Joseph: The Story of Reputation

The First Presbyterian Church of Hemet

When Leadership Falls in Your Lap

Dr. Larry Thorson
June 6, 2010

I Samuel 8:1-9; I Samuel 9:1-6; I Samuel 13:1

1. Summarize the biblical text:

The three selected passages explain why Israel had a king and how Saul specifically became that first king.

2. What is the point of this sermon?

The elders of Israel were more concerned with finding a solution to their leadership crisis than in seeking the Lord. Seek the Lord first and the solutions will follow. Seek solutions first and chaos will follow.

3. What action do you want readers to take as a result of this sermon?

To be able to acknowledge that no one human being is the ultimate solution to any problem. To be able to write out whatever specific concern is causing them to seek their own solutions instead of seeking God.

Introduction

Today we start a new sermon series called “Saul and David – A Study in Leadership”. Leadership is very important to us. In 2003 Californians spent an estimated 50 million dollars recalling Governor Gray Davis and replacing him with Arnold Schwarzenegger. That's how important leadership is to Californians. The University of Alabama pays their football coach Nick Saban four million dollars a year. As a church, we have a whole committee, the All Church Nominating Committee, whose sole task is to help find good leaders for our church. Leadership is important to us. We look to leaders for direction, and for inspiration. We even look to leaders for reassurance that everything is going to be ok.

It was definitely no different in the early days of Israel as recorded in the Bible. Because leadership is so important to understand both as a resident of our valley with our city councils and our state government and as a member of a church with our elders, we're going to study in this series both the first king of Israel Saul and his successor David. We're going to trace their beginnings, their rise to power, their decisions and their fall. We're going to see that nothing they went through is any different than what we're going through in California right now.

A Leadership Crisis

But before we read I Samuel 8:1-9 let me add that when God formed the nation of Israel he intended to be its leader. He wanted to model a nation where he would be the king and people would obey and honor him. Under God there were to be God chosen priests who functioned as his cabinet. His main cabinet member, his secretary of state if you will, originally was a priest named Samuel. Everything was going fine with this arrangement until we find out what happened in I Samuel 8:1-9: 1 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel's leaders. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

That could be called a leadership crisis. The long time faithful priest whom God often spoke through was about to retire and he had turned his position over to his corrupt sons. Let's picture Israel as being like a big church. The pastor has appointed his two sons as successors whom you think will run the church into the ground. Think about it. What are you going to do as a member of that church in that situation?

Let's continue reading at v.4... So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 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."

Would you have gone along with that decision? Yes or no? This is not a trick question. Samuel has appointed his corrupt sons as his successors. He wasn't thinking about doing it, it was a done deal. The elders had to think about the future. But they've only had two role models for leaders in their lives. They've had God appointed judges who received words from God and they've seen surrounding nations who had kings. They have strong reason to believe that their model of God as king with a corrupt cabinet isn't going to work so they want to try the other model.

But I want you to notice what the elders didn't do. They never pray about the crisis that we know of. They also don't ask their priest what he thinks they should do. Elders are not census takers looking to see what the congregation wants. They're spiritual leaders who learn to seek God first and ask questions of what they are to do. But not these elders.

Then we read Samuel's response in verse six... But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights."

Don't miss the contrast here. The people are worried, I believe, that Samuel's corrupt sons are going to ruin them if they're allowed to continually be in God's cabinet. The people believe that if they can recall the corrupt priests and replace them with a king, the corruption problem will be taken care of. In contrast, Samuel and God apparently disagree.

There's a huge problem here. Replacing the corrupt priests with a king assumes that the king is always going to be a higher moral person than Samuel's sons and he is a person who will be and will stay connected with God. That's an assumption that there is a somebody, somewhere who doesn't sin and isn't susceptible to bribes and corruption that comes with power and is still willing to be a king. Hmm, I know of only one king like that and we nailed him on a cross.

We have a city council in Hemet right now that I'm having a difficult time understanding their most recent direction of trying to block a federal grant for Valley Restart, our local homeless shelter. I'm also having a difficult time understanding why they got involved endorsing the Arizona immigration law when we have so many of our own issues to deal with. When we elected three new members to City Council a little over a year ago I heard many say they had great hopes that the new council could bring fresh and positive ideas to deal with our city's many crises. But instead we have even more of the polarization with the majority of the city as we had before. And do you know why we have more of the same? Because we elect people like ourselves. I believe that everyone of our present city council members are hard working, conscientious, highly ethical people who devote incredibly long hours for the betterment of our city. But they are like us, sinners who display selfish interests and play political games for their own gain from time to time. As long as we elect humans to govern us that's what we're going to get.

Some people don't want to acknowledge that. They think if their party got in power or their candidate won the position then our problems would be solved. Surely that's what Israel thought. Instead of praying for Samuel and his sons they want to get rid of them. Instead of lovingly letting Samuel and his sons know where they've gone astray and leaving the results to God they want to get rid of them. They want to get rid of them because they were under the false belief that someone other than God could be perfect. I want to add that I recommend praying for our city council and letting them know where we both agree and disagree with them.

Be Careful When God Gives You the Desires of Your Heart

The amazing thing about what God did next is that he gave them the desires of their heart proving that we're not his robots. God gave them a king against his own wishes. But his choice of king is fascinating. God knew the only kind of guy the people would accept as their leader. Let's read about that king in I Samuel 9:1-2 There was a Benjamite, a man of standing, whose name was Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bekorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin. 2 Kish had a son named Saul, as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else.

Let's look at the leadership qualities Saul had. First off his father was “a man of standing”. That means his family was wealthy or powerful or both. When was the last time you saw a guy with a savings account like mine run for president?

Secondly, it says he was “as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel”. It has been said that John Kennedy won the presidential debates over Richard Nixon in 1960 because his dashing, youthful looks projected better on the first televised debates.

Thirdly, it says “he was a head taller than anyone else.” An international research firm Wiley-Blackwell published a study recently in their magazine The Economist Record saying that their research found that for every two inches of height on a man seems to be worth about $950 more in salary because they found taller men are perceived to be smarter and more powerful. Arianne Cohen, author of "The Tall Book" (Bloomsbury USA, June, 2009) confirms similar results but her research found that taller people make $789 more per inch per year.

So here we have the popular picture of a leader: wealthy or at least from a powerful family, good looking and tall. He was the kind of guy who was perceived to be the solution to the people's fear for their future. That's still the same perception we have today.

All that had to happen was the right circumstances come together to make him king. And it all came together thanks to some donkeys as we read in I Samuel 9:3ff Now the donkeys belonging to Saul's father Kish were lost, and Kish said to his son Saul, "Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys." 4 So he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and through the area around Shalisha, but they did not find them. They went on into the district of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. Then he passed through the territory of Benjamin, but they did not find them.

5 When they reached the district of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, "Come, let's go back, or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us." 6 But the servant replied, "Look, in this town there is a man of God; he is highly respected, and everything he says comes true. Let's go there now. Perhaps he will tell us what way to take."

Thanks to the donkeys being “mysteriously lost” Saul and Samuel “coincidentally” meet face to face. When Samuel saw Saul, God told him to make him king. We read in I Samuel 13:1 Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years.

That's the beginning of the history of the first king of Israel. Before this story is over everyone, even God will regret making Saul king. But on this day when he was discovered, Saul was everything the people thought they wanted in a leader: tall, wealthy and good looking.

What do you think you want as a solution to your problem today? Be careful because whatever you ask for of God could very well come true as it did for Israel. Be careful because when things are not going very well for us we become solution seekers. Our prayers become solution prayers. We seek solutions to our problems with all our heart instead of seeking the Lord Almighty.

Instead of doing what the elders of Israel did in solution seeking, try writing out a statement to God like this “God I give you my problem. Write out your problem in detail on a piece of paper. Then say “God I don't have the solution to fix it, but I'm giving it to you right now.” Take the paper and fold it in half, writing on the outside “God I give you this problem today and write the day's date on it. What this can do for you is help you stop solution seeking which can really wear you out and point you toward God seeking. Court God like someone you're madly in love with and eventually the solution will appear. Let God be God and the right solutions will be yours.

Small Group Ice Breaker Questions

1. If you were stranded on a tropical island, what two things would you want to have with you and why?

2. Which one of the U.S. Presidents was your favorite and why?

Discussion Questions

1. Saul received his calling from God through Samuel. Describe Samuel's calling in I Samuel 3 – was he a priest, prophet, judge or king?

2. Why did the elders of Israel want a king? I Samuel 8:1-9 Who ran Israel before they got a king?

3. I Samuel 8:9 says Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights." In I Samuel 8:10-18 Samuel warned the people about what a king would do for them. List the things the king will do to them...

4. How do the people respond to Samuel's warning in I Samuel 8:19-22

5. Describe God's message to Samuel regarding Saul in I Samuel 9:15-17

Why does God give them a king?

6. What's the practical difference between seeking a solution and seeking God?