Going Through the Motions

1 Samuel 16:1–13 NET

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long do you intend to mourn for Saul? I have rejected him as king over Israel. Fill your horn with olive oil and go! I am sending you to Jesse in Bethlehem, for I have selected a king for myself from among his sons.” Samuel replied, “How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me!” But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you should do. You will anoint for me the one I point out to you.” Samuel did what the Lord told him. When he arrived in Bethlehem, the elders of the city were afraid to meet him. They said, “Do you come in peace?” He replied, “Yes, in peace. I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” So he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they arrived, Samuel noticed Eliab and said to himself, “Surely, here before the Lord stands his chosen king!”But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t be impressed by his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. God does not view things the way men do. People look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one, either.” Then Jesse presented Shammah. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” Jesse presented seven of his sons to Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Is that all of the young men?” Jesse replied, “There is still the youngest one, but he’s taking care of the flock.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we cannot turn our attention to other things until he comes here.” So Jesse had him brought in. Now he was ruddy, with attractive eyes and a handsome appearance. The Lord said, “Go and anoint him. This is the one!” So Samuel took the horn full of olive oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers. The Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day onward. Then Samuel got up and went to Ramah.

Psalm 51:10–14 NET

Create for me a pure heart, O God! Renew a resolute spirit within me! Do not reject me! Do not take your Holy Spirit away from me! Let me again experience the joy of your deliverance! Sustain me by giving me the desire to obey! Then I will teach rebels your merciful ways, and sinners will turn to you. Rescue me from the guilt of murder, O God, the God who delivers me! Then my tongue will shout for joy because of your deliverance.

On May 24, 1738, something odd happened to John Wesley.

But to understand what happened, we first have to know a little bit about him. John Wesley was the fifteenth of nineteen children born to his mother, Susannah. To her nine children who survived infancy, Susannah passed down her deep devotion to religion. Each child had an individual audience with Susannah every week in which she would question them and instruct them in the ways of Christian Spirituality. Speaking later about his mother, John would say she was the greatest theology teacher he’d ever had.

The Wesleys were a very devout family, and it showed through in every aspect of their lives. Young John learned the importance of living the way his parents did. Or so he thought. After finishing school, he became a fellow at Oxford and was eventually ordained to the priesthood of the church of England. His outward piety and studious nature won him a fellowship, which came with free lodging and an ever growing salary. Being a pious man, however, he continued to live on the same amount of money year after year, donating the remainder to the church. He also joined a society called the Holy Club, whose members helped each other live devout, Christian lives.

In due time, John felt a call to do missionary work in that most heathen of lands: America. So he sailed to Georgia, where he preached the same piety and disciplined life that he himself lived. The people weren’t very interested. He muddled through for a few years with no real success, until the woman he’d taken a fancy to married another man. Wesley convinced himself that Sophia’s marriage was evidence she’d lost her zeal for the faith, and refused to serve her communion. When her family sued him, he fled back to England, downcast and discouraged. His outward piety had done nothing to change anyone’s life.

Back in England, on May 24, 1738, something strange happened. After a life of pious Christianity, John Wesley finally found Jesus. As someone read aloud from a book of Martin Luther’s, Wesley writes in his journal that he found his heart strangely warmed. Something changed within him that day. His outward piety and religious zeal were joined by something new: A reformed heart.

With this new development came a renewed dedication to his Christianity. Wesley was still devout, but now he knew why. He was still following his mother’s teachings, but now he understood his mother’s reasons. And life didn’t just change for him in that moment. It changed for thousands of others.

Wesley dedicated the rest of his life to teaching this new idea: this joining of mental piety and outward devotion to a conversion of the heart. He called it entire sanctification, and it caught on like wildfire. Before he knew it, he had so many people clamoring to hear his teachings that he had to enlist others to spread the word.

Over the next 53 years, Wesley saw his change of heart repeated in the lives of so many that they eventually became a new church, with a new name: the Methodists. All because he finally understood the very thing that God told Samuel in this morning’s passage: Humans look at the outside, but God looks at the heart.

Do you ever feel like you’re just going through the motions in some part of your life? Faith? Work? Family life? Like, you know it’s important for some reason, but you find yourself doing things out of a sense of duty: I’m supposed to do this, and so I do it. Over time, that sense of duty is joined by other senses: resignation. Dread. Despair. Frustration.

If that’s you today, you need to know you’re not alone. You also need to know that it’s time to give up. Stop keeping up appearances. Stop going through the motions out of a sense of obligation or duty. Instead, take some time to get back to the heart of the matter. To remember why you started in the first place. To sit and ponder the value of that part of your life. And if it is indeed valuable, to find that your heart, too, is strangely warmed, and your actions are no longer governed by obligation, but by love.