“God’s choosing”
1 Samuel 15:34 - 16:13 (June 16, 2024)
I have strong memories of being chosen – or not chosen. Have you experienced this? A group of friends gets together to play ball. And the question is, who’s going to be on which team. You don’t want one side stacked with all the best players and the other side to have none.
So you start by naming captains. They’re typically players with the most ability. Then those captains take turns picking others for their team. You know how this goes. The good ones are chosen first. And with each subsequent choice the talent pool gets thinner. So by the time you reach the last couple of players … Well, it’s important to include everyone, isn’t it?
Were you the first to be chosen, or the last? Were you the one with chest puffed out, proud to be recognized by your peers? Or were you the one with a deflated ego, praying that someone would have compassion and pick you before they get to the end of the line?
What we have in our scripture reading today is one of these moments of choice. And this choice comes as a surprize!
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These last few weeks we’ve been following a series of readings from the books of Samuel. First, we listened as God called Samuel in the night. Then, we heard how Samuel received the people’s request for a king.
In today’s reading, Samuel will anoint another king. That’s because things have not been going well. Didn’t God predict as much? “You can have your king,” said God, “but there will be trouble ahead.” Israel’s first king, Saul, had a serious shortcoming – namely, disobedience.
Our passage today tells us that “Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel.” Oh dear!
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So now it was time to move on.
We don’t find change easy, do we? But God says, It’s time to move forward, Samuel. “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.”
We grieve. We hesitate. We get stuck. We don’t want to leave what has gone before. And we can’t imagine what the future will be. We’re so caught up with what we’ve lost that we become trapped there.
But listen to this! God has already devised another future. If one path has come to an end, God will provide another way. The future is always open, never closed.
God’s purpose for the people of God will not be thwarted!
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Now the plan for all this is tricky. Samuel is meant to anoint a new king while the present one, Saul, is still living. This is dangerous business. If Saul catches wind of it, Samuel’s life will be forfeit.
So the LORD instructs Samuel to take with him an animal for ritual sacrifice. That way, if anyone asks, he has a valid reason for being there. “Just going to church!” he can say.
We all know there’s more to it than that. Samuel is actually engaged in high treason. His mission is to secretly anoint a ruler of God’s choosing. Just don’t get caught!
When the elders of Bethlehem come out to meet him, you can tell they are nervous. They’ve heard that Saul and Samuel have had a falling out. “Do you come peaceably?” they ask.
“Oh yes,” says Samuel, keeping his cards close to the chest. Then he invites them to the sacrifice, along with Jesse and his sons.
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And this is where things get interesting. Remember I told you that God’s choice will be a surprize? This is the centre of our story, so listen to how it unfolds. It’s a story of high drama and suspense!
The first son of Jesse that Samuel meets is Eliab. And he’s a fine-looking candidate for king. Samuel goes through his check-list and Eliab ticks all the boxes. He is the eldest son, the favoured one, the first in line. It looks like Samuel has his man.
But not so fast, says God. “Do not look on his appearance,” which must have been striking. And “do not look on the height of his stature,” which also must have been impressive. “Because I have rejected him,” says the LORD.
What! Samuel must have wondered what the LORD was playing at. Samuel was sure this would be God’s pick.
But “the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”God is not impressed by superficial things. God sees deeper, often hidden, more important things.
Specifically, it says that God can see the heart. When we hear that word we think of emotions, like love. And certainly a heart that loves the Lord is an important starting place. But there is more to it.
For the Hebrew people, the heart was the centre of our human lives. More than emotion, the heart signifies will and purpose. The heart directs our actions. The heart is the home of obedience. Which is the very thing Saul was lacking.
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So then, candidate #1 – no.
Candidate #2, Abinadab. Jesse made him pass before Samuel. And, once again, the LORD turned him down.
On to candidate #3. What do you think? Will Shammah pass muster? No, he will not!
Are you detecting a pattern here? It’s all rather puzzling, since God had told Samuel that one of Jesse’s sons will be chosen.
And it must have tested Samuel’s faith. Really Lord? I was sure you said I’d find a king here today. I don’t understand what is happening.
Sometimes, we just don’t know. We believe we’re being faithful. We do the best we can. But God’s answers don’t always come quickly.
Samuel could have packed it in. But he persevered, through all seven of Jesse’s sons. And seven is a significant number. Because in the ancient world seven signified perfection or completeness. The seventh son meant that Samuel had seen them all. He was at the end of the line.
“What now?” he wondered. “Are all your sons here?”
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There is one more – the youngest, the smallest, the last, the least. The one that Father Jesse never thought to bring. Because … “someone’s got to mind the flock, you know.”
So Samuel gives instructions for him to come. As soon as he arrives, Samuel takes one look at him and gasps. “Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome.”
Hold on! I thought we weren’t supposed to pay attention to these things.
Samuel cannot help but notice. This last fellow – whose name, by the way, is David – captures the attention of the entire room.
Still, we must wait. What will the LORD say?
Finally, the LORD gives the stamp of approval! David, the last and least expected, will be the one of God’s choosing, Israel’s brand new king. And, as it turns out, he will be the best-loved king that Israel ever had.
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I want to make sure we see the stunning significance of it. Because this is what I understand to be the point of the whole story.
“The LORD does not see as mortals see.”
Eldest, first-born, tallest, privileged, first in line. These are not the criteria that God employs. All through scripture we find God going against the grain of our very human, very earthly, way of choosing.
God’s prophets demand attention to the least privileged and least likely to be chosen. We’re told, throughout the Old Testament, to care for widows and orphans and strangers in the land. People with no family connections, no means of support. Migrants who come seeking shelter.
So also, Jesus cared for outcasts and lepers, the ethnically and religiously impure, people who were sinners, pushed aside and forgotten. Excluded even.
In God’s kingdom, the first shall be last, said Jesus. He promised a divine reversal in our status. So all of you multi-talented people who get picked first – be careful. And those of you who hang your heads in shame and embarrassment – rejoice!
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Like Samuel, we still get caught up in these cultural norms that are deeply ingrained in our society. How do we judge? Who do we choose?
I told you this passage has surprizes to offer. God’s choosing and our choosing are not the same! How do we look upon others? And how do we look upon ourselves.
Sometimes I think we sell ourselves short. We don’t recognize the gifts that we’ve been given. We don’t imagine that God could be calling us, inviting us to give ourselves to something greater.
Imagine David at the end of our story, standing in front of his family– his seven older brothers, his father, the elders from his village – while Samuel poured anointing oil on his head.
Looking after sheep had uniquely equipped young David, in the eyes of God, to be a shepherd-king, the leader of God’s people – protecting them from danger, tending them with care. Even as God cares for us.
Where would Israel have been without David as their king? Where would we be without this writer of Psalms? This forebear of Jesus the Christ – God’s anointed.
God does not see as mortals see. Could you see yourself – even your lowly, humble, last-to-be-chosen self, as a person of God’s own choosing? The right person for what is needed by God and others?
This morning we’re invited to look at others, and even ourselves, with different eyes. With God’s eyes. And let me say – you may be surprized at what you see!
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“Give us a king!”
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1 Samuel 8:4-10, 19-22 (June 9, 2024)
It was just over a year ago that King Charles was crowned in a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey. You might have watched it on TV. Interest in the monarchy is waning. And yet, even if it seems like an anachronistic institution, the crown continues to play a constitutional role in the governance of our country.
In our scripture reading for today, the elders of Israel are keen to have a monarch! They plead with Samuel to appoint one for them. “Look,” they say, pointing to their neighbours, “They have a king! So why can’t we?”
Last Sunday we began a series of readings from the OT books of Samuel. We met Samuel at the beginning of his ministry, when he served as a boy in the temple at Shiloh. It was there he heard God speaking. A voice came to him in the night.
After that, Samuel became known as a straight-talking prophet of the Lord and a great leader among his people. He administered justice in the land, encouraged leadership. He performed ritual sacrifice and interceded with God on behalf of his people.
But now, Samuel is nearing the end of his life. And others are growing anxious. “What will happen when this great man is gone?”
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Samuel thought he had it all arranged. His two boys, Joel and Abijah, were judges in Beersheba. Yet, the Bible tells us, they took bribes and perverted justice.
It's the same story we heard last Sunday, with the sons of Eli. Do you remember? They were meant to continue Eli’s priestly line. But they were corrupt. And it was Samuel who had to break the difficult news to Eli: “Your priestly line is finished!”
Now Samuel has the very same problem! Just because one generation offers exemplary service doesn’t mean the next one will follow. Will our kids turn out to be decent human beings? And will their children after them?
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It must have been very disappointing for Samuel to watch his sons go awry. But it happens. And now the people of Israel are demanding a different kind of ruler – something they’ve never had before.
Up to this moment, they have been a loose confederacy of tribes, guided by Spirit-filled leaders that God has raised up when needed. Yahweh alone has been their ruler!
Now they’re asking for hereditary monarchs, an established line. “Give us a king!”
Samuel is not pleased. In fact, he’s feeling rather put out, personally rejected. “Don’t feel bad,” says the LORD. “It’s not you they don’t want. It’s me they are rejecting! Just as they have done … from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods.”
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This is the crux of the matter – the question we all have to answer (whatever form of government we choose): Who will we trust? Who will we serve? Who will we allow to be our ruler?
That question of trust strikes close to home, I’d say. It is a question for us both personally and publicly.
We live in a time when trust for our public institutions has diminished. How much do you trust the government, police, the justice system, educational institutions, scientists, religious leaders? Have you noticed a shift in attitude toward these things?
I remember driving through parts of our province during the pandemic and seeing signs in farmer’s fields displaying obscenities directed at our Prime Minister. We’ve always had a degree of skepticism about politicians. But this seemed new and quite disrespectful.
Who do we trust? How far will it go? What happens to our society when trust is eroded to such a degree?
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The question is personal too. Do you trust your neighbour. And crucially this: Do you trust your God?
Faith is fundamentally about trust. In the Greek text of the NT, there is one word that can be translated several ways: To believe, to have faith, to have trust. In the Bible, belief is not so much about theological propositions as it is about acknowledging our complete and utter dependence on God.
“I am the one who brought them out of Egypt,” says God to Samuel. It was me who led them out of slavery. And now they want to appoint a king. Imagine that – a brand new Pharoah!
It’s ironic. The people of Israel want a strong man who will protect them. Who will defend their interests. Who will make their nation great. But at what cost? The cost of their very identity as a people who live in covenant relationship with God.
Who will we trust?
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Fear can be a powerful motivator. But not always for good.
Anxiety about who will be in charge motivates the people to seek an easy solution. “Just give us a king, Samuel. Everyone else has one, after all.”
Except the people of God are not meant to be like everyone else. We’re supposed to follow a different way. But we get sucked into this vortex of anxiety. And so we grasp the first solution we can see. We don’t stop to consider, “Is this a good idea?”
Both God and Samuel know it’s not a good idea. The LORD says, “You better warn them.”
What follows is a long list of troubles the people are bound to experience. We skipped this section in our reading earlier, because it goes on at length in a pretty negative way. You can look up the details when you get home, but let me summarize them for you.
A king, warns Yahweh, will conscript your children to serve in a standing army. He’ll put you to work manufacturing weapons of war. He’ll take the best of your crops. He’ll tax you to the hilt, and distribute that wealth to his supporters. You’ll lose your freedom and spend the rest of your lives serving the interests of those in charge.
And when all this happens, says the LORD, “you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves.” Notice the language. This is “your king.” It’s not God’s idea. You have chosen him “for yourselves.”
Samuel gives this warning to the elders of Israel. If that’s what they want, God will grant their request. But watch out! This is not a good solution.
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Our passage today is part of a section of scripture that was gathered and pieced together in the time of exile. There, in the face of that tragic event when the promised land was taken away and the kings of Israel were no more, the people of faith wondered how they got into that mess.
And what they realized was that those precious kings whom they’d sought so eagerly … turned out, almost without exception, to be self-serving and unfaithful. They led the nation, all right. But every one of Samuel’s warnings turned out to be true.
You want to concentrate power in the hands of an individual? Be careful! I’m reminded of these familiar words: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”[1]
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So what is this passage about, really? Is it about monarchy? I think not. I think it’s a story that expresses caution about any of our systems of government and any of our earthly rulers. Take them all with a grain of salt, it says.
Don’t let them become as gods to you. Because they are not. They are human beings, susceptible to self-interest and corruption. And just so you know … what I’m saying about them applies to every one of us.
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This is a big year for elections. India, the world’s largest democracy, just finished voting. It was a process that ran a month and a half, accommodating 968 million eligible voters. It boggles the mind!
The UK is in election mode as we speak. Our neighbours to the south seem to be perpetually campaigning.
And over the next year and a half, elections at all levels will be held here in Canada. So whether you’re satisfied or unhappy with government, you will have an opportunity to choose.
To be clear, our choice of leaders does matter. We should always seek the best in our candidates and support policies we believe will be beneficial for everyone.
But we should also acknowledge the imperfections and limitations that are embedded in every party and every candidate. The king is not God. Politics will not, ultimately, save us.
For that, we must look beyond our earthly rulers. To the God who rules all creation. A God who desires justice and peace and goodness for all the citizens of the earth. A God who came to us in Jesus, revealing God’s kingdom way.
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Did you hear what I just said? God’s kingdom. This is an amazing thing! Our scripture tells us the people’s request for a king was an afront to Yahweh. A rejection of God’s sovereign rule. But the Good News is that God takes that very request for a king, and gives it back to us in a way the world has never seen before.
In Jesus, God gifts us with a king who comes to serve. A ruler who is truly good, through and through. A monarch who lives among us as servant. The regal representative of God clothed in humility and grace. A Messiah, God’s anointed ruler, who comes not to conquer his enemies but to win them with his love. Wow!
See what I mean? It’s amazing! God’s steadfast love brings blessing in ways we could never imagine.
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The early Christians made a bold confession of faith in the face of one of the most powerful empires the world has known: “Jesus is Lord,” they said. Jesus, not Caesar.
So, again these questions rise before us: “Who will you trust? Who will you serve? Who will be your ruler?” The answer has implications that stretch far beyond politics. This has to do with every part of our lives.
Whatever you are faced with – whatever difficulty or dilemma, joy or sorrow, challenge or delight … who will you trust?
May it be the God who promises to be with us each and every day in a covenant relationship of love, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
[1] Lord Acton, 1834-1902, https://www.acton.org/research/lord-acton-quote-archive, (Accessed June 7, 2024).
“Fire that brings new life”
Ezekiel 37:1-14; Acts 2:1-4 (May 19, 2024)
There they were, gathered together. Just as we do every Sunday. Believers, followers of Jesus.
“It’s not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority,” Jesus had told them. There is so much we do not know! “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses …” (Acts 1:7-8)
So there they were, waiting, waiting. How long, O Lord? What does Jesus have in mind for us?
The first disciples were in one of those difficult periods of life we all go through. A time of waiting and not yet knowing. A time of transition. Their leader, Jesus, was crucified and rose from the dead. It was an astounding miracle! But then he went away. Left them on their own.
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Or did he? He said it would be better for them because something new would come: A Spirit, an Advocate, One who would continue to lead them forward in his way.
These times of waiting are confusing and difficult. And yet, that’s what we as believers are often called to do. God’s specific plan for our lives is rarely given in detail. We must wait for it to unfold. Believers walk by faith, taking it slowly, one step (and the odd leap) at a time.
So they were waiting. And all of a sudden, in a way that no one had anticipated, the Spirit came from heaven like the sound of a mighty rushing wind. It came as tongues of fire, resting upon each one of them.
And it changed them – from no life to life, from confusion to knowing, from hiding to proclaiming. The Spirit sent them into the streets to mingle with others from every nation. Now they were a people with purpose.
Does the Spirit still come? Can passions be stirred? Confusions clarified? Would you pray for such a thing?
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Let me tell you another story.
Years ago, long before the Spirit fell upon those disciples at Pentecost, there was a prophet named Ezekiel. He was among a group of people taken into exile. This, he said, was the judgement of God.
But in that dark time of destruction and loss, Ezekiel also had visions that brought hope. Our scripture reading today is one of them.
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Ezekiel finds himself in a valley. He looks around and what does he see? Many bones. And they are dry as dust.
I imagine a scene like this from the Badlands of North Dakota. We do find bones here: Skeletons of animals that have been lost or preyed upon in that harsh, environment. If we’re lucky, we might happen upon a piece of fossilized bone, the remains of dinosaurs.
The valley that Ezekiel sees is very dry, and full of bones. And it was, for him, a picture of his own people, trapped in a foreign land where they lived as strangers in exile.
The expansion of the great Babylonian empire was responsible for that. The people of Judah had tried to resist. But it was futile in the face of a much larger, more powerful nation.
The Babylonians occupied the land. Captured the city of Jerusalem. Destroyed the temple, the house of Yahweh, the living God.
Anyone left standing they captured and carried away. The urban elite of Jerusalem would become slaves to their new masters.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Neo-Babylonian_Empire_in_550_BC.png" width="289" height="52" />It must have seemed as though the story of God’s people had come to a humiliating end.
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“[The LORD] said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’”
What do you think? Can bones that are dead come back to life? Can a nation destroyed be rebuilt? Can exiles return? Can a dispirited people find hope? Can these bones live? Or are they too far gone?
Ezekiel could hardly bring himself to answer. “O LORD God,” he moaned, staring despondently at the ground, unable to lift his eyes. “LORD, you know.”
He was right, God knows. We cannot see what the future holds. Even a prophet, like Ezekiel, will hesitate to say.
“Prophesy,” the LORD commands. God tells the prophet to do what he’s called to do: Speak the message that God will give.
“Prophesy to these bones,” these dry old bones. This lost and dispirited people.
Suddenly there is a noise. Those bones begin to rattle. From the dust they rise and come together and find their place, clicking and clacking.
Flesh comes upon them. And skin. And look, they are almost living! Just one more thing.
“Prophesy!” says the LORD. Tell the wind to come from the four corners of the earth, “and breathe upon these slain that they may live.”
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In the language of the Bible, the words for wind and breath and Spirit are one and the same. So when Ezekiel calls for the wind to come, he calls for breath. And when he calls for breath, he summons the Spirit of God.
Do you remember the creation story, how God formed humanity from the dust of the earth, and breathed into our nostrils the breath of life, and we became living beings? (Genesis 2:7)
Here, in this vision of Ezekiel, the Spirit of God brings new life. Without the Spirit, the wind, the breath – we are nothing. Lifeless bodies, a mere shadow of what we are meant to be.
Do you feel that way? Tired, lifeless, out of steam? Some days I drag these old bones out of bed in the morning, and I can barely get myself going. More coffee is not the answer!
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“Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’”
But now comes the pinnacle of Ezekiel’s vision! “I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil. … Then you shall know that I the LORD have spoken and will act.”
Within a generation, the great Babylonian empire, that had once seemed so powerful and intimidating, was itself defeated. A way was opened for the people of Israel to return.
From death to life. From dusty old bones to new creation. From no hope to a fresh new calling as the people of God!
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Two Mennonite pastors, Patty Friesen from Osler and Lois Siemens from Bethany Manor, recall a canoe trip they took last summer on the Churchill River system in northern Saskatchewan. Much of that area had been burned from recent wildfires.
At first, they said, if felt devastating: “No birdsong or the telltale rustling of small animals in the bushes greeted us. Only silence, the sound of our paddles in the water, and our conversations were carried on the wind.”[1]
But what they discovered was Fireweed. A beautiful purple flower – it is the first sign of the forest regenerating.
Healthy forests need fire for renewal and rejuvenation. Old brush is cleared away. The canopy is opened to sunlight. Pinecones release their seeds. Growth begins again.
This past week, northern wildfires have threatened communities. Fire driven by wind can spread quickly and be devastating!
Fire and wind are also symbols for God’s Spirit: A spirit that may disrupt our lives, but ultimately brings new life.
Like those first disciples, all of us go through times waiting and not knowing. But on the day of Pentecost the wind, the breath, the Spirit of God, blew among them. And they were made new.
Disciples became apostles, sent to share God’s Good News. The church began to grow!
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“Thus says the LORD God: I am going to open your graves …”
What we have here, in the book of Ezekiel, is a glimpse of resurrection. The prophet speaks to a dispirited people and offers hope. They think they’re finished, done, dead. But they are not!
We gather this morning at the table of our Lord. We break bread and remember Jesus’ body broken on the cross. We drink a cup and remember his blood poured out for the life of the world.
Was crucifixion the end of the story? Or was God present there, in that darkest hour?
The answer is a resounding yes! What Ezekiel could only glimpse from a distance, the church embraces. As followers of Jesus, resurrection is the truth we hold onto.
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I’m glad to see that some of you remembered to wear red today. I pray that God’s Spirit may come to rest upon all of you and dwell within you.
And if your day is dark, or you’re struggling with something – physically or spiritually … If you’re tired, worn out, discouraged … Or if you’re simply waiting, wondering what comes next …
Well, none of us are finished. We live by the power of the Spirit until the day we die.
Even then, when we think it’s finally over, even then, it’s not! For God still promises resurrection, life after death! That is the hope of every believer.
The love of God is the most powerful reality in all creation and it will never let us go. Thanks be to God!
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[1] “I will put my Spirit with you, and you shall live,” published in Leader, Spring 2024 Vol. 21 No. 3, p.44.
