Sermon for Nairn Mennonite Church
April 19, 2015
Text: 1 Samuel 11: 2-4; 26:17-21
Topic: The Man who Played the Fool
(The Man who Acted Like a Fool)
The Story of King Saul
Introduction:
Thanks again for having us here. I have been praying for you
and have been giving God thanks for healing mercies for those
who have experienced illness and surgery recently.
There is something about OT stories that excite me. I
remember my cousin Pastor Jack Sampson leading an adult
Sunday School on books in the OT. What a thrill it was to learn
about Abraham, Joseph, Daniel, talking donkeys, floating ax
heads and staff turning into snakes. My intoduction to the life
of King Saul came from Dr Wingrove Taylor, and erudite scholar
and brilliant orator and renowned Caribbean pastor.
In telling the story of King Saul, Dr. Taylor pointed out that
there are two famous Sauls in the Bible. Saul of Tish the first
King of Israel and Saul of Tarsus the persecuter of the early
church who became Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles. These
two men lived different lives in different timeframes. At the
end of life's journey, Saul of Tarsus (Paul) summarized his life
with these words: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished
the course, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim.4:7). Saul of Kish, on
the other hand, summed up his life with these words: " I have
played the fool, I have erred exceedingly' (1 Sam 26:21)or as
the NIV puts it "I have acted like a fool, I have sinned greatly".
Why would King Saul make such a statemnt? To answer that
question we have to go through different stages of Saul's life in
the Book of 1 Samuel which tells the story of Israel experience
with their first appointed king.
Let's put this story in its proper historical context by looking at
the factors which led to Saul becoming King of Israel in the first
place. In 1 Sam 8:1 we learn that although the prophet Samuel
had done a very good job as judge, he was getting old and his
sons Joel and Abijah had turned away from God making them
ineligible to succeed their father. (1 Sam 12:3-5)
Besides, it appeared that the children of Israel were tired with
their political structure anyway. As a result, the elders of Israel
gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to
the prophet: "you are old and your sons do not walk in your
ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other
nations have (1 Sam. 8:20)
Samuel was upset and felt rejected so he prayed to God but the
Lord told him "listen to all that the people are saying to you; it
is not you they have rejected as their ruler, it is me. Listen to
their request for a king but warn them solemnly and let them
know what a king will do. After listening to the Children of
Israel, God gave them the king they wanted.
In 1 Sam. 9 we learned about the man who was chosen to be
king. Saul, the Benjamite, was a 30 year old, impressive young
man, without equal among the Israelites - a head taller than
any of the others. He was shy, humble and reluctant to accept
this position. In fact, when it was time for his inauguation, he
was found hiding among the luggage. Saul reigned for 42 years
and at the Saul, the king stood before his arch enemy David and
confessed "I have played the fool, I have made a huge mistake"
How did Saul do that? Saul played the fool with three
significant aspects of his life:
1 Saul Played the fool with a Divine Calling
Chosen by God to be King of Israel, Saul was put in a position to
act on God's behalf. In other words, Saul was supposed to be
God's messenger for good. He was to set an example, so that
other nations could see what it means to rule a people with
justice, caring and godliness. Instead, Saul made some foolish
choices that negatively impacted his life and the success of his
reign. Saul played the fool with many things that affected his
Divine call or his spiritual life. I would like to highlight THREE
(a) He usurped Samuel's role as prophet and
dabbled into matters that were not his concern. In
other word, he mist politics with religion. That is usually
called a dictatorship
For example, In 1 Sam 13:8-14 there is a story of Jonathan's
triumph over the Philistines. The Philistines came back with
more men and horses, "like the sands of the seashore" Israel's
army was scared and the men began to scatter. Instead of
waiting for the Prophet Samuel to come to offer sacrifice which
was the prophet's rightful duty, Saul took over and offered the
burnt offering. What was the probelm with that? In Deut. 12:514 the children of Israel were advised to be careful not to offer
burnt offerings anywhere they pleased but to do so only at a
place of God's choosinf. Saul messed up on two fronts - he
offered burnt offering in the wrong palce and at the wrong
time. Samuel had told him to wait seven days for Samuel to tell
him what to do.
(b) Saul set up a monument to himself
In so doing Saul intended to take honour and praise
rightly belong to God.
that
(c) Saul blamed his people for the bad choices that he made.
In 1 Sam. 15:24 Saul says to the prophet I violated the Lord's
command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people so I
gave into them.
2. Saul played the fool with a Dignified Career or with his
professional life.
What a career! He was the first appointed King of Israel, he had
the second highest honour in the land but the highest civilian
position. As the first king, he had the opportunity to frame the
role as an expamle for future kings. He had power, privilege,
possessions. In warning the Children of Israel about what a King
could bring them, Samuel identified 7 levers of a kings power.
As King, Saul had (1 Sam. 8:11-18)
(a) the power of conscription - can select anyone to
his army;
join
(b) the power of forced cultivation - he could assign
people to plow his ground and reap his harvest;
(c) the power of ammunition production - he could
people make weapons of war and equipment
for
transportation
(d) the power to change peoples occupations - make
women perfumers, cooks or bakers;
have
(e) the power of expropriation - he can seize people's land
for his own use;
(f) the power of taxation - he could take a 10th of
everything his subjects made, grew or own
(g) the power of exploitation - he could make slaves of
people.
May politicans today would give their right arm to have such
wide-ranging power. Saul was approved by God, blessed by the
prophet, accepted by the people and provided with a wise and
trustworthy adviser.
In his drunkeness with power, Saul became high on himself; lost
his sense of duty to God who had granted him his position as
well as his obligation to serve his people who asked for a king in
the first place. He disregarded the wise counsel of the prophet
Samuel and in the process lost his dignity and lost his job. In
Saul's own words, he played the fool with a dignified career.
3. He Played the fool with his Devoted Children - his family life
When things go wrong with a person's spiritual and/or
professional life, the saying is that "one could always go home"
In Saul's case, he could not turn to his family because he played
the fool with that relationship as well. The first principle of
family life is for the head of the family value, provide and
protect your family.
Saul messed up his family in a number of ways. Let us look at
three;
(a) he under-valued the talents of his son Jonathan robbed
of him praise that was rightly his. For example,the
announcement that "Saul had attacked the Philistine outposts
when in fact it was His son Jonathan who did it. Saul almost
killed Jonathan by issuing a dumb decree/oath without telling
his son about it. Saul decreed that none of his soldiers should
eat anything for an entire while they fought the enemy.
Jonathan, not being aware of that oath, came upon some
honey, was hungry so he dipped his staff into the honey and
tasted. Saul condemned his son to die for violating the oath.
Jonathan soldiers saved him.
(b) he used his daughter Michal's love for David to achieve
his personal vendetta against David (1 Sam. 18:17-20). When
told that his daughter was in love with David, Saul was pleased
and agreed to the marriage. His motive, was that when the
Philistine heard that David was Saul's son-in-law, they would go
after him and kill him. When that strategy did not work, Saul
set out to kill David himself. What father, would set up his
daughter's husband in that way?
(c) He misused the talents of David his son-in-law and
failed to recongize how much respect David had for Saul's
position as king. David saw Saul as God's annointed one, a
position that deserved the highest respect. Saul was jealous of
David's accomplishments in battle and could not stand it when
the people shouted that "Saul has slain his thousand but David
his tens of thousands.
What a family man Saul was! No wonder he had to confess that
he played the fool and made a huge mistake.
What lessons can the church learn from this story? First of all,
we know that according to 2Tim. 3:16-17 that "all scripture is
God inspired and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness, so the man of God may be thoroughly
equipped for every good work" Stories in the OT can teach us
valuable lessons.
First, it is important to recognise what is God's divine calling for
your life and my life. Each one is called and is equipped for
different spiritual service. Young Saul went to look for his
father's lost donkeys and returned as King of Israel. David was
tending is father sheep, was called into a line-up and was
selected to be the second King of Israel. Let us be clear: Who
God identifies for service, God also qualifies for that service.
Second, God places us in jobs, professions, careers according to
our God given talents and abilities. God has place each of you in
your current professional position for a purpose. Samuel was a
prophet, Saul was a king; each one had a special function to
perform for the smooth and just leadership of Israel.
There is a growing tendency today to conflate the functions of
church and state. We hear politicians pronouncing blessing God bless you and God bless America/Canada, or whatever the
nation they represent. Similarly, we see church leaders acting
as politicians commenting about how the affairs of state should
be conducted claiming that they are doing so in the name of
God. God wants us to be passionate about the work God has
called us to, but God does not want us to be confused about
our function.
A song during my elementary school years: The dignity of
Labour
Let us remember that the dignity of the work we do lies not
only in the type of work but in the kind of people called by God
to do that work. God, the person who calls us to our various
tasks, has the highest standing among employers.
Finally, Saul's life story should help us to think/re-think our
relationship with our family especially our children/grand
children for those who have them. Unlike Saul, we have to
value our children, their talents, their perspectives but most of
all, their potential. Little did Saul know that the young man who
sat at his feet and played the harp to soothe his tormented
soul, would one day sit on his throne.
Saul saw his children as rivals and bargaining chips, when he
should be loving them and providing spiritual and professional
modeling for them to follow. How do we see our children and
young people?
Saul played the fool with his spiritual, professional and family
live. In so doing, he lost his position, his possession and his
power. How is your spiritual life today? How is professional and
family life? Are they where God desires it to be?
Let's pray
God, we thank you for your timely word, your unfailing love
and amazing grace. Show us when we are about to be too
high on self or too set in our positions. Help us to learn from
the life of King Saul, the consequences of disobedience. Teach
us to love like Jonathan, respect you like David and obey you
like Samuel.
In Jesus name. Amen