Why are you here? No, the question
I’m asking isn’t why are you all here in church on a lovely Sunday morning in
June. The question is, why are you here—you of all people? You know.. you. Of all the people on this
earth, why did Jesus the Christ, Redeemer of the world, call you to be
his disciple? Of all the sentient beings in the universe, why did the Living
God call you to witness in word and in deed to the truth of the Gospel?
Sure, we all do the best that we can
in this life. We all want to live, and try to live as kind and as loving a
life, as good a life as we possibly can. We all to try to follow the example
and the teachings of Jesus. But you and I know all too well our weaknesses. You
and I know all of the times that we try and never-the-less fall short. So why
you? And by the way, why me?
Surely God can do better than us! And yet, here we are.
Maybe that’s why so many of us love
the biblical figure of David. He’s so
human, so fallible—just like us. And
yet, there he is—shepherd, musician, hero, poet, king. Maybe that’s the appeal of this story of the prophet Samuel’s surprising
designation of young David as God’s anointed one—the one who will one day be
King of Israel. It’s the story of the
little guy who makes it big. It’s the
story of the story of the girl at the back of the chorus line who gets a chance
to fill in for the leading lady at the last moment, and surprise! A star is
born.
All of the grown sons of Jesse are paraded in front of him, but the
prophet says that despite their good looks and many builds, none of them is the one God has chosen to be
king. Why not? Because God does not see as human beings see.
Then, after all of them have been marched past, there
are no sons left. No one but little
David, out tending the sheep. David is
summoned in, and surprise, Samuel
proclaims, that this is the one.
Now you and I may wonder, why God
chose David instead of one of his big brothers. We aren’t told. Maybe God saw
David’s great potential—a potential his family hadn’t recognized. Maybe God
remembered with pleasure the sweet songs of praise the boy had lifted up so
many times when he was alone on the hillside with his sheep and his harp. Maybe
it was because as the youngest son,
David
had learned early to take responsibility, to undertake all the dirty and
difficult tasks—like shepherding—that his big brothers had dumped on him.
We are not told. All we are told is
that mysterious, almost mystical phrase— God
does not see as human beings see. God’s choices are often surprising, often
inscrutable, often beyond our ability to justify or understand.
Theologians
call them “Mysteries of God” God chooses whomever God will choose. And thereby the greatest hero-king of Israel
From the least shall come the
greatest. Those words ring a bell.
Something Bob Dylan wrote? No, even if you aren’t familiar with the
story of David’s anointing, the words ring true. Haven’t we all seen God at
work in the world choosing those at the bottom of life and raising them to
greatness?
Abraham
Lincoln was born in a log cabin and ended up in the White House. Nelson
Mandella went from political prisoner to President. Martin Luther King went from a spoiled,
pretty boy preacher’s kid to a genuine, real live prophet.
It was Jesus, after all, who taught us the least should be first.
Jesus himself was the ultimate example of the way in which the Creator
commissions those whom the world regards as lowly and of no account to do the Divine
Will in this world.
"To what can I compare the Reign of God?" asked Jesus of the
disciples one day. The Holy Realm is like…. well, it's kind of like a grain of
mustard seed/
The
Kingdom is like that tiny, insignificant seed. "The smallest of all the
seeds on the earth";, accordiong to the folklore of the time. You can
breathe too hard and blow it right out of your hand. Yet when that tiny seed is planted and
nurtured, it will germinate, and grow, and grow, and grow, until finally it
becomes.. a shrub.
A
weed, two or even sometimes three feet
tall.
"A weed? God's coming Commonwealth of Shalom
"Yea. Precisely. It becomes a
plant so impressive that the birds can come and perch in its branches."
"Birds, Jesus?"
"Yes. Small birds, of
course."
"Well… that's impressive.. I
guess", said the disciples. But no doubt they weren't overly thrilled with
being compared to a weed by the side of the road.
Granted, Jesus was pulling their
legs a bit. But the parable does say something about the Creator's
perspective on creation. Surprise! What the world
regards
as common, small, of no real import, God regards as miraculous, as wonderful,
the very essence of the Divine realm. Even a weed is saturated with light,
luminous with the touch of its Maker.
Why wee you and I chosen by God to
be disciples? Why are we here today? Why
were we called to ministry? God's choices are indeed inscrutable sometimes. God
can see far more than you and I when God looks at us. And that's true for all
people. God sees and knows who will be able to do the work of building the
Kingdom. God sees us and loves us, for who we have been, for who we are, and
for who we can become-- as well as for who we actually end up becoming.. God does not see as human beings see
Consider your own life. God doesn't
see it the way you do. Try to look at yourself the way God does. Think about
those people you come into contact with, every day. Think about the things you
do. Think about the places you go.
Maybe God has chosen you to minister
to those people, to transform those things, to testify in those plates. Perhaps
God has appointed you ambassador to those people, that they might see in you that tiny spark of
the Divine that is within us all. Perhaps God has chosen you to be a witness in
those everyday places, that you might touch lives and change hearts simply by
their beholding the example of your heart and your life.
Think about your life. God doesn't
see it in the same way that you do.
Maybe you don't belong here at all. Maybe God is calling you to become
a missionary, a nurse, a teacher, a
pastor, a social worker, an agent of change, a pair of hands to help someone in
the next town up the road, or in the city, or even across the ocean.
Think about your life. God doesn't
see it in the same way that you do.
Maybe you do belong here, but you're doing the wrong things in your
life.
Perhaps
God is calling you to become a foster parent, a little league coach, a scout
leader, a lay speaker or other church officer.
Maybe God wants you to go
back
to school.
Think about your life. God doesn't
see it in the same way that you do.
Maybe you do belong here, but you're living your life in the wrong ways.
Perhaps
God is calling you to mend those broken fences with your neighbor, your brother
or sister, your spouse, your parents, your church. Perhaps God is calling you
to transform your heart and soul and relationships through more disciplined
prayer and action so that your can become all that you are capable of becoming.
So that you can become the minister of God's grace that you'd like to be.
Why are you here today? What has God
chosen you as a disciple? And by the way, how are you doing about in
that task? Think about it. What do you
have to contribute to the Commonwealth of God
Pray about it. Examine your
heart. Examine your life. Take a look at
yourself-- and remember, God doesn't see you as other people do-- much less as
you see yourself.
That's why you and I have our
occasional moments of doubt and questioning. Not to lose our faith-- but to
strengthen our faith. That's why we
experience our periodic life crises. Not to give us an excuse to dump the old
spouse for a new one and trade in the minivan for a sports car. It's to force us to stop and look at our lives
from a new perspective-- hopefully God's perspective.
It's not too late. Maybe you're a
bit spry to join the Marines, but the seminaries are full of second career
people. There are volunteer opportunities for Senior citizens as well as people
just out of college. There are as many
opportunities to serve in God's world as there are challenges. There are as many ministries out there
waiting to be filled as there are people willing to discover them. Perhaps God is simply calling you to be
a better husband, or wife, or friend, or employer or (gasp!) church
member. God does not see as human beings see
Samuel anointed David, pouring oil
on this young boy's head as a sign of Divine choice, of holy commissioning. So
David became God's Messiah. That's literally what the Hebrew word
"Messiah" means-- "anointed one."
Surprise. Tomorrow at the garage, in
the office, over the kitchen sink, in the back yard, or the playground, or the
grocery store-- that's you and that's me--.
God's
anointed ones. Messiahs. Who us? Yes.
Because God does not see us as people see us-. Thank God!
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