God Looks at the Heart

I Samuel 15: 34 – 16: 13

 

(preached June 13, 2021)

 

 

Did you ever hear the saying, “Clothes make the man?”  We might not say it that way today, but I think we can still say clothes make a statement about who we are.

 

The clothes you choose to wear might simply say you like a casual lifestyle.  Your clothes might express your preference for comfort over high fashion.  Your clothes might proclaim your allegiance to your favorite sports team.  Some of us take our wardrobe more seriously than others, but all of us give some thought to what we put on when we get dressed every morning.

 

We know other people often form opinions of us, based on what we’re wearing.  As a woman, I’ve found that people form opinions about us, based on our jewelry, our hairstyle, or whether or not we choose to wear makeup.  People form opinions about all of us, based on our appearance, based on how we look on the outside.

 

But we can see from our passage for today, from the Hebrew Scriptures’ book of First Samuel, that God doesn’t pay much attention to what’s on the outside.  God doesn’t look on the outside.  God looks on the inside.  God looks into our hearts.  When God sends Samuel to Jesse’s house to anoint a new king for Israel, God tells him, “[I] judge persons differently than humans do.  Men and women look at the face; God looks into the heart.”

 

Samuel was a priest in ancient Israel.  He served in the temple during the years before the monarchy became established.  From his youth, Samuel had been listening to God and doing his best to help his people, the people of Israel, understand God’s will.  For many years, the people of Israel had been loosely organized into tribes, without a king.  They had a long memory, and they still remembered the oppression they had suffered under Pharaoh when they were slaves in Egypt.  They still had some suspicion about kings in general.  But over time, they began to feel that a king would be a good idea.  Eventually, a man named Saul was anointed king by Samuel.

 

But Saul turned out to be a difficult personality, to say the least.  He suffered from depression and powerful mood swings.  Mental health professionals today would probably say he had bipolar disorder.  As the years went by, life grew more and more painful for Saul.  He was plagued by feelings of inadequacy.  He brooded and second-guessed every decision.  He was so insecure that he viewed any change as a threat to his authority.

 

Saul was unpredictable.  That’s why, when God asks him to anoint a new king, Samuel is apprehensive.  Samuel tells God, “I can’t do that.  Saul will hear about it and kill me.”  Samuel is afraid that Saul will see this anointing of a new king as an act of treason.  But God gives Samuel what you and I might call a cover story.  When he goes to Bethlehem to visit Jesse, Samuel is to bring an animal, a heifer.  Samuel is to invite Jesse to a service where the heifer will be sacrificed.  This was a common religious practice at the time.

 

So Samuel, armed with a plausible pretext for his visit to Jesse, heads to Bethlehem to anoint a new king.  When he gets to Jesse’s house, the first person he sees is Jesse’s son Eliab.  Eliab, strong and tall, has the bearing of a king.  Samuel thinks, “Here he is! God’s anointed!”  But God is not impressed by Eliab’s appearance.  He’s not the one God wants.

 

One by one the sons of Jesse pass before Samuel.  And one by one God rejects them.  Finally, Samuel say to Jesse, “Is this it?  Are there no more sons?”  And Jesse replies, “Well, yes, there’s the youngest.  But he’s out tending the sheep.”  Samuel insists, “Go get him.  We’re not moving from this spot until he’s here.”

 

When David comes in from the fields, God says, “Yes, Samuel! This is the one. Anoint him!”  Now David doesn’t look like anybody’s idea of a king.  He’s short and sunburned.  His knees are skinned and his hair hasn’t seen a comb in a while.  But God has seen into his heart.  God has seen that David has what it takes to lead his people.  Because God doesn’t see the way we humans see.  God sees into the heart.

 

We human men and women tend to pay more attention to what’s on the outside.  We know people often form opinions about us based on how we look.  We spend a lot of money to impress a world that looks on the outside.  Every year, billions are spent on cosmetics, shoes, designer fashions, and other things to make us look beautiful on the outside.

 

Now, the twenty-first century has brought us something new.  Technology gives us a new way to make ourselves look good on the outside.  On social media sites, we can show ourselves in the best possible light.  We can make ourselves look pretty good – maybe even better than we really are.  On Facebook and Twitter and other social media, we can present a persona that may not look much like who we are, on the inside.

 

Of course, not everyone participates in social media.  Not everyone even knows what social media is.  That may be the case for you.  You may not be much interested in all this online communication.  But make no mistake:  for some of the people in your life, and my life; for some most likely younger people: our children and grandchildren, social media plays a huge role in their lives.

 

I can remember as a teenager, the first thing I would do when I got home from school was get on the phone to my friends.  We would talk on the phone for hours!  These days kids come home from school and get on Facebook or Snapchat or text each other.  You and I, as people who care about them, have to be aware that these new forms of communication can powerfully affect their lives.  This communication can have a big effect on their self-esteem.

I’m confident that young people will learn to navigate social media.  They will learn to sort out the benefits from the dangers.  They’ll learn to distinguish fact from fiction, and to keep their self-esteem intact.  Just as my generation learned to navigate the world of television and transistor radios – a world that must have bewildered our elders – I’m confident that people will learn to navigate this new world.

 

Still, there’s no denying that some things have changed for us.  But the God who made us hasn’t changed.  Nothing has changed the reality that the God who made us, and loves us more than we could ever imagine, doesn’t look on the outside.  God doesn’t take us at face value.  God looks into our hearts.  God knows each of us for who we really are.

 

The day that Samuel came to visit, looking for the next king to lead his people, David came running in from the fields when his father called.  A few minutes earlier, he might have been climbing trees or catching bugs.  David didn’t look very regal.  But, looking into his heart, God could see he had the makings of a king.  God looks deep within and sees what we humans often miss.

 

As Samuel anointed David to be the next king of Israel, he remembered God’s words.  He remembered that “God judges persons differently than humans do.  Men and women look at the face; God looks into the heart.”  God knows us and loves us for who we are, deep within, who we truly are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rev. Elva Merry Pawle

Pentecost 3