1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 51:10-14
(sermon note: 10-19 sermon note)
1Now the Lord said to Samuel, “You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king.”
2 But Samuel asked, “How can I do that? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.”
“Take a heifer with you,” the Lord replied, “and say that you have come to make a sacrifice to the Lord. 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you which of his sons to anoint for me.”
4 So Samuel did as the Lord instructed. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town came trembling to meet him. “What’s wrong?” they asked. “Do you come in peace?”
5 “Yes,” Samuel replied. “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Purify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then Samuel performed the purification rite for Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice, too.
6 When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Surely this is the Lord’s anointed!”
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
8 Then Jesse told his son Abinadab to step forward and walk in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “This is not the one the Lord has chosen.” 9 Next Jesse summoned Shimea, but Samuel said, “Neither is this the one the Lord has chosen.” 10 In the same way all seven of Jesse’s sons were presented to Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” 11 Then Samuel asked, “Are these all the sons you have?”
“There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied. “But he’s out in the fields watching the sheep and goats.”
“Send for him at once,” Samuel said. “We will not sit down to eat until he arrives.”
12 So Jesse sent for him. He was dark and handsome, with beautiful eyes.
And the Lord said, “This is the one; anoint him.”
13 So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah.
(Psalm 51)
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you. 14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
This morning’s reading reminds me of the one about a young man named Henry who excitedly told his mother he’d fallen in love and that he was going to get married. But he wanted to give her a test. He told her, “Ma, I’m going to bring over three women, and you have to try and guess which one I’m going to marry.’ Reluctantly, the mother agreed. The next day, he brought three beautiful women into the house and sat them down on the couch and they chatted for a while. Later, Henry said, “Okay, Mother dear, guess which one I’m going to marry.” His mother looked at the three women sitting beside each other on the sofa and immediately replied, “The one on the right.” “That’s amazing, Ma! You’re correct. But how did you know?” With a scowl on her face, the mother responded, “I don’t like her.”
But isn’t that invariably the case? Moms who love their sons seldom like their daughters-in-law. It’s less of a funny than it is an observation. I guess it’s more of an absurdity than anything else. One would think that the two women would form an alliance in seeking what’s best for that man. I suppose a wife is going to expect more from that man than his mom and that can add both practicality and friction to the relationship. It’s just odd, comically so, how moms tend to dislike their daughters-in-law…
Mom had to make a choice not unlike Samuel in today’s reading. It was a difficult choice that even Samuel felt he was ill-equipped to make, not to mention a dangerous choice. Saul was still king at the time. If Saul found out his chief priest was sneakily anointing a new king behind his back, terrible consequences were likely in store for Samuel. But Saul had proven to be a poor king for God’s beloved people and God finally decided it was time to find his replacement. Samuel was tasked with seeking out Saul’s replacement and he obediently went about fulfilling it. Not that it was really Samuel’s choice to make. God told him where to go and who to choose so Samuel really had no power over the decision. But still, a choice had to be made and from all outward appearances that choice was made by Samuel, which got me to reflect on choices this week.
We all know that life is full of choices. It seems like there are more choices to be made as the older we get. It’s kind of an illusion though. When we’re young, we’re just blessed with older people in our lives who are willing and able to make a lot of choices for us. We simply trust that they’ll make the best choices for us. And as we get older, life expects us to make choices on our own. Perhaps the older people are no longer around. Perhaps the older people no longer know our needs and wants as well as we do. Perhaps the older people have made too many bad choices for us, and we can’t trust them anymore. Regardless, life has a way of getting us to make more of the choices other people made for us all along. We just trusted and obeyed when we were younger.
Now then, just because others no longer make choices for us doesn’t mean we are exempted from trusting and obeying. God is continuing to watch over us just as He did when we were young and choice-less. God continues to present us with people and situations that demand that we make choices. And just as it is an illusion that fewer choices were made when we were young, it is an illusion that it is entirely our responsibility to make choices as adults. We can still trust and obey the one who creates all our situations. We can fool ourselves into believing that each of us is in our own choose-your-own adventure book or we can entrust our lives to the author of all adventures. We can choose to entrust our lives to the grace and mercy of our loving God. We can allow him to guide us through the adventures of life. Let him determine your choices just as Samuel let him determine who was Saul’s replacement king. Stop relying on yourself to make the right choices, the good choices, and start relying on God to make them for you. Or, in our case as Christians, start relying on Christ to make the choices for you. We know he can be trusted. We know he only wants the best for us. We know he loves us! Let him make the choices for you!
Jesus tells us in the book of Matthew, “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” (7:13-14) And we complement his words with his words that he is the gate from John 10: “Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and find good pastures.” (vs. 9) Friends, Jesus is the gateway to life, true life…why wouldn’t we want him to make our choices? His choices lead to life and abundance and good pastures!
Yes, we have many choices to make in life, but they can all be simplified down to one choice—the choice to let Jesus lead your life or not. The choice to let him choose for you. It really is the only choice we have to make! Recall how Moses was tasked with bringing the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery and to God’s Promised Land, a land of milk and honey as the Bible describes it. Well, Moses gets them out of slavery, leads them through the wilderness for 40 years, and brings them right to the edge of the Promised Land. God comes to Moses and tells him he can’t actually lead the people into the Promised Land. Moses dies and his second-in-command, Joshua, takes up the post and leads them into the Promised Land. The people get situated and quickly forget about God and his help. They fall back into idolatrous living but not Joshua. No, Joshua confront the idolatrous Israelites and makes a bold, infamous declaration: “But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” (24:15)
We are similarly called to choose God. One, simple choice in life that in effect make all choices. Let us choose God and Jesus. As Proverbs say, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” (3:5-6) Let us choose God and give thanks. Thanks be to God!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
