Year B Proper 6 1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 Mark 4:26-34

What can we do to best serve the Lord? How can we live our life, with all of its demands and complications, work and worry, and still please Jesus?

A few years ago, at a college reunion, I happened to run into the twin brother of a woman I remembered well. I’d come to college at a very young age, certainly younger than all the other freshmen, and had been a homesick, awkward kid at best. This man’s sister had, one day, said something extremely kind to me, so unexpected in its kindness that I still remembered it fifty years later. It hadn’t been anything really major, just a few thoughtful words, which had made my life much more pleasant at that time.

The woman wasn’t at the reunion, so when I had the chance I spoke to her brother and told him the story, asking him to convey to his sister my thanks for her kindness. He seemed visibly moved, and assured me he would share my remembrance with his sister. It surprised me he was so very grateful that I had taken the time to tell him the story, and it was only later I found out his twin sister had missed the reunion, not because she was merely ill, but because she was dying. Many months later, the alumni magazine carried the notice of her passing.

It wasn’t a big memory I’d shared that day, not an earth shaking event. It was an act filled with kindness, a little thing said to an unhappy child by someone not much older than she. And it didn’t take much to tell the brother about it, just a few moments. Considering his response, I imagine it meant a great deal to his sister too, to be remembered with such affection for an act so seemingly insignificant.

In our first Bible reading today, though it begins with mention of the death of King Saul, the story itself takes place while Saul is still alive. In the verses before our reading begins, there has been a sign that God no longer supports Saul as king of Israel. In fact, God regrets ever having made Saul king. In today’s lesson, Samuel has returned home to Ramah, and Saul has returned to his base in Gibeah. Changes are beginning to get underway.

God tells 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." God commands Samuel to make a journey to Jesse and his family, secret lest Saul kill him. He is to appear to be on a pilgrimage.

Samuel is greeted with trepidation by the elders of the village. Perhaps Samuel has come to fight more battles with Saul right there in their home town? But Samuel assures them his mission is peaceful; he has come to make a sacrifice to the Lord. Then in accordance with God’s plan he cleanses Jesse and his sons and invites them and all the elders to the sacrifice.

At this point, Samuel has a chance to look at the sons of Jesse, from whom he is to choose the new king of Israel. It must have been an impressive group, all those strong young men, but God rejects them all. Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?" And he said, "There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him…”

Jesse must have wondered what Samuel could possibly want with the youngest of his (Jesse’s) male offspring, who is at that moment involved in the lowly occupation of keeping the sheep. A father would only send his youngest, a small and unimportant person, to do such a chore. Was there something special about the boy, something someone could see at a glance? No! All we learn from our reading is that he was younger than his brothers, handsome and healthy, and the least significant of all of Jesse’s sons.

The Lord said [to Samuel], “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” Then 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 from that day forward.

In our Gospel reading this morning, Jesus takes time to tell more of His short stories, those little tales we call parables. They aren’t terribly long, and on the surface they don’t seem that complex. In fact, if we don’t take the time to think about them and pray about them, they might not seem at all important.

“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, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

Anyone who enjoys or just understands gardening knows how terrible weeds can be, and how hard it is to eradicate them. In Jesus’ day, mustard bushes came up everywhere, and people were constantly trying to get rid of them. Jesus knew this was an image that would stick in the minds of His listeners.

The hated mustard bush, that which everyone saw as a pest, the last thing you’d want to find in your field or garden – Jesus uses this bush as an example of the Kingdom of God. Instead of choosing something tall, majestic, and beautiful, Jesus chooses something small, pesty, and unwanted for His image of the Kingdom of Heaven. And this invasive bush grew, and still grows, from the tiniest of seeds.

In the same way, the seed of the Kingdom, which produces far beyond expectations, is not so much the great, religious-looking deeds people may do once or twice in their lives. The real seed of the Kingdom is the “mustard seed”: the tiniest words, the most inefficient pieces of witness, the little actions of every day.

We are a grandiose people, and we live in a grandiose society. We respond favourably to the large, the lovely, and the magnificent, and are far less likely to be attracted, if at all, to the small, the plain, the insignificant. When we worship God we try for the best – we decorate, we play music, we come before His Presence with tumbrel and song. It is human nature to want to give the biggest gift, the most expensive offering. But though God appreciates our respect, and our desire to please, He requires of us none of these grandiose gestures.

It is the little things that mean the most to God. The choices we make: when we decide to greet a visitor in church, or begin tithing, or ask a friend “May I pray with you?” The actions we take: when we return the extra change the store clerk gave us by mistake, when we speak up against racist or sexist jokes, when we volunteer at a soup kitchen. All these “little” things sow a tiny seed of the Kingdom, both in our lives and in the lives of others.

Our calling as Jesus’ followers is not to be the biggest and most obvious giver, mover, and shaker – but only to love and serve Him following His example and obeying His commandments. We are called to a life of humility, to littleness, making it our aim in all things to please the Lord.

And how do we please Him if not with the grandiose gesture? We do the little, insignificant things – and we do them with great love.

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus, when you walked the earth, Your humility obscured Your Kingship. Your meekness confused the arrogant, hindering them from grasping Your purpose, Your nobleness attending to the destitute. Teach us to model ourselves after Your example, to subject our human nature to humility. Grant us with a natural inclination to never view ourselves as greater than anyone. Banish all lingering sparks of self-importance. Let our hearts always imitate your humility, remembering it is in the smallest acts of Love we find and please You. All this we ask for Your love and mercy’s sake, Amen.