What Do You Want From a King?

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Week 14, Day 3 of the Grand Story...
"But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us' ... when the Lord your God was your king. And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you." (1 Sam. 10:19; 12:12-13)

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” -- CS Lewis, The Weight of Glory

I used to think I knew what I really wanted. I would do anything to get it, sacrifice important stuff to have what I wanted. I would even pray and ask God to let me have what I wanted. Only to find out it wasn't all that I thought it would be. Turns out it wasn't what I really wanted after all.

What I really wanted was Him. I just didn't know it at the time. The desires I had were really only ever going to be satisfied by the love of Christ. My vision was too small. I was aiming too low. I was asking for a stale saltine when God wanted to give me prime rib. But he would let me munch on that cracker until it was all gone, and I was still hungry. Then I would be ready for what He had in store all along.

Basically, it all comes down to who you want to be your king. What do you want out of him? Peace? Prosperity? Safety? Security? “A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage”? What we are willing to give up to get what we want says everything about who we really are. We learn that every four years, when we elect a new president. We listen to all the promises and the pretty speeches. Ultimately, we elect as a country the guy who promises us the most stuff, knowing full well he hasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of delivering on half of it. 

Why? Because we aren’t looking for a King – capital K– someone that demands our loyalty and unwavering submission to his authority for the good of the kingdom even at the cost of personal comfort and safety. We want a king – little k – to give us the good life right now. We would sign over every bit of freedom we have for a nice house, nice car, and free cable.  Who are we kidding, we would sell our own children -- and we have done exactly that -- for more stuff now. We have rejected God as rightful King over our lives and replaced him with a smaller, scaled-down, easier-to-control version. We have cashed in holiness in exchange for immediate happiness, and the result is that we enjoy neither one!*

Here’s the kicker: We want to be like “all the other nations around us.” We don’t want to be different. We don’t want to stand out. We don’t want to be holy. Because to be holy is to paint a target on your back, to risk it all on the chance that God is faithful and will do everything He promised, if we would trust Him. But God makes us wait. He makes us endure suffering. He makes us work… hard! Why go to all that trouble when there is an easier way? Blend in. Disappear. Become invisible. That way you are free to do what you want, when you want, the way you want, and no one notices or calls you out. No one calls you to something higher or deeper or more meaningful.

O Father in Heaven! Save us from ourselves! Call us to something more! Stir in our hearts revival fires. Wake up your sleeping Bride! Bring glory to the earth through a holy people – Your Church! In the power and authority of the True King, I pray! Amen!

*I use the pronoun "we" to refer to the overall attitude of Americans in general, and the American Church in particular. I include my own propensity for short-sighted selfishness in this assessment.

Ought we not to walk in the fear of our God?

Been reading in Nehemiah lately. Yesterday I read this and God has been working me over with it...

So I said, "The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies?" (Neh. 5:9, ESV)

"The thing which you are doing is not good."
What thing? Well, for the people Nehemiah was addressing it was something called usury -- exploiting the neediness of the poor for your own personal financial gain. During a difficult financial time when the people of God should be caring for one another all the more, some of the wealthy Jews were lending money to their poorer brothers at exorbitant interest rates. It was extortion, it was oppression, and it was outright wrong. But what made it especially abhorrent was that they were doing it to their own kinsmen.
So what is "that thing which you are doing"? What for you is that ting that you know is wrong but you do it anyway? What are you willing to wrong another person for, even if it is a fellow Christ follower, even though you know it is wrong?
At the core of it is always selfishness and pride. The essence of sin is rejecting God and elevating the self as god in His place.

"Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God...?"
What does "the fear of God" mean? Some have said respect, reverence, or awe of who God is. That is certainly a part of it. But the scriptures use a word that goes beyond mere reverence for God's authority or holiness. That word is very specific and chosen by the Holy Spirit to convey exactly what it means -- fear. Not abject terror. Not as in the fear of something evil that means you harm and you cannot escape it. Imbedded in the minds of the Israelites was the understanding that they would one day stand before this God and give an account of their life to the One who gave it to them and required them to live it in holiness for His glory. In appealing to their Jewish understanding of the scriptures, the writer of Hebrews reminded his readers that "it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment." (Heb. 9:27) It's at the core of Jesus' parable of the talents. God has entrusted something precious to us. He means for us to make it count for His kingdom. And one day we will stand before Him and give an account of what we did with what He entrusted to us. There will be rewards for the faithful. And there will be punishment for those who hated Him and distrusted His heart, His intentions toward them. It's exactly what Jesus meant when He said, "I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!" (Luke 12:4-5)
Let's face it. We always make sure we do what's expected of us when we know someone in authority is going to come and hold us accountable for it. Homework gets done. chores get done, work gets done. Ought we, then, to live our lives as if we really believe we will stand face-to-face with our God and give an account? Even for the believer, whose sin has been covered by the blood and will not have to appear before the Great White Throne of judgement, must give an account for the way he has lived as a follower of Jesus. (1 Cor. 3:12-15)
But there is yet another important reason to walk in the fear of our God...

"...because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies?" (NASB)
Israel was supposed to be the people of the One True God. They alone had a relationship with God. He had singled them out through His covenant. He would be their God and they would be His people so that the nations would know Him through them! That was the whole purpose of setting them apart, to eventually bring all the nations to Himself. Israel alone represented the character and nature of God to the Gentile nations around them and His glory was tied up in their lives. When Nehemiah said these words, they were only just emerging from a 70 year exile from Babylon because of their failure to do exactly this.
It is no different for the Church. As Christ followers, God has strategically placed each of us, and each of His churches, in neighborhoods, cities, communities, families, schools, workplaces and relationships where those who don't know Him can get to know Him through us. The way we live is supposed to reveal Jesus to everyone around us. When we choose to do "that thing" -- whatever it is -- that indulges the self and rebels against God and defies His Word, it brings shame, disgrace, and reproach on the name of Jesus and His character. How many have turned away from the gospel because they saw the lives of those who claimed to represent it and concluded that it had no power, it made no difference, so it must not be true?
Then there are the enemies of the gospel who seek to tear it down, destroy it, erase it from the public eye, eradicate any vestige of it, and silence it forever. Will we prove them right? Will we continue to hand them fodder for the cannons they have aimed at Christ and His bride? "You will be My witnesses," said Jesus. The question is, are we witnesses for the prosecution, or for the defense of the gospel?

The stakes are high. Hell is hot. Time is short. Eternity is long. God is holy.
That thing which we are doing is not good. Ought we not to rather walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies? God help us! Revive your church! Awaken your bride! Shake your people and may the church be found faithful when you return for her!