David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11 - 12)

Introduction 

On 27 March 1977, two fully boarded and fully-fuelled Boeing 747s collided on the runway at Tenerife North Airport. The impact and resulting fire killed 583 people aboard the two aircraft. It was, and remains to this day, the deadliest accident in aviation history.

The most disastrous and destructive event in King David’s life was undoubtedly the night he met Bathsheba. But that attempted take-off in Tenerife and that night of passion in Jerusalem had much more in common than the magnitude of their disastrous consequences as we’ll see.

If you don’t know the story of David and Bathsheba, it’s a sordid and sleazy tale involving voyeurism, perhaps rape, certainly adultery, deception, drunkenness conspiracy, premeditated murder, lies, humiliating exposure and public disgrace. Apart from that, you’ve got to say that David comes out of the narrative pretty well!

David, now midway through his 40-year reign, meets Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11 which starts like this:

In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

So David, looking to cover his tracks, orders Uriah to return home from the war. David then tries three times to get him to sleep with his wife while on leave to erase any suspicion about the paternity of the child she carries.

But each time Uriah refuses, even after having been plied with alcohol. He says it would be dishonourable to enjoy some home comforts while his brothers in arms are risking their lives on the battlefield.

So David gives instruction to deploy Uriah on the frontline and then leave him exposed so he is sure to get killed, which is what happens. The report comes back.

Verse 23: The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.”

Verse 26: When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.

Some months later, the prophet Nathan pays David a visit and tells him a story about two men; one wealthy, one poor. The rich man, owning large numbers of sheep and cattle of his own, callously seizes the poor man’s one little ewe lamb to serve up to guests at a dinner party.

David burns with anger; he knows from his shepherd days how emotionally attached you can get to a lamb that you’ve looked after from birth. David says, “What? As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die!”

And Nathan says, “It’s you. You did it. You stole your servant’s wife. Then you killed Uriah.”

Immediately, David melts. There’s no bluffing, no excuses, no self-defence. He hangs his head and admits it. “I have sinned against the Lord,” he says. And from this come Psalm 32 and Psalm 51, songs of deep repentance and forgiveness and hope.

David – Saint or Sinner?

We’ve been marvelling for two months now about David; this great man of faith. His heart for God. His defeat of the mocking and godless Goliath. His passionate worship. His love of integrity. His zeal for God’s honour.

And now this! Dereliction of duty, lust, infidelity, hypocrisy, treachery, assassination, scandal and cover-up – all of it with seemingly no shame, no crisis of conscience, no sense of guilt, no trace of remorse, and at first no repentance at all. Can this really be the same man? And, of course, it is!

1 Kings 15.5 sums up David’s entire reign in one sentence: David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord’s commands all the days of his life - except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.

It’s an uncharacteristic moment of madness which leads to an equally out of character season of sinfulness.

David really does have a heart for God, but every human heart, without exception, is capable of great wickedness.

All of us have a battle going on in the heart where our brand new, born-again identity is scrapping it out with the old sinful nature that used to rule the roost. And the gloves are off!

Jeremiah 17.9 says, The heart [even of a godly man like David] is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

But is it really 100% all David’s fault? To what extent does Bathsheba share David’s guilt in this story? What do you think?

Could she possibly bathe more discreetly, away from prying eyes? Is she maybe open to an opportunity for a bit of a fling with her husband away a long time? Could she scream or protest when David takes her into his bedroom? Could she, like Joseph did with Potiphar’s wife, just run away?

Or are the power dynamics of this encounter too weighted against her? She is after all summoned into the presence of one of the most powerful men in the world, a man everyone hails for slaying tens of thousands. It is an intimidating experience for her to say the least.

When you look at the story more closely, I think it swings decisively towards being 100% on David.

Water was scarce in Jerusalem, with no natural source in the city at that time so women would typically have bathed once monthly at the end of the menstrual cycle. And that would render them ritually pure and able to enter the tabernacle or temple.

So Bathsheba’s bathing, far from being a brazen exhibition, was probably an expression of her devotion to God and her observance of the Law of Moses.

Most likely, her courtyard was overlooked only by the tallest building in the city; David’s palace. And Bathsheba had every reason to believe that the king would be on the battlefield alongside her husband.

It says David sent (v4) messengers to get her, not “invite her” not “request the pleasure of her company.” David doesn’t so much meet her as take her.

And when Nathan confronts David there’s no suggestion that Bathsheba was complicit. “You are the man,” “you despised the word of the Lord,” “you took Uriah’s wife”, “you killed him with the sword,” “you did it in secret” he says.

And David never replies, “well, we had an affair.” Or “we had a moment of madness.” Still less, “she was asking for it.” “I have sinned,” he says.

Remember that plane crash I mentioned earlier? When the investigation was completed, they found that many factors contributed to the accident including pilot error, communications difficulties, a sudden descent of thick fog on the runway and a bomb threat at a neighbouring airport leading to air-traffic congestion.

All those factors created a perfect storm of risk. But there was, they found, only one fundamental cause to the accident. A pilot attempted take-off without permission to do so. 

OK, there was bad static on the radio. OK, there was a misunderstanding over vocabulary. OK, the fog reduced visibility to 100m. OK, there were planes that wouldn’t have been there if they hadn’t been rerouted because of a bomb threat. But if that pilot hadn’t initiated take off, none of the other factors would have caused an accident.

Here, you can say that there are many contributing factors that lead to David's downfall. His not being away at war as would usually be the case. Bathsheba’s bathing being visible from the palace roof. Her husband being away from home at the time. David just happening to be on the roof at the moment she was washing…

But the one fundamental cause is identical to that plane crash; a man taking a course of action without permission to do so.

So how did one whose heart was so good go so badly wrong?

1. Selective Bible Reading

When you read the story, it looks like it all starts with David noticing Bathsheba – and taking a second look. But in fact, David’s first mistake comes about twenty years earlier, as his reign was just beginning.

David knew that Deuteronomy 17 says this: When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, ‘Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,’ be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses...

So far so good. But a few verses later it says this: He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray.

But David skips that bit. Instead, he acts like the pagan, idolatrous kings of the time. By the time David was crowned, he already had three wives. Before long, he had four more. By the time he captured Jerusalem there were still others. Plus concubines...

At the coronation earlier this month, King Charles III was given several gifts and emblems but the first, and most important, was a Bible which was presented to him with these words:

“Sir, to keep you ever mindful of the law and the gospel of God as the rule for the whole life and government of Christian princes, receive this book, the most valuable thing that this world affords. Here is wisdom.”

I hope he reads it and treasures it as his mother certainly did. David did. Usually. But he skimmed over the bits that challenged his lifestyle, with tragic consequences.

I know people who must have heard thousands of sermons, over years and years, good ones too, but who remain unmoved and unchanged by the gospel.

The church planting missionary to the Auca Indians in Ecuador, Elisabeth Elliot, used to say, “The Word of God I think of as a straight edge, which shows up our own crookedness. We cannot really tell how crooked our thinking is until we line it up with the straight edge of Scripture.”

It seems paradoxical, but for all David’s genuine love for the Lord, he never really restrains his desire for women and bring it under control.

2. Complacency

The next thing is that David is in the wrong place at the wrong time – and that is his fault. He has allowed himself to become comfortable. Success does that for us more than struggle.

It’s the springtime; that’s the moment for him to get going, and lead his army to finish the job of subduing the Ammonites.

But David likes the creature comforts of his palace a bit too much. There’s a time and place for rest. And burnout doesn’t honour God.

But this is time for work! David has become lazy; he sends others off to serve the Lord and do his job while he puts his feet up in a life of luxury. There he is, walking back and forth on his palace roof. Literally and figuratively going nowhere.

He is like Homer Simpson in the cartoon, who says, “It's not easy to juggle a pregnant wife and a troubled child, but somehow I manage to fit in eight hours of TV a day.”

David is bored. Because he’s not where God has called him to be. And when you’re not doing what God has called you to do, there’s plenty of time for the devil to mess with his head.

Are you where God wants you to be? Are you doing what he wants you to do? Or have you taken your foot off the gas and started wasting your life?

3. A Second Look

Thirdly, David, walking on his roof, thinks he’s the master of all he surveys. He’s like Simba in the Lion King; “Everything the light touches is mine.”

And then the mellow evening light falls on this beautiful woman, naked and unaware. And he notices her. How can he not? He takes a second look and then a third. He can stop right there and then. He can turn his head and walk back inside.

They say that 90% of men confess to struggling with lust. 90%! They also say that the other 10% are known to be liars!

I remember having a conversation with two church leaders, one male, one female, some years ago. It was shortly after a fairly prominent married pastor had been discovered having an affair with a member of his staff. It ended his ministry.

My female colleague, exasperated, said to us, “Why do men always do this? How difficult is it for you guys just to keep your zip up?”

And my male colleague said to her, without excusing or justifying or mitigating in any way that man’s behaviour, he said, “What women don’t always know is that for the majority of men sexual attraction is instant and full on. So a fall from grace can happen to anyone, even one with a flawless record to that point.”

It’s a conversation that I’ve often reflected on.

The thing about any temptation, for you it might be gossip, or gambling, or overeating, or laziness, or anger, or drinking too much - whatever it is - the more time we allow it to get a hold on us by not fighting it, the more desensitised we become to the damage it does to our lives.

It’s a bit like sliding down a hill. It’s much easier to stop sliding when you’re near the top than when you’re picking up speed, losing control and tumbling head-over-heels halfway down. David could have stopped sliding right at the start.

But he lets the look linger. And he starts to slip… Then he enquires about her. And he slides a bit more… Then he realises her husband is not at home. His mind is working away and he’s picking up speed… Then he sends for her. Now the fall is getting out of control.

4. The Conscience Override

At which point he moves to step 4 and it’s game over. All this time, he’s got a sinking feeling inside. His conscience is telling him, “don’t do it.” There are alarm bells going off in his head, but he drowns them out. 

Do you know the main reason why smoke alarms don’t work? It’s because people take the batteries out. And the reason people yield to temptation is because they switch off their sense of right and wrong.

As Bathsheba is escorted by David’s staff to the palace, he is removing the batteries to the smoke alarm of his conscience one by one. 

Repentance and Restoration 

In 12.16, after being confronted with what he’s done, David fasts, puts on sackcloth and sits, not on his royal throne, but in the dust on the ground. It’s proper repentance.

This is when he writes Psalm 51:

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin… Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation...

Kathie was suffering from soreness in her jaw recently that affected the entire left side of her face. The pain never subsided all day.  It was stopping her from sleeping at night. She took paracetamol - no effect at all. She took ibuprofen but that didn’t help either. She found some codeine in an old box that was over a decade out of date. That helped - a bit. But not nearly enough. 

She went to the doctor, but she said it was a job for the dentist. So she went to the dentist who took an x-ray but said it showed nothing. Then the dental hygienist pointed out on the x-ray a crack in one of her teeth. At which point, I am not making this up, at which point the dentist put his glasses on and said, “Oh yeah, you’re right!”

The tooth had to be pulled out, which required a lot of physical exertion, the dentist having to really put his back into it, because the root went very deep. I'm sure it wasn’t pleasant to watch. But once the tooth was out and all the blood was cleaned up off the walls and floors (maybe a slight exaggeration!) the pain was gone. 

David says in Psalm 32 that his bones wasted away through groaning all day long, his strength was sapped, there was a heaviness on him - until he confessed.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you” he says, “and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin… Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.

Having all your sins forgiven, all your guilt dealt with, all the shame taken care of – what a relief!

Sin usually brings us unhappiness though. For David there was the greatest pain a parent can experience; the death of a child. And public disgrace. And loss of authority, eventually becoming a figure of fun. And family disintegration.

You can plot a graph of David’s life and it’s very simple; it’s an upward line of continual spiritual progress until the night he sees Bathsheba and it’s sadly all downhill from that night on.

When Nathan confronts the king, David, full of indignation, says that the man who did this "must pay for that lamb four times over because he did such a thing and had no pity." Tragically, that curse comes down on David; four of his sons (the child Bathsheba was carrying, Amnon, Absalom and Adonijah) would all die before their time. So David did grieve four times over for the one innocent life of Uriah the Hittite.

Ending

But as I end, I want to say this: no matter what you’ve done, where you’ve been or how long it’s gone on, you cannot go so low that grace is no longer able to reach you.

David was captivated by Bathsheba’s beauty. And it led to a great ugliness.

But David would go on to marry Bathsheba and they would then have other children together. The next one would be Solomon, which means peace, reflecting the peace they found with God after all that turmoil. Solomon would take the throne and continue David’s royal line which would lead all the way to Jesus.

It’s what Francine Rivers calls the lineage of grace. One of many shady and shameful stories in Jesus’ family tree that leads, despite all that fallenness and disgrace, to the salvation of the world.

And one day the Lord Jesus, the greatest descendant of David and Bathsheba, would be described in these words:

He had no beauty [like Bathsheba] or majesty [like King David] to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. (Isaiah 53.2-3).

Yet the beauty of the Lord, stunningly glorious, is displayed at that moment of his greatest ugliness.

Are you, like David, someone who needs to turn back to the Lord today? Or are you maybe, like Bathsheba, someone who has been badly wronged?

As we come to communion now let’s remember that Jesus died not only for the wrongs we have done, but also for the wrongs done to us. Let’s receive grace for a new beginning and a cleansed heart as we break bread together.

Sermon preached at King's Church Darlington, 28 May 2023 (coincidentally, our 40th wedding anniversary!)

 

 

 

David and Saul Part II (1 Samuel 16 - 22)

Introduction

For the benefit of those who are new here and visitors, we’ve been following the life of David in the Bible and looking at him mainly through the prism of his relationship to others. David and Goliath. David and Jonathan. And so on.

Last Sunday we began to look at his relationship with Saul, the king who proceeded him on the throne. And we saw that Saul, with his “head and shoulders” profile, reflected in many ways a kind of church life that we have seen in sharp decline in the last few decades. A church life that is about self-reliance; democracy, management techniques, human wisdom and with a steady drift away from the authority of Scripture.

David, by contrast, was a man ruled not by the head, but by the heart. And David mirrors the kind of church life that always flourishes. A church life that is about the power of the Holy Spirit, the presence of God in worship and reverence for God’s word. 

And we saw that the crowd chose Saul for his impressive looks. But God chose David for his impassioned heart.

Last week, we viewed David’s relationship with Saul mostly from Saul’s perspective. And you can listen to the podcast if you missed it and want to hear it. But today, we are going to look at things more from David’s point of view.

The first time the two men are mentioned together in the Bible is in 1 Samuel 16.14-23, which immediately follows David’s secret anointing by Samuel, and immediately precedes his encounter with Goliath.

Let’s pray and then read what it says…

Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. Saul’s attendants said to him, “See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the lyre. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes on you, and you will feel better.” So Saul said to his attendants, “Find someone who plays well and bring him to me.”

One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And [notice this, the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul but as for David] the Lord is with him.” Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul.

David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armour-bearers. Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.” Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.

Oh, hang on a minute. Rewind the tape. Did I read that correctly? An evil spirit from God? Is that a printing error in my Bible? We might expect an evil spirit from Satan, but surely not from God? But God’s word insists here, four times in fact, that it was from the Lord.

There are a few rare and exceptional instances in the Bible, when God permits the demonic to bring affliction in the short term in order to bring about his good purposes in the long term.

The entire book of Job for example. In the New Testament, there are two occasions where Paul, using his apostolic authority, hands over to Satan a Christian, who has gone dangerously off track, in order - not to spitefully seek revenge - but to provoke a vital spiritual U-turn.

This evil spirit sent from God here is about grabbing Saul by the lapels and showing him he’s got to urgently get right with God again and take his spiritual leadership seriously. It’s a wake-up call.

1. A Worshipper

There are two key features in David’s character that I want to highlight from this passage.

First of all, he was anointed to be a worshipper. Half of the 150 Psalms are written by David, every one of them a prayer from his heart, expressing his feelings; his joy, his delight, his confidence, his yearnings, his dismay, his fear, his sorrows.

Washington DC church leader Mark Batterson says, “The Holy Spirit cannot fill you if you're full of yourself.”

Saul was though full of himself, obsessed about his image. But David was full of the Spirit. In his Psalms, every emotion is there, all of it a testimony to his every day, every hour, relationship with God at the centre of his life.

All of those Psalms were set to music of course, and David sang them as he played his stringed instrument.

It says here in v17 that he played it well and that God was with him. That's what you want in your worship band; people who can play competently of course - but who are spiritually in tune as well.

You may or may not be part of a worship band, but have you got a heart for worship? Does the Lord get your whole heart when you come to worship?

2. A Warrior

Secondly, v18 says that David was anointed to be a warrior.

We saw that two weeks ago with Goliath. All the way through 1st and 2nd Samuel, David is busy smiting Philistines or Amalekites or Ammonites or Moabites or some other arch enemy of God. He was fearless in battle.

As I said last week, our warfare is not physical against people but spiritual against principalities and powers. And living as a Christian is a constant battle. Have you noticed?

We battle against indifference and cynicism and unbelief and greed and prayerlessness and fears and lust and lies and laziness and temptations of every kind. Oh my! It’s relentless.

1 Peter 2.11 says that sinful desires wage war against your soul. It’s unremitting. It’s carnage, but we can live in victory over it all by the grace of God.

Well, David was a fighter. Do you think people say that of you? Are you conscious of living in a life-long spiritual battle? Do you know that the weapons of our spiritual warfare are mighty for the pulling down of strongholds? Do you know that the Bible promises that God will soon crush Satan under our feet? Do you put on the armour of God every day? 

David was a worshipper and a warrior, and it says here that Saul liked him very much at first. But that was all about to change.

3. An Outcast

Saul's greatest weakness was that he could not stand others succeeding around him. People started to sing songs comparing David’s great success to Saul’s more modest success. And because Saul was insecure, he became anxious, moody and jealous - even paranoid.

In 1 Samuel 18, Saul twice suddenly lashes out and tries to pin David to the wall with a spear. Twice David dodges out of harm’s way. In chapter 19 it happens a third time. Talk about a boss with anger management issues…David eludes him again. 

Saul then attempts to murder David in his bed but David’s wife Michal gets wind of the plan and helps him escape.

Saul then sends out men three times to pursue him before going himself, but God frustrates the plot every time.

In chapters 21-31 David is on constantly on the run and in hiding from Saul who becomes more and more determined to track him down with his troops and kill him.

It is 11 chapters of unrelenting persecution. David flees to the desert and has to hide in caves and inhospitable deserts. Even here, years on end at rock bottom, David turns to God and pours out his soul. Many of the Psalms must have been written in those days of peril and danger.

Psalm 3 for example;

Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high… I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side…

 Or Psalm 27:

The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.

And Psalm 63:

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

When life is hard, when people are not fair, when circumstances are bewildering, when God seems to be silent, when everything seems to be against you, do you bring it all to God? Do you tell him what you think? Do you tell him how you feel? Do you pour out your soul to the Lord?

And it’s around this time that men begin to join David. 1 Samuel 22.2 says this: “All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered round him and he became their leader.” I’ll come back to that towards the end, because it’s very significant.

In chapter 24 there’s a pivotal moment when Saul is pursuing David with an army of 3,000 men. David and the men loyal to him are hiding a long way back in a cave.

And Saul goes into that very cave to relieve himself, not knowing of course that anyone is watching. And while Saul is responding to nature’s call, some of David’s guys whisper to him, “This is your moment! He’s a sitting duck! Go on, “kill this maniac and the throne will be yours.”

David creeps forward with his dagger, draws it from its sheaf and leans forward towards Saul, who has his back turned in the darkness of the cave.

But instead of plunging the blade into Saul’s heart, as he is urged to do, David cuts off a square of the king's royal robe and when Saul has left, he calls out to him, v9, holding up the piece of fine silk.

David shouts out, “Why do you listen when men say, ‘David is bent on harming you’? This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.’”

I want you to notice this; the tremendous respect and reverence in which David values God’s anointing.

David had every reason to feel hatred and bitterness. He had every justification in self-defence, to plunge the dagger into the heart of a man determined to kill him. Everything that was happening to David was so unfair, so wrong.

But when God looked into David’s heart, he saw mercy. He saw grace. He saw forgiveness. He saw a foreshadowing of David’s greatest descendant, Jesus, the Son he loves.

1 Peter 2.23 says, “When they hurled their insults at [Jesus], he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”

In 1 Samuel 26 it happens again. Saul once more becomes consumed by jealousy. He gathers his 3,000 men and off they go again to hunt David down like a dog. 

This time, when Saul and his men are asleep at night, David takes a guy called Abishai and they creep into the camp unnoticed. They stand over Saul, fast asleep, with his spear in the ground, right by his head. Knowing that David was unwilling to kill Saul before, Abishai whispers, “Go on! Let me pin him to the ground. I’ll kill him instantly and all this will be over.” 

Again, David says “The Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed!”

The most difficult decisions we ever take are the ones we make under the pressure of great temptation. But they are the ones God most honours us for.

David is determined to put God first in his life, even if in the short term that might mean more pain, more misunderstanding, more persecution, more being wronged.

I just feel there might be people here this morning struggling with a big decision. You know the easy choice, but the wrong one, will make life simpler for you. You know the right choice carries a cost. But in the longer term, I want you to have faith that the Lord will bring honour to you and blessing on your life when you take the right but more difficult path.

So once again, David spares Saul. He retreats with Saul’s spear and water jug then, from a distance, shows him the evidence again that he could have killed him – but didn’t. And once again, Saul admits that he has been a fool, that David is more righteous than he is, that the Lord is with him and that, in the end, David will prevail.

4. A Leader

David is a leader. He leads through his Godly character, his worshipping heart, his warrior spirit and his moral courage. But supremely, David is a leader because people want to follow him.

The Silicon Valley church leader John Ortberg says, “He that say he leadeth when nobody followeth only taketh a walk.”

Let me read 1 Samuel 22.2 again: “All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered round him and he became their leader.”

It’s very notable that it doesn’t say these 400 men came to the cave. Famously, men like caves and sheds but there was nothing attractive about the cave in itself.

They weren’t saying, “Well, I go to Saint Cave’s Church now. Or I go to Cave Christian Fellowship. I like the dim lighting and the outdoors life and the alternative feel to it.”

It wasn’t the cave. It says they gathered round David. They saw his faith. They saw the purity of his heart. They saw his integrity. And they said, “I’m with him.”

In 1 Chronicles 12.18 God gives David more men. And the Spirit of the Lord comes on one of them and he says,

“We are yours, David! We are with you, son of Jesse! Success, success to you, and success to those who help you, for your God will help you.”

Everything David suffered under Saul was so unfair, so cruel, but these men watched David under pressure, they saw how he responded, they saw his heart, they saw that God was in him and they gathered to him.

Remember what I said last week about Ern Baxter’s prophetic word that Saul-type churches with their institutional, top-down model would fade as God raised up David-type churches? So much of that is to do with people seeing Spirit-filled, gracious, visionary leaders whom God is clearly blessing, even though some oppose them.

People gather round anointed leaders and say; “I want some of what you've got!” “I’m coming with you. I’m buying into your vision. I am excited by the promises God is making to you. I’m in.”

So eventually, after Saul dies, and David weeps for him, and those guys see his magnanimity, in 1 Chronicles 11.1, it says this; “All Israel came together to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood.’”

In other words, we feel joined to you. We feel part of you. You see? It’s leadership based, not on institutional hierarchy, but on affection and loyalty and love.

It’s the same principle in the New Testament. In 2 Corinthians 8.5 Paul says of the Macedonian Christians, “They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.”

And of course, it has to be two-way otherwise you’ve got an unhealthy sect.

In 1 Thessalonians 2, Paul says, “Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.”

In David-type churches it's relational, not institutional; it’s not who’s the Right Reverend, the Most Reverend and the Very Reverend. It's not who's top dog?

It’s friendship and covenant and affection and family; “we are your own flesh and blood.” This is what God has been raising up in the last few generations. Not Saul-type Christianity with its obsession for self-preservation. But a David-type Christianity with a fire in the heart for God’s honour. David or Saul? Life or death? 

Ending

God is looking for men and women with a worshipping heart, like David, not like Saul. Psalm 9, written by David, says; I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

God wants men and women with a heart for worship who are committed to giving the very best to worthily magnify and exalt his greatness. Are you going to be one of them?

God is looking for men and women with a servant heart, like David, not like Saul. Acts 13:36 says, “David… served God’s purpose in his own generation.”

God wants servant-hearted men and women who are passionate about the purposes of God in ours. Are you going to be one of them?

God is looking for men and women with a trusting heart, like David, not like Saul. “David said: ‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken’” (Acts 2:25).

God wants men and women who will not be moved because their hearts have placed their trust in God’s unshakable promises. Are you going to be one of them?

God is looking for men and women with an undivided heart, like David, not like Saul. Psalm 86, written by David, says: Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

God wants men and women whose heart is steadfast, and never torn between God and an idol. Is that you?

God is looking for men and women with a prophetic heart, like David, not like Saul. Acts 2:29-30 says “(David) was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.”

Who wants to hear from God and speak out his word? Do you want that to be you? Well, earnestly desire spiritual gifts, especially prophecy.

God is looking for men and women with an obedient heart. Acts 13:22 says “God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’”

In short, David had a heart for God. And God wants you and I to have one as well. Are you up for that?

Let’s stand to pray…

 Sermon preached at King's Church Darlington, 7 May 2023

David and Saul Part I (1 Samuel 8 - 15)

Superbook

Introduction

We have been looking at the life of David over these last couple of weeks; his being chosen by God because of his heart and not his looks, and the event that propelled him to fame; his spectacular defeat of the giant Goliath.

For about two months, we’re going to be looking at David through the prism of his relationships with others. David and Goliath. David and Jonathan. David and Abigail. David and Bath Sheba. David and Absalom. David and Jesus.

But there is one relationship that dominates the 1st Book of Samuel. The story spans 24 chapters and it’s David’s complex relationship with Saul.

So because there’s so much to say, we’re going to cover David and Saul in two weeks; the first week (today) I’m going to mostly look at things from Saul’s point of view and then, next week, we’ll see look at the narrative more from David’s.

Back in the early 1970s, a Canadian Bible teacher with a prophetic edge to his ministry called Ern Baxter spoke about David and Saul as representing, if you like, two kinds of churches, and what he said had a significant impact in this country at the time.

He said that David reflected the new, vibrant, charismatic, Spirit-filled churches that were just beginning to emerge in those days, mostly meeting in living rooms and small rented facilities. 

And, by contrast, Saul mirrored a more institutional expression of church that, Ern Baxter predicted, would soon begin to experience stagnation and decline before eventually fading altogether from the scene.

In much the same way that Saul’s kingdom began to crumble as David’s emerged, we would see, he said, a changing of the guard at the end of the 20th century and the start of the 21st.

Just as Saul was head and shoulders taller than anyone else, the kind of church his life epitomised was all about the head; cerebral, intellectual, academic, and governed by human wisdom.

So, for example, seminaries for training ministers would openly question aspects of God’s word that the modern mind does not accept. Miracles, spiritual gifts, the presence of God in worship, the reality of the demonic, even standard Christian doctrine like the virgin birth and the resurrection would be disparaged in some theological colleges.

The kind of church that Saul embodied was not only about the head, it was also all about the shoulders, representing human strength and ability.

So instead of emphasising the David-like features of charismatic ministry, passionate worship and anointed leadership, Saul-like churches preferred to put their faith in expertise, democracy, and to rely on things like management techniques and market research.

In sharp contrast to Saul, David was a man - not of the head and shoulders - but of the heart. He had a heart for God. God looked into his heart and saw a flame for God and a zeal for his honour.

And Ern Baxter’s word was that we would see Saul-type Christianity begin to fade and, at the same time, David-type Christianity would rapidly become more prominent. In the 50 years or so since that conference, that is exactly what has happened.

About 20 years ago, Terry Virgo picked this up and spoke on it at a New Frontiers conference called Together on a Mission. And what I’m going to do this week and next is give echo to that teaching here, adapting it for our context and adding a few of my own thoughts.

So basically, anything good this Sunday and next you can credit to Ern Baxter and Terry Virgo. Anything a bit off – that’ll no doubt be all my own work.

Background

Who is Saul? He’s the first king of Israel. He is only mentioned once in the New Testament and, tellingly, it's about how he contrasts unfavourably with the one who succeeded him on the throne; David.

Here’s what it says about Saul in Acts 13.21-22: “Then the people asked for a king, and [God] gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. After, removing Saul, [God] made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’”

David, incidentally, is mentioned over 50 times in the New Testament and in addition the Psalms he wrote are quoted over 30 times.

Clearly, Saul’s reign is just a minor footnote in God’s eternal purposes, whereas David left an enduring legacy.

Spoiler alert; before we tell the stories of these two men, I am going to summarise them in this way: Saul started relatively well and finished very badly. David started very well and finished relatively badly. So, both men showed promise at first and ended their lives in disappointment, under a cloud.

The pattern is the same, but Saul is dismissed as one of Israel’s worst kings, and David is almost idealised as one of the best, if not the best.

Why, when both started well and finished badly, was David God’s man and Saul wasn’t? We’re going to get to the bottom of why that is over the next couple of weeks.

1) Faulty Foundations (8.1-21)

Saul’s story starts in 1 Samuel, chapter 8 which doesn’t even mention him.

The nation at that time is being led by a prophet called Samuel. But he’s getting on a bit and there is no obvious candidate to pass the baton to in his family, so the people get together and initiate that awkward conversation you sometimes need to have with people who stay in a job too long.

And in v4 they tell him straight. “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king over us to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”

In other words, they see correctly that they need change, but they want the wrong kind of change. They say, “We want to be indistinguishable from the surrounding pagan nations. We’re fed up with being different. We’re had enough of being God’s special people. God can choose someone else for a bit. We want to blend in now."

The first time I sailed a boat on my own, at the age of about 8 (I should add in my defence, having had no instruction from my dad), I capsized it within about a minute. Thankfully, in relatively shallow water. I quickly learned that boats are great as long as the water stays outside. But if a lot of water gets in the boat, it's a matter of time before it is no more!

Always beware when a church wants to look just like the world, and adopt its standards and values and worldview and morals. Keep the seawater out of the boat.

We’ve been talking this year about our non-negotiable foundations. God’s word, prayer, the ministry of the Spirit, evangelism, discipleship, mission… These are not things you find in secular society. Don’t let the world’s values get inside you and take you down.

But Israel says, “No. We want to be like the godless, pagan nations with all their idols. We don’t care if it means national service and higher taxes; just give us a king.” Three times they say it and, in the end, they get what they want.

Saul is on a flawed foundation from the start. He is man’s choice, democratically elected on the basis of his looks. He was never God’s choice.

2) Bright Beginnings (9.1 - 12.25)

In chapters 9-12, considering what I have just been saying, you would be surprised to see that Saul starts petty well.

As we’ve seen, Saul is tall and good looking. That’s not all. He seems to have a servant-heart, dutifully helping his father by undertaking a fairly unexciting mission of searching for some lost donkeys. And he seems to do it in an uncomplaining way. It’s promising.

There’s a suggestion from a servant that they should enquire of the prophet Samuel, see if God has a word about where these animals might be, and Saul says, “all right, let’s do that,” so he’s not above taking advice from one of his junior staff; in fact, he is very willing to do so.

When Saul speaks to Samuel, in 9.21 he seems to show real humility. He doesn’t strut around like the Great I Am. “Well, I’m just a nobody from an insignificant family of a minor clan of the smallest tribe” he says. And Samuel anoints him to be king there and then.

And even after that anointing, just as Samuel is about to make a public announcement about it, no one knows where he is. They eventually find him hiding amidst the supplies. Saul is obviously reserved, self-effacing and modest… These are impressive qualities.

At the end of chapter 10, a bunch of troublemakers despise him and criticise him. And Saul doesn’t fly off the handle; he just rises above and ignores it. So he seems magnanimous and secure.

In chapter 11, he saves a city besieged by an enemy. The Spirit comes on him in power and he rallies his troops, winning a great victory. People say to him “Let’s put to death those who challenged your authority and rubbished your leadership" and Saul says, “No, no, this is a day of celebration. God has delivered us, no one should die today.”

Look, it's a flying start. Saul shows a lot of grace. On the surface he appears to be a great choice. But tragically, it doesn’t last. How is his track record after a couple of years, after facing bigger problems and challenges? That, it turns out, is a different story.

With Saul, because the foundations are faulty, once the pressure comes on him, the cracks begin to show and his entire kingdom starts to disintegrate.

3) Defective Devotion (13.1 – 15.11)

Saul comes across as impressive on the surface. But underneath, it is a different story.

In chapter 13 there is a conflict with the Philistines - an enemy with a fierce reputation and daunting capability - and they strike real terror in the Israelite camp. It says they were quaking with fear. This enemy army is numerous and advanced and it looks like a bigger problem than any king can cope with.

It’s a test of Saul’s faith and leadership. Is he going to trust in God and inspire his troops like David did against Goliath? It’s not going to work doing it man’s way. It has to be God’s way. So Saul is told that before he can engage the Philistines in battle, he has to wait for Samuel, the man of God. But Samuel doesn’t arrive until the last minute.

In the meantime, Saul caves in to pressure. He doesn’t really have faith in God, so he goes for ritual instead, thinking “that’ll do.”

He thinks, “I can’t wait and trust any more. I’ll just do this religious thing myself and hope for the best”, but he doesn’t really understand how things work spiritually.

Saul takes the priestly duties upon himself, which is outside his sphere of authority and anointing. He panics and messes it all up.

And here’s the crucial thing; God is not in it and Saul doesn’t even notice.

Finally, Samuel turns up and says, “What are you doing?” Saul says, “Well, the men were getting nervous and starting to leave, and you were getting a bit late, and I was worried about the Philistines, and I just felt I should do something."

Saul is led by the crowd and he yields to the pressure. David, against Goliath had said, “The Lord delivered me from the paw of the lion and bear. This man has defied the armies of the living God.”

With Saul, there’s no trace of “The Lord led me…” or “God said…” “The people told me…” he says.

He’s found out. Samuel catches him with his trousers down. He doesn’t have any real relationship with God. 

In chapter 15 Saul is given a command to go and utterly destroy an enemy. That is disturbing to read, let's not pretend otherwise, and it raises all kinds of issues that unfortunately we don’t have time to go into this morning.

All I will say for now is that very often what is literal and physical in the Old Testament is figurative and spiritual in the New.

For example, in the New Testament it says our warfare is not against flesh and blood; it is against principalities and powers and spiritual forces of evil. So we have no mandate to wage holy wars or visit violence on anyone, however badly they have wronged us. The only putting to death and showing no mercy in the New Testament, for us as Christians, is of our own sinful impulses.

But for Saul, it is a real war against a guerrilla terrorist enemy who lives by attacking other nations and carrying off their wealth and families. As an expression of God’s judgement, and to ensure absolutely that none of their idolatry could take hold in Israel, he is told to leave no survivors.

But Saul is not willing to obey fully. God gives a clear command but because the mood of the people is for something else, he gives in to them. He is product of people.

The New Testament makes it very clear that God has entrusted the gospel to us, to guard it and defend it from error. We have no more right to alter its content than a postman has to open and alter our mail.

God gives Saul a command and he just does his own thing. He’s actually so pleased with a partial victory, leaving survivors, that in v12 he goes off to build a monument to himself. He is more concerned about his image and reputation than he is to obey God’s word.

Finally, Samuel catches up with him and Saul says, “Ah, Samuel! Great! I feel like seeing a prophet today. The Lord bless you!” He can talk the talk. He can trot off the liturgy without thinking.

“I carried out the Lord’s instructions” he says. It’s a lie. And Samuel knows it. “No, you didn’t,” he says.

4) Reluctant Repentance (15.12-31)

Instead of repenting Saul makes excuses. “Alright, I have sinned” he says, “but, well, the people said… and you know how it is… but I did obey. Sort of. Albeit not exactly.”

Sorry, not sorry. Once again, “I went with the flow. I feared the people. I have to keep everyone happy.” Saul is a people pleaser. He is a blueprint for Christian leaders and churches who feel they need to appease the congregation and tell it whatever it wants to hear.

That is disastrous. “If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ” says Paul in Galatians 1.10.

Even Jesus’ enemies came to him in Mark 12.14 and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.” Even his opponents who hated him had to acknowledge that.

There’s no trace in Saul of any real repentance. Of taking responsibility for what he did, or failed to do, before God.

The disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker wrote an autobiography from prison called “I Was Wrong.” It was a publishing disaster because it ran to 600 pages, which was simply not marketable. No one has the time or inclination to read a book that thick. When people asked him, “Why did I Was Wrong run to so many pages?” Bakker simply replied, “I was that wrong.”

Saul, by contrast, head and shoulders, not the heart, doesn’t know how to repent. “Look, I sinned,” he says to Samuel in v30. “All right, fair enough, but please honour me now. Let me walk with you so people can see me with you.” It’s pathetic. “What will other people think of me? How will this affect my image?” That’s all he can think about.

Samuel has just said, “Your kingdom will not endure” but he doesn’t take it seriously or take it to heart. He thinks he can keep winging it and get away with it.

Ending

In stark contrast to David, as we shall see next week, Saul started off on faulty foundations, in spite of initial surface success, his devotion to God was never from the heart and his repentance wasn’t real.

We’ll see next Sunday how Saul becomes frightened of the authentic, anointed new thing that God was bringing through. He becomes paranoid that David’s success was eclipsing his own. And he ends up opposing and even persecuting the new work of God.

As I come towards the end, what of Saul do you see in yourself?

Are you, unlike Saul, on a good foundation? Are you aware that God, in his grace, before you were ever interested in him, before you had done anything, good or bad, chose you to be his son or daughter?

Or do you feel a bit pleased with yourself that you’ve made your way to God under your own steam?

Do you feel deep down that you’re more impressive on the surface than you know you are underneath?

How does your faith stand up when it comes under strain in times of testing? Are you having to trust God for something right now or do you keep coming back to self-reliance?

Are you able to turn to God in repentance when, as we all do, you get things wrong or do you make excuses? The wonderful thing is that God is so ready to cleanse you and make you new.

Last week, I was reading about a man called Paul Cowley who was brought up on one of the roughest estates in Manchester. His father was an alcoholic. He left school at fifteen. He ran away from home. He lived on the streets. He joined a gang. He got involved in crime and ended up in prison. When he came out, he joined the army. He went through two divorces

One day, he walked into a church and decided to go to an Alpha course. Unlike Saul, he admitted the error of his ways, gave his life to Christ and was filled with the Holy Spirit. He started visiting prisoners. He joined the church staff to head up the work in prisons. He started an organisation to care for ex-offenders. He set up a homeless project. He started a course to help those with addictions and courses to help those struggling with depression and debt.

Under his leadership, Alpha for Prisons has spread through the prisons in the UK and dozens of countries around the world. Thousands have come to faith in Jesus Christ. Hundreds of men and women have been placed in churches through the ministry of Caring for Ex-Offenders. That one life has the potential to change millions of lives around the world.

With all his background, natural ability, opportunities and position, Saul could have been a great king, like David eventually was.

Don’t settle for Saul. Like Ern Baxter and Terry Virgo said, churches – and Christians – who reflect his personality always fade and amount to little.

Aim for David, the one with a heart for God, who one day looked back at all the blessing in his life and said, “Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant!”

God has a hope and a future for you. Seize it today by faith.

Sermon preached at King's Church Darlington, 30 April 2023.

Mourning into Dancing (John 20.11-18)

 

One of the distinctive characteristics of our species is that we shed tears. Animals don’t cry, not emotionally anyway. Dogs sort of whimper a bit, and crocodiles apparently lubricate their eyes when digesting their victims, but in all the created world, weeping because you’re emotional or upset is an experience unique to us.

We cry because we’re human. It’s part of our makeup and a feature of our design. One of the most telling signs that the Son of God, eternally and gloriously divine, became fully human is that Jesus wept.

According to research done by Harvard Medical School in 2020, women cry on average 3.5 times a month, while men cry about 1.9 times in the same period.

Do women cry more because they have a harder time than men or are they maybe just better at expressing emotion in a healthy way?

Weeping is therapeutic. Most of us can attest to feeling better after a good cry. What is actually happening is that stress hormones and other toxins are literally get flushed out of our system as tears fall from our eyes.

We cry when we suffer pain or trauma, when we feel lonely, when we empathise with someone else’s sorrow and most of all when we experience grief ourselves.

I have wept many times before and several times since, but I have never cried with the same intensity, with the same force, as I did when we unexpectedly lost twins through miscarriage back in the 1990s.

This has been a time of many tears here at King’s. The sadness of serious illness and sorrow of untimely death touch us all profoundly and grief can feel overwhelming.

So, many of us can relate to an emotional Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb on Easter morning, where we find warm tears trickling down her face.

Here’s what it says in John 20.

Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

So Mary has gone at first light to wash Jesus’ body, hastily buried the previous Friday, and embalm it with spices.

It will be her last act of devotion, to give Jesus a decent burial.

When she gets to the tomb, a small cave hollowed out of the rock with a large circular stone to block the entrance, she finds the stone rolled away, and the burial chamber wide open.

Apparently, some jobsworth seems to have disturbed the grave and relocated the body, probably because the paperwork wasn’t quite right, and she cannot do what she came to do.

And all the emotion of the weekend gets the better of her; she just wells up and starts to sob.

She feels wretched. Her head is spinning with unanswered questions. Who’s relocated the body? Where is it now? Why was it moved? Who can I speak to about this?

She peers into the tomb and two figures, dressed in white, are there. “Why are you crying?” they ask.

It’s pretty obvious why she’s crying.

She’s been sniffling and sobbing for three days, ever since the most precious person in her life was unjustly condemned to death.

The utter devastation of losing the closest person in your life does not compare with any other human experience. If that has happened to you, you know. It’s what happened to Mary Magdalene on the first Good Friday.

Her eyes are red and weary from constant crying. And this makes it worse. “They have taken him away,” she says “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

Why did Mary Magdalene love Jesus so much? Ancient tradition says she had been a prostitute, although the Bible never actually says that.

She is sometimes identified with an unnamed woman who had lived a sinful life in Mark’s Gospel and who poured perfume on Jesus’ feet. But no one can say for sure if that is Mary Magdalene or someone else.

Luke’s gospel does tell us though that Jesus had cast out seven demons from her. To have one was a living hell – she had seven of them.Just think of the attrition, the heaviness, the shadows, the torment, the constant darkness that she lived with…

We don’t need let our fertile imaginations run wild about how she came to be so badly possessed.

All we need to know is what the Gospels tell us; when Mary Magdalene met Jesus, one word of command from his mouth set her free. Her hell and affliction were over.

She was made new. She was forgiven everything. Her record was wiped clean. She was alive again.

No wonder she stayed to the very end at the cross while others fled, and no wonder she was first to arrive at the tomb.

She hears a noise, turns around, and who is standing there but Jesus? She doesn’t recognise him. Of course not. Why would she?

The last time she saw him, three days earlier, his head was covered in thorns. His body was like butchered meat, lacerated and bruised. And it was covered in dirt from falling into the dust under the weight of the cross and blood.

She watched his breathing stop, and his head drop and she saw how his body suddenly hung limp and lifeless. She was an eyewitness to a Roman soldier pushing a spear up into his side. He didn’t flinch. He… was… dead.

She looked on as they took his cold body down from the cross. She watched as they placed it in the tomb and hastily covered it with a linen burial cloth.  

Jesus asks the same question as the angels had asked shortly beforehand. “Why are you crying? Who is it you’re looking for?”

She thinks he’s just some bloke who keeps the cemetery looking nice. Maybe he knows. Maybe he can help.

“Sir,” she says, “if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him.” I need to see him. I can’t leave him like that. I have to wash the body. Clean up all that dried blood. The corpse needs to be embalmed. I need to say goodbye.”

And then, with one word, her whole world is undone and remade. “Mary!”

Why are you crying? There are many reasons you might be holding back tears this morning.

Are you one of the 66% of men or 93% of women who have cried in this past year?

Because life is so hard and unfair? Because everything is broken? Because the future looks bleak and you’re hanging on by a thread? Because all your hopes and dreams are fading?

Listen, however bad things are, the resurrection of Jesus changes everything. Jesus, the indestructible conqueror, looks at each one of us individually today and speaks our name.

Jesus looks at you and says, “Why are you crying?” Just like it says in the Book of Revelation, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed.”

Jesus’ next words to Mary Magdalene in v17 are significant: “Don’t hold on to me here – but go and tell!” So off she runs telling the men, “I’ve seen the Lord!”

The first evangelist with good news of the resurrection.

We’ve heard others this morning who have told their stories. This was my life before. Then I met Jesus. This is my life now. Everything has changed. He turned my morning into dancing.

On the last page of the Bible, looking forward to when the Lord returns to judge the living and the dead, it says, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

If you have never yet had a life-changing encounter with the Lord you’re missing out! Turn to him in faith today.

Jesus was the only truly innocent person who ever lived. And when He died, something amazing happened: all our sins and failures were transferred to him. He took upon himself the judgment we deserve and the hell we were headed for.

Because of Jesus, we can be totally cleansed of all we are ashamed of in our lives and receive the gift of eternal life.

The Lord is here! Turn around, there he is.

He speaks your name. And now, for you, like for Mary Magdalene, the future can look completely different.

Let’s pray.

 

Sermon preached at King's Church Darlington, 9 April 2023.