God at Work: God Sees

Good morning! Before we dive into our Scripture today, we need a little bit of context. Last week, we heard of God’s response to the people’s longing for a king: “have it your way.” There was a sense of resignation to the people’s hopes, which would prove misguided at best, and a response to their cries with inaugurating the new monarch in Israel under King Saul.

Saul is such a tragic figure. The guy really meant well, he was earnest. And yet, in his earnestness, he misses the point of being a king under the authority of God: To be faithful, he must follow God’s instructions. It seems simple, but whether it’s out of a desire to please God or to embellish upon the plans of God — Saul misses it. When told to utterly defeat an enemy army, Saul spares their king and their choice livestock.

Ultimately, the anointing of God leaves Saul. Even though he tried, Saul was not able to be faithful to his high calling. And so right before our morning’s sermon reading, Saul is informed by Samuel that God is rejecting him as king. Saul seems bewildered and continues to try to serve God, but it’s clear that a change is to be made.

We’re in the thick of one of the biggest transition moments in the history of ancient Israel. Passing away is the “people’s king” and emerging is a king anointed by God, chosen by God and not the people, not for stature or looks, but because of God’s view of his heart. This king is King David. And here we pick up the story in 1 Samuel 16.

This is a longer passage, so I want to point our two points to listen for: First, that God is seeking a king whose character, heart, is of utmost importance. Age, stature, experience — these things are unimportant compared to the nature of the king’s faithfulness and way of being.

Second, at the end, we find that the shift of God’s presence from Saul to David is swift and decisive. God is on the move, seeing David for all he will be. God wastes no time looking back at what could have been, but swiftly, dynamically moves to usher in a new way for God’s people.

Let’s hear our Scripture text:

The New Revised Standard Version Saul Rejected as King

34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. 35 Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel.

David Anointed as King

16 The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2 Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.” 4 Samuel did what the LORD commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” 5 He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is now before the LORD.” 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” 10 Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen any of these.” 11 Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” 12 He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The LORD said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

With this text today, I want to highlight an important teaching and then a curiosity I have as I read this in our context today. When I was first learning to preach and speak publically, a mentor of mine taught me that most inexperienced speakers attempt to cram too many topics into their sermon, too many points to keep track of. They encouraged me to focus. And so, today, I’m only trying to cram two things in: a teaching and a curiosity. :)

First, then, with the teaching.

Samuel looks at the first son of Jesse and sees his stature, his appearance, and thinks, “surely this is the one! He just looks like a king.” And Samuel is wrong.

Going through the whole list of sons, it isn’t age or appearance or position in the family line that matters. It doesn’t matter what their trade was, how much money or experience they had, whether or not they would look good in a kingly portrait or would have military experience to lead conquering armies. Nope, none of that seems to matter here.

And the teaching that we take from this comes directly to us in vs. 7: “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.””

Hear this powerful, affirming teaching: What matters to the world in terms of position and privilege is of little import to God. God looks at what is in us — at who we are. And since we are beloved, good creations who bear the image of God in ourselves, God looks upon us with great hope and possibility for who we are capable of being. You, me, all of us — we are made good and with a purpose. It feels really hard to see that sometimes, when we measure ourselves against the things the world says are good. But if we can pause even for just a moment today, and hear it: God has made us for a purpose and a calling. When we have a hard time seeing it, when the weight of our lives gets to be too much to bear — it is at this point we must be reminded: God looks at our hearts. God sees who we truly are, not simply the tings we wish we were. God sees our gifts, strengths, and wounds. God sees our potential and knows where we can harness that potential into good fruit in the world. God sees what we cannot see.

Now, before I move on, there is implicit in this the reality that God sees our flaws too. God saw Saul’s heart and while he was earnest in his attempts to please God, God could see that Saul’s purpose was less than true. God sees Saul’s flaws. God sees ours.

And the beauty of this exposing reality is that again, the outward appearances we put up cannot hide who we are in God’s love. God sees our stuff, and loves us. God sees our glory and our depravity and God loves us. God shines the light back on us to show us how to heal, how to grow, how to be made whole once more. There’s a beautiful end to Saul’s story in chapter 15 — he tries to be faithful and isn’t able to follow God’s instructions. God’s spirit moves on from him, the anointing shifting to David, the future king. But even in this, Saul tries to turn his heart to God — he asks Samuel to help lead him in worship of God. My hope for Saul is that this is a bit of heart change occuring — knowing his time is up, knowing he failed, Saul can still run to the arms of the loving Lord of Creation to worship. In spite of our stuff, God welcomes us home once more. Saul doesn’t get to be king, but Saul can still respond in worship.

Ok — that’s the teaching: God looks at our inner selves, our hearts, and calls us with a purpose according to who we are meant to be. God sees my heart, your heart, and works with that, not the way we put on airs or puff up to look the part.

Now, on to the curiosity.

As I read this narrative and unpack parts of the story of the kingly succession in ancient Israel, I have to start to wonder at how God invites the people to move on from where they’ve been, to turn aside from this misstep with Saul, and to reimagine their future at this juncture.

The people wanted a king and the first one didn’t work out. Saul had some good to him, but ultimately, his kingship failed.

I love that in our Godly Play lessons, Tracy invites us to “wonder” at the story. To consider the “perhaps” and to be curious about what God might show us.

What I’m curious about here is that I wonder at how God can so swiftly shift to David, having Samuel anoint him, leaving behind Saul (at least as king) and saying — ok, this is what’s next.

I’m curious, because I think this movement of God is perhaps a way for us to understand change and adaptation in the way of God. God moves quickly and decisively toward David. God sees David’s gifts, Saul’s faults, and moves.

I think this is curious because it seems to have strong implications for how we, as God’s people, can mirror this movement and set aside what is no longer working and move with God into what’s next. The old ways will pass away, it seems. And God is moving.

Here’s the place where I see this curiosity become concrete:

Could it be, perhaps, that God is ushering us into change swiftly even now? For instance, we are hopefully nearing the end of some of the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, as our state and nation move towards reopening now that many people are vaccinated. This is great. And this change is going to happen fast. Fast like how fast it was that we shut everything down last year. Fast like, ok, let’s learn how to do life together post-COVID, with all that we’ve learned and changed and grown into.

It makes me wonder, as we face this certain shift, how we can steer clear of attempting to go back, but rather move forward, changing and growing more deeply into who we are meant to be.

There will be temptations to see King David as a king just like Saul. And yet, we resist that as we see God moving upon him and ushering in a new chapter of the monarchy.

And for us, there will be temptations to resume “business as usual”, the way things always were. But I’m curious if we can resist that. I’m curious, after this long year where we’ve tilled the earth of what’s possible, venturing into hybrid worship, more connections over digital platforms, new expansions of our music program into creative choir pieces and recorded duets, a reconfigured way of caring for one another through more consistent phone calls and deepening of close friendships…I wonder: can we keep this up?

What I mean is, can we see God’s movement in this passage similarly to how we are being invited to move forward as a people? Can we see that God has invited us to a season of faithful change? What if we were to emerge from this time with creative new ways of loving our neighbor, new endeavours to serve our world with compassion, new creative ministries where we joyfully worship God in community? What if the failures of this year, the wounds and heartache of all that we’ve gone through, what if these have all been meant to form us into a renewed people of God? What if God is inviting us to step forward into being the church in ways we would have never imagined 2, 3, 5, 10 years ago?

I’ve tried, over the course of this year, to gently nudge us toward comfort around the shifts that are occuring. I’ve tried pastor our church in a way that helps us recognize the hope and possibility of new things and fresh paths. The unknown can be scary, but there is also great potential to be renewed in Christ’s love if we will step out into that unknown with faith and trust in God’s goodness.

So — join this curiosity with me. What is emerging in you, today? What is God calling us forward into, as a community? And, what if we combined this teaching with this curiosity: what is in our hearts that God is beckoning to come out at this juncture in our life together? What, beneath appearances, is God calling you, me, us to step out in faith to be a part of going forward?

I want to wonder together as a community over these things. I want us to be curious about where God will lead us. I want each of us to accept the inherent beauty within us and celebrate it in each other. And I want us to keep venturing forward, following the God who moves, the God who sees, the God who loves us dearly.

Amen.