A mother was distraught that she was getting along in life and had no children to raise. She prayed and prayed for a child of her own, but it seemed that the Lord had a different plan for her. But she was faithful in her prayers and after many years God finally allowed her to become a mother. When the child was born, she took him to the local temple and gave him, literally, to the Lord for His service. The child was raised in the temple.
This mother who had prayed so diligently for so long, having finally received her bundle of joy, basically orphaned him out to the local priest. But it was part of her faith commitment to God. She had promised if God would allow her a child, she would give him to the Lord as a servant.
His name was Samuel and he did grow up, raised by Eli, the priest, in the temple at Bethel. When he grew up he became one of the special men of the Bible story. He became a priest, himself, and was actually the one who anointed Saul as Israel’s first king, and even David, as Saul’s successor.
In this morning’s passage we come to the point in the story where God has become disgruntled with Saul and actually rejects him as Israel’s king, so he sends Samuel to anoint David to replace Saul.
Samuel is obedient, but he is none the less saddened that his king has turned out to be such a crumb. The text says that Samuel actually mourned Saul.
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Scripture
1 The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king." 2 But Samuel said, "How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me." 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 to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate." 4 Samuel did what the LORD said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, "Do you come in peace?" 5 Samuel replied, "Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me." Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. 6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed stands here before the LORD." 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
Saul was still the king but had turned out to be somewhat less committed to God than was necessary for the king. As a matter of fact, Saul had gone against what God told him to do... actually turning his back on God. So God was sending Samuel to anoint a new king. First of all Samuel liked Saul and mourned for his unfaithfulness. Secondly, if Saul knew Samuel was anointing a new king, Samuel would be killed, thus stopping the process of getting a new king.
Samuel is faithful and does what the Lord has told him to do, but note that it wasn’t first without expressing his fears to God. Verse 2 shows us that Samuel questioned God on the process. "How can I....." says Samuel, "..Saul will kill me." So, right there, on the spot, God modifies His plan to include a sacrifice. But this will work out great... "Samuel, take the stuff along for a sacrifice and be sure to invite Jesse and his sons to sacrifice with you."
This works out great, because God had chosen one of Jesse’s sons to be the new king. This is very different from the normal process. Normally, the eldest son of the current king becomes the new king. If the eldest isn’t worthy, then some other family member gets promoted. Most all countries that have a monarch do it this way. Something about the king’s line makes them especially suited to the job, I guess.
Samuel hosts the sacrifice and Jesse and his sons show up. Samuel sees Jesse’s oldest son, Eliab and is certain this must be the new king. Eliab is tall and strong and carries himself with a kingly aire. He will make a fine king.
And at this point God gives us the point of today’s message... "7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.""
How many times has someone been chosen for some particular duty or task only to discover that they didn’t really have their heart in it? I know of several churches in our ABC family that have called pastor after pastor only to reject them as soon as they see something that indicates the new pastor is just a normal human being, like the rest of us.... why should we allow them to remain as our pastor... let’s get rid of them and find another.
How many elected officials have let us down because we discover they have a very different agenda than they told us they had? If only we could do as God does and look at a person’s heart then I think we would have a lot fewer disappointments in our daily lives.
Hey, that’s a great idea.... why don’t we examine a person’s heart instead of their words and looks? Martin Luther King, Jr, in his famous "dream speech" tells us that he dreamt of a day when all people would be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. I would add, their race or religion or creed or gender, either. People should be judged on who they really are, deep inside, in their heart. That’s the way God does it.
You might be saying, "Hey, wait a minute, pastor. God can see into peoples’ heart. He can see what’s there. We are just lowly humans; we can’t do that." Well, that’s true, we can’t. But we can do a better job of ignoring appearance and speech and focusing on the actions that reflect a person’s heart.
I heard it said, once, at a stewardship training session, that if you could see a person’s checkbook, you could tell where their heart really is. Let’s turn to Luke chapter 12, let’s look at verses 32-34, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Jesus said "where your treasure is, there your heart is also." Our checkbooks may reflect where we put our treasure. If someone were to look at mine or yours, would they find evidence of charitable giving? Multiple entries to church, Christian bookstores and the like? It’s a good indicator, but not a very realistic way to examine a person, unless you are running for public office. It’s pretty hard to ask for a person’s checkbook when they come to a job interview or a volunteer situation. We just don’t do that... maybe we should.
But treasure can be seen in other ways than the checkbook. I love the commercial on TV that has a man talking about all the things he has in life, his home is big and beautiful and he has an in ground pool and belongs to the club and has a fancy car and his kids go to private school and he has all the latest yard equipment. Then at the end of the commercial he says, "I’m in debt up to my eyeballs.... somebody help me." I love that. What a wonderful commentary on the American Dream. We all want a nice house, two cars, barbecue, kids, pool, snow machines, boats, motorcycles, large screen TV’s, stereo’s, and the latest computer with all the digital gadgets that go with it. There is nothing wrong with the dream. The problem is that we no longer earn it. We want it now! If we can’t afford something, we whip out a credit card.
When we live outside the normal boundaries of our income, then we have lost site of treasure and have fallen for the false dream. Is our treasure our things, or is it our relationship with God? I think, by looking carefully at a person you can eventually discover where they are in this dichotomy. Does the person make service to others a priority in their life? Do they seek after the Lord, not just attend church, but seek after the Lord? What’s the difference? Some people simply attend church because they feel obligated. It’s Sunday, we go to church. But people who are seeking the Lord do so much more. Sunday school, Bible study, boards, committees, special activities, offerings.... the list goes on. These are the people who do more than just attend worship services.
So we come back to that age old question, "If Christianity were outlawed, would there be enough evidence in your life to convict you?" Does your life reflect a commitment to God? Can people tell, from watching you, where your heart is?
Conclusion
I leave you with two questions to consider. When you look at someone, are you seeing with earthly eyes that focuses on appearance and speech, or are you examining character?
The second question, If someone were examining your character, what would they see? Remember, God looks at the heart, what does He see in yours?
One of my favorite Christian singers is Ray Boltz. He has a wonderful ballad type voice that is easy for me to understand and sing along with. He has one song that tells of riding along in the car with his father. Pretty soon his father would begin to sing. The songs may not always be on key or in tune, but the feeling was. In the song Boltz makes the statement, if he could play any instrument or sing any song, what would he choose? He says he’d choose a heart filled with God’s love, and then he’d begin to play "His Father’s Song." A song of caring, a song of giving more than is asked. A song filled with love.
The human heart is the greatest instrument there is. Does yours play your own song? Or the Father’s song?
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