St. Mark’s Lutheran

Text: 1 Sam 13:5-18

Being king is a big job. Saul just never seemed up to the task. His dad, a wealthy land owner, had tasked him with the donkeys and apparently wasn’t too concerned if he went missing for quite a few days. At his corronation they have to dig him out from hidding amongst the baggage (1 Sam 10:22-23). Right after the corronation people are already uncertain (1 Sam 10:27). The kingdom must be renewed shortly after the first battle (1 Sam 11:14). The prophet Samuel tells Israel – you made a mistake, but now you are stuck with it (1 Sam 12:19). And in the first real military test the Israelites are running (1 Same 13:6-7). Poor Saul had been told to wait for Samuel (the adult guidance?) for the pre-battle offerings, but Samuel took his time and Saul for once takes charge. What is the response? Not your responsibility – that will be the end of your kingdom (1 Sam 13:13-14). Saul never really seemed to understand his role. He ran and hid when courage was required, and he usurped the authority when it wasn’t his.

Are we not often like that? I think the phrase is “the grass is always greener on the other side”. We are given vocations and the living out of those vocations (job, family roles, church roles, political positions, etc.) is a call to justice and truth, a call to recognize and act on the correct and appropriate authority. Instead, we too often seek to run from those roles because they are hard. They require us sometimes to wait on God. They require us to act outside of our comfort and have faith that God works in our weakness. Jesus is our great example of living out his vocation. Jesus was the messiah, the son of God. Part of that vocation was the suffering servant – being perfectly obeidient to the Father’s will. Jesus lived out his vocation all the way through the cross. Because of that – uniquely – Jesus deserves and has been given all authority. We can’t do that, but Jesus did it for us. That cross covers our errors.

Tags: Meditation by Parson Brown
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Full Text

A hat tip needs to be sent to the Lutheran Hour Ministries and their Men’s Network for some of the ideas in this sermon.

Part of being the parson is being immersed in the Scriptures every day. And maybe even more importantly is the interaction with the Scriptures at a detailed level. For most of my life I have had a reading plan and would spend at least 15 minutes a day reading the Scriptures, but often that was rushed or just done at a devotional level looking for what stuck me at the moment. Even worse was some of that 15 minutes was spent reading the footnotes instead of the Word. When you start looking at what the Scriptures say about Jesus and the Christian Life at a more intimate level, you start to see the disconnects with popular understanding and the Christ presented by the Scripture. Even good pious saints with sound theology think in ‘words about God’ terms (my pejoritive God-talk terms) instead of the Word of God. Too much of the former drains the vitality from the latter. The person of Jesus Christ is who we as preachers preach each week, or should. That person is much more dynamic and alive than our God-talk language. The ways to meet that Living Jesus are in the living Word. Pick up the Gospel according to Mark and start reading. If you haven’t done it for a while get the New Living Translation (NLT) which is wonderful modern English that you can actually read like a story. If you want a more ‘word for word’ translation the ESV is what we read from on Sundays or the NIV are both fine if less readable. Don’t worry about the study notes. Just read that Gospel as you would a book. If necessary get a small pocket edition. It will open you eyes to a Jesus who is constantly challenging his followers, constantly saying things like ‘let’s go to the other side…’ as an invitation to an adventure, or constantly correcting our clouded visions of reality.

Tags: Mark, Sermons, Word by Parson Brown
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