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Listen to this sermon:
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2/12/2012
“Welcome Home?”
Please open your Bible with me to the Book of II Samuel at chapter fourteen. And please follow me beginning at verse twenty-four.
II Samuel 14:24 “And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and saw not the king's face.
(25) But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
(26) And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king's weight.
(27) And unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of a fair countenance. (28) So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king's face.
(29) Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to the king; but he would not come to him: and when he sent again the second time, he would not come.
(30) Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab's field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom's servants set the field on fire.
(31) Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom unto his house, and said unto him, Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire?
(32) And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, that I may send thee to the king, to say, Wherefore am I come from Geshur? it had been good for me to have been there still: now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me.
(33) So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.”
There are “Welcome Home” signs all over the world since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began back in 2001. Soldiers, airmen, Seals, those in the Army, the Navy, Coast Guard, those in our Reserves, and the Marines are all returning home. As of today there are about 3,000 military personnel plus a large number of US contractors in Iraq and roughly 68,000 left in Afghanistan plus a large number of US contractors.
And many, many of these folks have come home to the US have been welcomed home. And that “welcome home” is extremely important.
I’ve titled today’s sermon “Welcome Home?” Shall we pray?
Today’s lessons are three and they revolve around a “welcome home” for a son who has been banished. The father is King David and a son named Absalom. But, as you saw from the reading of II Samuel 14, Absalom wasn’t truly quote “welcomed home.”
Look with me first at a lesson from David’s, second a lesson from Absalom’s life, and third look with me at God’s ways with us.
First, David, the father.
Many of us know some things about King David. But step back for just a moment and consider the big picture of David’s life.
Here was a man who learned as a teenage sheepherder how to walk with God. Everyone on planet earth knows the story of David and Goliath. As a teenager, David was used of the LORD to save the entire Israeli army from the Philistine giant Goliath.
II Samuel 14:24 “And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and saw not the king's face.
(25) But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
(26) And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king's weight.
(27) And unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of a fair countenance. (28) So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king's face.
(29) Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to the king; but he would not come to him: and when he sent again the second time, he would not come.
(30) Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab's field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom's servants set the field on fire.
(31) Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom unto his house, and said unto him, Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire?
(32) And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, that I may send thee to the king, to say, Wherefore am I come from Geshur? it had been good for me to have been there still: now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me.
(33) So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.”
There are “Welcome Home” signs all over the world since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began back in 2001. Soldiers, airmen, Seals, those in the Army, the Navy, Coast Guard, those in our Reserves, and the Marines are all returning home. As of today there are about 3,000 military personnel plus a large number of US contractors in Iraq and roughly 68,000 left in Afghanistan plus a large number of US contractors.
And many, many of these folks have come home to the US have been welcomed home. And that “welcome home” is extremely important.
I’ve titled today’s sermon “Welcome Home?” Shall we pray?
Today’s lessons are three and they revolve around a “welcome home” for a son who has been banished. The father is King David and a son named Absalom. But, as you saw from the reading of II Samuel 14, Absalom wasn’t truly quote “welcomed home.”
Look with me first at a lesson from David’s, second a lesson from Absalom’s life, and third look with me at God’s ways with us.
First, David, the father.
Many of us know some things about King David. But step back for just a moment and consider the big picture of David’s life.
Here was a man who learned as a teenage sheepherder how to walk with God. Everyone on planet earth knows the story of David and Goliath. As a teenager, David was used of the LORD to save the entire Israeli army from the Philistine giant Goliath.