Second Pentecost
I Samuel 15:34-16:13
We start today, in this Pentecost season, a series of Old Testament lessons that follow the story of Holy history through the Old Testament. We begin today in the book of Samuel with the selection of David to be king of Israel. Now because our cycle of lessons will be chronological they may or may not have anything at all to do with the Gospel lessons. Usually of course the Old Testament lesson was selected because it enhances the understanding of the Gospel. Curiously enough however, our lessons today all make the same point and share the same message. All our lessons today have to do with seeing---what we see and what God sees. Just a clue; it’s not the same. We do not see as God sees.
We see tiny mustard seed and consider it insignificant. And yet that mustard seed makes a huge shrub providing shelter for the birds.
Paul in our second lesson declares; “So we are always confident—for we walk by faith, not by sight.” What we see may tell us that that the world is a hopeless wreck that our bodies are aging and deteriorating and so are we, that all that we do and accomplish is useless but what we see is wrong. No, Paul tells us through Christ God is doing a new thing and we are part of a new creation!
We do not see as God sees. If you take one thing away from today let that be it. We do not see as God sees.
And so we come to this wonderful story from the book of Samuel. But first perhaps we need a bit of the back story to understand why Samuel is out seeking to anoint a new king when the current King is still on the throne. It all begins when the people of the tribes of Israel decide that they need a King. After all the other cultures around them have a King—the Amalekites, the Edomites, the Moabites, the Philistines. They all have kings. So the people go to Samuel who is both a prophet and a judge and tell him they need a king. Samuel goes to God who says they already have a king and it is God. But the people press Samuel and Samuel presses God and God relents and says that he will find them a King. God, through Samuel finds and anoints Saul. For a bit everything goes along swimmingly. Saul proves to be a good general keeping the Philistines at bay and finally taking on the Amelikites. But Saul does not follow God’s commands in his victory over the Amalikites and so looses God’s favor.
This is where we enter our story for today. Our text begins with the prophet Samuel being told not to sit around and sulk over the predicted downfall of King Saul. God sends Samuel over to a little town called Bethlehem to a man named Jesse. Jesse represents the smallest clan in the smallest tribe in Israel. Some might say insignificant. Samuel is the vehicle by which God will select and anoint a king to succeed Saul. It’s a story about the change of administrations, about shifting power. Power, royal prerogative is about to shift from the old king (Saul) to a new king. The torch will be passed to a new generation.
In Bethlehem Jesse parades his seven available sons before the prophet. Samuel naturally chooses Eliab, the oldest, the first born, a big strapping hulk of a man. Eliab looks like a king should look. We know all about that ‘image” stuff from our own political processes; yet even knowing it we get sucked in by it and not just in politics.
I’m reminded of a book—a sports book called Moneyball—the art of Winning an Unfair Game. The author relates the story of Billy Beane. Billy right out of High School was an early round draft pick by the METs in the 80’s. He had it all. He could hit and pitch and field, he smoked the other runners. As the book puts it “the boy had a body you could dream on, ramrod straight and lean; but not so lean that you couldn’t imagine him filling out. And that face. Beneath an unruly mop of brown hair the boy had the sharp features the scouts loved. Some of the Scouts believed they could tell by the structure of a young man’s face not only his character but his future in pro-ball. They had a phrase those baseball scouts “the good face.”” But Billy Beane was a failure as a player he played for team after team, each trying to get the best from him. Only later would he become a scout and general manager capitalizing on the failures of his own experience. You see the scouts couldn’t look past the stats and the appearances; they couldn’t see the player that was Billy Beane.
So our story continues; God does not want Eliab as the new king. God tells the prophet, I don’t look on the outside, like you. I look on the inside, upon the heart.
Odd in that time and place of first born inheritance for God not to choose the eldest. Four more parade by the prophet, but none within this stable of royal wannabe’s is acceptable to God. See the drama as each one comes forward and each one receives rejection? Much is being rejected here, King Saul is being cast down, the elder sons are all being rejected as well. Perhaps you are not one of the beautiful people, one of the eldest sons of the world. Maybe you didn’t have “the face”. Maybe this lesson has something to say to you.
This last Wednesday we were privileged to host the North Conference pastors at a luncheon for Bishop Phaswana. Ndanganeni Phaswana is the bishop of the central diocese of South Africa. He is a quiet, thoughtful man and we were able to ask him questions about our partner church, the Lutheran church of South Africa. He shared a great deal about the Aids Clinic that the Metro Chicago synod sponsors. Finally though, he talked about his own story. About how he went to seminary and was just an ordinary pastor doing his work with the people until he along with three other pastors were arrested for being part of the communist party. He was tortured, his captors wishing to exact a confession about his activities in the communist party though he had never been a part of them. He said he prayed that he would die. He says he attributes his life to one of the pastors who did die from the torture. His death scared the tormentors. This young pastor had no power. He had no resources on his own to argue the case, no connections to appeal to the powers that be. I dare say Bishop Phaswani had some of the David in him. He tells us he had no idea he would be picked for Bishop. He was home in his own parish, minding his own flock when he got the call that the Synod had elected him Bishop by 80%. He says he wouldn’t have answered the call if it had been a simple majority because he had no aspirations to be Bishop.
Samuel asks Jessie “Are these all of your sons?” Jesse hems and haws, all except for the youngest—the one out in the fields with the sheep. “Go get him says Samuel. And in comes little David, “ruddy…beautiful eyes…handsome. The Lord tells his prophet, “Rise, and anoint him. This is the one” And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon little David from that day forward.”
The Lord has the last word in the story. For the lord sees things differently than we do. We opt for the obvious; the strong the powerful, the well connected but God—God sees something else entirely.
God sees possibility in a mustard seed.
…. a world class evangelist in a rigid, uptight Pharisee named Saul…..a general manager in a failed big league ball player….a bishop…a powerful witness in a powerless, parish pastor…a great king in the youngest son of the smallest clan of the smallest tribe in the small country of Israel.
God sees what we cannot---prepare to be surprised!
Amen