God’s Will, God’s Way

Intro:

Good morning!

It is so good to be back with you all. We missed being here with you last Sunday, we were actually driving back from our trip to Florida. We were down there for a bout a week seeing family and friends right after Christmas and it was great but Honestly, we are just glad we made it back in one piece. It’s about a 12 hour drive between here and Tampa, Florida which is just too long to be in the car. Especially when you add a 19 month old baby and a crazy dog to that journey.

But funny enough, those weren’t the only factors that impacted our travels this year. We faced some very unique challenges on our way down and our way back! We left on December 26th and unfortunately, everyone else did too. We were in bumper to bumper traffic pretty much immediately after leaving our house that morning. And to make matters worse, it was down pouring rain the entire time. So, a few hours into our trip we are at a complete standstill on I-95 when a little message pops up on Google Maps. It says- “There is a slow down ahead on the current route. There is an alternate route that will get you to your destination faster. Would you like to take this route?” I looked at Jenna and said It’s gotta be better than this right? She agreed and we got off at the next exit. And we began to zig-zag our way through a maze of back roads. I mean, you couldn’t even see a sign of civilization where we were. But if you’ve ever been stuck in really bad traffic you know, even if it’s not the most direct route, you’re just happy to be moving. Well, then we take a turn and the road has a sign that says No Outlet, Jenna of course was like- Hey there’s no way this is the right way to go. But I said, look the map says to go this way, let’s just go. So we keep going, at that moment the road changes from pavement to dirt. But, remember, it was raining all day. Which means this dirt road was now a mud road. Apparently, the rain and wind also brought down some trees. Which would be easy enough to avoid, except that the moment I turned the steering wheel I felt the back of our car begin to swing out from behind me. From that point on I began sliding our way through the mud and hoping we didn’t hit anything, and that we wouldn’t get stuck. You’d think that was a crazy enough story until this last part. I look up and begin to see a bunch of other cars that were sent on this same crazy detour. But there was one problem…they were heading back towards me! What Google Maps didn’t know was that there was a locked gate at the end of this mud pit and about 50 cars were now spinning their tires, kicking up mud, and drifting their way past each other!I’m telling you, It really was the craziest situation I think I’ve ever been in in a car in my life! Just a little off-road mudding in a Kia on our way back to Florida!

Thankfully, we did make it out of that mess with no accidents, just a whole lot of mud on all of our cars! And the best part is, we all had to go right back to where we got off the interstate about 45 minutes prior!

Transition:

Now, hopefully, you’ve never been in quite as terrible of a circumstance as that, maybe you have. But, I can’t help but point out how clear of a picture it is of what we do to ourselves far too often in life. I was going on the best path to Florida. I could’ve just been patient with the traffic and know that I was slowly but surely on the most direct route to our destination. But I thought I could take another way quicker. I thought I could get ahead of the traffic and take a short cut. But all it got me was covered in mud, surrounded by potential danger, and then having to go right back to where I started.

How often do we do this in our relationships with God? Even when we have been following Him for years, we know how he has called us to live, we know what we desires for us, but we still try to do things our own way sometimes. And like my road trip, we get ourselves into a whole mess of our own creation, and eventually we turn back to God and end up back where we started- but a little messier and delayed in where we could’ve been at that point.

This morning, as we kick off 2024 together as a church, I want to offer us a challenge. I believe there is a lot in store for all of us as a church this year. I also believe that we all want to experience God’s blessings on our lives and our church this year.

But as we will see today, in order to experience the life of God’s kingdom, we must seek God’s will and live God’s way.

Turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 13 this morning.

We are going to look at part of the story of King Saul, the first anointed king of Israel.

Context:

As you turn there, I will give you a little context since we are jumping into the middle of a much bigger story. Saul is king of Israel and at this time after Israel demanded that God give them a king like all the other nations. Which is already tragic, in and of itself- since Yahweh, God Himself, was supposed to be their king. They rejected God as King and demanded a human king. God gave them Saul and we immediately see the problem- he is sinful just like they are. He is broken, prone to sin and be selfish, prideful, and impatient- just like anyone can be. The entire first half of this book called 1 Samuel, is basically a highlight reel of Saul’s struggle to be an even remotely good king. At this same time we also have a man named Samuel involved in the story. Samuel was a prophet, priest, and the last judge of Israel. Samuel is discouraged by the peoples desire for a king and even warned them that if they followed the king in disobedience they all would end up suffering because of it. Also, very important for our story this morning- Samuel previously told Saul that he would meet him in a place called Gilgal to offer sacrifices and tell Him what God wants Him to do next. Remember that for later.

Finally, you have the Philistines. These are the philistines that produced the giant, Goliath that David famously defeated. They were another nation of people who were all around the Israelites and because of this they were a constant threat and conflict during Saul’s reign as king.

Here in Chapter 13 we find Saul and his son Jonathan leading a military uprising against the Philistines and then Saul is at Gilgal waiting for Samuel to show up. Let’s read the story and then work our way back through it:

1 Samuel 13:1–15 (CSB)

Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty-two years over Israel. He chose three thousand men from Israel for himself: two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and in Bethel’s hill country, and one thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. He sent the rest of the troops away, each to his own tent.

Jonathan attacked the Philistine garrison in Gibeah, and the Philistines heard about it. So Saul blew the trumpet throughout the land saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!” And all Israel heard the news, “Saul has attacked the Philistine garrison, and Israel is now repulsive to the Philistines.” Then the troops were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

The Philistines also gathered to fight against Israel: three thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven.

The men of Israel saw that they were in trouble because the troops were in a difficult situation. They hid in caves, in thickets, among rocks, and in holes and cisterns. Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.

Saul, however, was still at Gilgal, and all his troops were gripped with fear. He waited seven days for the appointed time that Samuel had set, but Samuel didn’t come to Gilgal, and the troops were deserting him. So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” Then he offered the burnt offering.

Just as he finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. So Saul went out to greet him, and Samuel asked, “What have you done?”

Saul answered, “When I saw that the troops were deserting me and you didn’t come within the appointed days and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash, I thought, ‘The Philistines will now descend on me at Gilgal, and I haven’t sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I forced myself to offer the burnt offering.”

Samuel said to Saul, “You have been foolish. You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. It was at this time that the Lord would have permanently established your reign over Israel, but now your reign will not endure. The Lord has found a man after his own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over his people, because you have not done what the Lord commanded.” Then Samuel went from Gilgal to Gibeah in Benjamin. Saul registered the troops who were with him, about six hundred men.

As you can see, this book doesn’t shy away from the sinful struggles of Saul as king. But I believe if we look closely at a story like this, we actually don’t get to walk away proud of ourselves and critical of Saul- we actually realize how much Saul reveals about our own hearts and how we should live differently. The first thing we learn is:

We are here to further God’s Kingdom, not build our own.

Let’s go back to the beginning of the story. We saw Jonathan led a successful attack against the Philistines, this was likely the assassination the military commander of a Philistine outpost. After this, his father, Saul- sends out a public announcement that “Saul has attacked the Philistines and made the Israelites repulsive to them.” So, not only does Saul, unnecessarily send out this boastful announcement to everyone in the land- including the Philistines- but did you notice Saul takes credit for the victory over his own son?

A common theme we see all throughout Saul’s kingship is Self-exaltation. Saul’s pride constantly leads him to make bad decisions and disobey God, in an attempt to build himself up. Saul sees himself as the center of the story- instead of seeing Himself as a small part of God’s story.

Remember, the people of Israel were God’s chosen people for ONE purpose- to represent God’s kingdom to the world! God chose Israel to display his Glory and share His blessings with the world.

From the very beginning Israel didn’t exist for itself, but to further God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven.

Yet, Saul, like us so often, get’s caught up trying to build his own kingdom, spread his own name, glorify Himself instead of God.

Quick tip- if you ever want to work on pride, or self-exaltation like Saul- wake up everyday and pray for God to remind you that today isn’t about you, you are a small part of God’s Big Story!

SO, Saul sends out this boastful message, puffing himself up, insulting the Philistines and stealing credit away from his own son.

Of course, this message leads to the Philistines rolling out tens of thousands of their troops on chariots, horseback and on foot. The Philistines get all these troops camped out in a place called Micmash (Micmas), a very strategic location, elevated about the Israelites down in Gilgal.

Now, you have king Saul and his band of misfits called the Israelites down in Gilgal looking up at tens of thousands of Philistine soldiers ready to pounce on them at any moment and wipe them off the map.

This leads us to the second thing we learn from Saul’s story:

2. We must trust the Word of God over everything else.

In this moment, you can imagine the fear, the intimidation, the uncertainty.

He has all the Philistines looking down at him, his own men hiding in holes in the ground, and even many of his troops deserting him all together.

But, Saul is at Gilgal so he knows he is supposed to wait 7 days until Samuel will arrive, make the offerings, and give him the proper instructions from God Himself on how to proceed. His options were simple- trust what God has told Him to do and wait for Samuel. Or, take react out of stress, fear, and pride and take an alternate route.

Sadly, since Saul was focused on himself and his own wellbeing, and building his own kingdom up, we see he didn’t trust God’s Word.

The 7th day arrives. The day that Samuel said He would arrive, but Saul doesn’t see Samuel anywhere.

In this moment, Saul is controlled by his pride and his fear and he takes matters into his own hands.

Saul, goes and takes the burnt offering and the fellowship offering that they brought. And even though He knows it is wrong he offers up the burnt offering. And just after that, before he can even make the second offering Samuel arrives.

Can you just image that moment for a second? I mean we’ve all been there before- caught in the act of something you knew wasn’t right by the exact person who told you not to do it in the first place.

Saul sees Samuel approaching and he puts everything down and goes out to formally greet Samuel.

Here it is, verse 11- Samuel just says, “What have you done?” It’s that- I’m not mad, I’m disappointed moment that hurst even worse right?

But- what is Saul’s response? Does he own it, apologize and repent?

No. He starts pointing fingers and making excuses. Samuel doesn’t even address teh problems with his excuses but I will quickly:

Saul says:

The troops were leaving him.

Ok, but Saul, you know the God of the Universe is on your side. The battle belongs to the Lord. You don’t need those troops with you, it doesn’t matter how outnumbered you are when the God of Armies is on your side. Let the troops leave, wait for God.

2. Samuel didn’t show up on time.

Pretty much every scholar I read about this passage agrees that Samuel did arrive on the 7th day as He said he would, but Saul got impatient before he arrived. This is an empty excuse from Saul.

3. Finally, and most notably, Saul says: I forced myself to do it to seek the Lord’s favor before battle.

This one is interesting, because Saul is right- it would be unwise to go into battle without making offerings to God and seeking His favor and will. So, Saul is essentially saying- hey I know I am not a priest, and I know I should’ve waited for you, but at least I did the right thing. I mean I was worshiping God through these sacrifices.

But listen church, if nothing else from Saul’s story sticks with us today let it be this: God’s Word will always lead us to following God’s Will!

Saul had God’s Word- Samuel told Him he would come in 7 days, make the offerings and tell Him what to do next. But Saul’s circumstances and pride led him to take good things and do them his own way.

Saul trusted His own effort to save him more than He trusted God to. And then he tried to mask that in religious activities.

This is how so many churches get into a mess. Maybe they start off in a good place, but eventually they start making everything about themselves. They let their preferences, comfort and pride determine what they do and how they do it. And, Like Saul, without realizing it, sooner than later they aren’t doing God’s Will at all, but rather they are doing their own will and just wrapping it up in good looking religious traditions.

It is a lie to believe that we can do God’s will in whatever way we prefer. But we love to play that game.

Yes, God wants you to to God to church- but going to church without ever giving your time, money and talents to that church is not the way.

Yes, God wants us to pray, but praying the same 5 second prayer before each meal doesn’t look like the prayer life Jesus taught us to have.

Yes, God wants you to do your job with excellence- no that doesn’t mean you should ever neglect your family or your faith to get ahead in your career.

See, there is no doing God’s will, our own way. No, precisely doing God’s will IS living God’s Way!

Even acts of worship must be done according to God’s will.

Just because something looks religious, doesn’t mean it isn’t sinful.

Even the right thing, done with the wrong heart is wrong. Because God knows our hearts.

The only way we will ever begin to consistently seek God’s will and live God’s way is by TRUSTING God’s word over everything else.

Our circumstances, friends, emotions, or pride Cannot determine our decisions. Only trusting God’s word will lead us to follow God’s Will!

So, the final question: why? Why is it actually worth seeking God’s will and living God’s way?

3. We only experience the life of God when we live the way of God.

Verses 13-15 show us Samuel’s response to Saul.

To summarize- Samuel calls Saul a fool and tells him that this was the time that God WOULD HAVE established his kingdom forever but now, God has chosen someone else instead. Samuel is essentially looking at Saul and saying hey you could’ve been the line that established God’s kingdom forever- leading to Jesus coming from your family. Now, instead God has chosen David, a man after his own heart, to build his eternal Kingdom on earth through. But this little kingdom you have built Saul, it’s all going to end soon.

Now, 2 things I want to point out here as we wrap up.

First, it’s interesting to note that there aren’t any immediate consequences fro Saul’s actions. No one dies because of his decision, they don’t lose the war, there’s not immediate catastrophe. Saul sinned and Samuel simply tells him the future result.

When we stop following God’s will and do things our own way- it doesn’t always mean everything in our life will fall apart immediately. I didn’t crash my car in the mud, (although I could’ve) but we did get way off course, really dirty, and way behind schedule because of my little detour.

Even if there aren’t immediate, evident consequences for our sinful behavior- there is always a distance it creates between us and God’s Kingdom. When we do life our own way, we are going to miss out on the blessings of life in God’s Kingdom.

As other pastors have put it before me, so often we want the keys to God’s kingdom without bowing to Jesus as the King. It doesn’t work that way. Jesus is King and we are welcome into his kingdom that is full of life to the fullest as Jesus promised. But we will only experience that life when we are living the way he has called us to! You can’t take the keys and reject the king.

Jesus Came to teach us what life is in God’s Kingdom. He taught us what it looks like, what it’s all about and he Invites us to receive that life through HIM! The sermon on the mount shows us how vastly different life in God’s kingdom is from our usual experience here on earth. Following Jesus as Lord means we live the life of that Kingdom right here, right now. We seek God’s Will and Live God’s Way. That is how we experience the life of God’s kingdom!

There are SO many things we could talk about from Saul’s life, and the contrast with Jonathan and then David. But above all, I hope we all see that if we truly want to experience the abundant life that Jesus promised- we must seek God’s Will and live God’s way.

Response:

Before we respond in prayer, I want to leave you with that challenge today.

As we kick off this new year, I want you to think about the things you are looking forward to, and concerned about, and planning on for 2024.

Are you willing to put your preferences, desires, and reputation aside for the sake of the Kingdom of God? Are you willing to say, no not my will, but God’s Will be done?

Only you can figure out all the ways to apply this to your life this year, but I can give you a few things that come to mind for you being a part of our church this year.

There are a lot of church votes and decisions to be made this year at Friendly Avenue.

To name a few:

We have our search for a senior pastor that will hopefully continue to make progress this year and put a candidate forward.

We have to finish paying off the ministry center debt.

And he Long Range Planning Team will be presenting their proposal to the church in the coming months for us to pray over and consider.

In those and other decisions as a church family- will we try to build our own kingdom here and make this place whatever we think is best? Will we vote for what we want to do, how we want it to look, and how we think we should move forward?

Or, will be commited to spend time in prayer and God’s Word, and trust that God’s plan is always better than our plan, God’s will is always perfect and His way is always best?

Because we could easily try to take our own route and do things our way this year. Or we can seek God’s will and follow God’s way. My earnest prayer and hope for myself and our church, is that we will commit to do God’s Will, God’s Way together this year.

Bow your heads with me and close your eyes.

THE BAND IS GOING TO COME UP to lead us in a song of respond together.

As they come and while we sing, I want to invite you to spend time in this moment right here with God.

He is here, He sees you, He knows you, and He loves you.

Will you ask him right now to help you see the ways you are trying to do things your own way in life right now?

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you Trust Him more, release control, and follow God’s Way instead of your own.

Maybe you’re here today and you need to be baptized- if you’re saved and not baptized then this is the best possible step you can take right now to start this year off by obeying God’s will!

Finally, maybe you are here today and you have never received the life that I keep talking about.

If you have never turned to Jesus to be saved you can do that today.

The Gospel tells us that all of us have sinned and rebelled against God. we are separated from Him and our way is leading us only to death. But Jesus came to seek and to save the lost and to give us abundant life.

Right Now Jesus is inviting you to turn away from your sins and follow Him in the life of His kingdom. He lived a perfect Life, died on the cross in your place and then rose from the dead to so you could have eternal life with him!

If you need to be saved today, or please when we stand and sing in just a moment come up here and I’d love to talk to you about the life that Jesus has for you!

If you need to be baptized or join our church, you can also come up during this song and we will help you take your next step in either one of those decisions!

Whatever it is for you today- don’t miss this time to respond as you need to.

PRAY!

Amen- Stand together as we sing!