First, why did they reject God- what was the legacy from past generations that caused them to want a man king instead of a God king? The legacy of the Judges? Samuel? In the first two chapters of Judges, you can see the pattern already. God does something great, the people rejoice, God gives a command, the people dont follow through, God punishes them ("they will become thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare for you") This is a pattern that seems to repeat over and over through the book of Judges, but looking past that, it is how the people behaved under Joshua's command, in the wilderness, all the way back to the beginning of the bible. God is great, yet his people still reject him. (Think Adam and Eve) Rebellion is that sin that we reserve for teenagers - "hes just going through that rebellious stage" - but it seems to me that most, if not all of our sin, is linked to some sort of rebellion. If our hearts were tape, we've stuck it to so many other things that it doesn't stick to God very well.
Second, how many times do we reject what God is doing and wants for us because of a person's of group of people's legacies in out own life? We justify our own rebellion based on the rebellion of others. Samuel was getting old, his sons were corrupt. The people felt justified (and I think I would have too) in saying give us something better than your sons Samuel. And yet God saw it as a rejection of him. CS Lewis argues this as one of the hardest things for us to get in our heads, that all sin, even when directed at other people is really about rebellion against God. We justify our actions with other peoples actions, but its all rebellion against God.
Third, what are we doing that's causing people to reject God? Samuel put his sons in charge. It never says God told him to do this. It doesn't seem that there is a rule that the priesthood has to get passed from father to son -think of Samuel himself- he got the post from Eli. Samuel saw Eli's family get rejected by God for having corrupt sons but yet did nothing about his own sons. What rebellions have we cultivated in our own lives, justifying our actions (or inactions as the case may be) with the actions of others. People are waiting to see something worth following- as my pastor asked "would you recommend your life as a model for others to follow?" And I dont believe hes asking if I'm following a particular set of rules set forth by my particular sect of Christianity. Rule following only is its own socially acceptable form of rebellion from God. Just give me the rules, tell me how to act, so I can live out my life inside of those boundaries, looking godly, but never really connecting to God himself. Legalism is an act of resignation, and not of active pursuit of God.
Its time for us to lay down the arms of our rebellion, and seek the one true God. I pray that God would help us in this. That he would make our tape sticky once again as He has been faithful to do so many times in the past.
