What Are We Seeking?

What are we longing for?

Being in the middle of a lock down, I’m sure we’ve all started longing for things to get back to some sort of normalcy. I think we could put up with some restrictions, as long as we could get back to meeting with people, because at the end of the day, God has designed us as social beings.

But I’ve certainly felt a sense of perspective this week when you gaze at the world around us. (And thankyou Sue for bringing some of this to our attention this morning).

You see, the situation in Afghanistan has taken a good deal of our attention this week. Our hearts break, particularly for the women and girls who will really feel the change intensely. But also stories of church leaders that are emerging which are particularly scary.

But I was also particularly taken by a list I saw of all of the Baptist pastors in the Asia Pacific region who have died from Covid-19. The total number was 221. When you think that this is just the pastors (not the congregation), and just Baptist pastors at that. The number is extraordinary.

There are also many other things happening around the world that can put things in perspective, such that when we put our own situation into the mix, things don’t seem as bad.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m as frustrated as the next person, even more so knowing that as of tomorrow, I’ll need a mask even to walk the dog. And it’s not my intention to minimise the stress that you might be feeling.

But it is worth asking the question: why do want lock down to end?

Now of course there are many answers to that question. There can be some good legitimate answers. I do recognise that on individual But sometimes it can become very selfish.

Almost a sense of - I don’t care if more people suffer, I want my freedom.

It is worthwhile checking our motives for the things we long for.

I’d also suggest that we should be doing this same check on a lot of things that we are longing for.

You see, as a church we have desires. I would love to see this church grow. I would love for my biggest issue to become trying to figure out how to help all the new Christians grow. I would love to be getting into a building program we can do more.

Now, let’s check those motives.

I would certainly argue that there is a good basis for these desires. I want to see the church grow because I know how good it is to be loved by God and I want other to experience it. I want a building program because I know that there are many ways in which we can show love to this community if we had better facilities.

But you know what? It doesn’t take a lot for the motives to take a dive.

You see, from my perspective, I can think, now wouldn’t I look like a great pastor if I was to lead a church which had spectacular growth. I could have a lot more prestige if I was in charge of a significant building.

The shift occurs when it becomes about ourselves. And sometimes, the shift occurs without us realising.

Well this morning, as we open up the Scriptures, I want us to pause and examine the things we are longing for in our lives. But more than that, to also give consideration to how God interacts with those desires of ours.

To help us, we’re going to look at this section of scripture that was read a moment ago, where we find Israel asking for a king. So I’m going to first explore this situation in its context, before coming back to consider how we sometimes seek after things that are actually more about ourselves and how God might interact with us.

Context

So, we find ourselves this morning in the Old Testament.

It almost has a feel of a coming of age for Israel.

You see, we can trace the nation of Israel back to Abraham. Abraham came as that fresh sign of hope after sin had taken a massive hold of the good world God had created.

Abraham was like a seed. From which we get Isaac, and then Jacob, and then twelve son, which is essentially where we get the twelve tribes.

As the story goes, they find themselves in Egypt for 430 years, where you could say they transition from a family to a nation. In dramatic circumstances they leave and following a formational 40 years in the wilderness, they arrive at the promised land.

Now I do want to pause just briefly on this part of Israel’s formation.

You see, it was of course Moses who was leading them on the journey of forty years in the wilderness.

It was during this time that we got the 10 commandments and other various laws that would become fundamental to who they were as a people.

A significant part of the picture during this time was that Israel was not to be like the other nations. They were called to be a holy nation. A nation that was set aside.

Well, towards the end of these forty years, Moses then makes a series of speeches to the nation, preparing them for their entry, and we have these recorded for us in the book of Deuteronomy.

And for the purposes of this mornings, discussion I want to jump to Deut 17:14 because here we see an anticipation of what we see in today’s passage - that is, that at some point they will ask to have a king just like the other nations.

Even at this point, their is an acceptance that there will be a king, but that they must do things differently. But more on that later.

Well they do enter the Promised Land, which you can read about in the book of Joshua.

And the result is that we do get a nation that is unlike the other nations, because they aren’t ruled by a king, rather they get a series of Judges.

And you can read about this part of their history in the book of Judges.

If you do happen to read it though. Be warned. Because things take a pretty big nose dive. By the last few chapters, the things that are described are horrendous.

Well this period of the judges last in the order of 400 years, and we get some memorable characters such as Deborah, Gideon, and of course, the strong, long-haired, Samson.

Each Judge had their own style, in fact, some like Samson were very unexpected, but yet while each judge was around, the people would have a turning back to God, only to fall away afterwards.

Well, as we come into the book of 1 Samuel, we are quickly introduced to a new character - one that will become very pivotal. He’s the one the book is named after - Samuel.

Now Samuel normally fits the description of a prophet, and certainly that is what he was. He’s even called as much. But he also falls in the pattern of the judges.

He is a judge that God has raised up to bring Israel back in line.

Now as we think about this period of the Judges, we need to recognise that this style of rule was actually one of the things that made this new nation stand out from the others.

You see, the judge was not a king. The judge was just someone that was able, in some form or other, be a conduit for the presence of God for the people. That’s because, God was the king. And that is the way it should always be.

Well under Samuel, God’s presence was once more on the people, and so things started to go well.

If you look at the end of 1 Sam 7, you’ll see that they get the upper hand of their enemies and that their is peace.

1 Sam 8

Which brings us to our main passage for the day, 1 Samuel 8.

At the start of this chapter, we’re told that Samuel has grown old. And it would seem that Samuel is aware of a problem. He knows that when he goes, just like at the passing of the other judges, there will be considerable backsliding.

And so he hatches a plan. The plan is to use his son to take his place - something which it must be noted was not what the other judges did.

But this plan does not go well.

As verse 3 very plainly tells us, “…his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.”

So we’ve got a very real problem here.

Israel is about to be without a leader, and the current leaders succession plan has spectacularly backfired.

But in verse 4, the elders get together and they come up with what they think is a better plan. And their plan has good logic.

You see, there is a tried and tested way to run a country. In fact, it’s the way every country runs themselves. And it comes with built in mechanisms to deal with succession planning.

And that is, to be ruled by a king.

In verse 5 they give the request. 1 Sam 8:5 “They said to him, ‘You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.’”

Well, Samuel takes great offence - and it’s not because they started by calling him old.

It’s because they’ve asked for a king.

But God is meant to be their king!

But they’re finding a king that they can’t see and who communicates in very different ways, is just too hard to follow. They want a person they can see and feel and talk to.

Now did you notice they didn’t just say they wanted a king. They actually said they wanted a king, just like all the other nations have.

Here’s a problem. This is meant to be the very nation that is set apart. That isn’t like all the other nations.

Now I’ve of course just picked shown the big issue with this plan, but let’s remember that it is actually coming from a genuine place. There was a real issue with the leadership, and they’re suggesting a tried and tested system of a different kind of leadership. They just want their nation governed well. This is good, right?

Well, let’s follow what happens before we consider the issues.

Well, as I said, Samuel got upset. And so Samuel wisely takes it to the Lord in prayer.

Surprisingly, God actually starts by saying “Listen to all that the people are saying to you”.

That word “listen”, could actually also be translated as “obey”. In other words, God is saying ‘give them a king’.

But it’s not that God is somehow ignorant of the implication. In fact he states it clearly: “it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king”.

So why is God allowing this when he clearly acknowledges that the elders plan is a rejection of him? Well, let’s hold on to that question for a moment, because I’m going to come back to it later.

But God does add that Samuel is to warn them about what it will be like having a king like the other nations.

And that is exactly what Samuel does from verse 10.

Now in the description that Samuel gives, there is a word which I think really stands out to me - “take”.

In verse 11 it says: “he will take your sons...”

In verse 13: “he will take you daughters...”

In verse 14 he will take you fields.

15: he will take your grain.

And in verse 17 he will take your flocks.

Now this is the problem. If you want a leader just everyone else, then you have to recognise that the established pattern of leadership is very self-focused.

It was the problem then. It is the same problem now.

Think of the current politician. Now don’t get me wrong. I do actually believe that most politicians genuinely want to make a positive difference in the community in which they lead. But yet, it can certainly seem that they are constantly thinking about how they are going to get re-elected. Or how they can firm up their power base.

Have you ever noticed that when ever anything goes well, the politician is quick to claim credit, but if it goes bad, they are equally quick to point the finger.

You see, this worldly view of leadership is about having power then shoring up that power. It’s great if you are the ones with power. Not so good if you don’t.

And yet, and this is the crazy bit. When Samuel describes how this new system will be about take, take, take… but the people go - but that’s what we want. We want to be just just the other nations.

It’s a strange thing about humans. We certainly do have a tendency to want to fit in just like everyone else, even when it’s clearly not in our interest.

Application

Now before we look at the end of the story, let’s just think about this from our perspective.

You see, I asked us earlier to think about the things that we are seeking in our lives. As a church, we might be seeking growth… a bigger building. I described before about how we can legitimately want this for good reasons.

And yet how easy can this become like the request from the Israelite elders. They started from a good place as well, but didn’t realise that in the process they were making it about themselves rather than God.

Or think about your own situation. Maybe you want a bigger house. Or a better job. Maybe your aiming to improve family relationships or get some order in your own life.

Some of those examples might be easier to justify than others, but I’m sure for all of them you can give good reasons why you are seeking what you are seeking.

But after reading this chapter, there is a question we should always be asking: where does God fit in your desires? If you’re seeking a better job - how is God going to be glorified in that? If your family relationships improve - how will you ensure that God is glorified?

By adding this component to our desires, we are putting a check in place which will at least give us a hope of not falling down the trap the Israelite elders fell down, where God went missing in the process.

We were meant to have our AGM this morning, and had we done that, we would have been electing new deacons. As we think about it from a leadership perspective, we always need to keep in mind: are our leader operating from a worldly perspective, where the self is number one, or from a Christian perspective, where God is number one.

What God does

Well, I want to come back to the passage to see how it ends.

So we find Samuel repeating the insistence of the elders to have a king to the Lord, and the Lord replies in a similar way before, simply stating: “Listen to them and give them a king”.

Which results in the Samuel dismissing the Israelities back to their own town. And that’s where the chapter ends.

If we were to keep on going, then we would see Saul being annointed as King. And exactly what Samuel warned the elder would happen, happens. While he has some good moments, he becomes very self-centred.

And so I come back to the question I asked earlier: why did God allow this? Why didn’t he just insist that he remain king?

Well, I did mention that it was certainly anticipated. You might recall I said that Moses, back in Deut 17 described what they should do when they get a king.

Well, in some ways, this actually gives us the key to understanding this - and it almost seems to me that Samuel missed the significance of it all.

You see, back in Deut 17, the description of a king is very different to a king like every other nation. It even says that this king should not consider themselves better than his fellow Israelites.

You see, back in 1 Sam 8, while God knew that their attempt at implementing a kingship would end badly, God has a way of turning our missteps into something amazing.

He first shifts the model from Saul to David and very shortly I’m about to start a series on David, so I’ll have a lot more to say about that one.

But he goes even further. You see, David then points us to Jesus.

And when Jesus comes along, suddenly this whole thing starts to make sense.

You see, while the elders plan was effectively a rejection of God, it actually comes full circle and puts God back on the throne.

Jesus is the perfect king. He is the flesh and bone that they wanted, but with the full divinity that they needed.

And the kingship of Jesus was not like any other king. It was so remarkably different, that most of the Jews didn’t even notice it.

When God allowed the elders in 1 Sam 8 to have their king, God knew all along that this was part of his plan.

From our perspective, we can take great comfort in this. You see, at the end of the day, we are human. As much as I want you to be asking the question I mentioned a moment ago, that is, how does God feature in our plans?, I also know that even with the best intentions, we are going to make things about ourselves. Our glory is going to come first. Our honour will be noted.

But know that God can redeem our plans - even the selfish ones. I’m always amazed at how God works. Because he wants to partner with us, as flawed as we are, and he’ll use us just the way we are to bring out his purposes.

Conclusion

So what are we seeking after? What are we seeking as a church? And what are you seeking as an individual?

Does it in any shape or form honour God? Or is it about honouring yourself.

We do need to be careful not to leave God out of our plans, but instead always keep him as the focus.

But even when we fail - know that God can move in powerful ways to redeem what you do.

So let me pray...