Sermon Tone Analysis

Series Review

I’ve been preaching on antiheroes as a lead up to VBS, where the theme will be heroes.

An antihero is the main character of the story, but they are the opposite of what a hero is supposed to be.

Sometimes these antiheroes are mislabeled for no good reason.

Eve, the mother of all creation, is called the first sinner, because she was deceived into eating the forbidden fruit.

She doesn’t deserve that because the man was just as guilty.

The next week we looked at Rahab a prostitute.

She is vilified because of her occupation, although she was a victim of societal injustice and a model of faith.

Last week we looked at Samson.

He was not a godly man: he was a womanizer, and was short tempered and violent.

All of these are antiheroes: they are main characters that lack heroic qualities.

They are cautionary tales, we don’t want to repeat their mistakes.

But they also show us that God’s plan unstoppable, despite the deeply flawed people who are a part of that plan.

Today we’re going to focus on Saul, the first king of Israel.

Today we’re going to focus on the antihero Saul, the first king of Israel.

Sermon Introduction - historical context

Remember that Rahab lives in the period of biblical history called the Conquest, when Israel is entering the promised land.

Samson appears during the next period of biblical history called the Judges, where Israel had settled in the land and God raised up local leaders / Judges to help deliver them from rival nations.

Samson was one of those.

This morning we’re in that period of biblical history known as the Kings.

Israel wanted to be like other nations and wanted a king.

God, warned them not to do it, but Israel persisted so God said, “Fine, but here’s what’s going to happen: He’s going to make you pay taxes, take a portion of your property when he sees something he likes, he will take your daughters as wives and take your sons so he can go to war.

Can you imagine those being the themes of your election campaign?

But they wanted a king, so they get Saul.

Saul’s story takes the form of a tragedy - we categorize stories, plays and musicals into this category.

These stories begin on a happy note but things get worse from there.

You might think of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet - a starry eyed couple in love eventually commits suicide.

King Saul’s story begins on a happy note and ends badly.

But, we can still see God’s redemptive work.

King Saul example of tragedy

Like a good tragic story, we read in Saul’s story that God begins small.

Beginning Small

Saul is a success story with humble beginnings.

There were 12 tribes of Israel, and his was the smallest, the poorest and had the worst reputation.

You might think of modern politics here.

People born into poverty do not become president.

People whose family name is associated with crime have a hard time getting elected to public office.

The tribe of Benjamin was the poorest, and Gibeah, Saul’s hometown had a reputation for extreme sexual perversion.

It was so bad that God nearly wiped them off the map.

But God finds his king there.

Saul is a reminder that God does not make the social distinctions we make.

Poor, rich or middle class.

White, black or hispanic.

White collar or blue collar.

Educated or uneducated.

Experienced or inexperienced.

Sinner or saint.

We make these distinctions, but when God calls a person, these labels disappear.

With King Saul, God begins small.

Saul, like many people who are excited about a new ministry hits the ground running.

Starting Strong

Even before he takes his oath of office, God demonstrates his power through Saul:

Saul is given the gift of prophecy.

In 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul describes prophecy has the greatest spiritual gift, and we all should all desire.

God, wants to make it clear to everyone else that Saul is God’s chosen king, so he pours out his Spirit.

He’s off to a good start.

Saul’s inner experience of the Holy Spirit translates into military success:

chosen by God

God pours out his Spirit on Saul so he can lead Israel to victorious battle.

Keep in mind that Saul was not militarily trained, uneducated and from a bad part of town.

But God qualifies Saul in a way that only God can.

As a result, Saul is victorious and Israel is blessed.

Whether it be a king, a spouse or a Sunday School teacher, It’s not enough to get off to a good start.

We have our honeymoon period in leadership, marriage and ministry.

Saul is like that college roommate who seemed like a really cool guy, but give it time and his flaws begin to emerge.

This happens with Saul, and it happens with our faith in Christ.

People who go to a summer camp, or a mission trip or a spiritual retreat and have powerful, spiritual experiences.

There’s this excitement over this new work that Christ is doing.

but it doesn’t last.

People who have these experiences often become disillusioned: “I thought I experienced God, but it was just emotions.”

or “The preacher got us all worked up, but it was just emotions.”

These might be true, but I think that when someone comes home from a retreat or mission trip excited about Jesus, it is God’s way of putting them on the path to discipleship, but we still have to walk it.

Which means there will be hard times on that walk.

This is where we come to the main passage that we’re dealing with.

Saul has experienced the Spirit of God in powerful ways, but now comes the hard stuff.

Now comes the test to see what he’s really made up of:

Falling Hard

The once great King Saul is a perfect example of...

Falling Hard

What we’ve just read in is a failure of obedience.

Saul was supposed to wait for 7 days for the prophet Samuel to join him.

They would offer a sacrifice to God and go into battle.

Saul gets impatient and prepares the sacrifice without Samuel.

As punishment his kingdom will be taken away.

I can understand why Saul disobeyed God.

His army is demoralized.

His soldiers are running and hiding.

A crisis is developing so he wants to act now.

Obedience is not always easy.

Obedience doesn’t always make sense.

This may not sound like a fair punishment, but this isn’t the only time Saul directly disobeys God, and each time the disobedience becomes more severe.

Saul has started strong and now is falling hard.

It’s one thing to have an uplifting spiritual experience - it’s another thing to obey.

Obedience is easy when there is no personal cost involved.

Obedience is easy when it is convenient.

Obedience is easy when it doesn’t create discomfort or fear.

Sharing the Gospel when you’re not sure what to say.

Practicing your discipleship in a new way (preparing a meal, serving the poor, the local schools).

Sometimes we shy away from things because they are not inconvenient or too costly.

But the obedience God requires can make us uncomfortable, nervous and scared.