MPC 30th January 2005.January 30 - Joshua-1 Samuel - "Being Different"
Phil Campbell MPC 30th January 2005.
Being different isn't easy.
You probably know the feeling if you've been a Christian a while. One Christian girl I knew, she was a senior high-school student, she said she was the only one in her class that wasn't sleeping around. The only one when she went to parties with her friends wasn't getting drunk. She said she was tired of standing out.
Going with the flow is so much easier. That Chinese proverb is true, that says even a dead fish can swim with the tide. Just have to lie there and wash back and forwards with the flow. No effort required whatsoever.
We Christians are swimming up stream. Which I think is why so many just give up. Give up being different.
Another single Christian girl I know was looking for a flatmate. She said to the girl who was enquiring, we've got two rules. No drugs. And no sex. The girl applying said, "But I'm a Christian." And because she's a realist, the girl looking for a flatmate said, "Yes I know. But the rules still apply."
It's one thing to be a Christian and be different in theory. It's another thing putting it into action.
You know, as we've looked at the unfolding story of the Bible through January, there's one thing that stands out. God is calling out a people to be different.
We've seen the good creation.
We've seen the call to Abraham. And the promise of descendants growing into a mighty nation.
And it was all about God's plan to bless the world... through a people of righteousness and justice.
The book of Exodus, we saw the promises unfolding. From one man, a nation. They're slaves in Egypt. And Moses leads them out towards the promised land.
And Moses says, there's just one thing they've got to keep in mind. They're the people of the God who made the heavens and the earth. So they've got to live like it. And have nothing to do with the idols of the nations around them. They've got to be be different.
Moses put the challenge in the chapter we finished with last time. They're on the borders of the promised land. And Moses says, before you go in, make up your mind. Make up your mind who you'll serve.
Which stand as virtually his last words.
And we turn over in our high speed Bible tour to the book of Joshua. The last few weeks we've put the key bible verses on the screen. But I reckon it's actually better if you have a bible in your hands and you're flipping through to find the verses. And get a feel for what's where in the Old Testament. Because for so many Christians, these are unopened pages. Even in our church bibles, you might find moths and cockroaches living in these pages.
Deuteronomy 34, Moses dies on the plains of Moab. He's buried in an unmarked grave. And the mantle of leadership passes on to Joshua. Because Moses had laid his hands on him.
And you'll see the opening words of the book of Joshua on the very next page. After the death of Moses, the Lord says to Joshua, son of Nun, Moses is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them - to the Israelites. I'll give you every place where you set foot, as I promised Moses. And I'll be with you, says God. So be strong, verse 6, and courageous. Because you'll lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous.
And just one more thing.
Be careful to obey the law my servant Moses gave you. Don't turn from it to the right or the left... that you may be successful where-ever you go.
That law that said serve no other gods. That law that said here's what righteousness looks like. That law that said... be different.
And so as you flip through the pages of Joshua to chapter 24, look at the headings. There are spies. There are battles. There's the crossing of the Jordan river. There's the fall of Jericho. The southern cities are conquered, the Northern cities fall; and behind it all, there's the hand of God. Chapter 15, they start handing out the land; dividing it between the 12 tribes of Israel. Chapter 16; chapter 17. Boring stuff for us. But for an Israelite, nothing more significant. Because here are the boundary markers for their family allotments in the promised land. All the way through chapter 20 and 21.
And so finally, Joshua makes a speech. Joshua chapter 24 - from verse 14. See if you can turn over to it and take a look. Here are his words. And they're eerily like the final words of moses. I wonder if you can spot the problem.
Now fear the lord and serve him with all faithfulness. throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
Make up your mind. Are you going to be different? Or not? Did you notice? He has to say throw away the gods you've brought with you. Because they haven't. He says, make up your minds once and for all. Are you going to serve the Lord, or not?
And verse 16, the people answer. "The Lord brought us here. The Lord drove out the nations before us." So, verse 18, "We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God."
Are you going to be God's people? Are you going to be different? Decide now! And they say, yes we are! Brave words.
Keep flipping your way through Joshua and you get to the book of Judges. As the Israelites settle in to their promised land.
Now I don't know if we can fully appreciate the temptation. Because while they're settling in to the promised land they're surrounded by neighbours with a very different set of values. And it's like these Israelites, they're the only ones who are interested in righteousness. And it's tough.
Up in the hills their neighbours are worshipping Asherah, the fertility goddess. Which kind of seems like fun. Worshipping Asherah, you have orgies. Week long drunken sex parties. And not only that, the Asherites say if you do that, your crops are guaranteed to be fertile. You're invited to the party. What do you say?
Over to the west a bit they're worshipping Baal. Who say you have to sacrifice your kids to make the crops grow. Funny, isn't it? In the end, it's all about crops. It's all about prosperity. It's all about getting some sort of leverage over nature.
And the neighbours crops are looking so good. And the big temptation is to say, well, why not mix and match? I mean, why not be flexible? Why not have an each way bet? Why not do the Bah'ai thing and say, "It's all good"?
Only one reason. Because the God who made them; the God who saved them from slavery to be different, says no. Because God says I'm God. And they're just lumps of wood. So don't do any deals. And that's the first thing that's meant to make Israel distinctive. No other gods.
And the book of Judges tells the sad story of which way Israel turns when they're faced with the decision. God. Or lumps of wood.
Pick it up from verse 7 of Judges chapter 2 and you can see what happens.
The people served God through the lifetime of Joshua and the elders who had outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.
So far so good. But when the saving events of God fade from living memory, it's another story altogether. Verse 10.
After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord the God of their fathers who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshipped the various gods of the peoples around them.
Just exactly what God said not to do. So he hands them over to their enemies; and they're plundered, they're ransacked; God's punishment. Until they repent. Until they realise what they've done and they turn back to God and ask for mercy.
And over and over again through the book of Judges, you get exactly the same pattern. Which we saw in detail a couple of years back when we worked through the book of Judges.
Over and over again, God raises up a leader. A Judge. To call Israel back to their senses and save them. And time after time, they go back to the mud.
Worshipping idols. Joining in the pagan festivals. Sacrificing things to a bit of carved wood they called "Baal" to make the crops grow. All that, from the nation that's meant to be the people of God.
Now there's another big distinctive that's meant to mark Israel out as different. And it's absolutely unique. Walk in to the Coffee Club down at Brookside, and you can tell who's in charge from the colour of their shirt. I gather it's the maroon one. If you've got a problem, you know who's in charge. If it's a law firm in the city, you can pick the boss by looking for the biggest office with the best view.
If you walk into one of the cities of the Philistines - who are your next door neighbours if you're in ancient Israel - if you walk in there, picking who the boss is would be easy. Because there'd be this whopping great big palace, with soldiers all round outside, with slaves running round inside - and in there on the throne, there was the king. Maybe not quite as flash as Buckingham palace, but the message was absolutely clear.
Same with the Perizites, same with the Amonites. The King was the boss. Same everywhere. But different with Israel.
See, the funny thing is, you walk into ancient Israel in the time of the judges, and there's no palace at all. Because - and here's the distinctive thing - because in Israel, there's no visible king. Not that they didn't have a king. But that God was their king. The nation of Israel was the kingdom of God. God was their ruler. And instead of having a king in a palace, all they had were these judges who'd sort out disputes. Which is how the book of Judges gets its name.
Two marks of uniqueness. No other gods. Only the one true God. And no king. Only the one True God. The two things that most of all set Israel apart as the Kingdom of God. And different from everyone else.
We've seen already that they worshipped other Gods. So what about distinctive number 2?
Well, flip over the page to Judges chapter 6, and you'll see it's the start of the story of Gideon. Ordinary everyday guy. And we're in the middle of one of these cycles I was just talking about. Over and over again. The Israelites sin, God sends the Midianites and the Amalekites to ruin the crops... and finally, the Israelites cry out to God. And God raises up a saviour.
Here's Gideon out in the paddock. And an angel comes to him in verse 12 of chapter 6 and says guess what? The Lord is with you. You're going to be a mighty warrior. And God's going to use you to save his people.
And the next two chapters tell the story of how God used Gideon in incredible ways - to win the battle for his people.
But turn over to chapter 8 verse 22, and an incredible thing happens. Because the Israelites have missed the point. Verse 22; read what they're saying.
The Israelites say to Gideon, "rule over us - you, your son, your grandson - because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian."
They're saying, be our king! Rule over us; live in a palace with slaves and gold and silver and a Rolls Royce and hot and cold running water. Set up your family for life. But Gideon knows. That's not the way it is. And he spells it out in verse 22. "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you... the Lord will rule over you."
Don't go looking for a king. Because God's the king! Gideon's got it right.
But as the pages of Judges flip by, time rolls on. Gideon's long dead. And things go from bad to worse.
I reckon it's a funny thing, when you're a Christian some people treat you like you've got no idea about the seedy side of life. Like, they apologise if they accidentally swear in front of you. But the fact is, if you want to see what seedy's all about, if you want a close up view of the destructive power of sin, if you want to see ten times worse than Fortitude Valley on a Saturday night, read the rest of the book of Judges. It's all there. And it's all summed up by a sad little sentence that repeats over and over again through the last 4 chapters.
It's a sentence you'll find first of all in chapter 17. Verse 6. In the middle of a story about an idol worshipping priest. A key verse, and if you've dozed off I want you to find it. And it says this. Chapter 17 verse 6. "In those days Israel had no king. Everyone did as he saw fit." Chapter 18 verse 1, you'll see it again. Same words. "In those days Israel had no king." And the story of more idolatry. Spreading through the whole tribe of Dan. And exactly the same words again in chapter 19. Verse 1. "In those days Israel had no king." And a horrific story unfolds that you wouldn't even want to see at the movies. Because Israel has no king. And they do exactly what they like. Judges 21; turn over there. The last chapter in the book. And the very last verse. You can see it again. "In those days Israel had no king. Everyone did as he saw fit."
The nation that was meant to be different; the nation that was saved by God to be ruled by God. They've come to this. Everyone doing exactly whatever they feel like. With disastrous consequences.
Well, I want you to pick up the story a bit further on. Skip over the little story of Ruth, and you'll come to 1st Samuel. Samuel's the last in the long line of Judges, and you can read his life story in chapter 1 to 7. But for now, we're heading for chapter 8. 1 Samuel chapter 8, verse 5. Cause here's where it's all leading.
The elders of Israel get together, they come to Samuel, and here's what they say to him. "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways... now appoint us A king to lead us such as all the other nations have."
It's like water dripping on a stone, isn't it? They tried it with Gideon, he said no. Now they're doing it again. Cause the fact is, they're just not interested in having God as their king. Give us a King like everyone else. That's what they say. because they don't want to be different to everyone else. They want to be the same.
Samuel's angry. So he prays. And in verse 7 God answers him. And reminds him of exactly what we know already. "The Lord told him," it says in verse 7, "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it's not you they have rejected as their king, but me!" I'm the one who ought to be upset! But listen to them, says God, warn them, then do what they ask for. Let 'em go.
And so they choose King Saul. Because he's the best looking guy they can find. And yet in the end, he's a disaster. Because Israel was meant to be different. And now they're not. Which is where we're leaving the story till next week.
But let me finish by saying there's an issue here we can't afford to leave in the history books. This is not just Israel's story, is it? Because there's a lesson here for us about what it means to call ourselves the people of God. If you're a Christian, the fact is you're saying you've accepted Jesus Christ as your king. And you're living under God's rule. In a way Israel failed to do.
Funny, it's only when you get to the New Testament and the book of Acts that you see people getting it right. Because Paul and his friends are travelling around the Roman empire preaching Christ the King. And causing riots. Because while Israel was always happy to put another King in God's place, Paul's preaching the exact reverse. And all kinds of people are responding. Not just Israelites.
He's preaching God's man, the died and risen Jesus Christ - as a rival to Caesar in Rome.
Acts 17 verse 7. Here's the accusation:
"They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king - one called Jesus." When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil.
And taking Jesus as King made a profound difference to the way people were living.
Interesting though. David Cook mentioned last week a book called the The 100. The 100 most influential people in history. By Michael Hart.
Michael Hart rated Jesus Christ as number 3. After Mohammed. And Isaac Newton. Number 3 he said, because compared to the followers of Mohammed, most followers of Jesus just don't seem to take him seriously. If you're a Moslem, apparently, it makes you different. if you're a Christian, all too often there's no apparent evidence at all.
Now in a sense you can justify that. And say lots of people are just social Christians. Not really Christians at all in the real sense.
But what about you? When it comes to what idols you're worshipping, it's really very evident isn't it? In how different you are to the people next door. Or how different you're not. When it comes to the king who you're serving. When it comes to the crunch, is there any commotion at all where you are... even the slightest bit of evidence that you're saying and living like there is another king - one called Jesus. And that he's king over you?
There should never be any excuse for people looking at us Christians and saying, "Well, there's no king here. Everyone does what's right in his own eyes." Because we have got a king. And it should be obvious. In the way we live our lives. Remarkably different in a way that lights up your neighbourhood; that makes your workplace a better place to be because you're there. In a way that puts the righteousness of God's Spirt into action in ways that count.
I wonder if that's you? Or are you just going to swim with the tide?