Go Your Own Way

Sermon delivered on June 9, 2013

The essence of sin is the failure to love God.

                            -John McArthur, Grace Community Church 

In 1976, Fleetwood Mac recorded "Go Your Own Way" - a megahit about the breakup between Lindsey Buckingham and Steve Nicks (both from the band).  The song was from the Rumours album.....which went on to sell 45 million copies, making it one of the biggest-selling albums of all time.  The song itself sounds like a typical 70's era rock song.  But when the lyrics are read like poetry, the words tell a different story.  An excerpt from the song goes like this:

Loving you isn't the right thing to do, but how can I change things that I feel?

If I could, maybe I'd give you my world.

How can I when you won't take it from me?

You can go your own way!  Go your own way.

You can call it another lonely day.  Another lonely day.

You can go your own way.  Go your own way. 

The song paints a picture of someone offering their heart....only to be rejected.  And that heartbreak is coupled with the fact that the one being rejected knows the other is making a lonely choice.  If this song were a romance movie, we could imagine the scene.  A heartbroken young woman, offering to give everything to someone else.....only to be rejected as he drives off.  With a scene like that, there wouldn't be a dry eye in the theater.

But where are our tears when we consider how many times we - and all of humanity - have done the same thing to God?  The Bible is filed with stories of both individuals and His chose people, going their own way without God.  We find one such story in 1 Kings 11:4 - 13. 

The two books of Kings are focused on a time with the people of Israel insisted on having their own earthly kings.  Wanting a king in itself wasn't so bad.  In fact, In Deuteronomy 17:14 - 17 Moses is directed by God to instruct the people of Israel as to how they should go about selecting a king.  Sadly, as time progressed, the people of Israel went their own way without God and chose kings that didn't meet the standards that God had set.  Some, such as Solomon (son of David) gradually went their own way without God....despite everything He had given them. 

Solomon was the third king of Israel and over his lifetime he had over 700 wives! Wow.  Now that's a lot to keep up with!  Most of the marriages were made for political expedience and directly against what God had instructed through Moses.  Many of these wives practices pagan religions - were not Christians - and Solomon was tolerant of their practices.  However, this proved to be dangerous....a slippery slope....and Solomon himself began to honor these various gods.  Verse 4 tells us that "when Solomon was old"....a clue that lets us know the change was not immediate, but happened over time.  Perhaps with Solomon not even realizing it. 

Solomon did other things that were in direct conflict with God's plan.  He took the pharaoh’s daughter as a wife, purchased horses from Egypt  and accumulated silver.  By going his own way, Solomon helped seal the fate of the nation of Israel.  While he would not live to see it, Israel would split and would be forever weakened.....making it easy for future generations to be divided and conquered.  God's disappointment with Solomon was evident in verse nine when we learn that "the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from Yahweh, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice."  Solomon had gone his own way.....had rejected all that God was offering him. 

So what can we learn from Solomon's life?

It's not necessarily the what we do and don't do that upsets God the most, it's the going our own way that really disappoints God.  Although Solomon did many immoral things in his life....that's not what got him into trouble.  It was refusing to let God take the lead that was his demise.  In fact, many of the things Solomon did weren't necessarily “bad” or immoral things in and of themselves (buying horses, accumulating silver) but it just wasn't part of God's plan for him or the nation of Israel.....and therefore "sin".

Going our own way sometimes happens gradually.  Perhaps the scariest realization is that change can happen to us without us even realizing it.  That may be what happened to Solomon. 

Earthly success is not always an indication that God's plan is being followed.  Solomon was incredibly wealthy, a great leader and from the outside looking in.....would probably be considered "religious" or "blessed".  But it was all a mirage.  He was not following God's plan.  Mathew Henry wrote:

Those who have dominion over men are apt to forget God's dominion over them; and, while they demand obedience from their inferiors, to deny it to him who is the Supreme.

Solomon's story reminds us of the heartbreaking consequences when we reject all that God is willing to give us and we go our own way.