Obedience is better than sacrifice

Obedience is better than sacrifice

SIB/Pastor Lee Choo/4/12/11

Today’s message was all about the principle of obedience, based on the text 1 Samuel 15:1-23. In this historical narrative, we see how King Saul was ordered by God to totally destroy the Amalekites, every person and every animal. Saul gathered 210,000 men and totally defeated the Amalekites. However, he did not obey the Lord’s instructions completely, sparing the Amalekite king Agag, and the best of the sheep and the cattle.

From this story, there are 3 main lessons on obedience. Firstly, is the predicament of obedience. To every child, there is one basic command – obey your parents, and this is fundamental to a child’s future and success. A child asked to sleep at 7-8pm when the adults sleep much later may not understand why their parents want them to sleep early. They have to trust that simply, their parents know better. For us it is the same. We may not understand why we have to obey but simply trust that God knows better.

Typical questions we may ask include “Why obey when it doesn’t make sense?”, “Why obey when no one else is doing it?” and “How much do I have to obey for it to be considered obedience?”. In God’s command to Saul, he was in fact briefed as to the reason why the Amalekites had to be eradicated, because of the way they waylaid the children of Israel in the desert. As instructed, Saul annihilated the Amalekites except for their king and only kept the best of the animals. To what extent had Saul obeyed? 50%, 70%, 80%? As far as Saul was concerned, he had obeyed. But God said He was grieved and said Saul had turned away from His instruction. The truth is: partial obedience is not obedience. Obedience is better than sacrifice.

In those days, it was the customary practice for invading kings to destroy everything, men, women and children. It was a culturally accepted thing. However, in those days, no one came back without bringing back the defeated, humiliated king. No one came back without any spoils for battle. Saul had in fact obeyed not God but the culture of the day, doing what everyone else was doing.

A second problem in thinking many Christians have is “if I am obedient in one area, I can be disobedient in other areas”. Everyone knows that one should not steal and kill, but how about immorality and ethical standards? Saul erected a monument in his own honor. Pride and arrogance had come into Saul. The Hebrew word for Obedience ‘shm’ (pronounced shamah) means to listen intelligently with an attitude to carry out all the instructions”. In Greek, the word means “to come under, to hear and to conform to a command of authority”.

In our human nature, we naturally do not want to obey. Obedience is a clash of 2 wills, our belief system and God’s system. Obedience is saying “not my will be done, but thy will be done”. We cannot cover up disobedience by sacrifice. The crux of the story is this: Does God delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as obeying the voice of the Lord?

Pastor Lee Choo shared how relatives often praised her mother for bringing up an intelligent and pretty daughter. However, her mother would retort “so what if she becomes even a judge if she is not obedient?” She thought that she was obedient, studying hard and earning good grades. However, in other areas, like washing the dishes and being nice to grandma, she had not been obedient. Partial obedience was seen as disobedience.

Imagine you had a son or daughter who really loved you and showered you with sacrifices – composing poems, singing love songs, saving up to buy gifts for you. However, they also did not do their homework, played computer games all the time and essentially did not do what you asked them to. Would you not treasure obedience far above sacrifice?

Some Christians who have sacrificed time to go to cells and tithe think they can be disobedient in other areas. In SIB, the church is looking for disciples not converts. Even a simple thing like asking new members to go to a membership class is a simple act of obedience. Why is obedient so important?

In John 14:31, Jesus said “I love the Father and I do exactly what my Father has commanded me”. Once there was a girl who came to church but was a bit of a rebel. However, when Pastor confronted her, she said “but I love the Lord” thinking that her love for the Lord justified her otherwise rebellious behavior.

There is great power in obedience, which gives the devil no foothold over our lives. In John 14:30, Jesus declared “the prince of this world comes, and has no foothold”. There was a boy addicted to computer games. He had tried in vain to stop but could not until one day, in a friend’s house, he suddenly felt the presence of the Lord envelop him and set him free from his addiction.

In 2 Corinthians 10:5-6 speaks about bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus. Obedience releases the authority of God in our lives. The spirit of lawlessness and disobedience is in the world. Against this, the people of God must learn obedience. In Deuteronomy 28, we see the clear principle that obedience brings blessing.

On the other hand, disobedience to God brings a downward domino effect in rebellion against authority. In Samuel’s rebuke of Saul, he likened rebellion to the sin of witchcraft and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Arrogance is thinking we know better than God.

In 2011, there were many catastrophes and for most people, the earthquake cum tsunami cum nuclear disaster in Japan was the worst of all. However, the Japanese, who were trained in obedience responded with remarkable dignity. There was no violence, no looting, no rape. On the other hand, for Pastor, the worst disaster was actually the rioting in Britain. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 speaks of the man of lawlessness being revealed. If you walk in disobedience, the spirit of God deserts you and spirits of demons comes upon you.

Partial obedience is not obedience. Obedience brings blessing and vice versa. Obedience is always better than sacrifice.