A second look often reveals a whole new perspective.

Transcription

1 1 Scripture: Psalm 44 1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 Mark 4:26-34 Things are not always as they seem. How God sees where God looks. A second look often reveals a whole new perspective. You can t judge a book by its cover. Looks can be deceiving. All of these statements are true that s why God doesn t really bother with how things appear or look on the outside in the first place. The Lord looks on the heart indeed ---- the Lord does not see as mortals see --- they look on the outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart verse 7: 1 Samuel 16. And then we have Jesus --- in Mark s gospel today saying ---- in effect And then there is the mustard seed ---- the tiniest seed of all --- which by outward appearances doesn t amount o much at all --- but --- the kingdom of God is like the mustard seed that when it disappears into the soil ---- produces effects that are hardly imaginable based on how it first appears. Indeed Jesus specifically says ---- picking it up at verse it is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs --- and puts forth large branches so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade. Looks can be deceiving things are not always as they seem ---- many things in life require a second look The Lord does not see as mortals see ---- they look on the outward appearance but He looks on the heart. When our Old Testament passage opens Samuel is in a deep funk ---- he s depressed and down in the dumps.

2 2 He was never wild about Israel having a King ---- but being the faithful servant that he is he gets over it and goes along with it as God so leads him. Indeed he did as God asked and directed him to and approached Saul to be King. And of course Saul was a reluctant leader at first --- unsure of himself but unfortunately as soon as he got a taste of power --- it went to his head and he wanted more. He lost any sense of reluctancy and humility ---- and he let things go to his head and the next thing we knew he had no concern for the will of God and goes his own way disobeying God --- becoming more and more full of himself. So --- God intervenes. And lets Samuel know that Saul as King isn t going to work out and that he - -- Samuel will once again be involved in the selection process for a new King a second King for the great nation of Israel. And of course despite God being the driver s seat --- and God being the prime mover ---- Samuel feels horrible about it and feels as though it were all his fault ---- guilt. So God sends Samuel to choose and anoint a new King. And God already knows who this will be --- God already has His eye on someone. So God sends Saul packing to Bethlehem --- where Jesse and all his boys are --- including the youngest and therefore lowest --- David --- the would be King. Bethlehem ---- a modest place to find a King. Bethlehem ---- where the clan of a shepherd named Jesse watches over their flock.

3 3 Bethlehem the birth place of another King ---- the birth place of another to come from the line of Jesse ---- Jesus Christ Himself. And the rest of the story makes up most of our reading from 1 Samuel today Samuel goes to Jesse and asks him to present his sons before him and so he does ---- beginning with Eliab --- in verse and Abinadab in verse then Shammah also in verse and as verse 10 tells us indeed 7 of Jesse s sons are presented --- but the Lord through Samuel chooses none of them. So Samuel asks Jesse ---- in verse Are all of your sons here? And Jesse replies --- There remains yet the youngest ---- but he is keeping the sheep. And Samuel replies ---- Send and bring him --- for we will not sit down until he comes here. So Jesse sends for him and David soon arrives. And when he comes --- the Lord says Rise and anoint him ---- for this is the one. And the Spirit of the Lord comes mightily on David as verse 13 says and as verse 13 also says ---- Samuel then set out Samuel leaves. Kind of anti climatic if you ask me the next King of Israel is identified and anointed even --- and then that part of the story fades off and we go back to the struggles of the current and actual King King Saul. This story and the parable of the mustard seed and indeed the parable of the other seed in Mark s gospel today drive home a very important point the point that God s Kingdom grows gradually and naturally instead of suddenly and dramatically. That God s Kingdom grows gradually and naturally --- instead of suddenly and dramatically. The mustard seed starts tiny ---- and it doesn t turn into the beautiful and greatest of all shrubs overnight ---- it happens gradually and naturally.

4 4 David is chosen and anointed as King ---- but he doesn t take the crown and assume the throne suddenly or dramatically. First he fights Goliath ---- gets married to King Saul s younger daughter Michal ---- has to escape from the wicked hands of the King thanks to the help and faithfulness of Jonathan and so on. His rise and ascent to the throne and crown come gradually and naturally not suddenly or dramatically. The truth is God often works in quiet --- behind the scenes ways doing little things quietly patiently seeing into a future that only He can envision. Indeed pastor Doug Bratt of Silver Spring Christian Reformed Church in Wheaton Maryland argues that unfortunately too often when we think of referring to things as biblical we get it all wrong. He argues and I think he s on to something that when we think of things biblical ---- we too often defer to things huge and dramatic ---- sudden --- and spectacular. Saying things like --- It was biblical proportions suggesting something huge and spectacular ---- awe inspiring miraculous even. And of course the Bible does have its share ---- especially in the Old Testament --- it does have its share of spectacular events and miracles the worldwide flood ---- the plagues in Egypt parted seas --- pillars of fire----- and so on. But a closer and more careful a more discerning look at scripture suggests a different kind of biblical a different kind of understanding of the phrase --- of Biblical proportions. When the whole of scripture is taken into account biblical is less about eye-popping spectacular things --- and more about the fiercely quiet things of life.

5 5 Pastor Bratt suggest that God might see a humble widow doing a behind the scenes act of service and exclaim that deed is positively biblical. Or God might observe His Spirit slowly but surely transforming the life of an alcoholic into the shape of sainthood and declare what is going on in that man s heart is a drama of biblical proportions. Hopefully ---- God might even look at a smaller country church called St. David s Presbyterian Church in a small community in Southern Ontario and see that in the church s witness and worship there is a movement of biblical proportions as it participates in the Kingdom s of God s steady but sure transformation of the surrounding community indeed the whole of creation. These are the truest movements and inclinations of all things biblical. Things that start small and modest and humble and faithful and gain momentum and Spirit --- growing like little seeds into something beautiful and great like a little mustard seed growing. Like a young boy or girl ---- from out in the fields maturing into something beautiful and great and faithful ---- a humble servant and instrument of God like David. The central point of the scripture passages we have before us today is that God s kingdom more often than not grows gradually and naturally instead of suddenly and dramatically. It takes a long time for an acorn to become a mighty oak. The mustard seed starts smallest of small but turns into the greatest of all shrubs. Size is far less important than is spirit and attitude --- and disposition. There s the story of a small man ---- barley 5 feet tall who applied for a job as a lumberjack in Alaska. The foreman after seeing the small stature of the man and knowing well the rigors and demands of work in the forest wanting to discourage him ---- gives him the largest axe on

6 6 the site --- and sets him before the biggest tree on the site ---- a few hundred feet tall ---- many feet in diameter and says ---- Chop this one down. Before long the little lumberjack fells the tree. And of course the foreman is surprised and asks where did you learn to chop trees down like that. And the powerful little man replies ---- When I worked in the Sahara forest. You mean the Sahara desert replies the foreman. No the Sahara forest ---- it was only called the desert after I got there. Size is less important than Spirit. We cannot judge a book by its cover. Things are not always as they seem. A second look often reveals a whole new perspective. Looks can be deceiving. That s why God doesn t really bother with looks in the first place. Size is far less important to God than is potential and faithfulness --- and disposition. Size is far less important to God than what God can do when He nurtures the Holy Spirit and a Christ like heart in someone. As our passage from 1 Samuel reminds us the Spirit of God is given to David and it continues to come to him in increasing power --- it is gradual and continual and natural. And where God s Spirit and presence are found there is sure to be the Kingdom of God coming on.

7 7 Coming on slow and sure like a seed in the soil growing along bit by bit until the great day of cosmic harvest comes. The great American poet Emily Dickenson wrote We turn not older with years but newer every day. We turn not older with years but newer every day. The mustard seed turns not older every day --- but newer --- closer and closer to what it was created for --- to be the greatest of all shrubs as Jesus says in Mark s gospel today. And as C. S. Lewis said We cannot be just an ordinary egg we must be hatched or go bad. We cannot be just an ordinary egg we must be hatched or go bad. When we give way to God s will. When we celebrate and worship God as Father ---- Son and Holy Spirit we allow ourselves to be hatched. When we deny --- go against ignore the will and Spirit of God we go bad ---- and waste away. We needn t be mighty warriors in faith to begin with in order to enable this to happen and take place. Our faith can be as tiny as the tiniest of tiny a mustard seed. God doesn t need a seed the size of a cannon ball to make of it something great and beautiful and faithful. We live and we walk by faith not just by sight. We worship and we celebrate and we are filled with the Spirit of a God who looks on the heart and not only outward appearance. We worship and we celebrate and we are filled with the Spirit of a God who

8 preferred Abel over his older brother Cain who preferred a couple of senior citizens to found his might nation (Abraham and Sarah) over scads of perfectly fertile younger couples that abounded in the countryside. We worship and we celebrate and we are filled with the Spirit of a God who chose Jacob over Esau ---- Joseph over all of his older brothers David over all of his older brothers. We worship and we celebrate and we are filled with the Spirit of a God who takes the tiniest of tiny a mustard seed a tiny wee bit of faith often smushed up in between a whole lot of doubts and fears --- and bad experiences ---- and makes something great and beautiful ---- and faithful. How God sees ---- is often far different than how we do. Where God looks is often far different than where we do. We cannot be just an ordinary egg we must be hatched or go bad. Things are not always as they seem. A second look often reveals a whole new perspective. Looks can be deceiving. That s why God doesn t really bother with looks in the first place. The Lord looks on the heart indeed ---- the Lord does not see as mortals see --- they look on the outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart. God loves us --- each and every one of us ---- each and every part of us just as we are ---- AND ---- and this part is crucial AND nothing we can do --- or not do can ever change this.

9 9 We are all beautiful inside ---- even if it may not always be obvious from the outside. And this all because deep inside each and every one of us is the image of God waiting to be released --- and unleashed --- over and over and over again as He so wills it. The Lord does not see as mortals see --- they look on the outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart. May we too look on the heart --- in ourselves and in others. May we too focus on the heart in ourselves and in others. The kingdom of God grows gradually and naturally and it begins in the heart ---- may we engage ourselves in this wonderful ---- God inspired and directed journey that is a life in faith. There is so much more going on that meets the eye when God is involved. And God is always involved. Amen.