#5 The “IF Series”
“IF ONLY I WERE IN
CHARGE!”
TEXT: 2 Samuel
15:1-18
INTRO: The history
of this planet is replete with examples of leaders who have claimed to bring
humanity to its zenith of power and prosperity, usually through their
braggadocios claims of superior wisdom and skills. “If
only” they were in charge, “if
only” people would follow their
ideas and suggestions, “If only”
they were able to lead.
Examples in history are available: The dictator of
In Jesus’ day the Pharisees had said something similar
when they uttered, “If only we had lived in the time of our forefathers we
wouldn’t have killed the prophets…” (Matt.
23:30) Yet, they helped kill Jesus and stood still when John the Baptist
was killed, they were guilty of the same arrogance as their ancestors.
No doubt you have heard people say similar things today, perhaps on a smaller scale,
but things like;
a. If
only I were in charge…
b. If
only the pastor would have listened to me…
c. If
only I had been the committee chair…
d. If
only the school would take my advice…
ILLUS: I
am persuaded that much of the confusion and conflict which besets the Christian
church today is not due to great issues of theology. Instead, it is because
brilliant leaders have not been willing to act with meekness. Instead, they have
gained a following and then, to maintain this following, have felt obliged to
discredit those who would oppose them. --
It is usually a sign of spiritual pathology when we
find ourselves uttering those words in situations “If only I
…” God help us to keep humble
hearts, and work for the good of others, actions do speak louder than
words!
PROP. SENT: The Bible teaches us
that we can become spiritually unhealthy when we lose our humility and assume a
superior stance over others.
I. ARROGANT LEADERSHIP! 2 Sam.
15:1-6
A.
Pompous! 2 Sam.
15:1
1.
Absalom was the son of a King, King David who was one of the greatest
kings of
a.
King David was one of the most humble kings who had
served.
b.
Absalom was the opposite of his father, he was pompous and
arrogant!
c.
The humility of one generation must be learned to show in the
next!
2.
Notice the opening salvo in this first verse of 2 Sam. 15: “Absalom provided
himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of
him.”
a.
Absalom was full of himself!
b.
David however was full of God, and how best to care for the people of
God, but his son Absalom was full of himself and how best to care for his own
image.
c.
Self-centeredness is not a Christian
characteristic!
ILLUS: When a victorious Roman general arrived back
in
3. It
would have been normal for the king to provide a body guard for one of his sons
as prince, but this was Absalom going bolder to not only be protected, but
admired!
a.
Real leaders don’t demand admiration, in fact, they don’t’ seek it; real
leaders earn it.
b.
Absalom however expected what he didn’t earn, just by virtue of his
standing title.
c. A
title means nothing if it isn’t earned.
4.
When people are super self-promoting, be on
guard!
B.
Positioning! 2 Sam.
15:2-6
1.
Absalom is not only self-centered, he wants more! He wants to take away from his father
who is a good king and set himself up for
power!
a.
Self-important people will often put others down to make themselves look
greater. Beware of those who are
always criticizing others – they may be setting you
up.
b. It
is easy to sit in the critics chair when you are not part of the solution.
2.
False concerns:
a.
Notice how Absalom appears to be so concerned for others, he agrees with
anyone no matter what their grievance is with his father, he flatters them,
makes them think he is so interested in them and would help them IF ONLY HE WERE
THE KING.
b.
His ulterior motives seem pretty clear but flattery clouds their minds.
c.
Real leaders don’t just flatter, they fight to do what is right, not what
is just popular.
ILLUS:
When Harry Truman was thrust into the
presidency, by the death of
3.
False Promises:
a.
Absalom indicates how sad he is that everyone who has a grievance with
his dad is unable to get justice, IF ONLY HE WERE KING they certainly
would.
b. He
is slowly undermining support for his father the king, while stealing the hearts
of the people to support him.
c. It
is easy to see the faults of other leaders while talking freely on how much
better things would be if you were in charge. Real power however comes from making
hard decisions, sometimes even unpopular ones, doing what is right is more
important than just satisfying everyone.
II. AMORAL LEADERSHIP! 2 Sam.
15:7-12
A.
Pernicious! 2 Sam.
15:7-9
1.
The meaning of Pernicious is to be harmful, or destructive, especially in
a gradual or subtle way. This is
preciously the character of Absalom.
a.
Now into 4 years of flattery of the local people, and ready to launch his
take-over plans to become king, he sets in motion his
plan.
b. It
has taken him 4 years to win over the hearts of everyone in the kingdom; he
spent a lot of effort and time into flattery and criticism to get to this
point. And now one more thing was
needed, huge lies in order to successfully begin the coup attempt, lies he makes
to his own father.
2. He
lies to his dad about going away, stating he had made a vow to God he needed to
keep in Hebron, so he had to go to worship the Lord there and fulfill the
vow.
a. In
truth none of this was true, he told his dad a lie his own father would have
been proud of; his going off to worship God and fulfill his word. His dad David was a man after God’s own
heart, so he knew this would be compelling to his
father.
b. It
was also conniving in that he said he was going to Hebron, this was the area
that also had a temple, but David had declared Jerusalem as the center of
worship, so people in the Hebron area were probably already not happy with
David, here Absalom would find even more support to overthrow his dad! And perhaps, by being in
c. He
is playing the “Spiritual” card to get his way.
ILLUS:
The Emperor Justinian built the Church of
St. Sophia, that gem of human architecture. He collected marble and treasures
from all over the world to make it beautiful. At last the moment for dedication
arrived. The words uttered by Justinian seemed full of humility as he said that
all had been done for the glory of God. But as he allowed his eyes to drink in
the beauty of the building, he could hardly contain himself. Someone heard him
whisper, "Solomon, I have surpassed thee." – Source Unknown
d.
Real leaders don’t have to prove how spiritual they are, or use religion
to get their own way – this is evil.
3.
King David blesses his son by telling him to “go in
peace” – he was proud of his son
Absalom for this “apparent” spiritual desire. The trap was
set!
B.
Parasitic! 2 Sam.
15:10-12
1.
Absalom sets in motion his plan with secret messengers who are supposed
to shout out when they hear a trumpet blast, “Absalom is king in
a.
Absalom was born in
b.
There was those in Hebron already upset with king David for moving the
capital to Jerusalem from Hebron, a large sanctuary existed in Hebron still, and
Absalom would thus be garnering their support to get power and return to them
what had been taken away by David.
c. In
this sense he is acting parasitic, using them, and hopefully later controlling
them.
ILLUS: When personalized license plates were
introduced in
2.
Notice how Absalom plays the spiritual card, he offers sacrifices –
possibly in the
a. He
not only is acting like king, but as priest as
well.
b. He
is doing whatever he can to build his support base to achieve his end game – to
overthrow his father David and sit on the throne as king
himself.
3. He
is using everyone he can to achieve his goal, and promising them whatever they
want to nurture it.
4.
Leadership that is about gaining power and control is not godly. True
leadership is about doing the will of God and serving others, not self. David was a model of that, his son
Absalom was the very opposite.
III. ABUSIVE LEADERSHIP! 2 Sam.
15:13-18
A.
Predictive! 2 Sam.
15:13-14
1. A
true friend of king David’s shows up and reveals what is going
on.
a.
David had ignored all the warning signs; probably out of love for his son
and hoping for the best he had missed what was obvious to some
others.
b.
Leaders have to be wise and not overlook the evil intent of
others.
c.
Absalom’s personality and public record would have predicted such an
outcome to overthrow his father.
ILLUS: Muhammad Ali was in his prime, and as he was
about to take off on an airplane flight, the stewardess reminded him to fasten
his seat belt. He came back brashly, "Superman don't need no seat belt." The
stewardess quickly came back, "Superman don't need no airplane, either." Ali
fastened his belt. -- James S. Hewett,
Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p.
295.
2.
But still it seems to have caught David by
surprise!
3.
David shows a completely different heart from his son in the next orders
he gives:
a.
David orders his faithful men to flee the city with
him!
b.
This may seem on the surface a coward’s way out, but it was anything but
cowardly – David was thinking of his faithful men and the city of
c. If
David stayed; Absalom would have attacked the city, killing not only many
innocent lives inside the capital, but many of David’s faithful men and women
who served the king.
d.
David was far more concerned about their safety and lives than he was of
his own power and position as king.
4.
David’s act of fleeing the city was an act of love for God’s people and
God’s will, holding power was not his ultimate goal in
life.
a.
David would trust in God instead of his own
position.
b.
This was in direct contrast to his son Absalom who only used all the
people to get his own kingdom and power.
c.
David was unsure how much support Absalom had at this point and he
wouldn’t gamble on their lives, they were more important to him than his own
life and kingship.
B. Pre-empted! 2 Sam.
15:15-18
1.
David leaves for safety with his household and faithful servants, leaving
behind only 10 concubines to take care of the palace, falsely assuming they
would be safe since they were only concubines and not very important if Absalom
takes over.
a.
Ironically, this set the stage for fulling a previous prophecy by Nathan
as punishment of David’s earlier sins of adultery and murder with Bathsheba and
Uriah her husband. (See 2 Sam. 12:9-12)
b.
Nathan had predicted that in the future someone from David’s own
household would commit open adultery with his wives, which included the
concubines.
c.
Without thinking this would occur, Absalom fulfills this as he takes over
Jerusalem and follows the advice of one of David’s betraying counselors who
advice Absalom to go ahead and sleep with the 10 concubines in public. (see 2 Sam.
16:19-22)
2.
While David’s flight had saved most of his household and all of
Jerusalem, it did not save his 10 concubines from humiliation by public
rape.
a.
When David later returns to
b.
Sin’s tragedies can be recovered from, but they sometimes leave
scars.
ILLUS: Homiletics (Jan.-Mar./96) told of a turtle
who wanted to spend the winter in
3.
Absalom’s reign will be marred with shame and will not last long. Evil sometimes has a run, but it is
always limited.
4.
God Himself will pre-empt Absalom’s plans to rule, he has no heart for
God or God’s people, only himself – this is the tragedy of sin, it is selfish in
nature!
CONCLUSION: We are to guard our own hearts from
the dangers of assuming we are better than others, know better than others, and
are more important than others. Our
place in God’s kingdom is to be servant, just as Jesus was; and he said no
servant is greater than their master.
When we begin to think “If only I…” we are on the trail of selfishness,
which leads to sin.