Good morning. Please be seated.
And turn in. Your Bibles.
To First Samuel. Chapter 12.
It's page 2. 19 in the black church.
Bible, page 2. 19 First Samuel. 12 It's so good to see you all.
This morning I know that you meant to get more rest last
night, but then you stayed up. Watching baseball?
Or something else that was more important.
And I'm glad you came anyways. To this early service.
And I'm glad. To be able to share this feast
day. All Saints Day with you welcome.
We're going to be talking now from this sermon series we've
been in for Samuel and looking at this.
Chapter 12 Today's. Lesson is about putting God
first in our lives, trusting Him, obeying Him, and choosing
Him above. All others so as we.
Turn to this. Passage together, let's pray.
We thank you Almighty God. That you do speak to us through
your word. Again and again.
Week by week, day by. Day, thank you.
For this gift. Thank you that you are here in
our midst and that you. Are.
Taking us apart and putting us back together in your image.
We. Turn to you as the Maker of all
things and the Redeemer of the world and the Redeemer of us,
and we trust. You to guide us.
And heal us and help us. So give us ears to hear.
And. Hearts to obey.
And follow and we will give. You all the.
Praise and. Glory for we.
Pray in Jesus name, Amen. So today's.
Lesson comes during. The peaceful.
Transfer of leadership from Samuel.
To Saul. And the transition of polity
from judges to kings. And what we read here in chapter
12 of First Samuel. Is his.
Valediction Farewell speeches often crystallize what is most
important, especially in the Bible.
Think for example. Of the Yeshua.
In the Old Testament, Joshua. His last words.
When he. Gathered all Israel.
And he said to them, Choose this day whom you?
Will serve. But As for me and my house?
We will serve Yahweh the Lord. We will serve the Lord.
Crystal clear, right? Or think about.
The words of. Yeshua in the New Testament at
the end of Matthew. Jesus is.
Closing words. All authority is.
In heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go therefore and make. Disciples of.
All nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all I
have commanded you, and behold, I am with you.
Always to the. End of the.
Age crystal clear. And Samuel's valediction here at
the end of his time as a judge in First Samuel 12 touches on
the same theme. So it makes it relevant for us.
Today. Just as much as when he first
gave it, and because of the. Focus.
Particularly on government, I think.
It's especially. Relevant to our context here in
Washington. So let's take a closer look
beginning at the beginning. Verse one and Samuel.
Is the last. Of the judges.
And so we shouldn't be. Surprised that his farewell
address is. Focused on justice and in fact,
it's. Really.
Three trials? A trial of himself?
A trial of God. And a.
Trial of us, the people of God. And so verse one begins with
Samuel putting himself on. Trial as their.
Leader for many years. In verse three, he asks the
nation. All the people, whether he ever.
Broke any of. God's laws.
For example, did he? Ever covet?
His neighbor's. Livestock Did he ever defraud
people or. Oppress them.
Or accept bribes. In other words.
He says. Here's your chance to hold me
accountable. Speak now, or forever or.
Else forever hold your peace. And how do the people respond?
Well. They they regard.
Him as innocent on all counts. Look at verse 4.
You haven't done any of these things they say.
And Sam Samuel's happy. With this verdict verse 5.
Then he names 2 witnesses because everything must.
Be established by. Two or more witnesses he names
the Lord and his anointed, that is, King Saul.
Who is their? Present for this ceremony and
should there be any? Future question.
Of his innocence you can refer to them.
So let's pause. For a moment and think about
this, you know how exceptional it.
Is. For a national.
Leader to retire? Honorably with a clean record.
How many times has this happened in your lifetime, I wonder?
It's amazing to think about Samuel being able.
To retire here. After.
Decades of public. Service and no one charges him
with any crimes. It's pretty amazing, but listen.
Trustworthy, faithful stewardship is what we were all.
Made to do. It's.
Our Calling to. We were created.
In God's image. We were created.
To obey and serve him as his honorable vice Regent, sent out
into the. World to steward over all that.
He had made, we were made. To be faithful.
Junior kings and Queens under him.
But we're also rebels as the Bible.
Tells from Genesis 3 onward. We prefer to run our own.
Lives rather. Than putting God. 1st.
We think. Ourselves, the.
Senior kings and Queens, we think we know better than God
and we rebel against his rule, and that's why.
Very few leaders retire with spotless.
Records and so Samuel isn't just a model.
Leader. Samuel is a miracle leader.
Samuel is a miracle. Leader.
A leader. Like him doesn't happen
naturally anymore since Genesis 3.
It only happens through divine intervention.
Because what usually? Happens again and again.
Through all these old. Testament stories and on down.
Through history to today, what usually.
Happens is we tend to get the. Leaders we deserve.
And that's especially. What this part?
Of first Samuel is teaching us, we tend to.
Get the leaders that we deserve. But Samuel was different.
And if you've been with us since chapter one of First Samuel,
you'll know why he was different.
And it wasn't because there was this massive revival across the
nation, but rather it was 1 broken hearted woman, one barren
woman. Who prayed?
Who put God first? She poured.
Out her heart to him so much. So that Eli the.
Blind and wayward. Priest thought that.
She was drunk, but she wasn't drunk at all.
It was like on the 1st Pentecost.
Hannah wasn't drunk. She was filled.
With the Holy Spirit. And so she cried out to the Lord
for help. And then God gave her a son who
grew in wisdom and stature. Before the Lord.
And Samuel became the miracle. Leader that Israel.
Desperately needed, but didn't at all.
Deserve, aren't you? Tired of national?
Leaders who break God's laws. And who defraud and oppress?
The people they serve, we get what we deserve.
How? Do we work around this?
We put God first. We pour.
Out our hearts and beg Him for miracles for the leaders we need
not. The leaders we deserve.
The next. Trial is God himself.
Starting in verse 6, God is on. Trial because he's.
The one who made our. World He.
Created us in his image. He gave us.
This innate desire. To.
Take charge of things and to. Lead So why do we?
Keep stumbling into. Slavery, rather.
Than taking authority. Maybe it's.
God's fault. Somehow that we keep getting
into the same mess. Well, Samuel here puts on his
prophet hat in verse 6. He speaks on God.
'S behalf. Giving God's defense and of.
Course, the record shows that God.
Is not to blame either every time his people cry out to him
in prayer, he comes to their. Rescue.
Look at verse 8. When they were enslaved by the
Egyptians, their. Fathers cried out to.
The Lord and he sent Moses and Aaron who delivered them from
bondage and brought them to the promised land and then look at
verse 9 they. Forgot the Lord.
And so they fell into the hands of wicked overlords from all the
surrounding nations, one after another after another after
another. And so they cried.
Out to God. Again and again look at verse 10
saying we have forsaken the Lord, we have.
Served the balls. And the Ashtarot.
These are the male and female deities of the Canaanites.
We have served. Them rather than serving the
Lord. But now they say.
Deliver us. And again and again God sent
judges to deliver them. Verse 11, Jerobo.
That's Gideon and Bedon, which is probably Samson and Jephthah
and finally Samuel himself. So God's.
Defense in these. Verses leads us.
To a very similar conclusion as Samuel's defense in verses one
through 5 and 1st. It's that God.
Isn't the cause. But he is the cure for wicked.
Tyrannical leaders. That's the first point, and the
second point is that such. Leaders are.
Often symptomatic of another root problem, which is.
Idolatry. In our rebellion, we turn away
from God. We devote.
Ourselves to created. Things to profit and.
Pleasure and prestige. And power.
And then over time, the idols and.
Vices of our. Leaders increasingly reflect.
Those of the people. Whom they represent, in other
words, we tend to get. The leaders we deserve.
But again, verse 10, when God's people confess their sins and
they cry. Out to God.
He rescues them by sending. Miracle leaders, rather.
Than the. Leaders we deserve.
So no, it's not Samuel's fault, and no, it's not God's.
Fault either. In fact, he's.
The one who keeps coming to the rescue and getting them after
out of one jam after another. Which means that now it's our
turn to take the stand, starting in verse. 12.
It's Israel and us, the. People of God.
Who are on the stand and have to give a defense in verse 12 I
think is the answer. Key to what?
Has been happening. Over several chapters.
Now in this story makes sense of everything that's happened since
chapter. 8. If Samuel was doing such a.
Great job. Why did?
Israel demand a king like all the other nations.
It's because. As it says in verse 12, when
Nakash. The.
Serpent. That's what Nakash means.
It's the same word as Genesis chapter 3, when the serpent king
of the Ammonites came against. Israel, they said.
No, but a king shall reign over us, and they did this when the
Lord. Was already their.
King, when the Lord had already gotten them out of jam after
jam, and Samuel had been doing a fine.
Job as judge. And God's vice Regent over
Israel He hadn't. Oppressed or defrauded?
Anyone but he was more. Of a preacher.
Than. A warrior.
And the people wanted. A warrior.
And when news of the serpent Nakash came.
To the people. They wanted a great.
Warrior leader to. Stand against the Serpent King
and that might sound reasonable to an outsider, but to anyone
who knows the story coming up to this point when over and over
again God has responded to the. People's.
Prayers and he has delivered them, and God is the one who's
seen again and again as. The deliverer this.
Turns out to be a jarring rejection.
Of their true Savior, our true Savior, the God who delivers,
the God who. Delivered them from Egypt in the
Philistines and so on. But what's really?
Extraordinary about this moment. Is that God?
Doesn't storm away angry. He's really a.
Loving father to his frightened people, He knows they're scared
and so instead. He says.
In verse 13, let's find a way forward.
Together, here's the. King, you requested.
Like all of. You he's made in my image and he
has. The capacity to rule faithfully.
Or to turn away and do. Evil so.
And you would think he would say at this point, what is he going
to do? But instead.
The Lord says which way will you choose?
Which way will you choose? That is y'all the people of God.
Verse 14 for if. Y'all will fear the Lord.
And serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against his
word. It will go.
Well, for you and your national leader.
But verse 15, if you rebel against the Lord, then God's
hand will be against you and your national leader.
So the choice is really up to you, all the people of God, for
you usually get the leader you deserve.
And for those of us who know. How this?
Story ends How Saul's story ends.
It's easy to think of him. As a flat.
One-dimensional character. Who?
Who's? Born bad and is.
Always bad. All the way to the end.
But that's a big mistake, because at this point in the
story, King. Saul has a perfect record.
He has done nothing wrong and he has been a hero in fighting off
Nahash the serpent. He's not predestined to fail.
He could follow in Samuel's. Footsteps, but the choice.
Is up to him and to. God's people, because he will
probably be just about as faithful as they are.
Verse 17 just to show that Samuel isn't making all of.
This up. Speaking for the Lord here, he
gives them a sign, he says, in the middle of the wheat harvest
this June. Thereabouts in Israel when it
never rains, they'll go for months without a single drop.
Samuel prays and the Lord sends a thunderstorm and that
certainly gets their attention. And so verse 19, in response to
the people beg Sam, Sam, Samuel, we're friends, beg Sammy to to
pray for them and he promises to do that.
But he also. Stays on point, Yes I will.
Pray for you, but. Listen to what I say, you know?
He gets to the prayer part later.
He says listen to what? I say because this is his
valediction, this is his farewell speech.
He knows what they most need, and that is to be reoriented to
God. Themselves so he.
Says verse 20. Do not turn aside from
following. The Lord.
But serve him with all of your. Heart.
And do not turn aside after empty things, for they cannot.
Profit or deliver? Why?
Because. They are empty now.
Today is All Saints Day. Or we celebrate it this this
day. It was yesterday, actually.
What we celebrated on this day. Together.
And we are feasting in memory of that innumerable cloud of
witnesses who have gone before us into.
Glory they trusted. In the Lord, and now they are
with him in. Paradise this started.
With the martyrs in the early church.
And there was 1 and we knew his name.
And then there was another and we knew his name.
But soon there were more, more martyrs than there were days in
the year, and the early Church thought in their wisdom to bring
it all together into one day, All Saints Day to remember.
All of those. Who've gone before us, not just
the martyrs, but. All those believers who have
died trusting. In the Lord.
And so in the colic, we said just moments.
Ago we prayed. Give us grace, Lord.
We're not praying for them. They've gone to be with the Lord
in glory. We pray for us, give us grace so
to follow your Blessed. Saints in all, virtuous and
godly living, that we may come to those ineffable.
Joys that you've prepared for those who truly love you through
Jesus Christ our Lord. That's the key part of the
prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord, for Jesus is the Savior.
And King, we don't. Deserve.
In the fullness of time, his mother, Mary.
Put God first. She was filled with the Holy.
Spirit, like Hannah and God gave her a son who grew in wisdom and
stature. Before the Lord.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate.
He was crucified for us. He rose again on the third day,
and Jesus became the miracle. Leader.
We desperately need, but we don't.
Deserve. So today is the day.
Today's. The day to turn to him with.
All our hearts, with all that we have, today is the day to put
away. Everything that is restraining
us from running the race with him, we often live.
As practical atheists. Don't we?
We. Say that we love.
God, and in the way that we. Live looks so.
Different. We put created things like
profit and pleasure and prestige and power first in our lives
here on Sundays, but then back in the week.
It's about these. Other created things.
When we live this way, God becomes smaller and smaller and
smaller in our lives. We become junior kings and
Queens, but not. As the Lord would have us.
We become like the false. Gods that we worship.
Instead, and they end up tyrannizing us.
They've become the. Leaders we deserve.
Our Anglican brothers in the global.
South. Brothers and sisters in the
global. South have a.
Expression. I don't know if they made it up,
but I heard it first in Rwanda. If you focus.
On your problems, God becomes small.
But if you. Focus on God.
Your problems become small. If you focus.
On your problems, God becomes small, but if you focus on God,
your problems become small. What do you believe?
Do you believe that our God is so big so.
Strong and so mighty, there's nothing our God cannot do if.
You believe this? Do you live as if it's true if
we love God first? Then our problems will shrink in
comparison and we will grow in His likeness and live.
As his vice. Regents, as he intended.
We will have peace with God. And with one another and Jesus,
our miracle King will defend and protect.
Us. This is the.
Choice that Samuel. Set before Saul.
And the people of God on this day long ago.
And it's the. Choice he sets before us today.
Let's pray. Thank you.
Lord for your. Holy Word and.
For your. Salvation in Jesus.
He is the miracle king that we do not deserve.
But we're so grateful that you. Sent him anyways, and we pray
for the courage and strength to follow him.
To love you with. All that we are and have.
To trust. You with every problem and for
you to. Grow great.
In our minds and hearts, and this we pray in Jesus name,
Amen.