<< Back to June 2001 Sermons

2001
3rd June (am) - David and a Family at War
2 Samuel 15

I didn't plan it this way - I couldn't have planned it this way - but on the Sunday before the General Election, when the balance of power in our nation will be determined for another 4-5 years, the very same issue of who holds power is critically at stake in today's Scripture Reading!

In this real-life story of David we have come to a time when it was not at all certain that, although he had reigned as God's King for many years, he would be king for much longer - because there was a very determined attempt to overthrow him, by one of his own sons, Absalom.

We can probably apply this ancient Biblical story to our contemporary lives in 2 kinds of ways.

Firstly, there are clearly some lessons about personal attitudes, motives and behaviour for people who take the leadership of Jesus Christ seriously.

Secondly, there are, almost certainly, some political lessons - not politics, because they are not for the pulpit - but principles which we should remember when we do our thinking about political matters and leaders. It is important that Christian people should take their responsibilities in this aspect of life seriously. Scripture teaches us plainly that God is concerned for good government and for those who govern. Therefore, Christian ought not to opt out of these responsibilities, certainly not through mere apathy nor the 'I'm all right, Jack' complacency which makes us unconcerned so long as our own life is comfortable.

Today's reading told us about how Absalom deliberately planned and plotted to rebel against his father, David, so that he could seize power and become King himself.

Perhaps it is necessary to fill in a little background so that we understand what was going on
David had actually been warned by God that he would have problems from within his own family. At the end of last week's sad story about David's adultery, the prophet Nathan warned David that the sword would never depart from his house and that out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. (1Samuel 12:10-11). In the in-between period this warning had proved to be all too accurate.
Ch. 13 -14 contains the horrible story of how Amnon, one of David's other sons, had raped his half sister, Tamar - David doesn't appear to have taken any action, of any kind, against Amnon - but Absalom, the son we are going to hear about this morning, took things into his own hands and engineered a revenge opportunity to have Amnon murdered - so the family was tearing itself apart. Absalom fled Jerusalem for a time, until eventually David agreed to allow him to return. Not until two years after his return to Jerusalem, did David agree to see Absalom, and although there was some kind of superficial reconciliation, it would seem as if they never really sorted things out, and these events were the background to Absalom's rebellious conspiracy in today's story.
So if we had asked Absalom he would have said that his father, David was not fit to be king - he would have claimed that he was acting in the best interests of the people by trying to take over in David's place.
As in all situations of disagreement, there are surely 2 sides to this story - there is probably little doubt that David did bear some of the responsibility - he hadn't always acted wisely. However, it also sounds as if Absalom was very much in the wrong in at least 2 clear ways which I'm going to try to pick out for you and apply as best I can - in both the personal realm and the political, with a very small and generalised 'p', realm.

Absalom used people. He used people for his own ends rather than caring genuinely about them.
From the time he returned to Jerusalem, Absalom seems to have been pretty good at cultivating his image and reputation among the people. We're told about that in ch.14: In all Israel there was not man so highly praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom - about which one of the commentators writes: Here is Mr. Israel, the darling of the media, the choice of photographers, enchanted with his own locks, with three sons and a beautiful daughter (Davis P.150).
At the start of ch. 15, which we read, we are told about how Absalom strengthened his public image by acquiring a chariot and horses and men to run before him - all the status symbols of the day.
Then he 'opened an office' for himself on a main route into the city, and he would be there from early morning, intercepting people who were coming up to the royal court for help with some kind of problem or grievance. We're told that he was good at listening to them - his PR skills were excellent, and he could always find some way of telling them that they were definitely in the right and that he was on their side - and that certainly, if it the matter was in his hands he would not let them down.
But, Absalom would say, You haven't got much chance of getting anyone in the palace to listen to you - they never seem to be about! And so it says that Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
We can easily understand how Absalom built up his influence - he knew exactly what buttons to press in order to win popular support - and when it came to the day when his rebellion was announced and he declared himself King, he had plenty of support - it was a very serious situation for David.

And yet you get the impression that Absalom was mainly interested in power for the sake of power - power and influence to advance his own cause - that all the attention he gave people and all the great promises he made, were mainly a means to an end - he wanted power - he wanted to be King, and he was more than ready to 'use people' to get what suited him.

David was different - vs. 19 tells us about how he gave his faithful supporters the choice - they didn't have to stick with him when it became necessary to flee from Jerusalem - he wanted them to do what was best for themselves, not necessarily for him - May kindness and faithfulness be with you - I don't expect you to pay the price I might have to pay, for it's not your fault, said David to Ittai!
And yet we are told that people like this man Ittai had no doubts about sticking with David, vs. 21, As surely as the Lord lives ....
- there was genuine weeping and sadness as people realised what was happening and what the coming days might bring.

Absalom sounds as if he used people to advance his own cause.
David seems to have cared about what was best for people, and many of them knew it. Application:

I wonder what the truth is about our personal dealings with other people - do we genuinely care about what is good for the other people around us, or do we ever come close to 'using' people for our own benefit?
Are we ever like Absalom - ready to be friendly with people when it suits us, ready to take an interest in their situation because we might be able to benefit ourselves, making promises that don't amount to anything very substantial - mainly talk rather than action! Christian people are to be people of substance, people who care because they care, people who do what they say they will do, people who are willing to put themselves out a bit for others without hoping that there will be some 'pay-back' for themselves.

What am I like in this regard? Have I ever been guilty of using people to suit myself - perhaps we all have done it - this is one of the concrete forms of sin - the sin which makes us self centred in our living - the sin which makes us ready to 'use' other people - the sin for which Christ died, and for which we need his forgiveness which comes through repentance - and which must lead on to a different kind of living.

At the political level we need to pray for wisdom to recognise those whose words sound good and whose promises are great - but who may actually be motivated by very narrow self-interests, and in our context, sectarian agendas.
In the politics of our day, there is just as much selfish using of people as there was in the power struggle upon which Absalom embarked - he was all too ready to tell people what they wanted to hear and to assure them that he could do things for them that others had failed to achieve - that he was more interested in their needs than anyone else! Doesn't it all sound very familiar?
Can we bring our Christian faith to bear on our thinking when it comes to matters political?
Should our desire and prayer not be that God would give us the motivation to want what is good for as many people as possible, not just what is good for us.
Should our prayer to God not be that he would give us the wisdom to see beyond the outward PR show of the political bandwagons so that we make good Christian judgment about character, promises, action - the grace to think for Christ and under Christ - sometimes when we try to do that we may arrive at conclusions which are different from our own natural inclinations.

Absalom used Religion

Not only did Absalom use people, but he also 'used' religion, rather than being a person who was actually faithful to God. He used God rather than being willing for God to use his life!
You remember how he made the excuse of going to Hebron to worship God as a cover for his conspiracy against the King. He told his Father, David that he had a religious promise to keep at Hebron, while in actual fact he was organising to make Hebron the headquarters for his rebellion - the place from which he would send out a rallying call to the people with whom he believed he had won favour and support over the past few years.
Absalom used all the right religious language about vows and worship, but there was no substance to what he said - it was all about himself and his own ambitions, rather than about God's purposes and God's people.

Once again we maybe hear alarm bells ringing in our mind - it is well underlined for us if we compare Absalom's religious 'reasons' with David's religious reality.
Later on in the chapter we are told about how the religious leaders of the people remained loyal to David - Zadok and Abiathar, the priests. When David decided to flee from his palace in Jerusalem, they immediately chose to go with him - and they brought the Ark of God - the great symbol of God's presence and God's blessing.
However David didn't want to use or misuse the Ark as some kind of religious mascot - he didn't want to assume that just because he had the Ark with him, God was bound to be on his side - he wasn't prepared to milk the benefits of religious symbols - and so he told the priests to take the Ark back into Jerusalem: vs.25-26
If I find favour in the Lord's eyes, he will bring me back, ....... but ......' David clearly wasn't a man who was depending on superficial religious symbols, but rather on serious trust in his God. He wasn't a man who was willing to 'use' God for his own purposes, but who was willing to be used by God for his - not God on David's side, but David on God's side. Not that this made David the sort of person who wasn't really living in the real world - David was utterly practical - the story tells us that he was already forming a strategy whereby he would get good quality information and intelligence from within Absalom's camp - David was by no means so heavenly minded that he was no earthly use - but he was most certainly not a man who tried to 'use' God for his own ends.

Application

Do you and I not live in a society where religion and politics get intertwined in a way that is very difficult to separate, and in ways that are unhelpful, and indeed, sometimes sinful!

Have we also not sometimes seen religion being 'used' to suit personal and political purposes? Have we not seen God's name and God's cause dragged through the gutter of sectarian and divisive politics.

Before you think that I am trying to point the finger - because I am very anxious not avoid doing so - let me say that religion seems to have been wrongly 'used' by on all sided in our situation - Celtic Ireland and British Ulster have often made use of the symbols of religion in order to strengthen their case and advance the argument. All sorts of religious labels, language and loyalties have been called into action in ways that have not always been very honouring to God and the Gospel.

If you watched the programme about Dr. Trevor Morrow, the current Moderator, on UTV the other evening, you will have seen him pointing to how he has seen that happening in life in the Republic ..... and I don't think that we would have to think very hard to come up with examples of how it happens here.

Absalom used religious symbols and excuses to back up what he wanted to do - David refused to do so. And so must we. You and I must make sure that we don't do what Absalom did - using his religion for his own selfish hatreds and ambitions. As Christian people we have got to choose a different road - we must learn to separate the religious dimension of life from the political - and we must learn to allow our faith in Jesus Christ and his way to determine our political attitudes and actions, rather than ever allowing ourselves to use religion for our own selfish ends - for when that happens, the cause of Christ is dishonoured, and the building of government and life that is truly good for people suffers badly. Faith and religion most certainly comes into politics - of that there is not a shadow of a doubt - but it must shape us with the mind of Christ and his priorities - rather than being something that we use to back up what we want to think and do anyway.

As our concluding hymn will say: From all that terror teaches,
From lies of tongue and pen, From all the easy speeches,
That comfort cruel men, From sale and profanation, of honour and the sword, From sleep and from damnation, Deliver us, good Lord.

 

But, you know, maybe as we finish, it is important to remind ourselves that it is not only politicians and public leaders who 'use' religion and its symbols in a superficial and sometimes selfish way.

Do we ever do it ourselves - do we ever stop at a very superficial level with our faith and our religion - content to say that we belong to such and such a church, satisfied to say that we are at church most Sundays, complacent because our lives show the trappings of Christian denomination?

Surely we need to go beyond the outward trappings and the popular labels, to realise that true faith is about submitting our lives to Jesus Christ as Lord - the one whose truth and love we recognise to be the only way to God - the one who gave up all his rightful place and power so that he could serve our needs, even to death on a cross - the one who asks his people to take up their cross and follow him every day - to be a David rather than an Absalom - for as we'll read tonight in the Sermon on the Mount: Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Are we people whose lives are yielded to God and lived for God through faith in Christ ..... or are we people who want God to be for us even when we actually want and intend to live life on our own terms?