After the Election

Sermon, November 12, 2000

Text: I Samuel 12

What a week. On Tuesday, more than one hundred million Americans -- a new record -- voted. Many of us are still bleary-eyed from having sat in front of the television late into the night one or more times this week. We still don't have an official winner of the presidency -- and some are saying we may not have one for days or even weeks! On the bright side, thank God that we live in this constitutional democracy. In some countries we'd be under martial law, with soldiers in the streets. Whoever becomes the forty-third president, this election -- with this dead heat, and the Congress almost evenly split -- has revealed an extraordinary division in this country. Columnist David Broder wrote in Wednesday's Washington Post, "It was as if two different nations went to vote yesterday." Mr. Broder's opinion was that the main fault line running through the American electorate had to do with divisions over "morality." In a time of peace and prosperity, when Americans ought to be contented, approximately half were distressed about the moral direction of American life. According to exit polls, some 65% of voters said the country was on the "right track" economically. But half the nation still voted for change, largely because 57% of polled voters thought the country was on the wrong track morally. I don't want to oversimplify things, but based on their own words, it seems that many of the polled voters basically voted their pocketbooks, telling exit pollsters that economic policies were paramount in their qualifications for candidates, and they, for the most part, voted accordingly. But an equally large percentage polled cited honesty as the most important character trait for a candidate, and they, for the most part, voted accordingly. Now, it is neither proper nor honorable to use the pulpit in a "partisan" manner, to endorse or sanction any particular official candidate or party. However, it is the place of this pulpit to proclaim biblical teaching and principle. With that said, I believe it is incumbent upon all of us that our commitment to honesty, righteousness, honor ought to come before our commitment to our pocketbooks, or Social Security, or Medicare. Time and again the Bible warns that if we value prosperity over justice (or, comfort over righteousness, or financial security over honesty), we'll end up losing both. If we want prosperity, we should choose leaders committed to justice, integrity, honor.

I'll make no predictions. Whichever way things turn out, some of us will be elated, and some of us will be enraged. But one thing should be absolutely clear. Whatever happens does not alter in the slightest how we, as Christians, are called to live. In a recent commentary, Charles Colson reported receiving a note from a friend which said, "Chuck, just remember. We have enlisted for the duration in service to the truth." No matter what happens, we as Christians have enlisted for the duration in service to the truth. Mr. Colson went on to write, "What we need to remember is, if you're disappointed in the election results when they're finally clear, that's understandable. All of us have our partisan choices. Maybe you'll be jubilant over the final results. If so, you're going to think, 'Well, the culture war's been won.' And if you're discouraged over the results, you'll think, 'The culture war's been lost.' Nonsense! Cultures are changed from the bottom up [not from the top down]. We [must] keep living in biblical faithfulness. And [we must] remember, too, that God appoints the leaders. Whatever happens in the election that's now being tallied, we have to accept God's sovereign judgment. We have to pray for those in authority. We have to respect those whom God has put in power over us, and live peaceably in the midst of whatever government we have. Don't be overly jubilant, but don't despair. Take a cool-headed perspective and keep your Christian faith and your Christian witness strong. "We have enlisted for the duration in service to the truth." In many respects, this was a hard sermon to prepare. After these unprecedented events, and the ensuing confusion and divisiveness evident throughout the week, what can I say? What can I do? All I can do, all any of us can do, as with so many other murky things in life, is to pray, and look to the Scriptures for guidance. Turn with me to I Samuel 12.

Last week we looked at another transition of leadership, the election (or, selection) of Israel's first king. If you remember from last week, Samuel basically thought the people's desire for a king was a bad idea, but he nevertheless brought the people's request to God. God thought it was a really bad idea, and tried to warn them about the potential burdens and difficulties a king would put upon them (I Samuel 8). But the people insisted they wanted a king, that everyone else around them had a king, and they wanted one, too. So God answered, "Listen to them, Samuel, and give them a king." And the king God chose for the people was Saul. As said last time, very often in the Bible (and in our own lives), we find God accommodating the less than stellar ideas of His people. He doesn't force His perfect will for us on us, but He does stay with us even when we take the less than best path or make less than the best choices. Along the way He redeems our mistakes for our salvation. However, it'd be better for the people of God to make the right choices in the first place. Anyway, Saul is now the king; the transfer of leadership has taken place smoothly (there was no call for, ah, recasting of lots, although Saul might have welcomed it!). In the previous chapter, we see how Saul had more or less proven himself able fit to lead by his rout of the Ammonites. Now Samuel prepares to step down as leader, though he will remain on as an advisor, a spiritual "cabinet member" of Saul's administration. In fact, if you know the rest of the story, you might say that Samuel remains with Saul longer than God does.

Samuel begins his farewell speech by reminding the people that he has "listened to" them and has set a king over them. This opening verse echoes Samuel's reservations about all of this, but highlights his commitment to God's will despite those reservations. After all, whether Samuel likes it or not, Saul is "the man the LORD has chosen." Although Samuel has been the recognized "leader" of the people from his youth until the present, King Saul is now their "leader." Samuel formally acknowledges the transfer of Israel's leadership from himself to Saul, and then invites the people to "testify against" him if any are able. As if in a courtroom, he takes his "stand" in the presence of "the Lord and his anointed," meaning Saul. Note that Samuel desires Saul to be witness, here. It may be implied that Samuel isn't about to so much "toot his own horn" as he is about to highlight by example what is good and right and crucially important in leadership, especially for Saul's benefit: (12:3ff) "'Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right.' 'You have not cheated or oppressed us,' they replied. 'You have not taken anything from anyone's hand.' Samuel said to them, 'The LORD is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.' 'He is witness,' they said." Samuel has neither "cheated" nor "oppressed" anyone. All along Samuel had consistently refused to use his public office for personal gain, and he specifically denied having ever engaged in bribery or payoffs. Accepting bribes and payoffs is universally condemned in Scripture, and Samuel specifically distances himself from that behavior. Again, Samuel reiterates that, as God is witness and as Saul looks on, he never, ever used his public office for illicit personal gain; thus implying that the people of God should never, ever tolerate such behavior in a leader. And the people readily agreed with Samuel's declaration.

Verses 6-12 summarizes the history of Israel from the time of Moses and the Exodus through the period of the judges to the present. From the outset, Samuel hammers home time and again that Israel's leader has always been the Lord, and that their troubles always, always, always came when they forgot the Lord and His commands. Verse 11 reviews the entire period of Judges. Samuel summarizes the Lord's triumphant deliverance of the people from all their enemies through his chosen deputy leaders. Jerub-Baal (Gideon; "Let Baal Contend") is perhaps mentioned first because he specifically refused to establish dynastic rule over his countrymen. Then there's Barak, Deborah's general in the successful war against the Canaanite army, and Jephthah, victor over the Ammonites. Finally, Samuel mentions himself as the last of the judges as well as the most recent victor over the Philistines. In the face of a renewed Ammonite threat to their security and well-being, however, the people express their determination to have a human king like "all the other nations" rather than having God as their king, perhaps because they wanted to be "practical and realistic." Verse 13, Samuel reviews that God has given His people the king they asked for, and Saul has acceded to office. Verse 14-15, Samuel exhorts them that If Israel and her new king would fear, serve, and obey God by carefully following His law, things would go well. However, if they forgot God, if they disobey or ignore or rebel against His commands, God's hand will be against them, just as had happened time and again to their ancestors.

Verse 16, Samuel then commands them to "stand" and see the evidence of God's reality and God's potential wrath; he calls on God to deliver thunder and rain ... and it comes. The people are in awe, for in that part of the world rain during the harvest would be as totally unexpected as a July blizzard in New England. Also, a driving rain at this time could be especially destructive to crops, and could cause an agrarian economy to utterly crash. This thunderstorm was an ominous reminder of just Who was the true King, and how utterly dependent they were on this true King. After all, if the true King should choose, should He be displeased, He could just wipe out their robust economy in a relatively brief period of time. Verse 19, we see the people got the message loud and clear.

Verse 20, Samuel begins to draw his speech to a conclusion with the words, "Don't be afraid." Even though this transition of leadership may be less than ideal, even though this transition of leadership may be far short of what God would desire, even though this transition of leadership is far short of what Samuel would desire, he says to the people, and, I believe, to himself: "Don't be afraid." He then encourages the people of God to remain faithful, no matter what. He encourages them to persist in doing good and warns them not to do evil. He does remind them that, yes, they have done this evil, they were the ones who asked for this king, and they really have only themselves to blame if Saul proves to be a bad king. All is not lost, though, if only the people of God will remember that their true King is God and live accordingly. Samuel urges them to do all they can to "serve the LORD with all your heart." Verse 23, Samuel declares his unwillingness to sin against God by failing to pray for his country, especially as it undergoes the transition to new leadership. Yes, he may not be pleased with this transition, but he promises to do all he can by word and example to "teach" them "the way that is good and right." After all, Samuel, too, has "enlisted for the duration in service to the truth." The fate of the nation, now, is up to the people themselves.

So the chapter ends with encouragement to personal faith and obedience. It also ends with warning about the consequences of disobedience. The Lord had indeed done "great things" for His people time and again in the past, which should be a source of constant encouragement ... but persisting in their penchant for evil will surely result in their destruction. Again, the words of Charles Colson: "Cultures are changed from the bottom up.. We [must] keep living in biblical faithfulness. And [we must] remember, too, that God appoints the leaders. Whatever happens in the election that's now being tallied, we have to accept God's sovereign judgment. We have to pray for those in authority. We have to respect those whom God has put in power over us, and live peaceably in the midst of whatever government we have. Don't be overly jubilant, but don't despair. Take a cool-headed perspective and keep your Christian faith and your Christian witness strong." Because we have enlisted for the duration in service to the truth.