OPEN: Rodgers and Hammerstein were amongst the greatest playwrights of our age. Plays like “Oklahoma” “The Sound of Music” “The King & I” are permanent part of the American heritage.
So when I was invited by a non-Christian friend of our family to attend a play written by Richard Rodgers entitled “Two By Two”, I thought it would be great experience. It was a religious play. It might even prove to be a great opportunity to talk with our friend about Christ. But it wasn’t.
The play I saw contained great acting, great singing, it was well cast and humorous. BUT... Shem’s wife’s main line was “Oh my (and then the name of God taken in vain)” at least 7 times. As the play wore on I wanted to get up and shout “give it a rest lady!”
But that wasn’t the worst...
Japheth was shown as unmarried and attracted to Ham’s neglected wife. To help Japheth in his search for a bride, this play’s Noah brought a temple prostitute on board to be Japheth’s bride. But Ham fell in love with the prostitute instead. The play ended with Japheth married to Ham’s bride and Ham to Japheth’s.
Oddly, in a comedic play, Noah’s wife died on the voyage (principally due to the strain of defending Ham and Japheth’s arrangement) and Noah, in the parting scene, “makes a deal” with God. He refused to leave the Ark until God promised never to flood the world again and saying “I don’t fear you anymore - you took away the only woman I ever loved.”
I was angry beyond imagination. I wanted to mount the stage and cry out against this blasphemy, or at the very least stomp out of the theatre declaring my rage...
But I didn’t… I just sat there. I remained where I was frozen in indecision. I COULD HAVE stormed the stage… I could have erupted in outrage as I walked out… But I realized it would have done no good at all. I was seated next to a man I wanted to reach for Christ and I suspected what effect such actions would have had on him.
AND if I had acted upon my rage I would probably have played into Richard Rodgers’ warped rational. I believe Rodger’s deliberately wrote the play to enrage Christians and to instigate a display of anger that would make such believers look puritanical and unreasonable.
So I just sat there cradling my head in my hands... reduced to uttering “No, no, this is wrong”
I was weak… and I couldn’t think of anything to do to effect the outcome of that evening.
I. David was weak
After King Saul died, David was crowned king of the tribe of Judah. The other tribes of Israel were under the kingship of Ish-Bosheth, the 4th son of Saul. A constant state of war existed between the two factions in the kingdom for the next 6 or 7 years. Eventually, Ish-Bosheth’s general Abner became offended by his king and reached out to David. He wanted to cut a deal – to make David king of ALL Israel.
But then, Joab (David’s nephew and the commander in chief of David’s armies) heard about Abner’s visit to David and he became angry.
You see, Abner had killed Joab’s brother in a battle not long before this. To JOAB this had become a blood feud and as far as Joab was concerned, Abner didn’t deserve praise from David…Abner deserved death. And Joab was more than willing to oblige.
So Joab sent messengers to Abner under the pretext of further negotiations. And in the dark corners of the gateway to Hebron, Joab drove his dagger into Abner’s body and murdered him.
When David heard of this he was outraged
“I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the LORD concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner. May his blood fall upon the head of Joab and upon all his father’s house! May Joab’s house never be without someone who has a running sore or leprosy or who leans on a crutch or who falls by the sword or who lacks food.” II Samuel 3:28-29
Then David said to Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and walk in mourning in front of Abner.” King David himself walked behind the bier. They buried Abner in Hebron, and the king wept aloud at Abner’s tomb. All the people wept also. II Samuel 3:31-32
All that day, David fasted before the Lord
And then he declared: “though I am the anointed king, I am weak, and these sons of Zeruiah are too strong for me. May the LORD repay the evildoer according to his evil deeds!” II Samuel 3:39
II. David was weak???
Joab and his brother Abishai were “TOO STRONG” for him to deal with? What does he mean by that? Wasn’t David king of Judah? Didn’t he have all the troops of Judah at his beck and call?
Well, yes…
ILLUS: But have you ever worked in a factory or business, or even been in a church where “politics” had taken over? Someone in the organization had learned to pull the right strings and manipulate the people around him/ her to attain the goals they had in mind? Joab and his brother Abishai were like that. They were a threat to David. They were prominent citizens in Judah. Mighty warriors with a reputation and a following. And they probably had enough supporters in the army to tear the kingdom apart.
(pause…) David was weak
I read this passage a couple of months ago and I was oddly encouraged by it. If David (one of the greatest of the Old Testament heroes) faced a challenge he couldn’t conquer. If he faced a problem he couldn’t overcome…well, I didn’t feel so bad. Because I’ve been there. I’ve done that. I’ve bought the t-shirt.
ILLUS: Years ago, when I was fresh out of Bible college, I worked in a church about this size. It was a great ministry. The church grew and I was feeling good about what God was doing in the congregation. However, about the middle of my 6th year there, I sensed that something was wrong. It felt like a dark cloud had settled over me and perhaps over the congregation. But I had no idea what was wrong. So, I went into an extended period of prayer and seeking God’s will in this matter. In the middle of that time of seeking God, a man I’ll call “Joseph” came to me to talk about his brother “Harry”. Harry was a deacon in the congregation and Joseph was telling me that Harry was being unfaithful to his wife. In fact, Harry had been unfaithful for some time.
“That’s interesting,” I told Joseph, “but I’m afraid I can’t act upon this information just because you tell me about it. The Bible tells me that I must have at least 2 or 3 witnesses.”
“His wife will talk to you,” he replied, and off we went to talk to her.
Now, at that time, there were 3 elders in this congregation. One – “Stan” – was on a trip to Florida he’d always take for 3 or 4 months every year. So, I spoke with the other two elders “Clarence” and “Dennis” about the situation and about what needed to be done. It took some convincing (because it was something that they had never done and it was a scary proposition). “Clarence” and I sat down with “Harry” and explained what we’d heard.
“Harry” was belligerent and unrepentant. He said “I’ll just resign then.”
To which I replied “I don’t think you understand. You can’t resign. You’re fired.”
And that’s where things stood until Stan returned from Florida. Stan was Harry’s cousin and fellow Mason and he upon discovering what had occurred, he called board meeting. At that meeting they basically undid everything. Harry was reinstalled as Deacon, I was rebuked and the whatever Scriptures may have applied were “reinterpreted” to allow the situation.
At a subsequent Elders’ meeting, Stan informed me that while Paul may have written about church discipline, Jesus didn’t, therefore they didn’t have to do it.
They didn’t cover this type of situation at Bible College and so I went to other preachers to ask their input. I spoke with local preachers and I sat down with Jack Cottrell from Cincinnati Bible College and Don DeWelt (another prominent individual in our movement at the time). No one seemed to have any answers for me. No one gave me options that I felt I could use.
But the church eventually gave me some options: I could resign, or they could call a congregational meeting and fire me.
Now, I’m confident I may have been able to win such a vote, but I was convinced that the end result would have been a church that would have split. To my way of thinking that would have been the worst sin I could have committed. To split a church is the most unfortunate action any preacher can take part in and I was determined I would not allow myself to cause one. So I quit.
What happened wasn’t right. It shouldn’t have happened. But it did! I was too weak… I couldn’t resolve the issue in a way that I would have preferred.
III. Let me let you in on a secret
There will be times when you’ll be weak. Times when you sense that there is a moral wrong that should be corrected and you can’t seem to DO a blessed thing to stop it.
It’s frustrating… But it is real life. Real life is sometimes frustrating and irritating and maddening. And its enough to drive you nuts.
ILLUS: In fact, if you can’t deal with those kinds of uncertainties in life, psychologists tell us that might very well drive you nuts. Psychologists tell us that the ability to live with uncertainty is a measure of mental health. Highly disturbed mental patients cannot live with unanswered questions. They must have answers for everything and the answers must be right. To achieve this state of perfection, however, they have to retreat into a world of fantasy.
But Jesus didn’t save us to have us live in a fantasy world. Jesus saved us so that He could give us LIFE.
As Jesus said:
"…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10
Jesus came to give us the confidence to handle the most difficult situations this life can dish out.
IV. David knew how to lay hold of that confidence in his life.
He realized HE couldn’t solve the problem… So what did he do? He didn’t do nothing!
Outside of his outward mourning, prayers and fasting, and expressions of anger… David did nothing! Why?
Because David was willing to step back and allow God to handle what he couldn’t.
You remember the old “Serenity Prayer?”
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Now I’m NOT trying to give people excuses to avoid moral conflicts. Christians should be at the forefront of moral challenges…
But there are times when there is nothing we can do that will be a positive action. Nothing that we can do to resolve a problem so that God can be glorified. So, sometimes it’s better to do nothing. Especially when you’re weak.
1. When the Israelites were fleeing Egypt and the Egyptian army was in pursuit
They were weak. Their backs were to the Red Sea. They were unequipped and untrained to confront such a powerful force as the chariots that bore down upon them.
And yet Exodus 14:13-14 tells us that “Moses said unto the people, ‘Fear not, STAND STILL, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will show to you to day: for the Egyptians whom you have seen to day, you shall see them again no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.’”
2. Years later, when the Moabites and Ammonites threatened the nation of Judah King Jehoshaphat encouraged them by saying, “Be not afraid nor fear this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s .... You shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, STAND STILL, and see the salvation of the Lord” (II Chronicles. 20:15, 17).
In both of those situation, the faith of those who “Stood still” was rewarded. Once God was in the picture, the enemy didn’t stand a chance.
ILLUS: One man has observed:
"Do you have a problem which seems impossible to solve? Do you have a burden which seems to be crushing you, and there is no relief! When God alone can win the victory, faith lets God do it all. Have patience, and let your soul wait upon God. No eloquence in all the world is as meaningful as the patient silence of the child of God. True faith trusts God, and God alone, to do the miracle that needs to be done."
V. So, was David’s faith in God rewarded?
Well, yes… but it took over 30 years. And it happened only after David had died.
David had wanted Solomon to become King of Israel, but Solomon’s older brother Adonijah sought to gain the throne by deceit. Joab sided with Adnonijah and when it was obvious that the plot had been uncovered, Joab fled for his life.
He went to the tabernacle and laid hold of the horns of the altar (seeking to save his own life by appealing to the idea of sanctuary).
1 Kings 2:30-32 tells us:
Benaiah entered the tent of the LORD and said to Joab, "The king says, ‘Come out!’" But he answered, "No, I will die here." Benaiah reported to the king, "This is how Joab answered me."
Then the king commanded Benaiah, "Do as he says. Strike him down and bury him, and so clear me and my father’s house of the guilt of the innocent blood that Joab shed. The LORD will repay him for the blood he shed, because without the knowledge of my father David he attacked two men and killed them with the sword. Both of them— Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army— were better men and more upright than he.
David allowed God to deal with Joab, and in God’s time Joab met with the full justice of God.
CLOSE: Allow me now to return to my story of that other church. Like I said, I resigned. I had no prospects of any place to work, but I eventually found employment in a wire factory. While I was there, I got my thumb caught in an automated vise and nearly tore the end of my thumb clean off. It hung by a mere fragment of skin. The doctors reconnected it and I went around with a fairly large bandage on that hand. But I do believe that this injury allowed me to stay in the parsonage a few months longer than I would have otherwise.
I was soon hired at a larger church at better pay and with other obvious benefits. But it was what God did with the church I left that I found intriguing.
As I said, there were three elders there: Stan, Clarence… and Dennis. Dennis was one of the finest men I’d ever met. When originally gained his family to the church by our “in as much” fund. We would find families in financial straights and give them up to $100 in assistance. When I visited Dennis and his wife Robin, they were living in a tumble down house where the plaster was pealing off the walls. When I told him that I was authorized to assist them with $100 to help pay their debts, he responded “Aw, I don’t need $100. The only bill I need help with is for $89… and I’d pay that back.” And so that’s what we helped with.
I told him that giving out money wasn’t really what our church was in the business of. We were actually in the business of giving out Jesus. And I asked if they had a church home yet. “No,” he replied, but they had been looking. And so they started coming to church, I taught them at home and eventually baptized them into Christ. In time, his humbleness and sincerity impressed those at church and he was asked if he’d like to be an Elder.
When my situation with Harry “hit the fan” Dennis had been an Elder for a little less than a year and realized there was little he could about the situation. But once I was gone, he began to do some math… there were two elders who had wanted me out, and then there was him. Two to one. So Dennis went to visit Lloyd. “Lloyd,” he said “you could be an Elder.”
“Naw,” Lloyd replied, "I’m not good enough to be an Elder.”
“Yes you are,” Dennis replied. “Let’s have a Bible study and we’ll talk about it.”
So, for the next few weeks, Dennis and Lloyd had Bible Study together… and in time, Lloyd decided maybe he could be an Elder. Once Lloyd was installed, and Stan went to Florida, Dennis began to change the rules. He was elected Chairman of the Board… and then he began to address the problems that had lain dormant for so long. When Stan returned from Florida he found himself without the power he once had… and never had again.
SERMONS IN THIS SERIES (A Man After God’s Own Heart)
Measuring Up - 1 Samuel 16:1-16:13
Be Prepared/ Scout Sunday - 1 Samuel 17:1-17:53
A Friend After Your Own Heart - 1 Samuel 18:1-18:5
A Heart To Honor Authority - 1 Samuel 24:1-24:22
An Obedient Heart - 2 Samuel 6:1-6:15
A Heart To Worship - 2 Samuel 6:12-6:23
The Heart Of A Shepherd - Psalms 23:1-23:6
The Over-exposed Heart - 2 Samuel 11:1-11:5
The Undeserving Heart - Psalms 51:1-51:1
The Weakened Heart - 2 Samuel 3:17-3:39
The Heart Of A Father - 2 Samuel 13:1-13:39
A Heart to Build - 2 Samuel 7:1-7:17
The Dead Dog Syndrome - 2 Samuel 16:5-16:14
