Give us a king to govern us

1st Samuel 8: 4-18, page 251
Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.”
But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to govern us.”
Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to 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. Just as they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. Now then, listen to their voice; only – you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
So Samuel reported all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 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; 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. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you shall cry out because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
Sermon
This past weekend was a four day celebration in Great Britten called the Diamond Jubilee. I’ve never heard of it before, and I’m pretty sure someone in London just made it up to distract Europe on the eve of their financial crisis. President Obama urged European leaders to act quickly to resolve some big economic problems, and instead, Great Britten elected to spend a huge sum of money, so big that they’re still adding it up, to celebrate the Queen’s 60th year on the throne.
The banks were closed for four days. This was probably not a good idea, as just closing the banks is estimated to have cost the ailing British economy 1.2 billion pounds. The flotilla of boats that paraded down the Thames will cost taxpayers 10.5 million pounds, and used every single police boat and 6,000 officers of the Metropolitan Police Service.
One thing I thought as I watched all this is that it’s time to upgrade Mule Day.
The other thing I thought was it’s time for Europe to go looking for a real solution to their financial problems rather than this distracting substitute.
That’s generally the best substitutes can do. They can’t fill the need but they can distract us for a little while.
You substitute Miracle Whip for real mayonnaise and what do you have?
Substituting turkey bacon only makes me want the real thing more, and you can substitute what is human for what is divine all you want but you’re not going to get what you need.
That is what they were doing according to the Lord, substituting a king, a human, for God: “Listen to 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.”
The Lord ends this conversation by telling Samuel to warn them, so Samuel does:
“These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons... He will take your daughters... He will take the best of your fields.”
He will take, he will take, he will take – six times the prophet describes what this king will take and not one mention of what this king will give. This speech is without qualification or exception – a king who takes is the only kind of king that there is according to the Lord’s prophet.
A king who takes seems like a cheap substitute for a God who gives, but the people don’t believe Samuel or at least they’re not convinced enough to change their plan and go on asking for this king, and in turn, they reject God.
The name for this sin is idolatry, and it is a common sin in scripture. It starts with Genesis chapter 3, our first scripture lesson for the day. God gives man and woman everything, only asking that they observe this one limitation: “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”
God gives them nearly every tree of the garden. Out of gratitude for this gift God asks only that they respect the limitations God has set. They decide themselves to do it anyway, and in so doing they are substituting their human wisdom for the wisdom of God – they are choosing to rely on their own logic rather than divine logic – they are putting themselves in the place of God.
Reading about it makes it clear that this is a bad idea and can only result in suffering – after all, who would substitute their own limited self for an unlimited, immortal, all knowing God?
But this is human nature.
Rather than seek out advice from those who are older and wiser we are blinded to our ignorance and chose to figure it out for ourselves. By so doing we make mistakes that could have been avoided if we just would have listened to a higher authority than ourselves.
We are warned, but either ignore the consequences completely or assume we’ll be the exception.
Society expects teenagers to act this way saying, “Those kids think they’re invincible.” “They should go out and get a job while they still know everything.” That’s how we explain their behavior but I want to know why everyone else hasn’t grown out of it. It’s not just teenagers who are too ashamed of their limitations to own up to them and give proper devotion to the God who is above all and beyond all. Rather than simply accept our place in the grand scheme of things – a place just lesser than God, we still put our trust where it does not belong, more comfortable often trusting ourselves to substitutes who can only take but can’t give.
The British sing, “God save the Queen,” as though the Queen had some kind of divine power to deliver the people of Great Brittan from economic disaster while the area in which she excels is receiving their tax dollars.
But giving devotion to those rulers who take is hardly uncommon.
We long for approval and give our devotion to the parent who only gives criticism and takes confidence and joy. Then we turn our back on the one who pours out love so freely we don’t trust it.
We give to the office that takes advantage of us, to the friend who always calls when he needs you but is never available when you need him.
We grant our devotion to broken churches that take our money, take our time, and in return shovel on guilt, and we take it because this kind of relationship we can understand.
We put up with the husband or wife who only wants more, more, more, without ever giving anything back, and we call it love though this cheap substitute is nothing compared to what real love is.
On this communion Sunday we gather around this table to take and eat the body and blood of our Lord. Whereas the temporal, human, flawed rulers of this world have subjected you to taxes, debts, bills, and late fees; while too often your broken relationships have left you empty; where by your complacency and participation you are stretched to the breaking point and still they ask for more; come to the table and experience something so good, so different, you’ll wonder why you have been slow to recognize it before. The king will take and take and take, but come to this table and know the one who gives – gives you his very life, his very blood.
It’s only at this table where you will receive more than enough grace, more than enough love, and more than enough salvation. It’s only at this table where you will learn that there is only one true king, only one Lord, and this one will not take but will give, and give abundantly.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.