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Embracing the Life of Christ By Rev. Jonathan Gale 8am Service, Sunday 10 July, 2011 2 Samuel 2: 1 – 11, 3: 1. David Anointed King Over Judah 1 In the course of time, David inquired of the LORD. “Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” he asked. The LORD said, “Go up.” David asked, “Where shall I go?” “To Hebron,” the LORD answered. 2 So David went up there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 3 David also took the men who were with him, each with his family, and they settled in Hebron and its towns. 4 Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the tribe of Judah. When David was told that it was the men from Jabesh Gilead who had buried Saul, 5 he sent messengers to them to say to them, “The LORD bless you for showing this kindness to Saul your master by burying him. 6 May the LORD now show you kindness and faithfulness, and I too will show you the same favour because you have done this. 7 Now then, be strong and brave, for Saul your master is dead, and the people of Judah have anointed me king over them.” War Between the Houses of David and Saul 8 Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ish-Bosheth son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim. 9 He made him king over Gilead, Ashuri and Jezreel, and also over Ephraim, Benjamin and all Israel. 10 Ish-Bosheth son of Saul was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned two years. The tribe of Judah, however, remained loyal to David. 11 The length of time David was king in Hebron over Judah was seven years and six months. 1 The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time. David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker. Matthew 13: 1 – 9 and 18 - 23 The Parable of the Sower 13That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. 2Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9Let anyone with ears* listen!’
18 ‘Hear then the parable of the sower. 19When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. 20As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.* 22As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. 23But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.’ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Change is okay My father, before he entered the priesthood was a forestry manager and he was transferred, at the very least, once every 6 years to a new district. Each time we had to leave a house my mother wept. She would also weep when she saw the new house we were moving in to. But it wasn’t the house she was weeping for. All these forestry estates were in isolated locations and my mother, being a city girl, missed people: and she hated change. She simply wasn’t receptive to the idea of moving away from the familiar, even though, inevitably, she would within a few short months be filled with enthusiasm about the new walks she’d pioneered and the new people she had met. In other words, when change had run its initial course, and my mother began meeting the people on neighbouring farms, she’d be full of praise for the new area. She had begun to experience the benefits of change. There’s can be a huge difference between what we think about something and what it’s actually like. It’s a bit like facing the prospect of a swim in the sea. Initially, while you walk into the water with shoulders hunched, gasping as a wave passes by and wets more of your dry body, it seems unpleasant. But in no time you’re thrilled to be cavorting in the water and you wonder what all the fuss was about. Now it goes without saying that God is about the business of change; both at a national level and within individual lives. And it also goes without saying that the selfish side of us is naturally resistant to the changes that come with God.
Because our instincts tend to self-absorption we find God’s ways initially alien – at least our minds tell us that. And even when God’s Spirit gently works through our reluctance and in the actual experience of God illumines us for a while causing us to warm to what God is doing within our lives, the issues of daily life (if we’re not careful) readjust us back into a worldly way of thinking. We revert to what Paul describes as living according to the flesh or the old nature or the sinful nature. The mind is the battleground of the Christian, and unless we heed the first half of Romans 12: 2 which states, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” - Unless we allow God to enter us deeply and we keep him there, no matter how much of us he begins to transform, we have a tendency to revert, as Peter writes, quoting Proverbs 26: 11 “Like a dog that returns to its vomit …” How do we prevent this happening? In our Old Testament reading we see David (who is often in the scriptures seen as a type of Christ – not a kind of Christ, but one who symbolically prefigures Christ) – we see David moving into new territory and being crowned king there. And just like Christ when he moves into the territory of our lives, he brings along a great deal more than a suitcase of clothing. David comes with his wives and his men and their families. God’s entrance into our lives can be startling. How am I going to sustain and maintain God’s presence? I didn’t realise he was going to be so demanding! That’s normally our initial response to change. The reluctance is in the head, because the reality is quite different. David has no sooner arrived in Hebron than he begins blessing the territory, expanding his influence. Isn’t that just like our God! God says to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 29: 11) “11For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” God’s still about seeking our good. So David arrives in Hebron, he approaches the people of Jabesh Gilead and “sent messengers to them to say to them, ‘The LORD bless you for showing this kindness to Saul your master by burying him. 6 May the LORD now show you kindness and faithfulness, and I too will show you the same favour because you have done this.’” God arrives, and when we move from the reluctance due to what we thought about God’s invasion, to actually experiencing what He is like, we find blessing. But notice what David says. He’s rewarding them for burying Saul – the old king! We need to keep that old sinful nature buried. Doing so brings God’s reward. Easier said than done? You’d be right. It is difficult to keep the old nature dead and buried. So much so that Paul discussing this very matter says in Romans 6: 24, “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” Here, in the story of David becoming king in Hebron, is a vital clue. In verse 7 he says, “7 Now then, be strong and brave, for Saul your master is dead, and the people of Judah have anointed me king over them.” There’s a certain intestinal fortitude, a level of bravery or determination required to get the better of the old nature, and it’s not only by burying the old king, but more importantly by acknowledging the new king “ …the people of Judah have anointed me king over them.” David points out. Move on from the past. I am now your king. Don’t hark back to the past. I, the new king, am the present focus. As someone once said, we have 2 dogs living in us who are always fighting: a bad dog and a good dog. The way to defeat the bad dog is to give all the food to the good dog. The focus is on cultivating the presence of Christ, not in battering to death the old nature. It’s in acknowledging David as king, not in reburying Saul. This is one of the reasons I repeatedly say that the key to the life of the Christian lies is: • constant prayer, • intentional time meditating in God’s Word and • regular communal worship. Sincere practice of these is cultivating the presence of Christ and will lead to a life of just living which reflects the fruit of the Holy Spirit But it’s not something that happens without opposition: 8 “Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ish-Bosheth son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim. 9 He made him king” Meanwhile, Abner! There’s always an Abner - an agent of the old king. The old nature doesn’t lie down. It’s going to raise up a host of Ish-Bosheths But as Paul says in Romans, right after his cry of desperation at the thought of trying to subdue the old nature, Romans 7: 25 25 “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” As we look to Christ he helps us. Paul says in Galatians 5: 15 “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” It’s by cultivating the positive that we subdue the negative. The result of paying attention to, and acknowledging the new king is in the final verse of our reading: 2 Samuel 3: 1. 1 “The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time. David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.” Christian maturity is a progressive thing. It begins with a realisation of Christ’s unequivocal love for us – that he accepts us just as we are, warts and all. God expects from us complete receptivity, the kind of hospitality which admits him and guards his presence in our lives and leads to the transformation of every part of us. Just like the good soil in the Parable of the Sower. Receptive hearts like good soil: soft, providing entry to the seed of the word (the presence of Christ), not the soil one finds on a hard pathway where the Word can’t penetrate, not rocky soil where the Word can’t take root, not soil that admits weeds to grow which will choke the Word. Soft soil that allows Christ in, and keeps him in, causing an abundant harvest, yielding 30, 60 and 100 fold. God is not interested in half measures. God doesn’t half bless us. It’s his intention to fully bless us. But God is the Lord. There is no room for anything that is not submitted to him in our lives. No room for the old nature to live side by side with Christ. Our baptism is about crucifying and burying the old selfish nature and living the resurrection life of Christ. The trouble is the old nature keeps knocking on the coffin lid and we keep opening it to see if it hasn’t grown respectable. You can’t redeem the old nature. It needs to be crucified, while Christ’s nature in us needs to be encouraged. And we make a mistake if we think Rome was built in a day. “The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time.” Being a Christian is not for the faint hearted. We are, like the people of Jabesh Gilead, to “be strong and brave” – for then the house of the Son of David will grow stronger and stronger, and the house of the old king will grow weaker and weaker. Charmaine and I were discussing the other day how easy it is for the goodness of God to go right past us without our realising it. If you’ve ever wondered whether God loves you or not, wonder no more. He does! Emphatically he does; every part of you. Jesus died because God thought we were well worth it. And now, with the ability to turn to God, receive his forgiveness of sin through faith in his saving death and resurrection, we can cultivate the nature of Christ in our lives. We can be open to change and live lives pleasing to God Now that’s good news! Let anyone with ears listen! God bless you
as you do so. AMEN. |
