The Fifth Sunday after Trinity – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: 1 Samuel 15:1-15

In Christ Jesus, no counterfeit ruler, no charlatan who deceives for personal gain, but a King who gave up His life for your salvation, dear fellow redeemed:

Everyone liked Absalom. For one thing, he was very good looking. The Scriptures say that “From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him” (2Sa. 14:25). Once a year, he cut his hair because it got so heavy, and what he cut off weighed about five pounds. There was no one like him.

The other reason Absalom was so well-liked was because he was very good at telling people what they wanted to hear. He was a master of flattery. He would sit each day at the city gate in Jerusalem, and he would warmly receive everyone who arrived there. He would pretend to care about their business, and he would act like his father, King David, had no real interest in their concerns. He would say, “Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice.” And when anyone would honor him, he would return the honor in a show of humility. In this way, we are told, “Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.”

Absalom behaved in this manner for four years. What I haven’t mentioned yet, is that Absalom was a murderer. He took revenge against his brother Amnon and had Amnon killed. After doing this Absalom fled, and King David did not allow him to return to Jerusalem for three years. When Absalom did return, David refused to see him. Two years after this, Absalom manipulated one of David’s servants and gained access again to his father. And David forgave his son.

That interaction comes immediately before what we learn about today with Absalom actively working against his father. So all Israel was being drawn to the king’s son, a murderer, who had no respect for his father or his office as king. The main Commandment in view in today’s reading is the Fourth Commandment, “Honor your father and your mother, that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.”

You might recall the way David referred to King Saul while King Saul in his jealousy was trying to have David killed. David referred to him as “the Lord’s anointed” and as “my Lord” (1Sa. 24, 26). Even though Saul was not respectable, David showed respect for the office. In the same way, we are to show respect for the authorities starting in our own homes. Colossians 3:20 says, “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.”

Children are to honor, respect, and obey their parents at all times. If their parents tell them to clean their room, help around the house, or whatever they tell them to do, their children are to obey them as though the Lord Himself told them to do this. The only exception to this Commandment is if parents tell their children to do something that God says is wrong; for example, to do harm to someone or to take someone’s possessions.

This respect also applies to authority outside the home. We are to have respect for teachers, employers, pastors, and government officials, among others. We respect these individuals not because they are always respectable, and not because we like everything they do, but because God has established these authorities. If there were no authority, there would be no law and order. There would be chaos. God has given authority for our good, even if it doesn’t always seem good.

The people of Israel knew the Fourth Commandment. They knew they were to honor the king. They knew Absalom was honoring neither the king nor his father. That should have been a tremendous red flag. That should have told them that perhaps Absalom was not king material. But they let themselves be duped by him. He was an important person—a prince. He was good looking. He made them feel special.

He also told them what they wanted to hear. He told them that all their claims, their ideas, and their concerns, were good and right. That is a danger for us, too, in both civil and spiritual matters. We can be all too eager to listen to the politician who makes promises that he probably can’t keep, but that we love to hear. We like to be told that all our claims, our ideas, and our concerns, are good and right. And in being greedy to get what we want, it is only too easy to ignore the needs and concerns of our neighbors.

In spiritual matters, if we are only looking for a preacher or teacher who tells us what we want to hear, then we will be less and less willing to be corrected and challenged and taught by the Word of God. St. Paul says that in the last days people will have “itching ears.” “They will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2Ti. 4:3-4). We don’t need an echo chamber. We need the Holy Spirit through the powerful Word to change us and shape us and mold us into what God has called us to be.

This is what Jesus did for Peter and the other disciples. He gave them a tremendous catch of fish, when previously they had been unable to catch anything. When he saw this, Peter fell down before Jesus and said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luk. 5:8). Now Jesus going away is the last thing that Peter needed, but he clearly saw that he was not worthy to be in the Lord’s presence which was certainly true. Instead of going away, Jesus said, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men” (v. 10).

Jesus authorized Peter and the other disciples to preach the powerful Word. They would not be selfishly trying to draw people away from Jesus; they would be pointing people to Jesus. Jesus was not going to steal the throne of any earthly king. He already was the King of all heaven and earth. So what was He doing down here in human flesh? What was His purpose? What was His plan?

Absalom commissioned fifty men to run in front of him, while he rode on a chariot to take his position at the city gate. He wanted everyone to think he was important. Then he told whatever lie he had to to please them. Jesus did the opposite of all this. The Son of God entered the world through a lowly woman named Mary, a descendant of King David, and His coming was heralded by none but the shepherds. Jesus gained followers for Himself not through flattery and deceit but through teaching the truth.

He did not sit at the city gate coaxing people away from the authorities. He did not come to put on a show of His greatness or to manipulate people to do what He wanted. He came in all humility as a servant to redeem the world of sinners. He went from place to place telling people the good news of the kingdom. He healed the sick and the hurting. He fed the hungry and spared the demon-possessed. He did not look out for His own interests but for the interests of others.

As a leader, He was nothing like Absalom. There were no red flags with Jesus. Everything He said was good and right. He upheld the Commandments perfectly, including God’s command to honor father and mother and every authority. He didn’t just talk the talk; He walked the walk.

And that is why you are presented righteous before God today. However you have disrespected and dishonored your parents, your teachers, your employers, law enforcement officials, or anyone else in governing positions, God forgives these sins. They were counted against Jesus who paid for every sin on the cross. By faith in Him, His righteousness is now credited to you, so that God sees you as having no sin, as having no blemish on your record that stands between you and the perfection of heaven.

This is what He tells you in His holy Word. This is what He continues to commission men to preach and teach to you. Like Simon Peter, your pastors are imperfect men, and they know it. But they point you to the perfect Savior. This Gospel message is how sinners are “caught” for the kingdom of God. It is not a message to work against the ruling authorities or destroy the institutions of government. It is a message of peace between God and man because Jesus the God-Man stepped in as our Substitute.

We want to fix our hope on this message. Popular, influential people like Absalom will keep coming along with their plots and plans. They will appeal to us with their smooth talk and flattering words. They will promise us great personal gain and prosperity. But almost as soon as they gain power, they are gone again. Psalm 146 says, “Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish” (vv. 3-4).

We put our trust not in princes, but in the King of kings and Lord of lords. An earthly son of man cannot save us, but the Son of God and Son of Man can. He is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (Joh. 14:6). His Word does not mislead us. His Word “is a lamp to [our] feet and a light to [our] path” (Psa. 119:105). He calls us to follow His Word in good times and in bad, in times of prosperity and times of trouble.

No matter how strange, outdated, or ineffective people think God’s Word is today, it remains powerful just as He is powerful. His Word is the source of our faith and the means by which He grants us eternal life. His strong Word will endure as rulers come and go and as kingdoms rise and fall. Everything in this world eventually fails and falls apart, but “the word of our God will stand forever” (Isa. 40:8).

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

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(picture of the miraculous catch of fish by Raphael, 1515)