Having a King

July 5, 2009
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Having a King
Mark 6:1-13 and 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10

And David became greater and greater, for the LORD, the God of hosts, was with him. – 2 Samuel 5:10

My sermon outline:

• When in the course of human events... (read from the Declaration of Independence... google it if you want the text!)

• Yesterday we celebrated the 233rd anniversary of the birth of the USA. And wouldn’t you know it, there’s parallels between Independence Day and today’s reading from 2 Samuel.

Couple things to bring out of the Declaration of Independence... Life, Liberty, and pursuit of happiness being natural rights of people, tyrannical dictatorship violates those rights and make it acceptable and necessary to seek justice. “Governments are instituted among people, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...”

Declaration of Independence establishes choice of government, appealing to Almighty God and to mankind to judge actions and intent.

In the Declaration of Independence the people said Listen up, world: we have a leader who abuses us and doesn’t listen to us, and we submit to you that he shall no longer have authority over us, but we will choose how we shall be governed. We will choose whom we shall submit to, who shall have authority over us.

• Now. Ancient Israel had different circumstances: they didn’t have a tyrannical dictator, they didn’t even have a king! Their “rule” was a theocracy, a rule of God, a tribal system of 12 tribes without any exact central leadership. As long as people submitted to God, things were fine, but they had that pesky habit of falling away from God. God would raise up leaders among them, known as judges, who would point out where they were missing the mark, and get them on the right track.

And this would go on and on and on.

And the people of Israel who had been set aside from other nations complained to God that they wanted a king, like other nations...

Saul made king. He blew it. ... ... David made king. By Judah (southern kingdom). 7 years later all of Israel makes covenant with David, acknowledging David to be God’s chosen shepherd and ruler, and they anointed him king over Israel.

• They acknowledged that though Saul had been king, the victories over enemies had been David’s. They acknowledged that the Lord had appointed David as shepherd and ruler, and that without David they have nowhere to turn. You be our shepherd, our caregiver and protector, our ruler, and we will be your people. We submit to you and ask you to be our king.

• What we have in common with ancient Israel: simultaneous resistance to God and acknowledgement of God’s presence in his anointed one, Jesus the Christ, the great and good shepherd of God’s people, the Lamb of God and the savior of the world.

• WE appeal to Jesus Christ, acknowledging God’s presence in him and our utter dependence on him, that without him we do not have hope of reconciliation or forgiveness.

• Jesus be our shepherd, our caregiver and protector, our ruler. We submit ourselves to thy love and power, to thy spirit and guidance. Be thou the ruler of our lives.

• Let us confess what we believe: as found on p. 889 (There is one God, and there is one mediator Christ Jesus, who came as a ransom for all, to whom we testify...)


- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 62 in worship.
First week of nine in Fellowship Hall
Communion Sunday