Reflection for 3rd April 2011

Year A 4th Sunday in Lent 3 April 2011
1 Samuel 16: 1-13 Psalm 23 Ephesians 5: 8-14 John 9: 1-41

I remember a time when a group to which I belonged was going through a time of chaos. I wrote a letter to read to them so that I could make sure that I said things properly without being drawn into the emotion of the situation. A young friend had come along that night.

I read my letter and waited for the response. The response was overwhelming with accusations of one thing or another and all in all it seemed that no one really understood what I’d said at all. The young friend spoke up and explained what she could see was happening. She was a relative outsider and saw the situation with clarity and summed it up correctly, but instead of being listened to, the others shouted her down stating that she was too young to know what she was talking about.

This week’s Gospel reading brings the story that I just told to mind, as it seems something similar was happening. The religious people were in chaos over the opinions about Jesus. Into the picture comes a relative outsider who sees with clarity and although completely correct in summing up the situation he is thrown out and his opinion discounted.

Likewise, in our 1st reading from Samuel we witness the tendency we have as humans to make judgments that are based on our very limited understanding. When we are in the midst of a situation we often don’t see it very clearly. We need to instead, rely on the judgment that comes from a greater mind.

1 Samuel 16:1-3 “The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”
But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.”
The LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.”

Samuel was someone who had a close personal relationship with God. It was through Samuel’s anointing that Saul was anointed King. Saul was visually an obvious choice as he stood head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd. He was Israel’s first king and it seemed he was a figure head that would have seemed obvious due to his size. But the anointing of Israel’s 2nd king was very different.

This time Samuel is not told to go and anoint so and so, but is told to go and anoint Jesse’s son. Jesse was an important figure and his being was the result of God’s blessing and provision to a widow and her widowed daughter-in-law who showed herself to be faithful, loyal and a woman of dedication and compassion. Jesse was the son of Obed. Obed was the son of Ruth and the story of his birth is recorded in the book of Ruth.

It seems that Jesse’s sons were very impressive looking and at a glance Samuel thought that the firstborn was God’s chosen. But God speaks to Samuel and tells him that humans look at outward appearances, but God looks at the heart.

I wonder how differently many of us would choose friends and mates if we were blind and had to rely solely on attributes other than looks. How differently would we relate? Would we pick up the little dips in the voice that alerted us to lies or sadness? Would we hear what others were saying and read between the lines with more accuracy and sensitivity?

After 7 of Jesse’s sons pass in front of Samuel, they send for the youngest son who is still out tending sheep. The Bible tells us that he was also good looking, yet it was his heart that put him above his brothers for this particular anointing. King David became one that was known for being a man after God’s own heart.

Having been told that the attitude of King David was something that pleased God, we’d do well to study his writings and understand his heart. This man still stumbled. He expressed great despair at times, but throughout all he knew God. He accepted both the good and the bad from God and understood God’s care being to him like that of the relationship that he had as the shepherd with his sheep.

It is from King David that many of our Psalms come. These Psalms are both expressions of the most inner desires of the heart and they are often prophetically pointing to Jesus. This man, David, was not only anointed as King but he was chosen to be the human ancestor of Jesus. I wonder if Samuel had any idea of magnitude of his actions that day.

It was many years after that anointing that David became king. He was anointed and chosen, this was done in front of his older brothers who must have thought it was some kind of mistake.... and his life, to a large extent, continued just as it had, but God’s spirit was with him powerfully. David knew that God had chosen him and had “set a banquet for him”... even if his brothers did not.

It was commonly thought that to be chosen you would be something significant... a first born and perfect for example and certainly you wouldn’t be blind or disabled.... but Jesus showed that God was concerned about, and specifically chose those that the world rejected. It is through the gift of Jesus that our imperfections are healed, our inabilities covered and our sins forgiven.

John 9:1-5 “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.””

Our Gospel tells the story of a man who Jesus healed by making mud and telling the man to wash in the pool, the name of which meant “sent”. It was on the Sabbath that Jesus healed and so questions were raised that Jesus couldn’t possibly be the one “sent” from God because he broke the Sabbath.

John 9:30-34 “The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

The man was healed by Jesus, not only physically but also spiritually. He saw the situation with clarity and yet was shouted down by the religious leaders of his day. Where would you go? What would you do if you could see a situation about God with such clarity and yet the religious leaders would not listen to you? Throughout history this has happened. Martin Luther is one such example that comes to mind and I know there were many others at about that same time who were outcast and faced mortal dangers because they spoke out the truth.

Jesus warned of a time of darkness. While he was in the world we had the light, but he explained that night was coming when no one could work. Through the Holy Spirit we have the light of Jesus in us but lately it seems that the Christian voice is largely silent. Are we putting our lights under buckets? Do we refrain from speaking and acting in line with our deepest beliefs and faith because of fear? Samuel was afraid of anointing David in case Saul killed him. The blind man’s parents were afraid and the previously blind man was thrown out.
There is some danger is being true to God. In the year 2011 you will be told that you are not politically correct, you will experience conflict and isolation at times, and if this hasn’t happened then it is possible that you are not being true to your faith.
Fear or no fear, we have the light of Christ and if we don’t allow that light to shine the world will be in darkness...... Samuel was told to follow God’s instruction and all was well. Although these times of conflict will come, King David understood the provision of God through them and left us many Psalms to teach us, but most particularly Psalm 23.
Psalm 23 A psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.