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Ferdinand Waldo Demara lived a very colorful life.  He was a Navy surgeon, prison warden, monk and a psychologist.  The only problem is that while he practiced each of these – he never was any of these.  His life was recorded by Robert Crichton in a book and then later made into a movie called, The Great Impostor which starred Tony Curtis.

Demara masqueraded with several identities and aliases, but it finally caught up with him.  His fame eventually drove him to assume his real name (he couldn’t pass off being anyone else).  He returned to a life of faith, this time for real.  He went to Multnomah Bible College in Washington and then served as a Baptist Pastor for years in the Anaheim area as well as chaplain of the Good Samaritan Hospital.  Those who knew him classified him as miserable.  He died virtually penniless and it was said that he lived in the Good Samaritan Hospital by the good grace of the hospital administrator.  There are other impostors with equally impressive tales, Frank Abignale’s life was glorified in Catch Me If You Can .  But they all share one common theme, aliases can not be sustained.

Aliases cannot be sustained, trying times reveal our true nature. (1 Samuel 28:3-25)

• Throughout this series we’ve seen Saul masquerade as holy, successful, just, or just plain good enough.  But none of these were who he was.
• Saul’s own desire/sin found him out and we see that here in this passage.
• He seeks out the mediums he expelled. Saul was just masquerading at devotion for when things get tough he turns to the darkness of divination.  (1 Samuel 28:3-10)
• God has told Saul repeatedly that he is not with him and his kingdom will not last.  (1 Samuel 13:14, 15:13, 16:14, 18:12)
  • Saul just doesn’t get it or rather just won’t accept the fact that God has left him.  So, he inquires of God, God is silent and so Saul turns away and back to his own darkness.
  • God allows Saul’s dark experience to reiterate the truth he refused to listen too. (1 Samuel 28:11-19)
    • Divination is condemned by God (Deuteronomy 18:10-11) and Saul knows this.  Yet, Saul turns here for advice.
    • Divine seers like the Oracle at Delphi were known for trances and visions.  Scholars believe that in the case of the Oracle at Delphi there were ethylene vapors in the cave which caused these hallucinations. (See:http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/08/0814_delphioracle.html)
    • I don’t think that’s the case here, as the Seer in 1 Samuel 28:12 cries out when she sees Samuel, this might be the first time she’s really been successful.  Odds are she was just a charlatan scheming away people’s money.
    • Regardless of what’s happening, God uses this moment to say the same thing that he’s been saying, which is, “No really it’s over Saul.”
    • This comes true and the next day Saul dies.  (1 Samuel 31)  Saul’s aliases cost him everything, his kingdom, his family, his peace with God.  He had it within his power numerous times to let go of the alias and accept God’s gracious truth.  So, how do we do that?  Unfortunately we have to turn somewhere else, because Saul never made the change.

Let go of your alias by…

Confessing your alias publicly. (James 5:16)

• Confessing your alias is the first step in deflating its power.
• We’re only as sick as our secrets; the step to health is confession and transparency.

Reconciling with people quickly. (Matthew 5:23-26; 1 John 2:9)

• Once our alias is out in the open then we can move to reconciliation.  Reconciliation with people brings about reconciliation with God.  It also heads off judgment.
• The emotional energy required to maintain a grudge is crippling, the time spent in lawsuits is staggering – even if you win.  Reconciliation is hard, but in the long run it’s the easiest thing to do.
• If we’re at fault and guilty then reconciliation is the best way to prevent further harm from those we love.

Remembering your true nature – “the light of the world.” (Luke 8:16; Matthew 10:26-33)

• After you have deflated your alias, you’ll have to take some steps to ensure that it stays away.
• Family systems theory deals with the family, because when one person changes everyone must change because they’ve gotten used to their roles.  You might not have the luxury of other people working to change with you, so you’ll have to work extra hard at remember what it is you truly are.
• You are not your alias, you are the light of the world.  (Luke 8:16)  In confession we reignite the light in our souls, don’t extinguish it because the world will only accept your darkness.

Managing your time. (Ephesians 5:8-20)

• Not only do you have to remember your nature, you have to place yourself in a position to grow.  So much of what we do does not increase our light.  We are essentially solar powered beings, we can’t live in darkness and continue to function.

Watching your influences and influencers. (Matthew 6:23; 2 Corinthians 6:14)

• This might be the hardest part, but you’ll have to manage your relationships. (2 Corinthians 6:14)
• This verse does not tell us to disassociate from the world, just don’t be yoked-bonded to it.  Yoke means that when one party grows, so does the other.  When the other is defeated, they’re both defeated.
• Don’t form spiritual bonds with the world.  Whether this is in marriage, dating or intimate friendship.

Listening to yourself. (Matthew 15:17-20)

• Finally, as a check up on your spirituality listen to yourself.
• According to UC Davis Medical Center, Americans spend close to $1 billion dollars on hand sanitizer so that we won’t get germs.  We’re just like the Pharisees, we think that what we handle makes us dirty.
• Jesus has a different idea and something to say to those who use hand sanitizer: Matthew 15:17-20.

What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.                                          – Romans 6:1-4

*The story of Kate Flanders and Andrew Smith used in the sermon was from several sources including: Ferguson, Ron, “A victim’s forgiveness that is awesome and inspiring,” The Herald (Glasgow, Scotland), July 30, 2007.

Do you want to know what breaks the heart of God?  There are three stories that reveal God’s broken heart so very clearly…

• Jeremiah 42:10: God is broken when he see a nation in brokenness from the consequences of their sin.
• 2 Samuel 24:10-25: God is distraught up when David’s sin causes a nation to suffer.
• Genesis 6:5-7: God is broken when sin ruins the world and all of humanity except one family.

This same brokenness God has over the sins of the masses is experienced when one person breaks faith.  1 Samuel 15:35 tells us Saul’s sin leads God to regret.

Sin starts with a compromise. (1 Samuel 15:7-9)

• God’s mission is clear. (1 Samuel 15:1-3) God has here commanded total destruction of the Amalekites.  This goes back to Exodus 17:8-16 when the Amalekites attacked the Israelites as they were passing into the promised land led by Moses.
  • I suppose we don’t know all the reasons why God has commanded the destruction of the Amalekites.  But we know, God has put them under the “ban” this word is used on nations that were to be driven out completely.
  • We must realize that this will not happen again, God speaks to no nation the way that he spoke to Israel.  No country has the right or mandate to wipe out another people group.  So, while we might not understand it – we can accept this as a divine commandment and even exception that comes straight from the Lord.
  • These nations were known for destroying their own children in detestable idolatrous practices, something God abhors. God commands total destruction so no taint of their sin would remain.  In Joshua 23:11-13 Joshua reminds Israel that they must drive out the idolatrous nations before them or they would be ensnared by their idolatry and would fall.  This is eventually what would happen, but it took almost 1,000 years from Joshua to the deportation and captivity.  Talk about a slow fade.  When we deviate from God’s mission just a little bit we will eventually end up falling to our sin – it might just take some time.
• How do you defeat sin and temptation?  Completely – there is no half-way to righteousness.  What is it that you’ve let have a foot hold in your life?  Maybe you’ve eliminated everything but just one corner, maybe you tossed out all temptation except that one, maybe you’ve forgiven everybody but them…  What is it that you hang on to?

Compromise leads brokenness.  (1 Samuel 15:10-11)

• The brokenness that takes place is in us, but also in the very heart of God.
• Saul sees the choice sheep and cattle.  He values the possessions, not the people.  They keep for themselves what is under the ban.  Just like at Jericho God dedicated some things to himself or to destruction.
  • Saul compromises and kills the people, but keeps the goods.  Spares the king, possibly as a trophy.
  • In 1 Samuel 15:13, we see that he apparently believes he has done God’s will!  It started with a compromise and once he crossed that line it became all too easy.
• God regrets that he has made Saul king.  Does God have regrets for you?
  • Does he regret making you successful?
  • Does he regret giving you a family?
  • Does he regret giving you a place of leadership?

Repentance, not excuses bring wholeness. (1 Samuel 15:13-21)

• At first, Saul celebrates his sin. If Saul had any modesty shown by hiding during his coronation it is gone now as her erects monuments to his greatness.  He celebrates his failure.  We celebrate our failure.
• We erect billboards and celebrate our sin and brokenness.  While God just watches and weeps at the sight of our sin.
• When he’s caught, Saul blames the people for keeping the livestock.  Samuel calls Saul actions “the sin of rebellion”(1 Samuel 15:23), he equates that sin with divination.  The word for rebellion means to “press your case” we might say, “press your luck.”
  • Saul claims to know what God really wants and is for the people to keep their possessions.  I think of Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:23 to other people who claimed they knew him, “I never knew you, go away from me.”  It’s obvious they never knew Christ.
  • Saul even tries to say that the reason he sinned was for God’s benefit.  Samuel quickly reminds Saul that he would rather have obedience than excuses or even repentance.  This is what Paul reminds us of in Romans 6:1, “Should we continue to sin in order that grace may abound?”  Absolutely not.
• What will you offer?  Excuses or repentance.  Proverbs 28:13, “No one who conceals transgressions will prosper, but one who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”

1 John 1:8-9, “8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

We are born with an acute sense of justice – children have a very clear and definite picture about what’s right, wrong, yours and mine.  Jill Greenberg a few years ago exploited this and made a lot of money doing it.  She was a photographer in the LA area who would set up her studio, give a child a lollipop, focus her camera and then have her assistant take away the lollipop.  The children would cry and she would take their picture. [From: http://articles.latimes.com/2006/jul/24/entertainment/et-kids24?pg=1]

A major task of parents is to move our sense of justice out so that it includes everyone and not just ourselves.  Bill Moyers explains what this increased justice looks like.  “Charity depends on the vicissitudes of whim and personal wealth; justice depends on commitment instead of circumstance. Faith-based charity provides crumbs from the table; faith-based justice offers a place at the table.” Saul however does not seem to have outgrown this sense of acute and juvenile justice.

1. I am naturally self-centered and impatient.  (1 Samuel 14:1-23)

• Jonathan starts with the Lord in mind and God grants him great success.
• Saul neglects to wait on the Lord.  (1 Samuel 14:19-20)  It seems that he is engaged in a competition with his son (1 Samuel 20:30-34).  His sense of justice dictates that he be in the middle of this fight.
• Saul wants to get in the battle with or without the Lord’s direction.  Jonathan’s very first words were entreating the Lord.  Saul cuts God off mid sentence by telling the priest to withdraw his hand from the ephod.
• At least Saul let God start talking.  We are often too busy to even ask!  We feel so confident in who we are and what we’re doing that we don’t stop to ask God.
• We carry on in our lives without a word from God and eventually interpret God’s silence as his agreement with us.

2. I tend to order my world and my faith from my point of view.  (1 Samuel 14:24-35)

• Saul makes a rash oath (1 Samuel 14:24,29) endangering the troops by threatening them against taking a lunch break.
• I’m always concerned when we start assigning spiritual consequences and spiritual motives to people.  We say, “They’re not doing this for God,” or “They’ve given into the devil.”  I have a hard enough time guessing my own motives, much less someone else’s.
• I’m more concerned when we start passing judgment for God on people.  Saul here is using the same word that God used to curse the serpent and the same word used in Deuteronomy 27 about the curses on idol makers.
• Saul leads his troops into temptation by causing a hunger so severe they violate their kosher laws. (1 Sauel 14:31-35)
• Saul here is so intent on “avenging himself” that he neglects his troops.  Worse than that he reorders God’s priorities to help him.
• We order, reorder, and invent God in our likeness to suit our needs.  Christians have done this to justify Crusades, slavery, even subjugating women and abusing children.
• We use guilt today in this way.  We use it on our spouses, children anyone we can.  We proof-text to prove our points and in turn make God into our own image.  We change God’s heart to match our own and never realize that it’s our heart God needs to change.

3. I need God’s help and a community of faith to move beyond “ME” and into healthy relationships.  (1 Samuel 14:36-46)

• God does not speak to Saul – apparently for his rash oath.  Saul has literally taken God’s name in vain and so God is silent because Saul has already done too much talking.
  • As such, Saul would execute his son to save face before his people.  Thankfully the men with Saul had more sense than he did.
  • The victory that Jonathan started was ended by Saul’s sin (1 Samuel 14:46)
  • It’s so easy to become self-absorbed, particularly today when we all need to be sensitive, when we all have needs and we all deserve so much more than we get.  Madison Avenue loves to sell things to us this way, but we all need someone to bring us back to reality.
  • How do we as believing “adults” act out of self-righteousness?  Silent treatment, hold a grudge, won’t cooperate, won’t forgive, spread rumors, bad attitude, act out aggressively or violently, withhold affection.
  • You see it every time a marriage ends because he’s not meeting my needs and I have a right to be happy.  Every time a student cheats because they have a right to pass the class.  Every time a man moves his family because his employer isn’t treating him the way he deserves.
  • Thankfully God loves you as you are, and he loves you enough not to leave you there.  Sometimes our conversion comes through community. It did for Saul and it can for us we need only to surrender to the Lord and the love of the people of faith.

Holiness literally means to be “set apart” or different.  Pragmatically holiness is internalizing the changes that God leads you to, it is becoming like Christ.  It starts with us setting apart a small part of ourselves and allowing God to transform us.  Unfortunately we are to easily satisfied with the appearance of holiness.

We see why holiness is important from Jesus’ teaching.  In Luke 6:46ff Jesus tells us that when we obey his commands and model our life after his we establish our life on the rock.  We build our house like a wise builder and build on the sure foundation of Jesus’ sinless life and perfect teaching.

The very first act of Saul’s affirmed Kingship (1 Samuel 11) Saul is told that he is not going to last as king. That’s what happens when you play games with God – you lose.  God says here in 1 Samuel 13:14 that he is now choosing someone “after his own heart” or his own choosing.

Saul had a track record of indifference –  Samuel had a track record of integrity.

• Age doesn’t equal maturity.  Saul testifies to this, the young King David has more spiritual awareness and leadership maturity than Saul ever did.
  • This is what Paul reminds Timothy of when he admonishes him to not let others look down on him because he is young! (1 Timothy 4:12)
  • Samuel has served for years (1 Samuel 12:1-2) and Saul is starting (1 Samuel 13:1).  Yet, in this short time we see the true character of Saul.  While Samuel’s has been built for a lifetime.
• You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.  Samuel’s life is more than a charade.
  • Samuel took nothing (1 Samuel 12:3-5): more importantly Samuel owed no one anything.  The people were indebted to Samuel!  Compare this with Saul who took everything. (1 Samuel 13:2).
  • We saw Saul’s indifference prior to his inauguration.  We Saul follow through with taking their very lives for service.

Saul played at holiness – Samuel practiced it.

• With Samuel they feared the Lord – 1 Samuel 12:6-18
  • Samuel kept the people’s eyes on the right issue because his eyes were fixed there.
  • If leadership is the head and a leader is the eye then wherever their gaze is fixed so to the group.
  • Coaches constantly exhort their players to keep focused, because the coach sees the bigger picture in the season not the game or the opposing players.
• With Saul they feared their enemies – 1 Samuel 13:5-7
  • Fear is a funny thing, it seems to me that we fear the most immediate threat not the greatest.  We worry about what we’ll eat for dinner, or wear – but neglect to think about feeding ourselves spiritually, or clothing ourselves with Christ.
  • We worry more about car crashes and burglary than we do our spirituality.
  • Jesus said, “I’ll show you who to fear, fear him who after destroying the body can…” (Luke 12:5)
• Jesus calls out the people that worry more about the appearance of holiness and not true holiness.  He reserves his harshest criticism for them – calling them whitewashed tombs. (Matthew 23:27)
• Is your heart aligned with the fear of God or are you consumed with worries in this world?

Saul’s authority was political – Samuel’s was spiritual.

• Here we see the split of prophet and king, spiritual leader and national leader truly take shape.  Prophet – King  (1 Samuel 12:23)
  • Aaron was the priest, but Moses spoke to God and was a Levite.
  • Joshua found himself at the tent of meeting speaking with God.
  • The judges were called by God and directed by God.  From here on out the primary means of Divine to royal communication comes through a prophet.
• This authority is deeper than the ability to tell someone to do something, it is a moral authority a matter of integrity.
• I won’t tell you who, but there are a few people in my life that if they called me on the phone and said, “God wants you to do this…” I’d do it.  Because I know that their spirituality and integrity places them in a position of authority in my life.
  • Samuel’s was to God – 1 Samuel 12:13-15.  Samuel looks beyond the kingship to the true kingship of God reminding the people to submit first to the Lord.
  • Saul’s was to himself – 1 Samuel 13:8-12.  Look at verse 12 and notice how many times “I” occurs – this reveals Saul’s focus.

How do we start?  Humility.  James 4:10 tells us to humble ourselves before God and he will lift us up.