November 20, 2022 - Checkmate
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Song Lyrics: What Could’ve Been
I haven't stopped thinking about you
Has it really been this long?
Two years and an ocean between us
And I don't know where it all went wrong
A couple more simple I'm sorrys
A little less trying to be right
I wonder how many good mornings
We wasted 'cause we didn't say goodnight
I don't know what this is or what it isn't
But it feels like we've got unfinished business
'Cause we left blood on the tracks, sweat on the saddle
Fire in the hills, a bullet in the barrel
Words never said in a story that didn't end
Looks like you're on the mend and I'm on the bottle
We folded our hands with money on the table
Tried moving on, but I keep coming back again
To what could've been
What could've been
These of course - LYRICS to a country song…YET
It’s a question that at times can weigh as heavy as the world.
How many of you have ever been crippled by the question...
What Could Have Been?
I know it’s one that has TRIPPED UP all of us..
*How many of you have ever watched a movie that ENDED - leaving you hanging with - - What could’ve been?
It’s a question - a THOUGHT - that can really wreck us...
But why?
If we think through this THOUGHT - what could’ve been…?
We find that the question RENDERS us - REACHING for …
POTENTIAL - yet never taking hold of it...
Fulfillment - yet never being able to take hold of it
That’s what the question does!
It’s an expression of - UNfulfillment.
What Could’ve Been
And this PHRASE can mean something different for each person...
Maybe a relationship - - what could’ve been
A career path
An illness
An injury
A Loss
What Could’ve Been...
And YEAH - everyone loves a story where the characters find - FULFILLMENT...
But there’s something about that story/movie - where we’re left HANGIN… what could’ve been!
Today - we’ll see the “What Could’ve Been” of Jonathan, Saul’s son.
And if we just think back to last week’s sermon - we’ll begin to maybe see where this is heading today.
Last week - we looked at King Saul’s SON - Jonathan...
And in looking at Jonathan…we saw - FAITH
Jonathan had asked his armor bearer to go up WITH HIM to the Philistine Garrison…and try to OVERTAKE the men there...
AND NOT ONLY THAT - but we saw that Jonathan was willing to DO THIS - taking the most IMPOSSIBLE route to get there...
And so what did we see?
Our main verse last week was this..
6 Then Jonathan said to the young man who was carrying his armor, “Come and let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps the Lord will work for us, for the Lord is not restrained to save by many or by few.”
We saw that FAITH…begins with...
Conviction of who God is (Jonathan said - The Lord is not restrained (HINDERED) to save)
Expectation of what God can do (PERHAPS God will work for us - the only way we’ll know is to step out and see)
Execution by stepping into the Story of how God works (He saves by many OR by few)
Jonathan did ALL of these when he STEPPED OUT into - the Perhaps of God...
Remember?
Jonathan had said - Let’s go -
And it’s THIS type of FAITH - that is going to play into our sermon today...
I have a feeling - that today’s sermon is gonna hit home for many of us in here today...
It did for me...
Because many, many years ago - I walked thru this very thing.
And I’m sure many of us have done the same.
Today we’ll cover a wide range of text - and so I’ll simply pull out enough of the text to give us the STORY...
And then we’ll see what TRUTH crosses thru the centuries to us today.
Let’s revisit Jonathan’s history as an UP-AND-COMING King...
3 Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.”
So Jonathan defeats the garrison at Geba...
What else?
From last week - we heard this...
12 And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.” And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Come up after me, for the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.”
13 Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them after him.
So Jonathan - AGAIN - kills ANOTHER garrison of the Philistines - about 20 men all together!
This was Jonathan’s RESUME - if you will
AND IF WE COMPARE THESE THINGS (his resume) - to how Saul was operating AS king....
We can make some startling revelations...
What did Saul’s resume look like?
Remember this?
When Saul was anointed?
21 He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found.
22 So they inquired again of the Lord, “Is there a man still to come?” and the Lord said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”
What else?
We just read of Jonathan defeating the garrison at Geba...
3 Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.”
4 And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.
What goes on the resume for this?? Deceit?
What else?
8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him.
9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering.
10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him.
11 Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash,
12 I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.”
13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.
14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
We remember this - - Disobedience…right?
What else?
2 Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah in the pomegranate cave at Migron. The people who were with him were about six hundred men,
While JONATHAN was - IN THE GAME - in the action…LIVING by faith...
Defeating the garrison…BY FAITH
Saul was - hiding in the caves...
HANGING out with - those without honor!
These things we had walked through already…but is there anything else?
Anything new?
1 And Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord.
2 Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt.
3 Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”
Pretty clear command from God - right?
Go down there - and wipe out - EVERYTHING!
7 And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt.
8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword.
9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.
Is this PAR for the COURSE - with Saul?
Saul DOESN’T LISTEN to the word of God - he does his OWN thing...
AGAIN - disobedience!
Result?
24 Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord.”
26 And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
So HERE WE HAVE IT...
a TALE of two men…father and son
QUESTION: Which of these 2 men acted more like a king?
Jonathan!
Is there any doubt in your answer?
He’s out - IN FRONT - fighting by faith...
And Saul is - Hiding in caves - taking credit for Jonathan’s victories.
AND yet - Here’s what we know:
SLIDE:
Sometimes the life we think we deserve is not the life that God has written for us.
What do I mean?
In this biblical account - we see a man - JONATHAN - EMINENTLY qualified to be KING...
YET...
Because of his father...
WILL never BE king.
Kingship for Jonathan - will never be - reality!
And so we see this play out in the text - and we MIGHT think...
WOW - what a waste!
Why would God WASTE such a COMPETENT man…and NOT ALLOW him to be king!
Remember last week - we saw the “PERHAPS of God” when it comes to FAITH!
Jonathan had said - perhaps God will work for us…but we’ll ONLY KNOW if we give it a shot!
That’s FAITH...
TODAY - we see the - “What Could’ve Been” of God!
And it’s THIS question ...
What could’ve been?
the What if? of God - that has really HINDERED so many people in their walk with the Lord!
Let’s start here - Let’s go back to our question...
*How many of you have been faced with a...
… “what could’ve been” in your life?
a … “what if” in your life?
As you know - sometimes those “What Could’ve Been’s” can really weigh on us…in our lives!
For me - as I’ve stated many times - I desired - from a young age - to play professional baseball.
Of course - every kid desires that it seems...
BUT...
As my life progressed - I got closer and closer TO that...
Played in high school...
Wanted to play Div. 1 in college...
My History teacher in High School doubted I would DO THAT...
without ever seeing my play
BUT - ended up playing D1 in college...
As I played - received some Conference Honors...
And by the time of Fall Ball before my Senior year...
Things were looking like it would happen.
I was on my way...
But my Senior year - I had my worst year.
WHY? - - great question.
And so I KNEW God was in control the entire time...
But to bring me - SO CLOSE - so as to see this thing happen...
To then - have it remain OUT OF REACH...
OF COURSE - I walked away thinking - Oh man - what could’ve been!
It was an 18 year relationship (me and baseball)...
It really did define me (*Grandma’s funeral in Tennessee a couple years ago)
18 year relationship - done…Ended in Chicago - 2001
AND - just after that - having guys I played with that DID get drafted - come back to school and say - Hey man - you could play in the minors...
What could’ve been...
AND JUST LIKE US - NOW - today - reading of Jonathan..and thinking - WOW…Jonathan…you could have been a great KING…!
You had what it took!
You could do THIS!!
BUT - what we have to come back to is what’s on the slide!
[point to the slide]
Sometimes the life we think we deserve is not the life that God has written for us.
Jonathan had been REJECTED as King in God’s rejection of Saul’s dynasty!
And the questions for us no doubt begin to FLY!
Why would Jonathan’s future be squandered due to Saul’s choices?
Why did Jonathan have to MISS OUT?
He was SOOOO Qualified!!
And perhaps Jonathan began to realize that his kingship WOULD NEVER happen....
Jonathan could have easily - REBELLED - no?
He could have easily thrown in the chips and thought - OK, I’M OUTTA HERE!...
This is RIDICULOUS!!
But instead - how did Jonathan respond?
He WALKED BY - - Faith!!
HOW?
SLIDE:
For Jonathan, the kingdom was not his to seize, not his to rule, but his to serve.
This heart posture (on the screen) was HOW Jonathan was able to CONTINUE to walk in the ways of the Lord...
HE KNEW the kingdom was NOT Saul’s kingdom…but God’s Kingdom!
NOW LISTEN...
If you don’t think Jonathan could have been justified in WARRING AGAINST his dad...
You need to know....
That following Jonathan’s victory over one of the garrisons - SAUL decided to make a FOOLISH ORDER over the people of Israel...
He decided that ANY MAN who ate food before evening and UNTIL he had avenged himself on his enemies…any man that ate BEFORE then, would be cursed....KILLED.
Well - guess what - Jonathan was actually OUT WINNING battles - and didn’t hear the order.
Jonathan comes back to camp - and on his way back - he finds some honey on the ground, and eats some.
He then finds out that his dad - SAUL - made this order…and Jonathan says this...
29 Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. See how my eyes have become bright because I tasted a little of this honey.
30 How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies that they found. For now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great.”
Jonathan realizes what has happened…and yet says this...
43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” And Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey with the tip of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am; I will die.”
44 And Saul said, “God do so to me and more also; you shall surely die, Jonathan.”
So what happens?
45 Then the people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As the Lord lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.” So the people ransomed Jonathan, so that he did not die.
Again - WHO had worked WITH God that day?
Jonathan did!!
Oh what could’ve been!!
The reason Jonathan was able to HONOR God in his life - was because...
He didn’t view the kingdom as - POTENTIALLY HIS ONE DAY...
He knew it wasn’t his to SEIZE, wasn’t his to RULE, but it WAS his to - SERVE!
Serve who?
Serve God!
And so - bringing this truth INTO OUR WORLDS today...
We ALL have kingdoms -
Our CIRCLE of friends - our circles of influence…our places of employment...
Our kids’s schools
Our neighborhoods...
Our CHURCHES!
We need to know...
SLIDE:
Our kingdoms are not ours to seize, not ours to rule, but ours to serve.
Each day - Jonathan woke up thinking -
Where I am TODAY - “Lord, help me serve you TODAY”
And so - Jonathan believed this...
SLIDE:
Our call is to serve God without condition.
Now - this is our call…but sometimes we fall into this...
SLIDE:
I will serve God only when conditions meet my standards.
As we can clearly see - looking at the resume of Jonathan...
he didn’t operate this way!
he served God without condition!
His contentment was not in his SITUATION…
His contentment was in this - the Opportunity to serve the Lord!
When we can live the same way - think about how that FREES us to live a God-honoring life!
When my contentment is in - the opportunity to serve...
Then it DOESN’T MATTER where I am..
What job i have,..
What role I play...
What title I have...
Where I live...
What car I drive...
What school I attended...
What degree I have / IF i have one
It doesn’t MATTER WHERE I AM...
I’m content to - SERVE the Lord!!
**First service in this building (first 4 rows)
Who thinks because that was the case - we decided to only sing 1 song that morning?
Who thinks because it was “JUST 4 rows” that I ONLY SPENT 5 hours studying for the sermons back then??
We’re called to SERVE the LORD - WHERE WE ARE!
5 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ,
6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man,
Serve where you are - BECAUSE you are SERVING Christ, not man
23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
Paul wrote these words…and so we know he embraced this truth in his life… he RESOLVED to live a certain way...
25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;
26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers;
27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
Beaten
Shipwrecked
Danger from...
rivers
robbers
people
from Gentiles
in the city
in the wilderness
at sea
from false brothers
in toil / hardship / sleepless nights / in hunger and thirst / in cold and exposure...
IN ALL OF THIS… Paul was resolute! - as Jonathan!
18 And when they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia,
19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews;
20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house,
21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there,
23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.
24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
Back to our point for today:
Sometimes the life we think we deserve is not the life that God has written for us.
And so - instead of us...
thinking we know better...
focused on the landscape instead of the landscaper...
We’re called to SERVE God - WHEREVER He has us...
Jonathan had decided in his life...
Where I AM…is where I’M NEEDED....and where God WANTS ME...
let me SERVE God - TODAY...
May we choose to live this way...
Let’s pray