Untitled Sermon

As we celebrate Palm Sunday and the beginning of the events that will ultimately lead Christ to the cross, there is an important question we need to be asking ourselves; who are you placing your faith in? That is the great question that scripture forces us to confront time and again. There are many things which will influence and direct our lives – social status, economic means, education level – but the one which will overshadow all is the person or thing which we place our trust in and devote ourselves to.

Let’s turn our attention to God’s Word and allow it to illuminate our way. 1 Samuel 8 serves to reveal how what we choose to have faith in determines the trajectory of our life. The Israelites are just coming out of the period of the Judges where chaos and subjugation are followed by repentance, a period of peace, the abandoning of the worship and obedience to the LORD, and another period of anarchy and enslavement.

4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.” Samuel’s Warning Against Kings 10 So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking for a king from him. 11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12 And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16 He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.” The LORD Grants Israel’s Request 19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the LORD. 22 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

A crucial truth about the heart of humankind is revealed here – We are all looking for a leader. Now, there are some who will reject this idea completely – they’ll insist that the last thing they want is to follow someone else. They call everyone else around them sheeple – only they have broken free of the constraints of following someone else and found true freedom. Firstly, this is the exact same thing Lucifer tempted mankind with in the garden – to rid themselves of the need for a Lord and instead become their own “lords”. Such an attitude should never be found in the heart of a born again believer. It is the height of pride, which the scripture says goes before destruction (Proverbs 16:18). Secondly, this idea of rejecting outward authority and only following ones own will does not arrive out of a vacuum. People have been espousing this idea of radical autonomy since the fall of man. In other words, you may reject those in recognized positions of leadership, but you are still being led by those who introduced you to the concept! You still crave leadership, even if it is in the form of a leader who is against organized or recognized leadership. Every generation has its rebels and its rebel leaders.

We should also understand that even those who lead us are themselves led by others. This is why a presidents and kings have advisors. Pastors have mentors who they look to for guidance. Parents, as they lead their own children, are seeking advice from other parents (including their own). On the subject of leadership Harry Truman once said that “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” So even the most sagely, experienced leader is drawing upon leadership from others through the words preserved and passed down from previous generations. Nobody can lead without being led themselves.

There are three key areas that we look to be led in. The first is in our civic nature. This is the reason we have governments filled with councilmen and mayors, senators and governors. By the grace of God, we have the blessing of choosing many of these leaders through the process of voting. The ones we don’t vote for directly are placed by those we do elect into office, and so even there we have an indirect influence on who leads us. All of these people help give our society structure and stability. Without them nearly all of the services we depend on to live as we do fall apart. Have you ever stopped to just consider the massive undertaking it is to manage waste disposal for the city of Louisville? Someone has to do the math on how many tons of garbage are generated each week in the city; then they have to calculate how many trucks and men will be necessary to load all of that and haul it away. How much in equipment and manhours that will cost, how many routes need to be run each day, where to send it all to be disposed of – all of this is the responsibility of leaders we have selected directly or indirectly. Our society is impossible without leadership.

Speaking of society, that is the next area we look for leaders – in our social nature.

· Family leaders

· Friends

· Co-workers (assistant to the warehouse manager)

· We have leaders in our spheres of influence

The most critical area of our lives we are looking for leadership in is our spiritual nature.

· This has historically looked like organized religion

· The upcoming generation is very New Age oriented – taking bits and pieces from different quasi-religious leaders and those who lead in business and celebrities of popular movements and customizing their own leadership team

· Even the vehemently “non-religious” are religious in their non-religion, just as their mentor teaches them to be.

Now why is it so important to establish this concept about our innate desire for leadership? Well, it’s because the second truth revealed in this picture we are presented with in 1 Samuel 8 is this; the leaders we choose reveal our hearts.

The heart wants a leader that will give it what it desires most. Therefore, the worldly seeks leaders that embody their own desires.

· Wealth

· Power

· Beauty

· Strength

The heart that is transformed by Christ no longer seeks its own ends. The Holy Spirit transforms what it desires most from self-serving to God serving. Therefore, the Christian seeks leaders that embody God’s desires.

· Justice

· Integrity

· Truth

· Faithfulness

We’ve established these two important concepts about the human heart – that we desire to be led, and choose leaders based on our desires, but what does that have to do with palm Sunday? Where’s the part about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey? I’m glad you are so very perceptive, because that is where I want to get to. But before we do, let’s pick up a little further in the story we started in 1 Samuel so that we can fully understand why Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey in the first place.