June 14, 2024
The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
June 16, 2024
The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: 1 Samuel 15:34-16:13; Psalm 20; 2 Corinthians 5:6-17; Mark 4:26-34
From the Book of Samuel, “… (we) look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” I speak to you in the Name of God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. Amen.
I believe that one thing common to every family is telling stories about when we were children. One of my family’s favorite stories is about my tendency as a 5-year-old to pick flowers - flowers that caught my eye because they were pretty, and then bring them home as a gift for my Mom. On one occasion I brought home an armful of the prettiest little flowers I had ever seen: tiny white flowers with shiny green leaves and presented them not to my Mom, but to my grandmother who happened to be visiting. You have probably guessed that what I picked and presented to Granny was Poison Ivy. Just telling that story makes me itch. Looks can be deceiving. What I thought was beautiful was actually harmful. I thought of that story, that reality, when preparing today’s sermon.
In our Old Testament reading, we find a broken-hearted Samuel who has grown disgusted with King Saul. We might remember last Sunday’s reading where Saul was chosen to be the first King of Israel. Everyone, including Samuel, was taken in by Saul’s outward appearance. He was rich, handsome, and taller than anyone else. People probably thought, “That’s the kind of guy we want for our king; he just looks so good!” And so, Saul became King and just as God predicted, Saul might have started out well, but he became a national embarrassment. In today’s reading, the years have passed, and Saul has become a tyrant. So much so, all Israel fears him, and Samuel grieves because he is the one who anointed Saul as God’s chosen leader and now, he doesn’t know what to do. God tells him it is time to anoint a new king and leads him to Jesse of Bethlehem with the promise that one of Jesse’s sons will become the next king of Israel.
Just as before however – and I find this typical of human nature – Samuel is tempted to anoint the person physically attractive enough to be king. But God intervenes and tells Sam, “Don’t pay attention to anyone’s appearance for the Lord does not see as mortals see; (you) look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Now, the Hebrew text here actually reads that God looks to the heart or with the heart. And in Hebrew, the heart means the mind. God looks with the mind. In other words, God discerns; God thinks ahead. God tells Samuel – and all of us really – use your head: think about your choices. Do not base decisions upon appearance alone, but rather, discern and judge what is the right thing to do because looks can be deceiving – they can be poison ivy. Our lesson goes on. After meeting all of Jesse’s sons and turning each one down, the youngest or smallest son in Hebrew– which is interesting given that Saul was selected because he was the tallest – the smallest son, David, arrives from the fields. God instructs Samuel to anoint him as the new king. Our text tells us that David “had beautiful eyes and was handsome.” Now, didn’t God just say that we’re not supposed to judge based upon outward appearances? That is correct. The point is that David’s outward appearance didn’t disqualify him; rather, it just didn’t dictate how the decision would be made. Like poison ivy, outside beauty does not guarantee a healthy selection. It’s what’s inside that counts and we, as people of God, must learn to perceive, to understand, to discern that which is right regardless of outward appearances.
St. Paul, in today’s reading from his second letter to the Corinthians, echoes the words we heard from Samuel. The Church at Corinth was incredibly successful. You name it and they had it: Budgets and Programs to meet every need; and their members included the “who’s who” of Corinthian society. But for all their outward appearance of success, on the inside that church was torn apart by elitism and arguing that demonstrated incredible spiritual immaturity. Looks aren’t everything. Just because a church has all the trappings of what many consider a success, that does not mean its members love God and their neighbor more and more each day. Bill Hybels, former Senior Pastor at Willow Creek Community Church – at one time the mega-church in Chicago – realized one day that his congregation of twenty thousand people lacked spiritual depth, maturity or, for that matter, character. He said, “We made a mistake by being overly dependent upon our programs at the expense of age-old spiritual practices of prayer, Bible reading, and relationships.” See, at Willow Creek, programs “about Christianity had actually replaced practicing Christianity as a way of life – as a walk by faith. The result? A big building with lots of people, but little spiritual depth.” (Diana Butler Bass, Christianity After Religion, p. 162)
St. Paul reminds us that looks aren’t everything. That’s why people of God walk by faith, not by sight. Practicing our faith is not about looking good, or judging others by their physical appearance. Practicing our faith is about choosing to see Christ in each other. It is about choosing to see one another as Christ – as God sees them – with the mind, with the heart – and recognize that regardless of whom we might have been in the past, each and every one of us has become a new creation in Christ. Walking by faith is a choice each of us has to make and as Samuel learned, it requires us to think about what we are doing and saying; it requires us to think about how we live. Our salvation, our restored wholeness, St. Paul says, is in Christ and because of Christ and Christ alone, not because of what we have or don’t have, or because of who we know or don’t know, or how we look. God’s people walk by faith, not by sight.
In our reading from the Gospel according to Mark, Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed: A seed so small that because of its appearance, it is easily overlooked, ignored, or considered insignificant with no purpose or meaning for us. And yet, that planted seed can grow into a tree so large, Jesus says, that birds build their homes in its branches. Looks aren’t everything. That which appears insignificant might be the very thing that we are looking for.
You know, there was a time in my life when I envied colleagues who faced life’s challenges with endless confidence in God’s providence and I ached to be like them. Then one day I realized: each of us has received the same measure of faith – that same tiny mustard seed of faith that was planted in our hearts and minds at our baptism. But that faith can either remain a tiny seed or grow and become a place of support for others. Like any seed, we have to work its soil, water it, protect it and nurture it. And so it is with faith. If we will make time for prayer and Bible study; if we will take time to build meaningful relationships that go beyond socializing; if we are willing to walk by faith and not by sight, and pray and study together, we will choose right paths – paths that will develop within us an even deeper care and love for one another and our neighbor. But that requires being intentional. It requires thinking and then choosing. Diana Butler Bass in her book Christianity after Religion, writes, “People who intentionally engage spiritual practices grow in their understanding and awareness of God, and they get better at prayer, forgiveness, discernment, hospitality, and stewardship” (Bass, p. 166).
We have entered a new chapter in ministry. And like any change, things may sometimes appear out of sorts. Our scripture lessons this morning urge us to look beyond appearances – and I’ll add look beyond rumors – so that we are open to the new possibilities that God has in store for us. Possibilities that if each and every one of us chooses to look with the heart and pray for one another, will enable us to not only see, but nurture and encourage all those mustard seeds already among us. Mustard seeds aching to sprout forth and offer new life, new ways to support one another and the greater community and in so doing, become an even more effective witness to the redemptive grace of God revealed in Christ Jesus who is the foundation of this Church.
Samuel proclaimed, “(we) look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” May God grant us the grace and the wisdom to look with the heart, the mind, and then by choosing together to walk by faith, not only see those mustard seeds, but lift them up and nurture them. For in so doing friends, the Church always finds new life: abundant life; eternal life. How do I know? That is the miracle of the Mustard Seed and the promise of God. Amen.