Selfish Ambition

Rehoboam and Jeroboam. It would have been much nicer if the Bible didn’t share such and important story by using two men that have very similar names. It would be similar to a church that had two pastors and the two of them had similar names like Brian and Ryan. Can you imagine how confusing it would be with people trying to listen for whether or not you said the “B” or not to figure out which pastor of the church you were talking about. “Did you hear that Pastor Brian is hosting a Bible Study about the divided kingdom of Israel.” “Did you say Pastor Ryan is talking about the divided kingdom? I thought Pastor Brian was good at the Old Testament.” “I did say Pastor Brian”

So today we are talking about two people who want to be king in Israel which ends up dividing the kingdom that, as we talked about last week, David had spent so much time uniting. We’ll get back to the two confusing people Jeroboam and Rehoboam in a minute but before we do we need to see what has happened in Israel since David united it. You can see up on the screen, which hopefully isn’t too confusing, what has happened in the world since David was anointed king over Israel. David’s eldest Solomon becomes king after David dies. Just like David Solomon did great things for Israel. He completely built up and fortified Jerusalem as the capital of the kingdom and he built the temple for the people to have a central place for worship. Solomon was considered one of the greatest kings of Israel due to his wisdom, but as with all rulers no matter the time and place there were also some flaws that hindered his rule and his kingdom.

In order to build such an incredible kingdom and to make Israel the wonder that it was Solomon needed money and he needed workers. Despite all his wisdom, or maybe because of it, he taxed his people rather harshly to be able to build the incredible sights that were created. Not only did he tax the people but he also used forced labor to be able to build the temple and other wonders of the kingdom. Basically he turned some of the Israelites into slaves to build massive buildings for the kingdom. Does this remind you of Egypt? Solomon also had a prolific love life which included princesses from all over the world that influenced his decisions and his willingness to allow other faiths to come into Israel.

This is where Jeroboam comes in. Jeroboam was an assistant to Solomon and saw the harsh conditions that Solomon was placing on his people and thought he could make life better for them if he was in charge. Solomon got wind of this coup and Jeroboam fled to Egypt before Solomon could do anything. After Solomon died Jeroboam comes back and pleads with the new king of Israel, Solomon’s son Rehoboam. So Jeroboam is the wanna-be king who was an advisor to Solomon and Rehoboam is Solomon’s son who is the rightful king of Israel now that Solomon has died.

The wanna-be king Jeroboam comes back from Egypt to rally the people to talk some sense into the rightful king Rehoboam. Instead of listening to his father’s advisers that making life easier on the Israelites to keep the kingdom united he listens to his young friends and they tell him he’s king and everyone should bow to him and that if he makes life harder on them they’ll need to fall in line. Jeroboam and the 10 northern tribes refuse to accept that kind of life and lead a bloodless coup dividing the kingdom into Israel in the North and Judah in the South.

When we talked about Ruth, Orpah and Naomi and I made it a point to talk about how both Ruth and Orpah chose the right path even though one stayed with Naomi and the other stayed in her homeland. Well today I am here to tell you that both Jeroboam and Rehoboam were in the wrong with the way that they handled this situation and in the things that come after.

Rehoboam who ruled over Judah and held the capital city of Jerusalem continued to follow the word of God but also followed in his father’s ways of being a harsh ruler. Jeroboam knowing that the Israelites had to go to Jerusalem for their three time a year pilgrimage decided to break all ties with the old ways so he made two golden calves for the people to worship. Perhaps he saw how well it worked for Aaron for the people to worship the golden calves that made him decide to do it, but he had to do something to stop them from their pilgrimages and from possibly returning south for good. Both kings did what they had to do to secure their power as rulers over their people. They were motivated by selfish ambition and not by the word of God. Rehoboam in his young naïveté and Jeroboam in his desire to be a better king than Solomon or his son.

Today is the day that we celebrate the Reformation and we can see that thousands of years later this desire for power and for building great monuments to God still impacted and blinded people in power despite their close relationship to God. It was the Pope who agreed to the advise that selling indulgences to help build St. Peter’s Basilica was the best way to pay for it. It was then Martin Luther who called the church out on that and 94 other ways that the church seemed to be in error. One side trying to build a grand basilica on the backs of the people and the other side trying to do what was best for the people. I truly believe that Luther was doing his best to help reform the church and not divide it, but much like the verse on the screen shows that Israel was never a single kingdom again, neither has the physical church been united since the Reformation.

It’s a wonder that God is able to accomplish as much as God does with so many of God’s people getting in the way. Which is why we see in today’s Gospel that God didn’t choose a ruler as Israel had hoped for to be the one to come and save all people from every nation. People, including his own disciples wanted Jesus to be an earthly ruler. They wanted Jesus to be the mighty arm like David to restore Israel to its former glory. But God knew that wasn’t the answer. God knew that having a king was a bad idea in the first place and guess what?!?!?? God was right!!!!!

God instead chose a servant. When James and John want to be at Jesus right and left when he comes to his glory or his power they have selfish ambition to be there by his side as his advisors, Jesus tells them to serve. Being a leader is about service to others not about selfish ambition or power. God chose to save the world not through another king. Not through another request that the people made, but through God’s plan. God’s plan to save the poeple once and for all. A way to save them from their sins. A way to save them from glory, and power, and the rulers of this world. In other words God chose to save us from ourselves and the ways in which we get in our own way and even in God’s way. Let God work in and through you. Not for your own sake but for the sake of others. Knowing that despite Jeroboam and Rehoboam, despite all the schemes and setbacks in this world God is in the midst of it all completing God’s mission to forgive and to love through Jesus Christ who served the world and gave his life for the world so that we may no longer be slaves to anything or anyone, but instead we would be children of God. Amen.