Intro: One of the things no one likes is to be a failure. We live in a very “success-oriented” society. Many judge their value as an individual on the basis of their success. Yet there are some times in our lives when the world sees a failure and God sees a success. One of those times involves “quitting.”
I remember in high school, we got a new principal, Ralph Bass. Ralph loved wrestling, and decided he would form a wrestling team. He took all the guys in the gym, lined them up, and extolled the virtues of wrestling. He tried to get commitments from them all to join his wrestling team. I was one of the fortunate ones who never joined up. For the others, many joined under force or coercion, and later ended up quitting the team. In the ensuing weeks in the chapel time, Ralph would preach about “quitting” and put down those “quitters”. He’d say, “you’re a quitter - no backbone - spineless character!” We came away thinking a quitter was about as low as you could get. But, is that really true?
This morning we want to look at quitting, retiring, stepping down, and see a man of God who quit, who was also a success for God. His name is Samuel. Turn with me first this morning to 1 Samuel 8. Read 1 Samuel 8:6-9 PRAY
Let’s look at principles we can learn about stepping down.
I. Lessons from the life of Samuel
A. Sometimes it is God’s will to step down
Here in verse 7 we see that God tells Samuel he is supposed to step down. Even though the people are wrong for wanting a king, yet Samuel is right to obey the Lord and step down. It is easy to get the idea in our society that any time you quit you are a failure. God tells Samuel here that the people are not rejecting Samuel, they are rejecting God.
Why do Christian ministries fail? Sometimes it is not the leader of the ministry who fails, but the people who fail to support the ministry. Samuel had been faithful to God, God had been faithful to the people, but the people had not been faithful to God.
One of the first tests to take when you are considering quitting something is this: is it God’s will for me to quit? It is easy to do things for the wrong motive. Here Samuel’s heart is right. He really does not want to give the people a king, yet he knows that that is what God wants him to do.
B. Sometimes stepping down is not your choice
Here in verse 7, we see that the people have not given Samuel a lot of choice. They want a king. There are times when it comes to stepping down that we don’t have a lot of say. Your boss walks in, says the company is restructuring, and you can either take early retirement or be terminated. That doesn’t make you a failure. In fact, you may be the most faithful employee the company has. Yet yours may be the job to be eliminated. Remember that God looks for faithfulness, not success.
Here we see it was the heart of the people that wanted a king. Samuel had been faithful to God.
C. Sometimes we step down because our job is finished.
Samuel had served the people faithfully for years. Now at the end of his life, even if they had not asked for a king, he would have been at the point of retirement. Look with me in 1 Samuel chapter 12. Read 12:1-2 Samuel had served the people faithfully. He was at the point of stepping down. Sometimes we think that we can never get to the point of finishing a job. While we should be faithful to God all our life, there are times in our life where we step down and let someone else take over. Paul reached that point in 2 Timothy 4:6-7 - when he said, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
D. Stepping down is good when our testimony has been consistent.
Look in 1 Sam. 12:3-5. At the end of Samuel’s ministry, he looks back and offers anyone the chance to speak up and accuse him of wrongdoing. No one is able to lay any accusation against him. In our society, leaders do wrong and then try to justify it on the basis of semantics, “Well, I never actually did lie, because if you look at the technical definition . . .” Samuel simply asks the question, “Can anyone point a finger at me?” And no one can. May each of us have that kind of life. There are those who step down because of wrongdoing: they are given an ultimatum, quit or be fired. Samuel steps down with a clear reputation.
Paul also has that type of reputation in the NT. When he leaves the Ephesian elders in Acts 20. “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. . . . Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
Stepping down can be good when your ministry has been consistent.
E. Stepping down is one way to give witness of the sinful actions of others.
Read 12:6-12. Samuel steps down, and as he does, he confronts the people of their sinful action in desiring a king. They should have been content to have God lead them, but they were not. Samuel’s stepping down is one way to get them to see the wrongness of their actions.
There are times when you need to step down to make a statement about the wrong actions of others. If you work for a company that wants you to keep two sets of books: one for the IRS and one for the boss, the first thing you should do is confront your boss about his sinful actions. The next step, if he does not repent, would be to step down from that position, to refuse to take illegal actions on his behalf. If you work at a bar, serving alcohol to men who are already filled with alcohol, the best thing you can do as a Christian witness might be to quit that job.
There was a man, Bob Harrington, who gave himself the title, the chaplain of Bourbon Street. He used to boast about going in to watch strippers and then preaching the gospel to them. Well, the best thing a stripper can do is to quit her job! No Christian woman should ever take a job enticing men to lust after her body, encouraging men to stick money down her clothes. If you have a job that is dishonoring to God, maybe the best thing you could do is to get a new job!
F. Even when we step down in bad circumstances, remember that God can bring about good.
Read 12:13-14. Samuel tells the people that even though they were wrong to seek a king, they can still choose to honor God, and he will bless them. We serve a God who is full of grace. Let’s remember that our God can work in bad circumstances to bring about good. That does mean that we should desire the bad, but just to seek the good.
Paul tells us in Romans --But where sin increased, grace increased all the more. What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
We don’t seek to do wrong so that God may show us his grace. But when we do sin, let’s remember to turn to God quickly in repentance and seek his help.
G. Even when we step down, our ministry continues.
Read 12:23-25. Samuel knows, that even though he steps down and anoints a king, his job is not over yet. He still has much work to do with the people. There are some things we never quit!
Sometimes we think that once we step down from serving in the church, we can forget about our Christian responsibilities. We say, “Well, I read through the Bible last year, I’m glad that’s over with and I don’t have to read the Bible any more.” No! There are some things we always need to be busy doing. If you say, “Well, I’m not involved in the service any more, so I guess well go up to the lake the next few Sundays” - that’s exactly the wrong response. Even when we are not in leadership roles, we still have responsibilities to fulfill. If God answers your prayers, don’t quit praying. That should drive you to pray all the more.
II. Some other lessons about stepping down.
A. It is often good to count the cost before we begin, than to start and have to quit.
Think about all those people trying to quit smoking. It is far easier never to start than to try to quit once you have started. It is easier to eat right and exercise, than to try to get rid of unwanted pounds. It is easier never to join the book-of-the-month club than it is to try to quit once they have your name. They just keep sending you shipments. They don’t take NO for an answer.
Jesus illustrated this for us in Luke 14 - And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, `This fellow began to build and was not able to finish. Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.
Let’s think and consider the consequences of our actions.
B. Sometimes it is good to step down for the greater good.
There are times when we realize that others can have a greater impact than we can. John the Baptist knew this. He said about Jesus, He must increase, but I must decrease. Elijah knew that as he stepped down, God was raising up Elisha, Jehu, and Hazael, three great men to take his place.
Concl: This morning, how do you look at quitting? At retirement? At stepping down. Let’s remember that God sometimes has a plan for his servants to be accomplished through stepping down. Sometimes it’s for the sake of others. Sometimes it’s because of the wrong actions of others. Always God seeks to bring about his good. Even when we step down, we need to maintain a spotless testimony before others and continue to be faithful to the Lord. May God help each one of us to be faithful to him.
Shall we pray.
