Farewell to the Kings
Wrapping up a long sermon series is a bittersweet experience, akin to getting home after an epic road trip with great friends. There is both relief you’re finally home as well as some sadness that it’s all over. That’s how I’m feeling this morning after wrapping up Searching for a King last weekend, our journey through the Old Testament books of Samuel and Kings.
As I file away my notes and take apart ‘The Chart,’ I am mentally posting snapshots of some of the more memorable stops along the way.
- Samuel: Hannah in the house of God, pouring out her anguish over her barrenness to him. (not against him) Then a picture of her face, a torrid mixture of joy and tears as she leaves her little Samuel, God’s answer to her plea, with Eli the priest. (1 Samuel 1-2)
- Saul: Saul on his knees before Samuel, clutching the hem of his robe, pleading for another chance to be the king God called him to be. He is denied and it sobers me because I too am a people-pleaser by nature. (1 Samuel 15)
- David: The triumphant faces of three of David’s Mighty Men who fought through a host of Philistines to give their leader a flask of Bethlehem’s best water. Then their astonished faces as David pours out this precious gift as an offering to the High King. (2 Samuel 23) David’s greatest moment: Not caring two cents that he looks like a fool as he leads the triumphant celebration of God with the ark brought into Jerusalem. (2 Samuel 6) David’s worst moment: David’s stone hard face and tortured soul after he has tried to cover up his adultery with murder. (2 Samuel 11)
- Solomon: The wisest man who ever lived becoming the dumbest as his mid-life crisis leads him to trade treasure for trash. (1 Kings 11) I’m tempted to replace this shot with one from his early years of virtue, but I think I’m supposed to keep the sickening one up.
- Divided Kingdom: Dozens of shots are well worth posting but I keep coming back to the face of the Shunnamite woman who clings to her confidence in God’s powerful compassion even as her son dies in her arms. I see in her face the faces of our friends who shared their own fight for faith when the miracle asked for didn’t come.
After a Kings epilogue in December, we’ll head out on a new journey in January. But for now I just want to savor where we’ve been.
Pastor Toby
Categories: Evergreen Connection