Seeing as God Sees

As you look at each of these sermons, it is important to first read all of the scripture lessons, and then the sermon itself, so that you know what passages of Scripture the talk was based on.

Fourth Sunday in Lent 

   1 Samuel 16:1-13;   Psalm 23;   Ephesians 5:8-14;   John 9:1-41 

Today’s first reading begins with the voice of God speaking to Samuel, the prophet. Although we might think that a prophet is someone who predicts the future, we are closer to the real meaning if we understand a prophet as one who follows God’s directions and speaks out His messages. At that point in history, although Saul was still on the throne as the king of Israel, God was telling Samuel that he was to go and secretly anoint the one that He had chosen to become the next king. Samuel’s first response was fear, because he was afraid of what would happen if Saul found out about this new king. But God gave Samuel clear instructions on how to proceed and he followed those instructions. God had told Samuel that the king He had chosen was one of Jesse’s sons and that He would show him which son it was. So when Samuel, the town elders and Jesse and his sons had gathered for a sacrificial ceremony giving thanks to God, Samuel began watching to learn which of the sons God had chosen. The first son he saw was Eliab, and immediately he was sure that this man was God’s choice for king. I can imagine that Eliab was tall and strong, that he showed self-confidence and displayed a certain kingly behavior. But the Lord let Samuel know that this was not the son he had chosen to be king. God’s choice was not based on physical attributes, and Samuel was not to judge by appearance alone. Rather than seeing just a person’s physical appearance, God sees the heart. We humans tend to judge by outward appearances, don’t we? We are bombarded every day with advertisements for products that promise to make us look better, feel better and even smell better! What a person looks like, or how they dress, or the image they project does not reveal what they are really like though, or what their true value is. God told Samuel that He looks on the heart. He sees past how other people see us, right into our very inner being. The Hebrew concept of “heart” involves emotions, intentions, understanding and desires. So when God looks at us He sees our joys and our sorrows, He sees our doubts and our beliefs, He knows what tempts us and what satisfies us, He sees our longings and our needs, He sees our potential and our purpose. When God looks at us He sees our faith and our character. We buy into the idea that our physical appearance is a top priority and we spend lots of time and money in order to look better, but how much effort do we put into developing our inner character? Which is more important – to impress people with the latest fashions or the newest toys or the fittest bodies, or to please God with hearts that love Him and desire to live for Him? Each son of Jesse was presented to Samuel, but to each one, God’s answer was, “No, this is not the one.” So when Samuel was told that there was one more son, the youngest, who was out tending the sheep, Samuel asked that he be sent for. When this youngest son was brought in, the Lord told Samuel to get up and anoint him for he was the one. What was the name of this son? It was David, who would turn out to be the greatest king of Israel as well as an ancestor of Jesus Christ. Did you notice the name of the town that Samuel was sent to? It was Bethlehem, which later became known as the City of David and we know it as the birthplace of Jesus. When Samuel anointed David with the oil he had been instructed to bring, the scripture tells us that the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day on. The Holy Spirit came upon David to empower him for the task that God had given him.

One of the best known and best loved of all the Psalms of David is Psalm 23, the one we heard today. In it we see how David trusted in God’s care for him so that he had no need to worry. Even in times of danger or wandering, David was not afraid, knowing that God was with him. We can have this same trust that God is with us, even in times of darkness, and that He will show us His goodness and His mercy.

In the Gospel reading we witness one of the miracles of Jesus. A man who was born blind was healed by Jesus and could see for the first time in his life. This account has several things going on in it. There is the disciples’ issue of wanting to find something or someone to blame for the man’s life of suffering. There is the debate over whether Jesus was from God or not. There is the fact that this miracle was performed on the Sabbath, which outraged the Pharisees. There is the interrogation by the Pharisees which resulted in his being thrown from the synagogue. However, I want to focus on the conversation that Jesus had with the man in which he received spiritual sight. After he was thrown out Jesus came and found him. Remember that this man had never seen Jesus, since he was blind when Jesus put the mud on his eyes and told him to go wash in the pool. So when Jesus asked him if he believed in the Son of Man, the man replied that would believe in Him if he knew who he was. When Jesus told him that He was the Son of Man, the man responded immediately by declaring that he believed, and then worshipping Him. At the first of the story, the man didn’t have a clue who Jesus was. But then he was healed and he began to tell the people how Christ had changed his life. We are to share our faith in the same way, by telling others how God has worked in our lives. With his new spiritual sight, the healed man saw clearly that Jesus was more than a mere man. First he called Jesus a man, then a prophet, and then Lord. The longer we walk with Jesus, the more we come to understand who He is. This man had first gone from physical blindness to physical sight and then he went from spiritual blindness to spiritual sight. Jesus came to this world to open the eyes of the spiritually blind to Himself - the Light of the World.

This leads into the passage we read in Ephesians. It refers to light and darkness, and the last line says “Sleeper awake! Rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you.” What kind of light and darkness is it speaking about? If we are not in Christ, the Light of the World, then we are in spiritual darkness. Just like the Pharisees, we may believe we can see, but we are actually spiritually blind, unable to understand the things of God. We stumble around in the darkness, separated from God and controlled by our own selfish desires. When we invite Jesus in, He will transform our lives so that we  begin to live in the light, demonstrating God’s goodness, righteousness, faith and truth.

I want to close this morning by taking another look at David. We know that David had his weaknesses and he made his mistakes. The Bible does not cover up David’s shortcomings. For example we are told that he committed adultery, he arranged for one of his soldiers to be killed, he disobeyed God on different occasions and he tolerated sin in his family. He was a human just like us! But scripture also tells us that David was “a man after God’s own heart”. What qualities did he have that caused God to describe him as a man whose heart was like God’s own heart? David was not perfect, but he recognized his sin and he repented of it, in other words his desire was to obey God. So there is hope for us! Jesus came from heaven to rescue us from our prison of sin and to change our darkness into light. We cannot save ourselves or make our own way to God. Jesus’ death on the cross was the price that had to be paid to bring us back to God. The season of Lent is provided in the church calendar as a time to examine our lives and to assess our spiritual condition. Let’s each one of us take some time alone with God this week and be honest with Him about what is in our hearts. If we will come to God in sincere repentance , we can be assured of His forgiveness and cleansing based only on the fact that God’s own sinless Son became sin for us. 



Me - a Public Speaker???

For most of my life I have had a deep faith in God. My relationship with Him has grown through the years and I continue to discover daily His love for me. Since long ago I knew that God was my helper, and that I could always depend on His care and direction. However, speaking in public was something I said I could never do. In school I always dreaded those times when it was required that we give oral presentations. I loved the research and writing part of it, but standing in front of the class and giving the speech almost did me in! Even when I trained as a teacher, it was difficult for me to speak in front of my peers. In my youth I took part in several productions with singing or speaking parts, but as I got older it became more and more difficult for me to be anything but a member of the audience or a backstage worker! Even reading a scripture passage in church was more than I could manage.

So, when the women's group that I belonged to held a "Day Out" for ladies, and each of us was to take part by giving a short talk, I wrote my little talk, fully intending to somehow back out of giving it. But I was stuck - everyone was taking part and that was it! When it was my turn to talk, my legs were like jelly and I thought I would faint! But facing this crisis, I had never stopped praying. As I stood to go to the podium, I felt strength come into me. My legs did not shake, nor did my voice. I spoke naturally and confidently! I knew that only God had enabled me to overcome my fear of public speaking. But I never dreamed what would come next!

A friend and I were asked to help with the church services in our parish, due to the illness of our minister. With much trepidation, I agreed to lead prayers and announce hymns, which was comparatively easier for me to do than give the sermon. However, the time came when it was decided that I would be the one in charge of the sermon! In our church we follow the common lectionary, which means that there are particular scripture readings pre-chosen and assigned for each Sunday, rotating every three years. So there is the challenge of finding what the four passages of scripture have in common, and how to tie them together. Often, when I first look at the readings for the week, I am clueless about how one message could cover all the readings. In the first sermon I gave (and every one that I have prepared since), as I prayed and read and made notes, the Holy Spirit truly showed me how the Scripture readings fit together and what the message was to be. Each time I am asked to write a sermon, I am amazed to see what God brings from His Word! In fact, it has become exciting to search the commentaries and make my notes, all the while asking God what He wants to say to His people. And every time, I am able to stand confidently to speak, knowing that what I have written has been inspired by the Author of the Word Himself!

So I thought I would create a new blog and put in it some of the talks I have given, and maybe some random things I might like to share, all concerning messages that have come, not from my heart, but from the Heart of God.