To Obey Or Not To Obey. That Is The Question.
Sermon
A seventeen-year-old motorist was killed recently. He'd just passed his driving test and had taken possession of a brand new Mercedes, courtesy of his father. Wanting to test the car to its limit, the boy overtook a slower car on a bend. There was a head-on collision and the lad was killed outright.
Although he had passed his driving test and knew what to do, he failed to obey the rules of the road. At seventeen, we all think we're immortal, so he took a very dangerous risk and he lost out. He left an enormous number of people stunned by his death and parents who felt guilty for having given him the car in the first place.
When 23-year-old Craig was told by his firm that in order to increase productivity and serve the public better he had to work on Sundays, he refused because he was a church attender. He wanted to practise his religion on Sundays. Craig was promptly sacked for disobeying the company's rules. He took the company to an industrial tribunal and won his case on the grounds of religious discrimination.
Two stories about people who disobeyed the rules, but stories with very different outcomes and with very different moral grounds for disobeying the rules.
We're often told that as Christians we must obey. We must follow Jesus Christ's rules. But there are a number of instances in the Bible of people who failed to obey the rules and whose decisions were vindicated.
When Ruth set off with her mother-in-law Naomi on the long and weary journey to a strange land and a strange people and strange customs, Naomi told her to go home. Naomi appreciated the company for a good part of the way, but explained that it would be best for her two widowed daughter-in-laws, Ruth and Orpah, to go back to their own homes and find new husbands from amongst their own people.
Orpah obeyed and went home, and we never hear of her again. But Ruth disobeyed. She travelled the whole way with Naomi and eventually became an ancestress of Jesus himself. If Ruth had not disobeyed, we wouldn't have had Jesus in quite the same way.
In the New Testament, Jesus healed ten lepers. He told them all to go and show themselves to the priest. Nine of them obeyed him, but one turned back. The Samaritan leper turned back to thank Jesus for his actions, and Jesus praised him for his disobedience.
When Jesus' disciples disobeyed the rules by picking and eating corn on the Sabbath in a cornfield, Jesus defended them and again praised their actions.
And here in the Old Testament, Elisha disobeys his master Elijah.
"Stay here,” ordered Elijah, “for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel." Me, not you. But Elisha took no notice. He journeyed with Elijah until the very end when he saw Elijah disappear from his sight. And through his disobedience, Elisha gained a double measure of Elijah's spirit.
It was common for the first born son to inherit a double portion of his father's property. Elisha regarded Elijah as his spiritual father and indeed referred to him as “my father”, a title often accorded to prophetic leaders. Hence Elisha's request to receive a double measure of Elijah's spirit.
When Elisha saw the chariots of fire and the horsemen of fire, he knew that his request had been granted and that he would indeed receive a double measure of his predecessor's spirit. The fire was a clear indication of the presence of God, for where there is fire in the Old Testament God is always present.
In all these Bible stories when people disobeyed, they turned out to be right to do so. But how do we know when to disobey and when to obey?
I took the funeral recently of a lady who used to cut out interesting snippets from magazines and newspapers and pin them onto her kitchen board. When she died this snippet was attached to her notice board, “We all have options. The great way to keep alive is to take a chance.”
Christianity is a religion of risks. Jesus showed us how to take chances, and the result of taking those chances was eternal life. Life with a capital “L”, life in all its fullness, in all its glory, in all its wonder. Of course we must obey rules. But we must look at those rules intelligently, and decide which rules are God's rules and which rules are man's rules. Sometimes man's rules need to be disobeyed. But how can we discern which rules to obey and which rules to disobey?
But in today's reading from the first book of Kings, Elisha disobeyed the rules through love. He loved his master to such an extent that he was prepared to go with him right up until the end of his life. Ruth disobeyed the rules because of love for Naomi, her mother-in-law. Again she was prepared to go beyond the call of duty because of her great love for her mother-in-law. The leper in the New Testament who turned back to thank Jesus disobeyed the rules because he was full of love and thanksgiving and praise for Jesus.
And perhaps this is the key. If our motives are determined by love for Jesus, then we are probably right even when we disobey rules. But if our motives are determined by selfishness or greed or need for power, then we are certainly wrong when we disobey the rules.
The seventeen-year-old youth lost his life because he disobeyed the rules thinking they didn't apply to him. He thought he was invincible, and he felt he could handle a powerful car in any way he chose. But the 23-year-old who was sacked from his job rather than give up his worship on a Sunday, was vindicated. He broke the rules because he was aware of his great need to worship God on a regular basis and he was justified in breaking the rules.
Rules, even religious rules, are there to help us live good lives, lives which connect with God. If those rules prevent us from connecting with God, then perhaps we need to break them. And perhaps on occasion, when we break the rules we too, like Elisha, may receive a double portion of God's spirit within us.
Although he had passed his driving test and knew what to do, he failed to obey the rules of the road. At seventeen, we all think we're immortal, so he took a very dangerous risk and he lost out. He left an enormous number of people stunned by his death and parents who felt guilty for having given him the car in the first place.
When 23-year-old Craig was told by his firm that in order to increase productivity and serve the public better he had to work on Sundays, he refused because he was a church attender. He wanted to practise his religion on Sundays. Craig was promptly sacked for disobeying the company's rules. He took the company to an industrial tribunal and won his case on the grounds of religious discrimination.
Two stories about people who disobeyed the rules, but stories with very different outcomes and with very different moral grounds for disobeying the rules.
We're often told that as Christians we must obey. We must follow Jesus Christ's rules. But there are a number of instances in the Bible of people who failed to obey the rules and whose decisions were vindicated.
When Ruth set off with her mother-in-law Naomi on the long and weary journey to a strange land and a strange people and strange customs, Naomi told her to go home. Naomi appreciated the company for a good part of the way, but explained that it would be best for her two widowed daughter-in-laws, Ruth and Orpah, to go back to their own homes and find new husbands from amongst their own people.
Orpah obeyed and went home, and we never hear of her again. But Ruth disobeyed. She travelled the whole way with Naomi and eventually became an ancestress of Jesus himself. If Ruth had not disobeyed, we wouldn't have had Jesus in quite the same way.
In the New Testament, Jesus healed ten lepers. He told them all to go and show themselves to the priest. Nine of them obeyed him, but one turned back. The Samaritan leper turned back to thank Jesus for his actions, and Jesus praised him for his disobedience.
When Jesus' disciples disobeyed the rules by picking and eating corn on the Sabbath in a cornfield, Jesus defended them and again praised their actions.
And here in the Old Testament, Elisha disobeys his master Elijah.
"Stay here,” ordered Elijah, “for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel." Me, not you. But Elisha took no notice. He journeyed with Elijah until the very end when he saw Elijah disappear from his sight. And through his disobedience, Elisha gained a double measure of Elijah's spirit.
It was common for the first born son to inherit a double portion of his father's property. Elisha regarded Elijah as his spiritual father and indeed referred to him as “my father”, a title often accorded to prophetic leaders. Hence Elisha's request to receive a double measure of Elijah's spirit.
When Elisha saw the chariots of fire and the horsemen of fire, he knew that his request had been granted and that he would indeed receive a double measure of his predecessor's spirit. The fire was a clear indication of the presence of God, for where there is fire in the Old Testament God is always present.
In all these Bible stories when people disobeyed, they turned out to be right to do so. But how do we know when to disobey and when to obey?
I took the funeral recently of a lady who used to cut out interesting snippets from magazines and newspapers and pin them onto her kitchen board. When she died this snippet was attached to her notice board, “We all have options. The great way to keep alive is to take a chance.”
Christianity is a religion of risks. Jesus showed us how to take chances, and the result of taking those chances was eternal life. Life with a capital “L”, life in all its fullness, in all its glory, in all its wonder. Of course we must obey rules. But we must look at those rules intelligently, and decide which rules are God's rules and which rules are man's rules. Sometimes man's rules need to be disobeyed. But how can we discern which rules to obey and which rules to disobey?
But in today's reading from the first book of Kings, Elisha disobeyed the rules through love. He loved his master to such an extent that he was prepared to go with him right up until the end of his life. Ruth disobeyed the rules because of love for Naomi, her mother-in-law. Again she was prepared to go beyond the call of duty because of her great love for her mother-in-law. The leper in the New Testament who turned back to thank Jesus disobeyed the rules because he was full of love and thanksgiving and praise for Jesus.
And perhaps this is the key. If our motives are determined by love for Jesus, then we are probably right even when we disobey rules. But if our motives are determined by selfishness or greed or need for power, then we are certainly wrong when we disobey the rules.
The seventeen-year-old youth lost his life because he disobeyed the rules thinking they didn't apply to him. He thought he was invincible, and he felt he could handle a powerful car in any way he chose. But the 23-year-old who was sacked from his job rather than give up his worship on a Sunday, was vindicated. He broke the rules because he was aware of his great need to worship God on a regular basis and he was justified in breaking the rules.
Rules, even religious rules, are there to help us live good lives, lives which connect with God. If those rules prevent us from connecting with God, then perhaps we need to break them. And perhaps on occasion, when we break the rules we too, like Elisha, may receive a double portion of God's spirit within us.
