We just returned from the Turner Family Vacation in Blur Ridge, Ga. Tragically our first day there my daughter slipped and broke both her leg and ankle. The second day was spent in the hospital while she had surgery. The third day was a waiting period for her release complete with a walking boot and walker. We missed out on waterfall viewing and trail walking. The cabin we were in had no internet service so we missed out on social networking. At my insistence we took no board games so we missed out on the possibility of a family game night. We missed out on a lot of the things we had planned for the three families that went.
Well there is a story of something more important than my tragedy and that is the story of the missing men. According to the Tearfund report the ratio of women to men in church is 65% to 35%. So while men still dominate the priesthood or pastorship, statistics show that 2/3 of the church membership are women and if you look at programs run within the church a much higher percentage of them are led by women than men. The research also showed that if the mother is the first to become a Christian, the probability of the family following is 17%. But if the father is the first, there is a 93% probability that everyone else in the household will follow.
Last month we taught about the woman’s role in the church. And even though we agreed that God called them into public service all indications in the bible point to men taking the leadership role. It began in the Garden of Eden when God commanded Adam, not Eve, to tend to it. Jesus has also called us men, not our wives, to tend to his church. Women will evangelize and invite others to church much more than we guys will. That is why the growth of women in the church is so much higher. We have gotten lazy and lackadaisical, being content on allowing the women to take that leadership role. What if we approached our secular jobs with the same attitude as we do our service to God? We fear a man that we have labeled “the boss” more than we do our creator.
Today I want to introduce you to a man that God thought of very highly. Saul was the King of Israel, appointed by God at the demand of his people. But Saul was disobedient by offering a sacrifice that could only be offered by a priest, thus he was rebuked by the prophet Samuel on behalf of God.
“How foolish!” Samuel exclaimed. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” 1 Samuel 13:13-14
It’s this man after God’s own heart that I want to introduce this morning. His name is David. He was a shepherd. He was a mighty warrior. He was an accomplished musician. He was a ladies man, with many wives.
He committed adultery with a married woman, possibly raping her. After getting her pregnant, he had her husband murdered to cover things up. But the truth became known to the kingdom. (2 Sam 11) But he was a man after God’s own heart.
He was not a good example for his children. David had a daughter named Tamar who was raped by her half-brother, Amnon, and then rejected by him. She became a recluse in her brother, Absalom’s house. Eventually, Absalom had Amnon murdered to avenge the rape and this led to David’s kingdom almost being destroyed. (2 Sam13) But he was a man after God’s own heart.
Although David had faith in God and trusted him, there were times when that faith failed. Once when confronted with King Achish of Gath, he pretended to be insane rather trusting God for his deliverance. (1Sam 21: 12-13) But he was a man after God’s own heart.
We can probably relate to David a lot. Like David, we are not sinless. Like David, we have not been good examples. Like David, we have not always put our trust in God. But like David, we can become men after God’s own heart. For all his faults, David understood the importance of his relationship with God.
1) He understood the importance of the Word
“Oh, how I love your instructions!
I think about them all day long.” Psalm 119:97
David knew of his failures but he also knew that following God’s instructions would protect him from these failures.
Psalm 119:47-48 “How I delight in your commands!
How I love them! I honor and love your commands.
I meditate on your decrees.” God’s word is not given to rob us of joy and pleasure. It’s given to keep us in boundaries where true joy and pleasure can be found.
It protects us from sinning against God. (Psalm 119:11)
It comforts us in our troubles. (Psalm 119:50)
It gives us great peace (Psalm 119:165)
There are great worries tied to sin. Will I get caught? What affect will this have on my family? But we don’t have to deal with these worries when we follow God’s instructions. We have peace. And when troubles come we have his comfort knowing that it’s not his wrath.
God wants you to be a man of the Word.
2) He understood the importance of prayer
Psalm 116:1-2 “I love the Lord because he hears my voice
and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen,
I will pray as long as I have breath!”
Psalm 116:12-13 What can I offer the Lord
for all he has done for me? I will lift up the cup of salvation
and praise the Lord’s name for saving me.
Psalm 145:18 The Lord is close to all who call on him,
yes, to all who call on him in truth.
God wants you to be a man of prayer.
3) He understood the importance of praise.
Psalm 119:164 I will praise you seven times a day
because all your regulations are just.
Psalm 104:33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live.
I will praise my God to my last breath!
God wants you to be a man of praise.
4) He understood the importance of unity
Psalm 133:1 How wonderful and pleasant it is
when brothers live together in harmony!
He knew the beauty of a close relationship like the one he had with Jonathon. He knew the heartbreak of his relationship with his sons.
We are called to be the voice of unity in the family and in the church
God wants you to be a man of unity.
5) He understood the importance of truth.
Psalm 119:104 Your commandments give me understanding;
no wonder I hate every false way of life.
Psalm 101:3-4 I will refuse to look at
anything vile and vulgar. I hate all who deal crookedly;
I will have nothing to do with them. I will reject perverse ideas
and stay away from every evil.
God wants you to be a man of integrity.
Being the man God wants you to be is like following in David’s footprints. This is the way God described it;
Acts 13:22 But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’
What a simple statement. And yet it can be so hard to live it.
To live this life we must study the word, pray, praise him, live in unity, live with integrity.
Ezekiel 22:30-31 “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one. So now I will pour out my fury on them, consuming them with the fire of my anger. I will heap on their heads the full penalty for all their sins. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”
In the days of Ezekiel walls were built to protect the cities from invaders. A gap in that wall would allow invaders inside the city. God says “I have built a wall of righteousness to protect everyone but I have left a gap for a man to fill.”
He did this so that we could have the opportunity to serve him by doing so. But sadly some individuals will have his “fury” poured out on them and will be “consumed” with the fire of his anger because we were not willing to stand in the gap.
How do we stand in the gap for others? We pray for them. We live lives of integrity before them. We live in unity with them. We tell them about Jesus and his Gospel.
We are called to stand in the gap. We are called to be a man that God can say “He is a man after my own heart and will do everything I ask of him.” That is our role in the church.
