A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

 

Life here and hereafter is about choices. 

I think of the scene in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” where the Knight who guarded the Holy Grail—the cup Christ drank from in the Last Supper—beckoned, “choose wisely,” for the wrong cup would bring death and the other life. The American businessman working with the Nazis drank from the golden, gem encrusted, glittering cup. When he was doomed to death, the Knight said, “He choose—poorly.”  Indiana Jones chose the simple cup of a Carpenter. “You have chosen wisely,” was the Knight’s affirmation. 

The wise choice for us is God’s way.  On the surface, it may not have all the sparkle of the world’s splendor, but it will prove of enduring radiance in glory!

THE SUMMONS OF WISDOM, (8:1-11). It is a blessing to us in our senseless ways that God takes the initiative in calling us with a summoning word. Left to ourselves, we would follow the path of folly—as sheep to the slaughter—but, God is gracious and reaches out to us. In our natural state, we would give ourselves to the pursuit of trash, packaged as treasure. Wisdom beckons us to true wealth.

THE SUCCESS BY WISDOM, (8:12-36). Only a fool would determine to fail in life. The problem is that in our depraved mind, we are proud and pursue a perverse pathway. If we would humble ourselves before God and seek His way, we will find the success He means for us. There awaits eternal wealth and everlasting worth—all we need here and abundance hereafter!  Wisdom’s attributes are akin to Deity’s, for they are of Divine origin.

THE SHELTER IN WISDOM, (9:1-18). Wisdom builds a house that is secured and supplied, (v.1-6). 

It shelters us from the scoffer, (v.7-12). The scoffer is resistant to reproof. His questions are not from genuine desire for wisdom, but to generate questions in the witness and undermine faith. If you are well-acquainted with Biblical bread, you will have no appetite for forbidden fruit. You will sniff it out before you bite into it.  If you chew on it, you might spit it out, but you are more likely to swallow some of it. I do not have to taste dung to know it is not chocolate pudding!

It shelters us from the seductress, (v.13-18). Folly is personified as a prostitute. She offers you a night to “live it up,” but her bed is that of the dead!  I think of these words in the Eagles’ pop song, “Hotel California:”

    Mirrors on the ceiling
    The pink champagne on ice
    And she said, “We are all just prisoners here
    Of our own device"
    And in the master's chambers
     They gathered for the feast
     They stab it with their steely knives
     But they just can't kill the beast
 

    Last thing I remember, I was
    Running for the door
    I had to find the passage back
    To the place I was before
    "Relax, " said the night man
    "We are programmed to receive
    You can check out any time you like
    But you can never leave"

As a teacher of mine was fond of saying, “A word to the wise is sufficient.”  Let us listen to wisdom for it is a matter of life and death!

REJECTING GOD

And the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.  (1 Samuel 8:7)

The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a monarchy ruled by the pastor.  The pastor is not the lord of the church.  Neither is the church an oligarchy ruled by the deacons.  Deacons are church servants, not church bosses.  Nor is the church a democracy ruled by the people.  The people are the body of Christ, not the head.  The church is a theocracy which means that God rules.  Christ is the head of the church.  If the church is functioning Biblically, the pastors and deacons are taking their lead from Christ, and the members are following according to the direction of the Holy Spirit.  In 1 Samuel 8, we have a time when Israel was a theocracy.  God was their King.  They decided they needed a human king like the other nations, and in so doing, rejected their Heavenly King.  They rejected God, and it is possible we may also.  How does this happen?

They were disappointed with the job performance of Samuel’s sons, and believed that Samuel was too old to lead them competently (v.1-5).  Disappointment with God’s leaders may lead to disillusionment with God’s leadership.  Leaders may fail in their duty—to some degree they will.  Love your pastor, but don’t put him on a pedestal.  Be loyal to your preacher, but don’t worship him.  The finest pastor, most dedicated deacon, or best Sunday School teacher will fall short at times.  Make any mortal an object of faith and you set yourself up for disappointment.

The people responded to the crisis of confidence in leadership by natural reasoning (v.5).  Reason certainly has its place.  A mind is a terrible thing to waste.  God has ordained, however, that revelation be the root of our reasoning.  What they needed was the clear Word of God from His servant Samuel to guide them.  Instead, they turned to the world, rather than to the Word.  Israel wanted to be like the pagan nations around them—ruled by a king.  This is often the tragic choice made by churches today—to employ the world’s philosophy and methodology just because it works in the world.  It is pragmatism and promotes that the end justifies the means.

Samuel felt a sense of rejection (v.6-9).  What did God’s man do?  He took it to the Lord in prayer.  He didn’t bottle it up and become bitter; nor did he blow up and become angry.  He trusted God to handle it.  That is the response leaders must make when the people’s hearts are rebellious.

Rebellion is in our bones.  The desire for personal autonomy and rebellion against authority can be traced back to Eden.  What happened in Samuel’s day, and what is happening in ours, is but the latest edition of the same old story.  Samuel made powerful arguments, but did not persuade them (v.10-22).  They stubbornly responded, “Our minds are made up—don’t confuse us with facts!”  It was an issue of authority.  Would they listen to God’s messenger, and if it was the Word of God and not his own fleshly desires directing him, then follow?  Or, would they think their own logic sufficient and the world’s ways superlative over God’s design?

Trouble would come from rejecting God’s leadership.  Sometimes God’s way of correcting us is by allowing us to eat the bitter fruit we desire.  They did!