turn or return to the Lord. As long as we have a breath in us we can still be saved…and maybe Saul was. Samson in his dying moments, even though he took his life by his own hands, repented and earned his spot as a hero of the faith (Hebrews 11) and Saul may very well have done the same but we don't know that (his name is absent from the walk of fame) and I would encourage us not to leave it to the last moment at any regard. Why die in uncertainty? Why live in uncertainty? Instead, as His yoke is easy (Matthew 11:29), Let us all turn to the Lord today and be saved.
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1 http://www.canadian-universities.net/Universities/University-of-Victoria.html
2 Now to be fair, there is inter-play here between Saul not relying upon the Lord and the fact that the Lord sent an evil spirit to torment Saul. Saul rejected the Lord and the Lord rejected Saul. This interplay is somewhat reminiscent of the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart at the time of the mass Israelite exodus from Egypt.
4 The depression that we just mentioned around the king, Saul, certainly is prevalent in our wealthy societies whereas it is almost non-existent in poorer nations. What about the Enemy’s arrows of wealth and success? I read a very good journal article recently that compared the actions of King Saul to a person diagnosed with depression and then they created interesting clinical test to see if the results could be duplicated and they could. It was very interesting. Is it just a coincidence that depression is most common in the post-Christian western world where whole societies almost seem to want to only rely on ourselves?
By Captain Michael Ramsay
Did you ever have one of those days when nothing seems to go right? I remember my first day of University. It was big deal. I attended community college before but heading off to University is still quite intimidating. Moving from a small campus, which the college I went to was, (it had only three buildings on its campus and just a few people in those days) to the big University was quite significant.
UVic was a lot different from Camosun. It is much bigger: UVic has a population of about 20 000 people!1 If UVic was here, it would be the one of the larger cities in the whole province! It is a little intimidating. There are so many buildings, so many people, so much to know.
I try to be prepared though. I go to the campus the day before. I have people show me the building that my classes would be in. I have people show me how read the boards in order to find my classes. I even print out my class lists a whole month before so that I will know when and where my classes are. I have all my books. I put gas in car the night before. I am ready. I am already.
The next day – my alarm doesn’t go off! When I wake up and look at my clock it is five minutes before class is supposed to start; so, I run out the front door as fast as I can and I jump in my car, I turn the ignition and…nothing. I turn it again and…nothing. I turn it again…nothing. Nothing. At this point I am quite upset and am actually practising my creative English skills quite a bit – if you know what I mean.
I run back into my house and call everyone I can think of who has a car. I finally get a hold of Dan who comes and drives me to the school. I run across the campus to the education building. I frantically try to find the class that I am in and try to sneak in the back door without being found out. No luck, I am caught. I am half an hour late for an hour-long class on my first day of school at the big university. I try to elude capture but I am caught. I am caught and the teacher draws attention to me. All I want to do is hide and the teacher is having fun drawing attention to me. I just want to sit down. I just want to hide in the back but my teacher has caught me trying to hide and is targeting me to make a point about punctuality and I am caught. I am vulnerable and in front of the whole class, she is exploiting my tardiness.
I am quite embarrassed by the time she is done shooting me with these arrows of humiliation. When I am finally released from the front of the class to go to sit down as the teacher asks for my name to check it off the list.
“Michael Ramsay,” I say.
“Michael Ramsay?”
“Yes, Michael Ramsay”
“…There is no Michael Ramsay on the list.” I look around again…the students all have musical instruments. This is a music class. Not only am I half an hour late for class – I am half an hour late for the WRONG class. I am embarrassed. I am really embarrassed and I just want to hide.
In our story today we read about Saul when he is caught and he is unable to hide. The archers have found him and they are exploiting his weakness; he was in the wrong class at the wrong time and the teacher, the archers have found him.
1 Samuel 31: 1-6: Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines pressed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him critically.
Saul said to his armour-bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me."
But his armour-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. When the armour-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. So Saul and his three sons and his armour-bearer and all his men died together that same day.
Saul was a man who took so much of his decisions… he took so much of his life in his own hands. Remember when he was about to be made King; what does he do? He, taking matters into his own hands, hides among the baggage (1 Samuel 10:22).
Remember when Samuel was apparently late for offering the sacrifice, what does he do (1 Samuel 13:8-13)? He takes matters into his own hands and offers the sacrifice himself.
Remember when David, the son of Jesse, is anointed and makes friends of King Saul’s children (1 Samuel 16:1-13, 18:28-29), what does he do (1 Samuel 19-30)? He takes matters –and a spear - into his own hand and tries to kill both David (1 Samuel 18:10) and his son with the spear (1 Samuel 20:33).
Remember - just before the battle of today’s passage - when he wouldn’t wait any longer for an answer from the Lord, what does he do? Saul takes matters into his own hands, and consults the witch at Endor (1 Samuel 28). Now Saul is pressed from all sides. It looks like there is no hope for escape and what does Saul do? He takes matters in his own hands; he takes his life by his own hand (but cf. 1 Samuel 16:14). Saul dies.2
So what do we do when life is pressing us from all sides? What do we do when various arrows come flying at us?
What about the arrows of embarrassment and fear of failure? I was humiliated in that music class and honestly, it was difficult for me. You see I can be quite competitive and in post-secondary (when I was in my early 20s). I had developed almost a fear of failure and so whenever I ran into a situation in where I might not be able succeed at the level I had set for myself, I would pour more and more time into it. I would pour more and more of my own effort into it. Don’t mistake what I am saying here about that: work ethic is important and good things come out of hard work. 3
There is a problem with this though and the problem with this is the one we learned from Ecclesiastes and 1 Samuel 17: the battle is not to the strong and the race is not to the swift (Eccl. 9:11); the battle belongs to the Lord (1 Sam 17:47). When we forget this and when we try to do things just on our own strength, when we try to do everything on our own and when we fail, we are often destroyed.
I had a friends of mine who responded to University just like I did by pouring her whole being into her courses. When she did fail – whatever she considered failure – she felt utterly destroyed. She tries to drown herself when she doesn’t do as well as she had hoped. She recovers and is doing really well these many years later but at this time, she was as utterly destroyed as Saul and his sons on Mt Gilboa, when the arrows found them.
What about other arrows that the Enemy fires at us? What about the arrows of death and loneliness? These are arrows that strike many of us when we try to defend against them on our own. I have heard many stories of husbands who die shortly after their wives pass away for just that reason. The one they love is gone and when they try to deal with that on their own, they can’t. I know of people, who have never drank before, who become alcoholics on the passing of a spouse. These arrows of death and lonliness are powerful arrows that can cut any of us down and when we are found fighting on our own strength, we will fall.
What about the arrows of wealth and success?4 Isn’t true that even many of us here today can get so caught up in the business or the trappings of the wealth and success (and I don’t care who we are in this country – even the poorest person in this country lives in the wealthiest per cent of the world) of our society that we can forget God; we can forget about prayer and we can forget about the Bible? Isn’t it true that instead of building a solid relationship with our Lord and Saviour that we can be distracted by things that it seems our wealth provides, like work, gardening, hobbies, TV, family, or even boredom? Isn’t it true that we can be so distracted by the affluence of North American society that sometime we can forget about the shelter our Messiah offers and sometimes we can walk straight out into the arrows of the Enemy; sometimes we can be separated from our Lord and sometimes – maybe - some even die.
I am reminded of a storybook that my daughters have about two real life women pirates. They love the fact that the heroes are girls! (As I’m sure some of the people here do as well!) The heroes are strong women. They are pirates and they are on a very successful pirate ship. They, as well as the male captain and all the male crew, are getting quite wealthy and quite proud and quite content.
One day the two lady pirates are on duty on deck while all the men are drinking, gambling and indulging themselves below - they’re slacking off. They’re slacking off and a ship from the British Royal Navy (the superpower of their day) shows up. The women man the battle stations. The women call the men. The men don’t come up. The women call the men again. The men still won’t come up. (There must be a game on!) The men are too busy drinking, gambling – slacking off. The Navy vessel is getting closer and closer. The women call and the women call but the men, the men remain beneath the deck eating, drinking, gambling – they are just slacking off. They never come up. The soldiers board the ship and take almost everyone captive. The women fight to save the lives of their comrades and themselves but they are captured and – had they not been spared because tehy were pregnant – they would have died on the gallows with all their men folk because the men preferred to indulge themselves rather than to keep a lookout.
This is like Saul. He had many chances to return to the Lord. In many of the episodes that we read, he could have repented; he could have turned to the Lord. When he was about to be made King, he could have repented from hiding among the baggage (1 Samuel 10:22). When he took matters into his own hands and made the sacrifice for himself, he could have repented and cried out before the Lord (1 Samuel 13). When he wouldn’t wait any longer for an answer from the Lord, instead of taking matters into his own hands and consulting the witch at Endor (1 Samuel 28), he could have repented; he could have turned; he could have called upon the Lord tirelessly, without ceasing (Cf. Luke 18:1-8). And Saul now as he is pressed from all sides and it looks like there is no hope for escape. Even in this last moment he could call upon the name of the Lord and be saved (cf. Acts 2:21) but instead he takes his life in his own hands. He took his life by his own hand.
This is what we must remember. We must remember what was spoken to us through David in 1 Samuel 17: the battle belongs to the Lord. We have to follow him. We can’t like those men on the pirate ship who give up keeping watch. No man (or woman) knows the time or hour of our Lord’s return. No one knows the time or hour when our name will individually be called. Some of us will live one hundred years. Some of us will live forty. Some of us will live more and some of us may live less.
Jesus, the scripture says, will return like a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2). When he does the question to us will be: have we truly been serving Him or have we - by making our own decisions without consulting the Lord about our work, our family, or our health - have we been serving ourselves? When the Lord comes back, those of us who serve Him; when the Lord comes back, those of us who turn to Him; when the Lord comes back, those of us who realise like David did that the battle does belong to the Lord, we will be raised to eternal life in His Kingdom.
Those of us who continue to do things on our own though – like King Saul – those of us who continue to make up our own minds and continue to serve our own whims – those of us who serve ourselves instead of the Lord will not be in His kingdom but there is still good news: no matter how long we have been serving someone other than the Lord, it is not too late as long as we are still alive. It never too late to turn (repent); it is never too late to turn or return to the Lord. As long as we have a breath in us we can still be saved…and maybe Saul was. Samson in his dying moments, even though he took his life by his own hands, repented and earned his spot as a hero of the faith (Hebrews 11) and Saul may very well have done the same but we don't know that (his name is absent from the walk of fame) and I would encourage us not to leave it to the last moment at any regard. Why die in uncertainty? Why live in uncertainty? Instead, as His yoke is easy (Matthew 11:29), Let us all turn to the Lord today and be saved.
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1 http://www.canadian-universities.net/Universities/University-of-Victoria.html
2 Now to be fair, there is inter-play here between Saul not relying upon the Lord and the fact that the Lord sent an evil spirit to torment Saul. Saul rejected the Lord and the Lord rejected Saul. This interplay is somewhat reminiscent of the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart at the time of the mass Israelite exodus from Egypt.
4 The depression that we just mentioned around the king, Saul, certainly is prevalent in our wealthy societies whereas it is almost non-existent in poorer nations. What about the Enemy’s arrows of wealth and success? I read a very good journal article recently that compared the actions of King Saul to a person diagnosed with depression and then they created interesting clinical test to see if the results could be duplicated and they could. It was very interesting. Is it just a coincidence that depression is most common in the post-Christian western world where whole societies almost seem to want to only rely on ourselves?
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