16 January 2026 - to be like who?

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Now that you are old,
and your sons do not follow your example,
appoint a king over us, as other nations have, to judge us.

Israel was a nation specially chosen by God, singled out to by his covenant to be a light to the nations. And yet, greater than their desire to embody that destiny was their desire to be like the surrounding nations. Politics was more important to them than their prophetic destiny. The strength of surrounding kings seemed frightfully real while their God seemed more distant. They accepted that a king might not treat them well as individuals or groups, but assumed that he would never neglect the welfare of the nation since to do so was implicitly to neglect his own welfare. 

He will take your sons and assign them to his chariots and horses,
and they will run before his chariot.
He will also appoint from among them his commanders of groups
of a thousand and of a hundred soldiers.

The self-preservation that was natural to earthly kings did not always conduce to the flourishing of the nation. Rather than use their authority for the sake of the population they exploited the population for their own ends. They were not excessively grieved to cause suffering even within the kingdom as long as they remained comfortable. To some extent they often sought popularity, for the sake of self-image, and in order to keep a grasp on power. But this popularity was based more on their ability to keep up a performance rather than on real beneficial results for the people. Even the better kings still had to navigating the conflicting demands of their own desires versus those of the people. God, it was true, had nothing to gain from the people, and made it frightening to rely on one with whom he could not bargain. But he was utterly incapable of being diminished by them as well. His freedom is what made him fully available to act always and only for their good. Their was no chance of him choosing selfishly against them or fearfully to protect himself.

The people, however, refused to listen to Samuel’s warning and said,
“Not so!  There must be a king over us.
We too must be like other nations,
with a king to rule us and to lead us in warfare
and fight our battles.

We can understand their desire to be like the other nations without approving of it. They felt that they had to measure up to the capability of others for violence, lest they live in fear of their own destruction. Even in our own world we often assume that a lack of power is the biggest problem in politics, that if our adversaries have power and we do not than our situation is a lost cause. Without sufficient military strength what is to keep hostile nations from overwhelming us? Without sufficient politic power what is to keep our opponents from suppressing any viewpoint but their own? Do we really believe that God can make a difference otherwise than by giving us power? How would that even work? And yet we know that our God not only can, but that he delights to work through apparent human weakness. As an example, the deleterious political situation in Rome did not prevent the Christianization of the whole world.

After they had broken through,
they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him,
“Child, your sins are forgiven.”

How does God cause changes in the world even in spite of the weakness of those through whom he works? He does so primarily by changing individual hearts, rather than by imposing his will from outside on unwilling participants. His is a Kingdom definitionally different from all others since its members are only those who wish to be so. But it is God's own transcendent character that makes it so believable. It must be for our benefit that he acts since he stands to gain nothing himself. And his missionaries embody this by refusing to exploit religion for earthly gains. Paul describes people who misunderstand this when he writes:

He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain (see First Timothy 4:-6).

But he goes on to add that "godliness with contentment is great gain". People who experience that contentment have a lot to offer a world that is constantly searching for the one more thing that will finally make it happy, but never arriving.

Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves,
“Why does this man speak that way?  He is blaspheming.
Who but God alone can forgive sins?”

The external problems of our world are relatively easy to solve, at least temporarily. But only God can do the deep inner work that produces lasting results. They had hoped that Jesus would be a messiah in the way they had hoped to have a king. But his reign was to be of a different kind. Precisely because God alone could forgive sins, and because Jesus was himself God, the real problems that had heretofore been unaddressed could finally receive a solution. This solution was not one more temporary victory, but rather salvation, leading to eternal life.

Blessed the people who know the joyful shout;
in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk.
At your name they rejoice all the day,
and through your justice they are exalted.

Hillsong Worship - To Be Like You