David & Nabal #3

1 Sam 25:14-17 “But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.””

1 Sam 25:18-23 “Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. And she said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them. Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good. God do so to the enemies of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.” When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground.”

A WHISTLEBLOWER

14 - but one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife

Nabal’s behavior had become destructive.

and he was about to be destroyed for it - he and all his house.

So one of his young men looks for a way of escape.

Nabal won’t listen - but maybe his wife...

In the midst of all this there’s a good chance Nabal’s young man would be accused of beign a narc, or a gossip.

but that’s the way it goes. Anytime you take a stand, prepare for conflict.

Nabal’s servant is actually being courageous, he could run away. flee. start over somewhere else.

but instead he risks it, is brave, and goes to Nabal’s wife, Abigail.

and it’s clearly not gossip - why? - because “no one can speak to him”

people have tried to talk to Nabal - he’s a worthless man and won’t listen.

So now that death is rolling in, it’s time to make a move. no sin here.

what would make this gossip?

more on that later.

Often, conflict is avoided for the sake of peace. There is a better name for that...

fear of man.

to avoid the conflict for the sake of peace, the sake of keeping your job, for the sake of not having a blow up at dinner again...

that’s fear of man. SOMETIMES it’s enabling.

wives do it with their husbands...

parents with their children and discipline...

employees do it with their bosses...

we can’t let a fear of conflict govern our actions.

life is full of conflict. Sin exists

if we’re going to push back darkness that means we PUSH BACK. Conflict.

From todays text we can get a few good principles about how to deal with fools, dolts, like Nabal… and not sin.

PRINCIPLE #1: You might need to blow the whistle on them.

what do I mean? - bring the issue to someone who can help.

Now - lets get VERY specific about what the difference is between this and gossip.

ITS NOT GOSSIP WHEN...

it’s Matthew 18 .

we’ve gone to them privately, but they won’t repent… they’re committed to the sin.

you gotta get 2-3 more - but if the 2-3 more rebuke YOU… time to shut it down and reassess...

but that’s not gossip.

unless you start moving around and grabbing 2-3 more every time the first 2-3 don’t agree w/ you.

OR instead of 2-3 you start with 10 or so...

OR you just start looping people in on the issue at hand with no intention of involving them in the process...

IT ALSO ISN’T GOSSIP WHEN

the danger is immediate.

they were all going to die if this didn’t get dealt with quickly - so the servant went to Abigail.

Nabal was a worthless man, he wouldn’t listen when anyone talked to him, the servant had no choice.

But I’m supposed to submit to my husband??? leaders???

“in the Lord” ....yes.

but if they’re about to get you all or someone else killed because of their foolishness…

if they’re leading you into sin…

But I thought Christians were only supposed to be encouraging and affirming?

we don’t affirm sin.

we definitely don’t affirm sin when everyone is about to get killed over it.

you don’t let your kid overeat and play video games all day - that’s a sinful affirming.

we don’t affirm abusive spouses… that’s sinful.

we don’t affirm/encourage addiction...

we don’t only respond w/ encouragement when adultery is on the table.

we respond with rebuke, the gospel, and sometimes an intervention or restitution.

BUT I DON’T WANT TO MEDDLE

where is the line?

love covers a multitude of sins...

but love shouldn’t cover a crime.

and love doesn’t cover unrepentant sins that are on a trajectory of destruction.

you wouldn’t watch your friend running blindly towards the edge of a cliff and say “well, I just love them so much I won’t tell them.”

A key sign you’re “meddling”

you gossip on top of your meddling - you tell folks who aren’t the problem and who aren’t the solution.

OK! we’ve vetted the whole situation - we’re in the clear - we’ve blown the whistle!!

now what?

Principle #2: after you blow the whistle - you may need to intervene. Here comes the conflict.

The servant blew the whistle - who’s going to intervene?

Abigail - on behalf of all those who may be about to die… which is everybody. Or at least all the men.

and she’s going to intervene at the risk of her life, in the face of David’s irrational anger (David is now the fool…)

this can be pretty scary. need courage, but also need wisdom.

First - not all interventions are righteous.

look at Job’s friends - God condemned them.

Absalom intervened on behalf of Israel - but that was a coup against his father.

Peter intervened when he thought Jesus was being self destructive - GET BEHIND ME SATAN

Interventions - in order to be righteous - have to first get their facts right.

which means you need to be humble - in case your facts are wrong.

ALSO you must be aware of your motives - are you intervening just to “win” is this about you and your success, is this about you proving someone wrong,

AND we can’t blow it our of proportion - don’t take it too far.

1 Cor 6 tells us of an intervention that landed in a pagan court - too far.

the SBC hired a pagan organization to evaluate them over sexual abuse allegations - too far.

Treat an intervention like dynamite - it can unplug a log jam, thats true.

it can also knock down the whole building.

Abigail is careful, precise, self-aware...

Gal 6:1 “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.”

You may have to intervene. You may have to be interevened with.

humility.

The Christian life is one of conflict. Conflict with the world, and at times, loving conflict with our brothers and sisters.

may we be so courageous.

may we be so wise.

may we dislodge the log jam and not take out the building in the process.

and may we do it all for the kingdom of Christ.

and all God’s people said...