Jesus has the final word on what your life means — and he writes it in terms of his character, not yours.
Central Image
David's lament song about Saul: the king redefining a failed man's story in terms of the king's own character, not the man's record.
The Turn
We assume our lives are defined by what we've done — failures and achievements both. But the meaning of Saul's life was never Saul's to determine. The king got the last word.
Outline
Opening: What does Christmas mean?
Toby pushes back on the phrase "the real meaning of Christmas" — not because it's wrong, but because it's too small. Christmas doesn't have one meaning. It touches everything that matters. The next few Sundays will work through some of those meanings from the close of 1 Samuel.
Saul's death (1 Samuel 31)
The chapter is a total defeat. Saul loses the battle at Jezreel, loses his sons and any chance at a dynasty, and loses the one thing he tried to control at the end — dying with his honor intact. The Philistines strip his armor, cut off his head, and pin his body to the wall of Beth-shan. Everything he reached for slipped through. The geography tells its own story: the Philistines swung north through the valley of Jezreel instead of the southern hill country, cut straight through the middle of Israel, and inhabited the cities — the pattern of Joshua's conquest, running backward.
The men of Jabesh-Gilead
Forty years earlier, Saul's first act as king was rescuing Jabesh-Gilead from Nahash the Ammonite, who wanted to gouge out the right eye of every man in the city. The men of Jabesh-Gilead never forgot. A generation later — men who probably weren't born when it happened — they walked through the night, pulled Saul's body and his sons' bodies off the wall of Beth-shan, and gave them an honorable burial. Saul didn't make that happen. He couldn't. It was one good thing coming back to him by grace.
Hannah's prophecy fulfilled
Hannah's song at the opening of 1 Samuel said "not by might shall he prevail." Saul spent his whole reign trying to prevail by might and couldn't. His story is what that prophecy looks like in a life. But Hannah means grace — and that's where the story goes.
David's lament: the king rewrites the story
David writes the lament of 2 Samuel 1 and commands the sons of Judah to learn it and sing it. The song recasts Saul entirely — beloved, swifter than eagles, stronger than lions, the man who clothed the daughters of Israel in scarlet and gold. If all you knew about Saul was this song, you'd think he was the finest figure in the whole Bible. The point is that songs are what ordinary people know and pass on. David gave Israel a song, and the song told them what Saul's life meant. The meaning of Saul's life was written in terms of David's character, not Saul's record. A thousand years later, a Benjamite family named their son Saul — the man we call Paul — without any sense of shame. David's song got the last word, not Saul's failures.
One meaning of Christmas
The Son of David has that same authority over our lives. Jesus picks up the pen and rewrites the meaning of your story in terms of who he is. That means peace with the past — because your past doesn't mean what you think it means. It means courage in the present — because courage is a function of whether you believe something is worth it, and if Jesus defines the meaning of your life, it's worth it enough. It means hope for the future — because no matter what comes, he has the final word. Christmas falls near the winter solstice, the darkest point of the year. Right when the darkness is deepest, the light comes. That's not an accident.
The closing image
Toby holds a grandbaby at the front: "His story — the meaning of his story — is decided by his king." Saul was a mess in a lot of ways. If God can take his life and give it a different meaning, he can do that with mine.
The Landing
Jesus has the final word on what your life means. He writes it in terms of his character, not yours — not your failures, not your best moments. That is one of the things Christmas means.
Questions to Think About
- When you picture someone whose life got remembered differently than it was actually lived — better or worse than the record shows — what do you think made the difference in how they were remembered?
- Saul failed on every front by the end of 1 Samuel — militarily, dynastically, personally. The sermon pointed to one genuinely good thing in his whole reign. What was it, and why did it come back to him the way it did?
- David commanded the sons of Judah to learn this lament and sing it. What did the song actually say about Saul — and what does it tell us that David used a song specifically to do that?
- Is there something in your past you're still letting define you — something you figure will always be part of how your story gets read?
- Toby said courage isn't about whether you're afraid. It's about whether you believe something is worth it. Where in your life right now are you running short on courage — and what does that tell you about what you actually believe?
- If Jesus has the final word on what your life means, and that word is written in terms of his character and not yours — does that actually change anything for you day to day, or does it mostly stay in the doctrine column?
- If the meaning of this church's story is decided by our king and not by our track record, what would it look like for us to actually live that way — not just say it?
- Name one thing from your past you've been letting define you. Write it down this week, and beside it write one sentence about who Jesus says you are instead.