OPEN: Years ago, when a person would use the telephone operator to help make phone calls, a small boy dialed "O" asked the operator to call a number for him. He didn’t speak clearly, so she had trouble understanding him and asked him to repeat the number several times. After about the fourth time repeating himself, the little boy blurted out "You operators are dumb," and slammed down the receiver.
His mother was in the next room and overheard him and she was aghast and shocked. She gave him a good tongue lashing, marched him right over to the phone, called the operator back and made the boy apologize.
Later, when his mother left the house, and the boy gets back on the phone again.
"Is this the same operator I talked to a little while ago?"
"Yes," came the reply.
"Well," said the boy, "I still think you’re dumb!"
APPLY: How many of you have ever been frustrated with someone? (ask for a show of hands)
How many of you have you ever been angry with another person?
How many have ever had someone say things or do things behind your back - and you knew they did it just to hurt you or irritate you? Have you ever been mistreated? Abused? Snubbed? Shunned?
If you’ve ever experienced anything like that I want to introduce you to somebody who experienced that very same kind of rejection. I want to introduce you to a man named Samuel
Now Samuel had been a prophet of God since he’d been a young man. His mother had given him to God when he was a baby and from that day on he’d been raised in the home of a priest named Eli.
But Eli was not a very good priest. And his sons, who served with him in the tabernacle, were wicked men.
Because of Eli’s weakness and because of his sons’ wickedness God destroyed that entire family.
And then God raised up Samuel as His special servant. Samuel served God as a prophet, a judge, and the leader of the people of Israel.
By the time we get to chapter 8 in I Samuel we’re told that Samuel is now an old man. We don’t know how old he is, but he has served God all his life.
I. During his lifetime Samuel had always been a good judge and leader.
But when he got old……there was trouble in Israel.
Look with me to 1 Samuel 8:2-3
“The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.”
At first glance, it almost sounds like Samuel hasn’t done any better raising his boys than Eli the priest had done with his. BUT unlike Eli’s failure with his sons, I don’t think Samuel failed his boys… I believe they failed him.
Notice it says there in verse 3: “they (Samuel’s sons) did not walk in his ways”.
In other words: Samuel had walked in the right way. He had always honored God by his behavior and actions, but when his boys grew up, they made a conscious decision live their lives differently than he had. They looked at old dad and saw a man who had wasted his life and not taken advantage of the financial advantages of bending truth. So they ended up taking bribes and perverting justice.
Essentially, that would mean their behavior wasn’t Samuel’s fault.
But now, there’s a delegation from the tribes Israel that has gathered at Samuel’s front door… and it appears they are blaming him for his boys’ behavior.
They don’t ask Samuel to CONFRONT his sons.
And they don’t ask Samuel to REPLACE his sons.
And frankly it doesn’t sound like they want Samuel much anymore.
Look with me at 1 Samuel 8:5
“They said to him, ‘You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.’”
In other words:
We’re tired of you
we don’t want YOU
we don’t want YOUR KIDS
we want a King.
Now, the next verse I want you to look at is the key to the entire message today. Look with me at 1 Samuel 8:7
“And the LORD told him: ‘Listen to all that the people are saying to you; IT IS NOT YOU THEY HAVE REJECTED, but they have rejected me as their king.’”
What’s God telling Samuel?
He’s telling him: “Don’t take this personally. This isn’t about YOU!!!”
Excuse me. (pause) But it’s kind of hard to believe that Samuel wouldn’t take this a little personally.
Samuel had served God and Israel faithfully for a number of years. And now, after all that time of faithful service, a few things have gone wrong and the people he’s devoted himself to all this time want to dump him.
They may even have discussed this earlier amongst themselves. I can imagine that their discussion are not unlike many others we hear in our nation right about now. In a couple of weeks people are going to go the polls to cast their vote for their leaders.
Now, how many of you believe there might be some people who are saying some very unkind things about those are running for office? Maybe it’s just me, but I suspect there’s been a lot of unkind things said about different politicians over the past few weeks.
And I believe, the same thing has been taking place here. I believe that, long before they ever took up the courage to come face to face with him, there’s been a lot of nasty things said about Samuel and his family… and I believe much of what they’ve said has already made it’s way to Samuel’s ears before this delegation arrived at his doorstep.
And those comments hurt… they hurt a lot.
But now they are facing him. And, by their tone of voice and their body language, they’re telling Samuel: we don’t want you anymore.
Then God tells Samuel "Don’t take it personally. It isn’t about you."
Why would God say that?
Because Samuel was God’s servant. The Israelites hadn’t elected him. Samuel had been the leader of Israel because God had made him so. And thus, any rejection of Samuel was a rejection of God and HIS leadership.
(pause)… Don’t take it personally. It isn’t about you.
II. I’m going to let you in on a little secret this morning.
The same advice God gave Samuel is the same advice He gives to us.
When people try to irritate us… snub us… insult us… anger us… we shouldn’t take it personally. It isn’t about us.
It’s Not About You.
It’s Not About Me.
It’s about God.
Hear the words of Jesus on this:
“But I tell YOU WHO HEAR ME: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you…. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Luke 6:27-28 & 31
In other words, don’t respond negatively to those who mistreat you. Love them, do good to them, bless them, pray for them.
Why?
Jesus goes on to say: “…love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and YOU WILL BE SONS OF THE MOST HIGH, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked." Luke 6:35
In other words, when people mistreat you:
Don’t take it personally. It isn’t about you. It’s about God.
Now… this is how it works.
How many of you are Christians? (Almost everyone raised their hand)
Since you regard yourselves as Christians, listen now to the words of God regarding your status:
“…You are not your own; you were bought with a price…” (I Corinthians 6:19b-20a)
You have been set aside by God to perform ministry on His behalf.
He has bought you.
He has commissioned you.
He has employed you as His servant.
You are not your own, you were bought with a price.
Thus when people hate you, curse you, mistreat you… they are mistreating the servant of the most High God.
It isn’t about you. Not anymore. It’s about God.
And God expects you and I to respond to mistreatment by behaving as He does. It’s when we fail to grasp this Biblical truth that we get ourselves into trouble.
ILLUS: I recently listened to a radio interview with a woman representative of a “Christian” protest group that had apparently shown up at certain events with provocative signs that condemned homosexuality. One of the signs they waved read “Faggots are going to hell”
The interviewer asked the woman why her group felt it was necessary to be so confrontational.
The lady replied: “We first started out protesting in a local park with signs that warned the parents about homosexuals using the area as a gathering place. We were met with people shouting and cursing at us. And so we decided we were going to respond tit-for-tat.”
Now think about that!
This supposed group of Christians was dedicated to opposing the sin of homosexuality (and there’s not a thing wrong with that). But they forgot who they belonged to!
They were so caught up in their own anger and self-righteousness that, when they were mistreated and abused by others
They took it personal
They intended to respond “tit for tat”
They forgot that they had been bought with a price.
Turn with me to 1 Peter 2:20ff
“But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it?
But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, LEAVING YOU AN EXAMPLE, that you should follow in his steps.
‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.’
When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
They cursed Him
They insulted Him
They beat Him
They crucified Him
And if Jesus did NOT respond “tit for tat”
How could He not respond “tit for tat”?
Because “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.” I Peter 2:24
Jesus died for the very people who crucified Him. He took their rejection, He took their abuse, He bore the pain… because it was His job to save them from their sins.
III. Now… let’s get back to Samuel
God essentially tells Samuel – Don’t take this personally… and then God gives Samuel a job to do:
“Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.” 1 Samuel 8:9
So Samuel does this.
And he does it again in Chapter 12.
He warns them…
he pleads with them…
And then he makes this comment:
“As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to PRAY FOR YOU. And I WILL TEACH YOU the way that is good and right." 1 Samuel 12:23
Now if Samuel had been like most people he would have said:
“If you don’t want me around… fine!
I don’t have to be around you!
You go ahead and live your life however you want!
You stay over there… and I’ll stay over here… and we’ll all be happy.”
But no, that’s not what Samuel did. He essentially said to them:
“You don’t want me… I’m sorry. But I’m still going to pray for you.
You don’t want me… that’s too bad. But I’m still going to find a way to minister to you.
You don’t want me… I’m sorry you feel that way. But if I notice that you’re doing something that will hurt you, I’ll tell you about it.
I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure you become the best child of God you can be.”
Samuel determined not to take their rejection of him personally.
Samuel determined not to respond to their abuse by responding “tit for tat”
He was willing to do this because he was not his own… he was bought with a price.
He was determined to serve these ungrateful Israelites because that’s what God wanted him to do.
CLOSE: It’s when we live this way amongst others that people actually see Jesus.
And when we live like this, we can change people’s lives.
I read the story of one man who lived this principle…even to the point of dying for it.
His name was Maximilian Kolbe, a catholic priest, who was a prisoner at Auschwitz in August 1941.
A prisoner escaped from the camp, and in reprisal, the Nazis ordered that 10 prisoners had to die by starvation. Kolbe offered to take the place of one of the condemned men. The Nazis kept Kolbe in the starvation bunker for 2 weeks and then put him to death by lethal injection on August 14, 1941.
Thirty years later a survivor of Auschwitz described the effect of Kolbe’s action:
“It was an enormous shock to the whole camp. We became aware that someone among us in this spiritual dark night of the soul was raising the standard of love on high. Someone unknown, like everyone else, tortured and bereft of name and social standing, went to a horrible death for the sake of someone not even related to him.
Therefore it is not true, we cried, that humanity is cast down and trampled in the mud, overcome by oppressors, and overwhelmed by hopelessness. Thousands of prisoners were convinced the true world continued to exist and that our torturers would not be able to destroy it.
“To say that Father Kolbe died for us or for that person’s family is too great a simplification. His death was the salvation of thousands… We were stunned by his act, which became for us a mighty explosion of light in the dark camp.”
It is doubtful that any of us will be called upon to face death to be servants of those around us. But every time we decide that we’re going to serve others who have offended us… that we’re going to pray for them, and work with them and minister to them… we die to our own needs and end up serving God with all of our hearts, souls and minds. It’s when we realize that it “isn’t about us” that we can best change lives for God.
