“Rebel without a Cause!”
1 Samuel 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
Wikpedia - Rebel Without a Cause is a 1955 American drama film about emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers. Directed by Nicholas Ray, it offered both social commentary and an alternative to previous films depicting delinquents in urban slum environments.[2][3] Over the years, the film has achieved landmark status for the acting of cultural icon James Dean, fresh from his Academy Award nominated role in East of Eden and who died before the film's release, his most celebrated role. In 1990, Rebel Without a Cause was added to the preserved films of the United States Library of Congress's National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
The story of a rebellious teenager who arrives at a new high school, meets a girl, disobeys his parents, and defies the local school bullies was a groundbreaking attempt to portray the moral decay of American youth, critique parental style, and explore the differences and conflicts between generations. The title was adopted from psychiatrist Robert M. Lindner's 1944 book, Rebel Without a Cause: The Hypnoanalysis of a Criminal Psychopath. The film itself, however, does not reference Lindner's book in any way.
Warner Bros. released the film on October 27, 1955, less than one month after Dean's fatal car crash.
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From the time of Joshua Israel had been led by judges of which Samuel was a perfect example. We pick up our story in chapter 8
I. The Causes of Rebellion
a. Self-reliance – We have a “me do it” mentality
b. Stubbornness
I AM STUBBORN, THEN.
Here is a transcript of a conversation between my three year old grandson and I this week:
"Help put away the toys, please."
"No."
"Come on, Aaron. Please help to put away the toys."
"No."
"Tell you what, you help put away the toys and you'll get a treat afterwards."
"I'm tired."
"You're stubborn."
"No, I'm not stubborn."
"Oh yes you are."
"No. I'm not stubborn."
"Do you know what stubborn means?"
"No."
"Stubborn is when you won't do what someone asks and you won't change your mind about it."
"I am stubborn, then."
c. Self-importance – Pride is the source of all sin and rebellion.
PRIDE AT THE DONUT SHOP
I was living in Phoenix at the time and on my way to work I stopped at a Dunkin Donuts drive through. I said to the woman at the window, "I'll have 3 cake donuts and a cup of coffee."
She started mumbling something that I couldn't hear. I thought she may be able to hear me if she opened that window. It was early, I hadn't had my coffee and was getting annoyed. OK, I was annoyed.
AGAIN, cake donuts and coffee, again I hear her mumbling through the glass. I thought "I'm going to have to stick my head through the window of hers and let everyone know inside the restaurant what I WANT!" and of course I did.
I leaned forward to tell her what I thought, and SMACK. She had not forgotten to pull her window open--I had forgotten to roll down my window! I hit my head on my window so hard I saw stars. She started laughing and I can't tell you how embarrassed I was. I finally got my 3 cake donuts and my coffee and drove sheepishly away with her still laughing.
II. The Consequences of Rebellion
a. For your faith – Saul is rejected from being king and is reduced to seeking guidance from a medium, soothsayer.
b. For your family – The much beloved Jonathon and two brothers die in battle with his father and their bodies are stripped and hung on the city wall of Bethshan by the Philistines.
c. For your future – Saul takes his own life.
III. The Cure for Rebellion
a. Listen to your Conscience
SPUTTERING
A man in North Carolina bought a new car with a voice-warning system. ... At first he was amused to hear the soft female voice gently remind him that his seat belt wasn’t fastened. ... Edwin affectionately called this voice the "little woman."
He soon discovered his little woman was programmed to warn him about his gasoline. "Your fuel level is low," she said one time in her sweet voice. Edwin nodded his head and thanked her. He figured he still had enough to go another fifty miles, so he kept on driving. But a few minutes later, her voice interrupted again with the same warning.
And so it went over and over. Although he knew it was the same recording, Edwin thought her voice sounded harsher each time. Finally, he stopped his car and crawled under the dashboard. After a quick search, he found the appropriate wires and gave them a good yank. So much for the little woman!
He was still smiling to himself a few miles later when his car began sputtering and coughing. He ran out of gas! Somewhere inside the dashboard, Edwin was sure he could hear the little woman laughing.
People like Edwin learn before long that the little voice inside, although ignored or even disconnected, often tells them exactly what they need to know.
(From a sermon by Gerald Flury, "Sputtering, Stuttering and Shuddering")
b. Obey God’s Commandments
THE OBEDIENT MULE
There is a story about a farmer who wanted to sell his mule so The put the add in the local paper. One day a man from another community came to the farm. The two farmers got to talking and eventually they got around to talking about the mule.
The farmer who wanted to buy the mule asked if the mule was a good worker. The reply was that the mule did a day's work. The next question that was asked is did the mule obey every command. The owner said yes. The farmer asked if they could hitch the mule up to see how he worked. The owner said no problem.
They got the mule into his harness and the farmer took the reigns and told the mule giddy-up. The mule just stood there. The farmer tried a couple of more times and still the mule didn’t move. He looked at the owner and said, "I thought you told me this mule obeys."
"He does," says the owner, who then picked up a 2x4 and walked to the front where he was facing the mule. He then hit the mule as hard as he could with the 2x4. He then walked back and said to the farmer, "Try again." The farmer did and the mule obeyed.
The owner said, "This mule always obeys, but you have got to get his attention first."
c. Be commited to doing the will of God
OBEDIENCE, NOT UNDERSTANDING
Our denomination has a Pastor’s Retreat every year up in the mountains of S. Cal. As I was walking to breakfast one morning, I came across a monument that explained that when Billy Graham first started preaching, he was confused and had some doubts about God’s Word. While praying one morning, got down on one knee at this monument and said, “Lord, I don’t understand all that is in this book, and there are a lot of different passages that I have my doubts about…. But, You say it’s Your Word, so by faith, I’m going to accept it as my authority and live it”. That prayer proved to be the turning point of his life! From that moment on God began to use Him in amazing ways.
SAVED FROM OUR RUBBLE OF SIN-
The September 11, 2002 issues of TIME magazine has a touching article about 31-year old Genelle Guzman. Genelle was the last of just four people caught in the debris of the Twin Towers to be found alive.
After the planes hit the World Trade Center, Genelle was descending a stair case from the 64th floor of the North Tower. Steel beams weakend to their breaking point. Solid concrete was pulverized. But somehow her body found an air pocket.
Her right leg was pinned under heavy concrete pillars. Her head was caught between stacks of wreckage. But somehow she was still alive.
For twenty-seven hours Guzman lay trapped and seriously injured. In recent months before the attacks Genelle had started attending the church called Brooklyn Tabernacle, and wanted to get her life turned around. So while she was stuck in the rubble, she started to pray. She’d trail off into sleep – wake up and pray some more. Shortly after noon on Wednesday the 12th, she heard voices. So she screamed as loud as she could, “I’m here! HEY, I’M RIGHT HERE!” A rescue worker responded, "Do you see the light?" She did not. She took a piece of concrete and banged it against a broken stairway overhead—probably the same structure that had saved her life. The searchers find the noise. Genelle wedged her hand through a crack in the wall, and felt someone grab it. She heard a voice say, "I’ve got you," and Genelle Guzman said, "OH GOD, THANK YOU.” It took 20 long minutes, and then she was saved. In many ways, Genelle Guzman represents the plight of all people. We are buried under an enormous mess of spiritual black marks – ways we have wronged our perfect God. The Bible calls these things sin. We have no hope of freeing ourselves. We are truly stuck. In need of rescue. But by admitting the need to be forgiven – by reaching out and saying, “God, help me! I can’t get out of this unless you save me,” we can be confident that he hears and helps.
SOURCE: Matthew Rogers. Citation: TIME Magazine, 9/11/02, p. 38.
