1 Samuel 8:4-11, (12-15), 16-20, (11:14-15)
All the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to govern us.” Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. Just as they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. Now then, listen to their voice; only—you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
So Samuel reported all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; [and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers.] He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; they said, “No! but we are determined to have a king over us, so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
[Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingship.” So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. There they sacrificed offerings of well-being before the Lord, and there Saul and all the Israelites rejoiced greatly.]
Israel had a problem that they wanted to make go away. But they traded one big problem for an even bigger one. They were tired of countries invading and having to fight them. They looked at other countries who had kings and thought that was a better way to organize themselves. Kings could enforce justice and train armies they thought. Perhaps they that if they grew and became powerful as a nation, their lives would be better. They would leave behind their simple life of farming and conquer lands and acquire wealth. An illusion that Paulo Coelho pulls the curtain back on.
We all have at one time or another traded one problem for a bigger one. We have all thought that the grass is greener somewhere else. Like the prodigal son, we have all learned the hard way to appreciate the things we have. But sometimes the only way we can do that is to end up in the pig pen. We’ve all had people older and wiser try to warn us that we were making a mistake and yet we wouldn’t listen. And our stubborness cost us greatly. Samuel lays out for them exactly how life is going to be if they go in this direction and they dismiss his words with the determination of a foolishvteenager.
“The Lord’s Prayer”, or in catholic terms, “The Our Father”, we learn how we should pray. When we pray for our daily bread, (a throwback to manna in the desert) are we really praying for today’s sustenance? Nothing more – nothing less? Are we really wanting that? Are we really wanting “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”? I wonder if like the Israelites we would rather God bless our kingdom/nation as we impose our will on others.
Like the nation of Israel and Samuel, we reject the idea of a simple life dependent on the hand of God for our sustenance. Do we really want God’s will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven? Do we even know what that looks like? It’s almost as if what Samuel is telling the Israelites, he is actually spelling things out for us at the same time. When we are looking at the government to fix our country rather than looking to God to show us how to fix ourselves, we are looking in the wrong direction.
This passage in a lot of ways, reflects us today. We generally want God’s involvement when it comes to fixing our problems, protecting us, and granting that our will be done on earth and blessed by Heaven. We seem to be more comfortable with man leading us than God. Samuel describes a nation whose leader is in full control. Our government today is in full control of our lives. They vote in more taxes for us and less taxes for themselves. Free lifetime healthcare for them, “impossible to pay for” healthcare for the people. Social security for the people, a pension for them. And the list goes on. But we are not set up for a Government to be run by it’s beliefs in God. In fact the first amendment guarantees that the government will not get involve in religious affairs.
Our government cannot regulate, coerce, or persecute anyone based on their deeply held religious beliefs. Perhaps it is time for anyone who holds deeply the values we are to live by set forth by Christ, to live them out and face our own fears in doing so. What will people think of me if I live for my daily bread, no more, no less. Is that even wise? What will people think of me as I value living into the will of God over a lifestyle of wealth building and asset accumulation? What does planning for the future look like when I pray for my daily bread?
Samuel tells us what it looks like to submit our lives to the government in exchange for its provision and protection. It’s not good. Submitting our lives to God in exchange for God’s provision and protection sounds like what Jesus teaches in Matthew 6:25-34 but it is so hard for us to wrap our minds around it. How do we shift our lives from our fast paced money centered existence to a God centered existence? In God’s kingdom the currency is love. The more love we give, the more we experience God’s love. Most of us try, for a while at least, to give love but we want God to give us money instead.
The idea of Christian Nationalism fools us into thinking that we are somehow a Christian nation. To truly be a Christian nation, we would have no government. Is that even possible? What kind of changes would need to take place? To have no government would mean that we would have no armed forces, no municipal services like water and police. We would have to defend ourselves against offenses from our neighbor and our enemy by returning them with forgiveness, mercy and love. Jesus doesn’t ever propose how Christians should govern themselves because it is a given that as Christians, we don’t have our own country. As Paul says, “we don’t get involved in civilian affairs”. It is expected that Christianity is a way of life. The design of Christianity makes it unadaptable to being used as a form of government. But it is a way of life that is adaptable to being lived out under any form of government.
As Christians, we are reversing the choice the Israelites made when they demanded a king. We are reversing it as much as possible. The Lord told Samuel not to be upset. The Lord said, “it is me they are rejecting”. As Christ’s followers we are reversing that decision and declaring that Christ is our king. We will submit to whatever government is established in whatever country we are in, just as Jesus and Paul taught the early followers to submit to Rome.
Perhaps the early martyrs were not denying Christ as their Lord out of fear of being rejected by God. Perhaps it was more out of solidarity with other followers, saying this is where the line is drawn. In full conviction they may have thought, “we will not resist a government that is oppressive, but it is out of love for our Lord, not Cesar that we do this”
What will it look like when “The New Jerusalem” comes down from heaven. The city of God. God’s will will be done on earth as in Heaven. And who would govern God’s city but the Lord Himself! Those are unimaginable thoughts to me. But it leads me to imagine a world without corruption. A world without striving. A city that is more like a garden. No pollution. No crime. No burdens. Peace. Love. Light. Creation. Community. Knowledge. Enchantment.