Making The Worst Of A Bad Situation
Sermon
Out From The Ordinary
First Lesson Sermons For Sundays After Pentecost (First Third)
Her father was an alcoholic. Her mother worked most all the time. She had little choice. Her brother had recently been killed. Things were chaotic at home. She felt she had to get out. So she decided she could finish high school later. After all, the guy she was dating had asked her to marry him. She was sure that he did not really mean to hit her. He said he was sorry. He promised that it would not happen again. He is positive that he is going to get a job. His luck is not running too well. It is decision time for her. What will she do? Will she make the worst of a bad situation? It is a true story.
Another true story: Two high school seniors are both contemplating going into pharmacy and building a drug store in the small community in which they live. One young man has been promised by a wealthy businessman in the community that he will build for him a drug store. Also he will mentor him in the details of running a small business. Here is success. Here is security. But the young man has a gnawing feeling that God wants him to be a minister. A minister? What kind of security is that? Think about all those years of school. It is decision time. What will the teenager do? Will he go for the goal? Or will he go for the gold?
This, too, is a true story. The church has served its downtown with a vibrant ministry for over one hundred years. But, now it is landlocked. It has no room for additional parking. The sanctuary is over eighty years old and beyond repair. Growth is an impossibility; maintenance is a faint possibility. The people are leaving downtown and moving to the suburbs.
What will the church do? Will it move to the suburbs? That is where a church can grow. Or will the church remain downtown? Eight acres of prime property are available. The only problem is that the available property is downtown. Will people drive past dozens of other churches to come downtown to perform a ministry that no one else will if the church leaves? It is decision time. Will the church move to the suburbs or will they continue in what they perceive God has led them to do? Will they be true to their mission? And where is that mission?
It was decision time for the nation of Israel. Crisis was upon them. Samuel was now old. This great man of God who had led the people through countless crises now could not cut it any longer. It happens! Time marches on.
Adding to the crisis was the fact that Samuel's sons were ill equipped to continue in his stead. Abiah and Joel were pale imitations of their father. Serving the sanctuary at Beersheba, they had accepted bribes and perverted the very justice that their father had worked so hard to establish.
Adding to the nation's internal decay was the fact that Israel's external enemies were becoming more of a threat. The Philistines to the west and the Amorites to the east were becoming stronger and more aggressive. Things did not look good for God's people. What were they to do? It was decision time.
The elders gathered to consider their plight. While their diagnosis was correct, though somewhat obvious, their prescription for its remedy was catastrophic. "We want a king. We no longer want God as our King. We want a king we can see -- like the other nations." With this wish Israel was choosing nothing less than a radical change in its foundational commitments to and relationship with God. Their wish to be like the other nations was to some degree a rejection of their identity as God's chosen community and the governing relationship that God had desired. Israel was making the worst of a bad situation.
Needless to say, God's spokesperson, Samuel, was displeased. Possibly Samuel thought to himself, "Why can we not shore up the old system? Sure, the old theocracy has a crack or two in its foundation, but do we have to reinvent the wheel? Why can't we work through the problem instead of casting aside the old system entirely?" Is it not worth consideration? Why throw out the baby with the bath water? The United States did not cast aside democracy because Richard Nixon resigned. We do not throw away the concept of marriage because some couples choose to separate. We do not forsake having children because our neighbor's kids are brats. We do not give up on church because the preacher's sermon is boring. "Throw it away," they said. "We want a new system. We want a king!"
Sometimes systems need to change. They become antiquated, non-functional, and unresponsive. They need radical overhaul. But often radical change is difficult to implement. In 1564, the French government under Charles IX adopted a reformed calendar which moved New Year's Day to January 1 from April 1 where it had been for centuries. As with most any change, some favored and some resisted. Those who resisted the change and preferred the old date, April 1, were named "April Fools" by those who favored the change. Often change is difficult.
Change is so difficult that sometimes when we are confronted with it we bow our necks and become resistant. Hand it to the Elders of Israel! They were not that way at all. In fact, they were amazingly flexible. "Out with the old and in with the new! Give us a king and we will be like everyone else."
What is wrong with that? The problem concerned the heart of Israel's identity and mission. Israel had not been a monarchy or a democracy. She had been a theocracy. She had been a gathering of tribes loosely ruled and reeled by God himself through spokespersons such as Samuel. God was Israel's king and she was to be his unique people -- a nation of missionaries to the entire world (Exodus 19:3-6). She did not need a king. She had God. That is why God responded to the prophet, "It is not you they have rejected, Samuel, but they have rejected me as their king" (v. 7). Israel had rejected her intimate and unique relationship with her Creator. She wanted to be like everyone else. Israel did not want to be different.
To be used of God often means answering to a higher standard. To be distinctively different can be demanding.
"Heard about Joanie? You know, the tenth grader with red hair and braces? Get this, she wants to be a missionary." "A missionary? You got to be kiddin'?" "No, she wants to be a missionary. Is that weird or what?" "Boy, I bet she is a lot of fun on a date!" "Yeah!" "Wonder who is taking her to the dance Friday?" "Are you serious? She's probably staying home and reading her Bible!" "Yeah, who's going to ask her?" It is difficult to be distinctively different.
"Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for giving me the opportunity to address this deacon board. I just want to say a word about our church. First of all, I'd like to say that we need to get some new people in here. We've got to find a way to do that. I think that we need to make a splash. We've got to get some attention. I'm sure you've heard about Big Booming Church across town who had Miss U.S.A. recently. The people came! You may laugh about it, but you also heard about the church in Atlanta that had a midget who yoe-yoed and quoted Bible verses at the same time. The people came! And I'm sure you remember that church north of here where the preacher wrestled an alligator. No, I believe he wrestled a professional athlete. Now don't get worried, preacher, you're not going to have to wrestle anyone. But people came! We've got to make a splash. We've got to get some attention. That's all I wanted to say." To be distinctively different can be demanding.
"Mr. Speaker, I want to address this legislative assembly as I have done so many times before. I'm appreciative of the opportunity to say a word about what our colleague has suggested. Now I know it sounds wonderful, but let me ask you: If we quit making guns and started growing corn to feed the hungry nations of the world, what kind of security would that give us? We would give away our future. I know it sounds good and I know the people are hungry, but it is a little bit idealistic, don't you think?" It is hard to be distinctively different. We want to be like everyone else. We want to get on the current bandwagon. We want a king we can see. And God said, "Samuel, give to them what they want."
We have to be careful what we pray for because we just might get it. Israel swapped one form of slavery, the slavery they knew in Egypt, for another form of slavery, the slavery they knew under their kings. They rejected the God who drew them and brought them out of slavery. They rejected the God who sought to be not just their deity but their loving Heavenly Father who spoke to them before they needed to hear the word. Now he says, "I will not speak to you even when you call out unto me" (v. 18). We have to be careful what we pray for because we just might get it. It's called making the worst of a bad situation.
What did God do? We read in chapter 9 that God gave to them a king. He did not exactly sanction their choice, only permitted it; but then went on to help them find a king. Isn't that just like God? God is always trying to make the best of a bad situation.
It is true that things often do not begin well. Some marriages get off on the wrong foot. Some careers stagger and stumble. The best of projects can be motivated by the desire for personal gain. Some churches begin in an air of defiance and independent rebellion. But just because something is not born well does not mean that God cannot help to make the best of it. And the opposite is true as well. Sometimes an enterprise gets off to an impressive beginning and then falters as demands are placed upon it.
In 1903 in the Ukraine, a bright young man showed an increasing interest in Christianity. He often went by the priest's house to inquire about religion and faith. He became such an excellent student that once he quoted the four gospels from memory in a worship service. Who was this young man with such an impressive beginning and vast potential? His name was Nikita Khrushchev, who grew to become the Premier of Soviet Russia.
It does not matter whether we begin poorly or start well and mess up along the way; God is there to help us make the best of a bad situation. He loves us too much to allow us to deal with poor choices unaided.
Mother Teresa was once asked by a reporter, "Do you still go to confession?" She replied, "Yes, every week." The reporter said, "God must be awfully demanding to demand of you that you go to confession." She said: "It is like this: When your child does something wrong and comes to you and says, 'Daddy, I'm sorry,' what do you do? You take that child in your arms and hug him and kiss him because that is the way you can show that child that you love him. That is what God does for us."1 When we mess up and create a bad situation, God forgives us. He loves us and helps us to make the best of a bad situation.
The young lady mentioned at the beginning of the sermon? She left home and married the young man. He never got a job. After a few years she finally said, "I've had enough. I'm tired of the abuse and the laziness." She left him and limped back to her parents. But she found another and they raised three beautiful children. She and God made the best of a bad situation.
The two teenagers, the would-be pharmacists? One of them became a pharmacist in the small community in which he grew up. He became very successful and prosperous and a strong leader in his church. He uses his wealth and influence within his church and community to make it a better place. One does not have to be a professional minister to be true to one's calling. The other one? He rejected the wealthy businessman's offer to build him a drugstore and became a pastor and writer of sermons such as this one.
And the church? It relocated but remained downtown and has become a model for inner-city ministry.
We all make decisions -- some good and some bad. We all mess up. Possibly to admit that is a good place to start in making the best of a bad situation.
The crowd was milling around at the conclusion of the worship service and the offering plate filled with money was lying on the communion table. Only the minister saw five-year-old Peter take five dollars. He put his hand on the boy's shoulder and said, "Peter, don't you think you ought to put that back?"
Shaking his head, Peter responded, "I'm so sorry. Please, please don't tell my daddy -- he will kill me." Knowing that the punishment would not be quite that severe, the pastor did tell the father. The father immediately responded, "I'm going to kill that kid." The minister said, "Now, wait. I'm sure there were times in your life when you took something that did not belong to you." "Yeah, you are right," replied the father. "I was sent to town by my mother with two dozen eggs to sell. I told her that I dropped and broke one dozen, but I really sold them and kept the money. I was about the same age as Peter. I'll talk to him."
The father told Peter that he knew he had taken the five dollars. The boy cringed, expecting to be banished to jail for the rest of his life. Then the father began to relate the story to him of how he, too, had stolen something. Then, in a mutual moment of love, they hugged each other and the boy exclaimed, "Oh, Daddy, I'm so happy. We're both thieves!"2
1. Mother Teresa, No Greater Love (Novato, California: New World Library, 1997), p. 112.
2. Ruth Carter Stapleton, The Experience of Inner Healing (Waco: Word, 1979), p. 95.
Another true story: Two high school seniors are both contemplating going into pharmacy and building a drug store in the small community in which they live. One young man has been promised by a wealthy businessman in the community that he will build for him a drug store. Also he will mentor him in the details of running a small business. Here is success. Here is security. But the young man has a gnawing feeling that God wants him to be a minister. A minister? What kind of security is that? Think about all those years of school. It is decision time. What will the teenager do? Will he go for the goal? Or will he go for the gold?
This, too, is a true story. The church has served its downtown with a vibrant ministry for over one hundred years. But, now it is landlocked. It has no room for additional parking. The sanctuary is over eighty years old and beyond repair. Growth is an impossibility; maintenance is a faint possibility. The people are leaving downtown and moving to the suburbs.
What will the church do? Will it move to the suburbs? That is where a church can grow. Or will the church remain downtown? Eight acres of prime property are available. The only problem is that the available property is downtown. Will people drive past dozens of other churches to come downtown to perform a ministry that no one else will if the church leaves? It is decision time. Will the church move to the suburbs or will they continue in what they perceive God has led them to do? Will they be true to their mission? And where is that mission?
It was decision time for the nation of Israel. Crisis was upon them. Samuel was now old. This great man of God who had led the people through countless crises now could not cut it any longer. It happens! Time marches on.
Adding to the crisis was the fact that Samuel's sons were ill equipped to continue in his stead. Abiah and Joel were pale imitations of their father. Serving the sanctuary at Beersheba, they had accepted bribes and perverted the very justice that their father had worked so hard to establish.
Adding to the nation's internal decay was the fact that Israel's external enemies were becoming more of a threat. The Philistines to the west and the Amorites to the east were becoming stronger and more aggressive. Things did not look good for God's people. What were they to do? It was decision time.
The elders gathered to consider their plight. While their diagnosis was correct, though somewhat obvious, their prescription for its remedy was catastrophic. "We want a king. We no longer want God as our King. We want a king we can see -- like the other nations." With this wish Israel was choosing nothing less than a radical change in its foundational commitments to and relationship with God. Their wish to be like the other nations was to some degree a rejection of their identity as God's chosen community and the governing relationship that God had desired. Israel was making the worst of a bad situation.
Needless to say, God's spokesperson, Samuel, was displeased. Possibly Samuel thought to himself, "Why can we not shore up the old system? Sure, the old theocracy has a crack or two in its foundation, but do we have to reinvent the wheel? Why can't we work through the problem instead of casting aside the old system entirely?" Is it not worth consideration? Why throw out the baby with the bath water? The United States did not cast aside democracy because Richard Nixon resigned. We do not throw away the concept of marriage because some couples choose to separate. We do not forsake having children because our neighbor's kids are brats. We do not give up on church because the preacher's sermon is boring. "Throw it away," they said. "We want a new system. We want a king!"
Sometimes systems need to change. They become antiquated, non-functional, and unresponsive. They need radical overhaul. But often radical change is difficult to implement. In 1564, the French government under Charles IX adopted a reformed calendar which moved New Year's Day to January 1 from April 1 where it had been for centuries. As with most any change, some favored and some resisted. Those who resisted the change and preferred the old date, April 1, were named "April Fools" by those who favored the change. Often change is difficult.
Change is so difficult that sometimes when we are confronted with it we bow our necks and become resistant. Hand it to the Elders of Israel! They were not that way at all. In fact, they were amazingly flexible. "Out with the old and in with the new! Give us a king and we will be like everyone else."
What is wrong with that? The problem concerned the heart of Israel's identity and mission. Israel had not been a monarchy or a democracy. She had been a theocracy. She had been a gathering of tribes loosely ruled and reeled by God himself through spokespersons such as Samuel. God was Israel's king and she was to be his unique people -- a nation of missionaries to the entire world (Exodus 19:3-6). She did not need a king. She had God. That is why God responded to the prophet, "It is not you they have rejected, Samuel, but they have rejected me as their king" (v. 7). Israel had rejected her intimate and unique relationship with her Creator. She wanted to be like everyone else. Israel did not want to be different.
To be used of God often means answering to a higher standard. To be distinctively different can be demanding.
"Heard about Joanie? You know, the tenth grader with red hair and braces? Get this, she wants to be a missionary." "A missionary? You got to be kiddin'?" "No, she wants to be a missionary. Is that weird or what?" "Boy, I bet she is a lot of fun on a date!" "Yeah!" "Wonder who is taking her to the dance Friday?" "Are you serious? She's probably staying home and reading her Bible!" "Yeah, who's going to ask her?" It is difficult to be distinctively different.
"Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for giving me the opportunity to address this deacon board. I just want to say a word about our church. First of all, I'd like to say that we need to get some new people in here. We've got to find a way to do that. I think that we need to make a splash. We've got to get some attention. I'm sure you've heard about Big Booming Church across town who had Miss U.S.A. recently. The people came! You may laugh about it, but you also heard about the church in Atlanta that had a midget who yoe-yoed and quoted Bible verses at the same time. The people came! And I'm sure you remember that church north of here where the preacher wrestled an alligator. No, I believe he wrestled a professional athlete. Now don't get worried, preacher, you're not going to have to wrestle anyone. But people came! We've got to make a splash. We've got to get some attention. That's all I wanted to say." To be distinctively different can be demanding.
"Mr. Speaker, I want to address this legislative assembly as I have done so many times before. I'm appreciative of the opportunity to say a word about what our colleague has suggested. Now I know it sounds wonderful, but let me ask you: If we quit making guns and started growing corn to feed the hungry nations of the world, what kind of security would that give us? We would give away our future. I know it sounds good and I know the people are hungry, but it is a little bit idealistic, don't you think?" It is hard to be distinctively different. We want to be like everyone else. We want to get on the current bandwagon. We want a king we can see. And God said, "Samuel, give to them what they want."
We have to be careful what we pray for because we just might get it. Israel swapped one form of slavery, the slavery they knew in Egypt, for another form of slavery, the slavery they knew under their kings. They rejected the God who drew them and brought them out of slavery. They rejected the God who sought to be not just their deity but their loving Heavenly Father who spoke to them before they needed to hear the word. Now he says, "I will not speak to you even when you call out unto me" (v. 18). We have to be careful what we pray for because we just might get it. It's called making the worst of a bad situation.
What did God do? We read in chapter 9 that God gave to them a king. He did not exactly sanction their choice, only permitted it; but then went on to help them find a king. Isn't that just like God? God is always trying to make the best of a bad situation.
It is true that things often do not begin well. Some marriages get off on the wrong foot. Some careers stagger and stumble. The best of projects can be motivated by the desire for personal gain. Some churches begin in an air of defiance and independent rebellion. But just because something is not born well does not mean that God cannot help to make the best of it. And the opposite is true as well. Sometimes an enterprise gets off to an impressive beginning and then falters as demands are placed upon it.
In 1903 in the Ukraine, a bright young man showed an increasing interest in Christianity. He often went by the priest's house to inquire about religion and faith. He became such an excellent student that once he quoted the four gospels from memory in a worship service. Who was this young man with such an impressive beginning and vast potential? His name was Nikita Khrushchev, who grew to become the Premier of Soviet Russia.
It does not matter whether we begin poorly or start well and mess up along the way; God is there to help us make the best of a bad situation. He loves us too much to allow us to deal with poor choices unaided.
Mother Teresa was once asked by a reporter, "Do you still go to confession?" She replied, "Yes, every week." The reporter said, "God must be awfully demanding to demand of you that you go to confession." She said: "It is like this: When your child does something wrong and comes to you and says, 'Daddy, I'm sorry,' what do you do? You take that child in your arms and hug him and kiss him because that is the way you can show that child that you love him. That is what God does for us."1 When we mess up and create a bad situation, God forgives us. He loves us and helps us to make the best of a bad situation.
The young lady mentioned at the beginning of the sermon? She left home and married the young man. He never got a job. After a few years she finally said, "I've had enough. I'm tired of the abuse and the laziness." She left him and limped back to her parents. But she found another and they raised three beautiful children. She and God made the best of a bad situation.
The two teenagers, the would-be pharmacists? One of them became a pharmacist in the small community in which he grew up. He became very successful and prosperous and a strong leader in his church. He uses his wealth and influence within his church and community to make it a better place. One does not have to be a professional minister to be true to one's calling. The other one? He rejected the wealthy businessman's offer to build him a drugstore and became a pastor and writer of sermons such as this one.
And the church? It relocated but remained downtown and has become a model for inner-city ministry.
We all make decisions -- some good and some bad. We all mess up. Possibly to admit that is a good place to start in making the best of a bad situation.
The crowd was milling around at the conclusion of the worship service and the offering plate filled with money was lying on the communion table. Only the minister saw five-year-old Peter take five dollars. He put his hand on the boy's shoulder and said, "Peter, don't you think you ought to put that back?"
Shaking his head, Peter responded, "I'm so sorry. Please, please don't tell my daddy -- he will kill me." Knowing that the punishment would not be quite that severe, the pastor did tell the father. The father immediately responded, "I'm going to kill that kid." The minister said, "Now, wait. I'm sure there were times in your life when you took something that did not belong to you." "Yeah, you are right," replied the father. "I was sent to town by my mother with two dozen eggs to sell. I told her that I dropped and broke one dozen, but I really sold them and kept the money. I was about the same age as Peter. I'll talk to him."
The father told Peter that he knew he had taken the five dollars. The boy cringed, expecting to be banished to jail for the rest of his life. Then the father began to relate the story to him of how he, too, had stolen something. Then, in a mutual moment of love, they hugged each other and the boy exclaimed, "Oh, Daddy, I'm so happy. We're both thieves!"2
1. Mother Teresa, No Greater Love (Novato, California: New World Library, 1997), p. 112.
2. Ruth Carter Stapleton, The Experience of Inner Healing (Waco: Word, 1979), p. 95.
