We Walk By Faith

1 Samuel 15:34-16:13   Mark 4:26-34

Super heroes!  There seems to be an entire comic universe of them, though the numbers were far less when I was a child.  My favourites were all in the “super” family – man, girl, boy, dog – and much later, horse.  Superman became a TV series, and we children marveled at how no one recognized him as a “mild mannered reporter”, because he was totally disguised by his eyeglasses.  Then, when it came time to be “super”, he just hopped into a phone booth (we had those back then), disrobed in seconds, and underneath his “mild mannered” clothes was his Superman outfit.

The Lord said to 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.

As we’ve learned from the lessons of the past few Sundays, Samuel, though God speaks to and through him, is otherwise a very ordinary person.  As a child, he fails to recognize the voice of God calling him.  As a man, he becomes angry because he fails to discern the Israelites are rejecting not him, but God.  These are all natural reactions. Now God tasks this very human person, who happens to be a prophet, with the job of finding and anointing the son of Jesse who is to become the next king of Israel.

And we heard the story this morning.  Jesse parades all his tall, strong, handsome sons before Samuel, and each time, Samuel is struck by the bearing and countenance of the young man before him, thinking that surely this one must be God’s choice for king.  And each time, God says, ‘No, this is not the one”. 

When Samuel has looked at all the prospective choices, he asks if there are any more sons, and there is only the one engaged in the lowly task of watching the sheep.  You may remember that shepherds had a very bad reputation among the Children of Israel.  Nonetheless, David is sent for, and low and behold, when he stands before Samuel God chooses him.

We are not told what it is that makes David stand out in the eyes of God.  We do know that Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David, but other than that, what is hidden within the young man that makes him God’s choice remains unexplained.

With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches...”

Today’s Gospel presents us with agricultural images, that of seeds scattered, planted, and producing great crops and of one seed that produces a large tree.  Though He starts off with seeds in general, it is interesting that Jesus then moves to the mustard seed, which produced a plant with which most if not all of His listeners would have been well acquainted, because the mustard plant was one of the most unwelcome weeds of that time.  You didn’t just get a single mustard plant in your fields, you got an invasive weed overtaking you valuable, viable land.  Like shepherds of old, mustard plants were not highly thought of.  Yet, Jesus paints this invader in a positive light, telling His listeners that it is the greatest of all shrubs, because the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.

We humans always tend to look at things from an outward perspective.  What you see is what you get, and that’s why you should “never look a gift horse in the mouth”, because what you see there might reveal something less desirable than you at first thought.  But we can’t help ourselves, because, unless we are visually impaired, what we see is exceedingly important in the forming of our personal opinions.

In my early ministry, I covered a large congregation in a well-established church.  At the time for communion, which was a weekly experience there, people came forward to the altar rail, extended their hands, and waited for the consecrated Bread to be placed therein.  As I went down the row, I came to a woman who was shabbily dressed and had what appeared to be bandages on her hands.  I knew nothing about her, but my thought was that she must be some homeless person who showed up here on Sundays. 

Imagine my surprise when, after the service I asked the assisting lay person about that woman, and discovered she was a well-respected, if somewhat eccentric, member of the congregation.  She was always involved in helping out, giving her tithe, being active and responsible, but outwardly she always looked like she had been living in a tent in some secluded outdoor space, living rough, as the Brits would say. 

You can’t judge a book by its cover.  We have so many sayings about not judging by outward appearances, but we find it hard to live by them, because if someone looks bedraggled or even scary, we tend to recoil.

It would seem that today’s lessons are all about what is hidden within and how we are supposed to seek that out in others and in every life experience.  This is indeed part of this morning’s message, but the lessons also make it clear that, as with Samuel, along with our humanity we must have within us that which makes a positive response possible.  We are human, but God wants us to look at things from His perspective.  God wants us to be holy.  How is that done?

St. Paul tells us, “We are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord-- for we walk by faith, not by sight”. 

To walk by faith means living life with an eternal perspective, trusting in God even when things are hard, and believing in the Gospel.  It means seeing people, with God’s help, from heaven's perspective instead of a worldly one, and fixing our eyes on what is unseen and eternal.  Yes - we are called to be superheroes, ordinary folks on the outside, bearers of the Love of Christ within.  Sounds near impossible, and it isn’t easy, but it is what we are called to do. 

While it would be great if we could just find the nearest spiritual phone booth, jump in, and transition to sainthood, we know the way to accomplish holiness isn’t that simple. Fortunately for us, we aren’t expected to become instant saints or to accomplish holiness on our own.  

We are baptized – and the Holy Spirit within us waits.  We begin with prayer, and times of silence and meditation, attending church, and receiving communion, because all these are necessary to strengthen the Spirit within us.  We start with the things to which our first reaction might be fear, or anger, or just impatience, and go from seeing things our way, to a sensitivity to what is going on with the other person or with the immediate situation.  We take small steps every day on the path to holiness.

And very important to our journey, we set our priorities.  We will, of course, pursue our worldly goals, be they in ministry, music, performance, teaching, or in being meaningfully retired, being a good spouse, a good friend, even a good gardener.  But while all these are very important to us, what is most important to God is how we walk by faith, how we listen, how we give, how we love. 

Mother Teresa once said, “At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done.  We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in.” 

Many things in our lives seem important, so many worldly responsibilities.  But what is important to God is how we spread our branches, how we shelter those who need us, the world that needs us.  What is important to God is how we love.

Let us pray:

Pour out on us, we pray, O Lord, the Spirit with which you so remarkably endowedYour saints and prophets, so that we may come to know that love of Jesus which surpasses all understanding.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.  Amen.