Choosing Your King and Your Kingdom

Journey Through the Bible Series
Preached by Dr. Peter James Flamming, 
First Baptist Church, Richmond, Va.
December 8, 2002

Texts: 1 Samuel 16: 6-13; Luke 1

I had been preaching for over 40 years when something happened I had never seen before. It happened right here, in this spot, in this room, on a Sunday morning just like this one. Steve Fitzhugh was the guest preacher for Disciple Now that year. The church was packed with young people and their parents. Steve was a former pro football player. What Michael Vick does on a football field, Steve did that morning from this pulpit. He preached for 50 minutes and held us spell bound. If I preached for 50 minutes I believe the word would be “downsized.” He began by saying, “I want to preach to you about the Kingdom.”

The Bible has a lot to say about kings and kingdoms. And in the last fifty years we are beginning to understand why Jesus had so much to say about the Kingdom of God. For the fantasy literature of our day grasps us with good kings and kingdoms, and bad kings and kingdoms. Whether we are talking about C.S. Lewis and the Narnia Chronicles, or J.R.R. Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings, or Star Wars. It is as if there is an agenda, a menu, trying to get through to our inner spirits beyond what we can calculate and measure. A spiritual kingdom, a spiritual universe is wanting to be heard.

Jesus’ favorite word for the spiritual kingdom that can live in a person’s soul was Kingdom of God. He said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and all other things will be added to you.” Again he said, “My kingdom is not of this world.”

The Music of the Kingdom

When it comes to music, no piece trumpets the final victory of Christ’s Kingdom more than the Hallelujah chorus of the Messiah. Completed in 1741 and presented for the first time in 1742 in Dublin. A year later it was sung in London before the King and his court. As the choir lifted up their voices - “King of Kings and Lord of Lords,” King George II was so inspired he stood and others followed.

It was a parable. An earthly king who many would say had more weaknesses than strengths, was standing in reverence before the King whose Kingdom shall know no end.

 But in Kingdom matters, if you really want to know what God is doing, you have to begin with the story before the story. The creator of the story before the story in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the make-it-happen dimension of God. The pattern the Holy Spirit uses is wonderful and consistent.

¨      The Holy Spirit works behind the scenes. There is always a story before the story.

¨      The Spirit uses the ordinary in extraordinary ways.

¨      The Spirit is never early, but is always right on time.  

¨      We are not only recipients of the Kingdom, but carriers of the Kingdom.

The Story before the Story

Consider Charles Jennens.  He is the story behind the story of Handel’s Messiah.

In the midst of Handel’s downcast state, there was a knock at the door. “Who in the world could be calling at this time of the day?”, George asked himself.  It was Charles, Charles Jennens, maybe his best friend, at least the friend that had stuck by him through his good times and his bad times. 

“Charles, what are you doing here this time of the morning?” George asked.

“George, I have an idea, a great idea. You have an interest in Bible themes. You did the Oratorio on Esther, and then the one on Saul. Then you did the one you called, Israel in Egypt.” George cringed. Hearing his latest flops paraded before him was not how he wanted to start the day.

Charles continued. “George, I have a great idea. Why don’t you compose and oratorio that will sing of the birth, then the death, and then the resurrection of Jesus? People could sing it at Christmas and at Easter. It would give musical voice to their celebration.”

George was stunned. He mumbled something about that being too big a subject and he didn’t know enough Scripture to do that. But Charles  pulled out a packet of papers with the Scriptures needed. George sat sipping his coffee while Charles spread his enthusiasm all over the room. “Do it George. Do it.”  Knowing he had done all he could, Charles left.

George Fridrick Handel. looked over the texts from the Scripture. The more he looked the more enthusiastic he became.  From August 22 until the middle of September,  1741, Handel hardly slept. Twenty -four days later he finished The Messiah. Handel wrote, “I did think I did see all Heaven before me and the great God himself.” When the Messiah was performed in London, King George II was so inspired that he rose to his feet. This set in place the tradition we still follow as we stand for the Hallelujah Chorus.

How unique that an earthly King should rise to pay tribute to the choir singing of another King, an eternal King: “King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And he shall reign forever and ever.”

The Two Kings who were Born in Bethlehem

In the Bible there were two kings who were born in Bethlehem. Jesus, and a King a thousand years before named King David. But had you been there when King David was chosen, it would have seemed just as impossible as the birth of the Messiah.  

Here is the story before the story of the first King. (1 Samuel 16)  

After the Israelites settled in the Promised Land, the land was divided up among the 12 tribes. Meanwhile, settling on the coast were a war loving people called the Philistines. They were terrorists of the first order. They settled in five large seacoast cities, one whose name lingers to this day, Gaza. They were fierce, they were warriors, they were organized. The Israelites fought to survive. The Philistines survived so they could fight.

The cry went up: “Give us a King.” Samuel, the last of the great Judges, had listened to the Lord since but a boy. He went to the Lord and said, “What shall I do?” The Lord said, “Tell them what will happen.” So Samuel went before the people and said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and your daughters, your houses and your lands, your fields and your vineyards.” But the people said, “Give us a King,” so Samuel did.

Saul was chosen. He was tall, athletic, good looking. He had a kingly presence about him. But King Saul reminds me what our coach used to say to us when he was upset with us: “Flamming, you look like a football player, you have pads like a football player, you wear a helmet like a football player, you even smell like a football player, but there is almost nothing about you that is a football player.”  King Saul looked like a king but he wasn’t king material. He turned out to be a disaster. Ultimately, he had to be replaced.

Then God did his thing. He turned the whole King and Kingdom thing upside down. When God does something it is never what is expected. And it is personal, simple, and almost always ignores the people who matter. God told Samuel to go to Bethlehem and find the family of Jesse and there you will find your king. (1 Samuel 16:1-13)

I can imagine, can’t you, the immense preparation for Samuel’s arrival. “The next King will come from our family!” The interviews started with the oldest whose name was Eliab. He must have had an impressive appearance. Samuel said to himself, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”

Now, Samuel was a hard guy to impress. He was tough as a boot, and a commanding presence. For instance, when he arrived in Bethlehem for the anointing, the elders of the city trembled and asked, “Do you come in peace.”  Samuel was the Bear Bryant of the early prophets. Yet, he was impressed by Eliab. (1 Samuel 16:6)

But God said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” So Samuel ran through the whole list of sons. No affirmation from God on any one of them.

“Is there another?” Samuel asked.

The answer came, “Well, just the kid. He is out tending the sheep.”

“Just the kid.” When I was in East Africa some years ago this passage came to mean much more to me. In the Massai Tribe, the boys and men of the family all play roles. The older guys play the wisdom role. The middle-age men are the business men. The young men are the warriors. And the boys, the bottom of the ladder of prestige, keep the cattle. Little David, the runt, the kid, was at the bottom of the ladder in family matters.

Guess who God picked to be king? The kid, the boy keeping the sheep. In the world’s thinking, the oldest son should have been the one chosen.  The first son had all the rights and privileges appertaining to anything.  

But God upset everyone’s apple cart. David became King. And what a king David turned out to be. This is the David who slew Goliath, David the warrior who finally put the Philistine threat to rest, David the singer of songs and the writer of Psalms, and, yes, David the sinner. The star of David is at the center of the Israeli flag until this day. Bethlehem will henceforth be known as David’s town.

The Second King Born in Bethlehem

It is from David’s line, a thousand years later, that another King was born in Bethlehem. King Jesus is his name. Like the first David, he will not come from a King’s family. He arrived on the scene unknown by anyone in that world who mattered. Even in Nazareth, his home town, he was known as “the Carpenter’s Son.” The coming of Jesus fits God’s pattern perfectly. He comes unknown. God bypasses all of the people who matter.

But there are great differences between the first King born in Bethlehem, King David, and the second, Jesus the Lord.

¨      The first built a Kingdom tied to this world; the second built a Kingdom of the heart that lasts into eternity.

¨      The first fought flesh and blood Philistines, the second conquers the Philistines of the spirit, like hate, pride, hypocrisy, and arrogance.

¨      The first sat on a throne. The second died on a cross for the sins of the whole world.

¨      The first was devoted to his nation; the second embraced the whole world.

The story before the story of King Jesus is found in Luke 1.

Gabriel appears to Mary and announces to her that she will bear a son, Jesus, who will be the Messiah. She cannot figure this out because she has no husband and is a virgin. “The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35)

From there you know the story. Mary and Joseph came to Bethlehem to register for the taxing census Caesar required. They found no room in the inn and Jesus was born in a manger behind the inn.

Ted Loder, in one of his Christmas stories, imagines a woman named Leah on her way to Bethlehem with her husband Amos and their family. They are making the trip for the same reason and at the same time as Mary and Joseph. And, like Mary and Joseph they had to go to the place of their ancestors and be counted. As they make the journey Leah wonders why they need to be counted. Some said it was for taxes, but they had nothing to tax as poor as they were. And little Deborah was sick all of the way; burning hot she was.

When they arrived at the census place, the Roman legionnaires were asking people all the questions and writing down the answers on long scrolls. One would speak and the other write it down. When it came their turn the soldier said, “Amos of Godera, the fourteenth man on this day, with four male children, three female, and his wife, the ninth woman.”

“His wife, the ninth woman.” The ninth woman. That was cold, and hard and distant. Leah  would remember that for the rest of her life. No name. Not even mother of these children. Just, the ninth woman. That is the kingdom of this world.

Afterward, when the Roman soldier said they could go, there was no place to stay. Those who could afford it stayed in the inn. Some stayed with relatives. A man Amos met said some people were being allowed to stay out behind the inn in a place where animals were kept. Leah, Amos, and the children sought the place out. It was out of the wind, where they could spend the night.

They had just settled in when . . . over in a corner a woman started to groan with birth pains. Leah recognized the situation immediately. She had served as midwife for many in Godera. She felt sorry for whoever it was. A stable wasn’t much of a place to birth a child.

The cries got louder and more frequent. After a while it was obvious no one else would help. Leah was so tired but she went anyway. She saw the husband. But all he was able to do was reassure her. She thought to herself how useless men are at a birthing. They don’t want to try anything they don’t already have answers for. There are no set answers for the birthing of a baby.

It was not an easy birth. After he finally came Leah wrapped the baby in some blankets the husband had gotten somewhere and handed the little baby boy to her mother. As she watched she thought, there is nothing like seeing what happens between a mother and a baby in that first few minutes. Leah had seen it many times in Godera. Now even in the stable there was that special thing between a mother and a baby.

When Leah was about to leave the mother looked up and asked what her name was. She told her that her name was Leah. The mother was so tired but she held out the baby and said, “Leah, this is Jesus.” It was the first time anybody had called her name since she had left Godera.

Leah went back to her own family. Deborah was still hot with fever. All the children were awake. They had heard. It was like they were struggling with a secret they didn’t know how to ask or talk about.  

Looking up into the stars Leah thought how sometimes little things happen that become big things. Who would have thought they would find shelter in a stable only to witness the birth of a baby. She wondered why it had all happened just like it did. She remembered the words: “Leah, this is Jesus.” The words warmed her spirit and made her feel loved and cherished.

King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Yes.

But don’t look for a throne, watch for a stable.

Don’t look for a castle, look for a cross.

Don’t wait for a calling card. Just listen. Leah, this is Jesus. 

© 2002 James Flamming