Looking Forward to March 19, 2023 -- 4th Sunday in Lent

 This Sunday we will be celebrating the sacrament of Baptism.

The Scripture Reading this week is 1 Samuel 16:1-13.

The Sermon title is What Did God See?

Early Thoughts: Samuel sees with the wrong eyes. He starts out to anoint a new king and thinks he knows what God is looking for but is wrong.  

Samuel sees Eliab and is sure "this is the one". What did he see? Was Eliab tall and strong? Did he have wisdom in his eyes? Was he youthful and energetic? We don't know what made Samuel so sure, but he is wrong. God, we are told does not look at the outside but the inside. So what does God see in the youngest son, the one who has been out tending the flocks?

Source

Ironically, the text, having earlier said that God does not look at outward experience, then tells us how wonderfully attractive David was.

But the fact remains that David is the one who has been chosen. David, who we later will learn is far from perfect, is the one that God says "this is the new king". What did God see in this shepherd boy?

The text this week tells us that God looks at the heart. So God saw something in David's in-most being that stood out. As the story of David unfolds over the next several chapters we find out that David may well have a good heart, a focus on trusting God, a special relationship with God. David will slay Goliath [and do so trusting not in human armor but in the power of God] in defense of God and God's people. David will (according to tradition) write poems and songs showing his devotion to God. David will also fall mightily, he will go astray, he will sin grievously but will then fall before God in repentance and confession. Is David perfect? By no means. But God sees something in David and God stays with David to the end of his life.

I think God saw the imperfection but also the possibility. And God focused on the possibility. So Samuel was called to anoint David as the next king of Israel.

So what does God, who looks not at outward appearances but at the heart, see in us? In our baptism liturgy we affirm that we are commissioned, called, and claimed by God. In baptism we recognize the baptized as a beloved child of God. What does God see in us? What possibilities and promise does God see in God's beloved children? What parts of us does God focus on?

I suspect that we, like Samuel, often see with the wrong eyes. We look for the wrong things. We judge by the wrong standards. Can we try to see ourselves and our neighbours as God sees them?
--Gord