"The Lord Does Not See as Mortals See" 6-18-06
Scripture: 1 Sam. 15:34-16:13; Mark 4:26-34
I want to start today’s sermon by telling you a story about Samuel and David. Samuel was the baby born to Hannah after many years of her being unable to conceive. She promised the priest Eli that if she could give birth to a son, she would dedicate him to the work of the Lord. So Samuel was dedicated to the Lord at a young age and given to Eli to help him with his priestly duties. Eli’s sons were scoundrels whereas Samuel gained favor with the Lord and with Eli. At a certain point the Lord called Samuel to be the leader of the Israelites. He was called a Judge, in fact, he was the last of the judges. There was a big debate about whether Israel should have a King instead of Judges. Although Samuel was not in favor of anointing a King, the people demanded that a King be chosen; so Samuel anointed Saul as their King. Saul goes on to fight many battles against the Philistines. Today’s scripture begins just after Saul has displeased the Lord by not following the Lord’s instructions in battle. Because of this and other things Saul had done, the Lord rejects Saul as king. He then sends Samuel to the house of Jesse, the Benjamite, telling him that one of his sons is God’s chosen to be King, after Saul dies. As you heard in the scripture reading, Samuel looks over all the sons, one by one. Just as Samuel becomes sure this or that son must be the one, God keeps telling him, no way! It’s like electing someone to be President, or governor, or senator. It’s usually the ones that appear to have the most power, the right background, not too short or too fat, the right color and gender, and so on and of course, it definitely helps if there’s the appropriate experience and family connections. Samuel somehow finally understands that God is not concerned with these things; God is concerned with the heart, the very center and core of the one to be anointed. God wants the youngest, the smallest, the one left out in the field, the one not even considered or included in Jesse’s showing of his sons to Samuel. Finally, Samuel asks, “Are all your sons here?” Jesse admits there is one missing, David, the youngest, but he is out tending the sheep. Samuel tells Jesse that he must send for David, the youngest. As soon as Samuel meets him the Lord says to Samuel, “Rise and anoint him for he is the one.”
What a surprise that the youngest, the one not even considered was the one that God chose! As the Bible tells us David went on to be one of the greatest kings of all time, not always righteous—he sinned quite terribly several times; however, he always loved the Lord, his God and worshipped him only. Just as the Lord told Samuel, “for the Lord does not see as mortals see.”
From the story of God making powerful the smallest, the youngest son, we go to Jesus’ parable of the tiny mustard seed. I don’t know how many of you are or have been farmers; however, I know many of you plant seeds. As a young carpenter in Nazareth, Jesus undoubtedly knew and conversed with many peasant farmers. Seedtime and harvest would be natural topics of conversation just as they would be for farmers anywhere. In that region of Galilee there was abundant rich soil and plenty of rainfall. Earlier in Jesus’ teachings he talks about the sower and the different outcomes of how the seeds are planted. When it comes to the mustard seed, even though it is very small it’s probably not the smallest, nor did it grow big enough for birds to nest in like Jesus said. I remember growing up on the farm with acres of grass to be mowed, there were many, many mustard plants, considered to be a weed. I liked their tall, yellow appearance, and they did grow higher than the grass and the other weeds. So in this parable Jesus is exaggerating to make a point. These images of sowing and harvest have roots in the Bible of what God ‘s future action may bring us. I see these stories as related to a person’s faith. When Jesus relates these parables to what the kingdom of heaven is like, I see it as a sign that the smallest of us can do great things as long as we let God work through us.
This reminds me of a story about Mother Teresa and how she began her orphanage with such a vision. She used her image of three pennies and a dream from God as all she needed to build such an orphanage. When her superiors gently disagreed saying, “Mother Teresa, you cannot build an orphanage with three pennies…with three pennies you can’t do anything.” “I know,” she said, smiling, “but with God and three pennies I can do anything,”[2]
So small seeds growing exponentially and the young, powerless David being chosen King by God are examples of how God surprises people. How can we know what God has in mind; God’s ways are often obscure and not easy to figure out. It’s so easy to get bogged down with all the negative things happening in the world, wars, natural disasters, poverty and 4000% inflation in Zimbabwe, where many of the people in our partner church can only eat one meal a day. We see so much injustice, prejudice, and suffering; however, this is not the whole story. It’s important to remember that God is always there, and God’s love can come to us in the strangest most unexpected ways. Every once in a while we do get flashes of hope and promises of better things to come. A small church like ours can especially identify with these stories. Sometimes I start thinking about the mega-churches with all their resources of both wealth and people and feel a bit envious. And then something happens like the decision of the six folks last week that decided to become members of our church community. Then there is an added blessing of today’s baptism of Bobbi Jo and her children as well as the very special gift on Christmas day of the birth of Andrea, the baby born to Carlos and Bobbi Jo. When I hear the new members talk about feeling welcomed in this church, when they talk about feeling accepted just the way they are, I see God’s work and love and I feel overwhelmed by joy and thanksgiving for all of you. These new members came to us in many different ways, for Sam it was an invitation to come sing in the choir, for Toby and Summer it was reading our website as they searched for a place to worship; a visit by the Harpers came when their young son, Matthew, started asking religious questions, a phone call from Lauren about helping find housing for a classmate of Ruth’s started the process that brought us the Trujillos’ and Carlos into our community. All of these journeys started with a very small, mustard seed step and now we have enlarged our community in such an exciting and joyful way. For me Jesus reminds us with his parables that small steps and small hopes can lead to greatness, greatness that we cannot even see nor imagine at the time; however, God can see it; God can imagine it, and even more important, God intends it. God intends us to be aware of the small beginnings, to nurture and care for people as they come through our doors no matter why they come. The Hebrew Bible story and the Gospel connect in that they both show the contrast between the human perspective and God’s perspective. The story of Samuel anointing David reveals that God is not interested in prestige or power, just as the mustard seed parable shows us that the smallest beginnings can grow to tremendous endings. God’s kingdom is wherever we open up ourselves to the Spirit and love of God and neighbor. Life has meaning beyond the superficial exteriors of our world. As we relate to each other, we will find the meaning of the kingdom as well as the worth and value of our self and our neighbors. Praise be to our God of hope and love! May our church as small as it is continue to grow like a mustard seed in loving and caring for each other, spreading throughout Deering, Weare and other communities to build God’s kingdom. Amen
[1] Wm. Loader, online.
[2] The Rev. Dr. Hugh I. Eichelberger, from “Sermon Nuggets” found online at textweek.com.
I want to start today’s sermon by telling you a story about Samuel and David. Samuel was the baby born to Hannah after many years of her being unable to conceive. She promised the priest Eli that if she could give birth to a son, she would dedicate him to the work of the Lord. So Samuel was dedicated to the Lord at a young age and given to Eli to help him with his priestly duties. Eli’s sons were scoundrels whereas Samuel gained favor with the Lord and with Eli. At a certain point the Lord called Samuel to be the leader of the Israelites. He was called a Judge, in fact, he was the last of the judges. There was a big debate about whether Israel should have a King instead of Judges. Although Samuel was not in favor of anointing a King, the people demanded that a King be chosen; so Samuel anointed Saul as their King. Saul goes on to fight many battles against the Philistines. Today’s scripture begins just after Saul has displeased the Lord by not following the Lord’s instructions in battle. Because of this and other things Saul had done, the Lord rejects Saul as king. He then sends Samuel to the house of Jesse, the Benjamite, telling him that one of his sons is God’s chosen to be King, after Saul dies. As you heard in the scripture reading, Samuel looks over all the sons, one by one. Just as Samuel becomes sure this or that son must be the one, God keeps telling him, no way! It’s like electing someone to be President, or governor, or senator. It’s usually the ones that appear to have the most power, the right background, not too short or too fat, the right color and gender, and so on and of course, it definitely helps if there’s the appropriate experience and family connections. Samuel somehow finally understands that God is not concerned with these things; God is concerned with the heart, the very center and core of the one to be anointed. God wants the youngest, the smallest, the one left out in the field, the one not even considered or included in Jesse’s showing of his sons to Samuel. Finally, Samuel asks, “Are all your sons here?” Jesse admits there is one missing, David, the youngest, but he is out tending the sheep. Samuel tells Jesse that he must send for David, the youngest. As soon as Samuel meets him the Lord says to Samuel, “Rise and anoint him for he is the one.”
What a surprise that the youngest, the one not even considered was the one that God chose! As the Bible tells us David went on to be one of the greatest kings of all time, not always righteous—he sinned quite terribly several times; however, he always loved the Lord, his God and worshipped him only. Just as the Lord told Samuel, “for the Lord does not see as mortals see.”
From the story of God making powerful the smallest, the youngest son, we go to Jesus’ parable of the tiny mustard seed. I don’t know how many of you are or have been farmers; however, I know many of you plant seeds. As a young carpenter in Nazareth, Jesus undoubtedly knew and conversed with many peasant farmers. Seedtime and harvest would be natural topics of conversation just as they would be for farmers anywhere. In that region of Galilee there was abundant rich soil and plenty of rainfall. Earlier in Jesus’ teachings he talks about the sower and the different outcomes of how the seeds are planted. When it comes to the mustard seed, even though it is very small it’s probably not the smallest, nor did it grow big enough for birds to nest in like Jesus said. I remember growing up on the farm with acres of grass to be mowed, there were many, many mustard plants, considered to be a weed. I liked their tall, yellow appearance, and they did grow higher than the grass and the other weeds. So in this parable Jesus is exaggerating to make a point. These images of sowing and harvest have roots in the Bible of what God ‘s future action may bring us. I see these stories as related to a person’s faith. When Jesus relates these parables to what the kingdom of heaven is like, I see it as a sign that the smallest of us can do great things as long as we let God work through us.
This reminds me of a story about Mother Teresa and how she began her orphanage with such a vision. She used her image of three pennies and a dream from God as all she needed to build such an orphanage. When her superiors gently disagreed saying, “Mother Teresa, you cannot build an orphanage with three pennies…with three pennies you can’t do anything.” “I know,” she said, smiling, “but with God and three pennies I can do anything,”[2]
So small seeds growing exponentially and the young, powerless David being chosen King by God are examples of how God surprises people. How can we know what God has in mind; God’s ways are often obscure and not easy to figure out. It’s so easy to get bogged down with all the negative things happening in the world, wars, natural disasters, poverty and 4000% inflation in Zimbabwe, where many of the people in our partner church can only eat one meal a day. We see so much injustice, prejudice, and suffering; however, this is not the whole story. It’s important to remember that God is always there, and God’s love can come to us in the strangest most unexpected ways. Every once in a while we do get flashes of hope and promises of better things to come. A small church like ours can especially identify with these stories. Sometimes I start thinking about the mega-churches with all their resources of both wealth and people and feel a bit envious. And then something happens like the decision of the six folks last week that decided to become members of our church community. Then there is an added blessing of today’s baptism of Bobbi Jo and her children as well as the very special gift on Christmas day of the birth of Andrea, the baby born to Carlos and Bobbi Jo. When I hear the new members talk about feeling welcomed in this church, when they talk about feeling accepted just the way they are, I see God’s work and love and I feel overwhelmed by joy and thanksgiving for all of you. These new members came to us in many different ways, for Sam it was an invitation to come sing in the choir, for Toby and Summer it was reading our website as they searched for a place to worship; a visit by the Harpers came when their young son, Matthew, started asking religious questions, a phone call from Lauren about helping find housing for a classmate of Ruth’s started the process that brought us the Trujillos’ and Carlos into our community. All of these journeys started with a very small, mustard seed step and now we have enlarged our community in such an exciting and joyful way. For me Jesus reminds us with his parables that small steps and small hopes can lead to greatness, greatness that we cannot even see nor imagine at the time; however, God can see it; God can imagine it, and even more important, God intends it. God intends us to be aware of the small beginnings, to nurture and care for people as they come through our doors no matter why they come. The Hebrew Bible story and the Gospel connect in that they both show the contrast between the human perspective and God’s perspective. The story of Samuel anointing David reveals that God is not interested in prestige or power, just as the mustard seed parable shows us that the smallest beginnings can grow to tremendous endings. God’s kingdom is wherever we open up ourselves to the Spirit and love of God and neighbor. Life has meaning beyond the superficial exteriors of our world. As we relate to each other, we will find the meaning of the kingdom as well as the worth and value of our self and our neighbors. Praise be to our God of hope and love! May our church as small as it is continue to grow like a mustard seed in loving and caring for each other, spreading throughout Deering, Weare and other communities to build God’s kingdom. Amen
[1] Wm. Loader, online.
[2] The Rev. Dr. Hugh I. Eichelberger, from “Sermon Nuggets” found online at textweek.com.
posted by Sermons given at Deering Community Church @ 1:30 PM
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