"Earthly Kingdoms" - Preached at St. Margaret's, June 15, 2018
Intro Echoing through the latter half of the book of Judges sounds the messianic refrain, “there was no king in Israel, all the people did what was right in their own eyes.” As the book of Judges reaches its dystopian conclusion with the slaughter of the Benjaminites and the communally-sanctioned kidnapping of hundreds of young women, the only hope the narrator can provide to make sense of Israel’s wickedness is that, if only there was a king, perhaps things could be other than they are. Thus, we enter the story of 1 Samuel with the last words of the narrator of Judges ringing in our ears, setting our expectations for what lies ahead. “There was no king in Israel, all the people did what was right in their own eyes.” As we pick up the story of 1 Samuel in today’s reading, we find that the negatively expressed expectation of Judges has given way to a full-throated demand for a king. The charismatic leadership of the judges ended in chaos and oppression from Israel’s enemies on eve...