Trinity Episcopal Church
Towson, Maryland
RCL Year B - Proper 6 - June 17, 2012
1 Samuel 15:34-16:13
Psalm 20
2 Corinthians 5:6-10, (11-13), 14-17
Mark 4:26-34
I want to talk a bit this morning about perceptions. Things are often not what we perceive them to be. It is easy to fall into the trap of making assumptions about something or someone based on what we think it should be or even how we think someone should act – all based upon our own preconceived notions or expectations. The assumptions we make often get in the way of the truth, or obscure our understanding of what the situation is, or who the person even really is.
Dealing with bad perceptions is revealed in this morning’s
readings.
Saul is on his way out.
God has rejected him as king over Israel. Samuel is sent to Bethlehem to the house of
Jesse. God tells Samuel that he is to
anoint one of Jesse’s sons as the new king over Israel. God doesn’t disclose which son, but assures Samuel
that God will name the one he is to anoint when the time is right.
Samuel arrives at Jesse’s home and invites Jesse and his sons
to go with him and offer sacrifice. Jesse
gets his sons together and lines them up.
As the oldest, Eliab, passes before Samuel, Samuel sees the height of
his stature and perceives that surely this is the one that he is to anoint.
God says, no – do not to look on the height of his stature, because
God does not see as people see. Jesse
makes the next son, Abinadab, pass by Samuel – he wasn’t the one either. Next was Shammah… no, not him either.
Jesse had seven of his sons pass by Samuel and none were the
ones that God had in mind. Samuel asks
Jesse if that was all of his sons. Jesse
replies that he has one more, the youngest, David, who was out keeping the
sheep. Samuel requests that he be
brought in immediately. When David
enters, the scriptures describe the boy as ruddy (healthy looking) &
handsome with beautiful eyes. God tells
Samuel that he is the one. Samuel
anoints David and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day
forward.
Evidently, Samuel, and even David’s own father, Jesse, didn’t
perceive that the youngest son could be chosen by God to be King over Israel. But that’s exactly what God did. Things are often not what we perceive them to
be…
In the Gospel lesson, Jesus tells a parable to describe the
Kingdom of God. In this parable, Jesus
describes the Kingdom of God as a mustard seed.
A mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds known. Yet, Jesus uses it to explain something as
grand and majestic as the Kingdom of God.
But we must remember, things are often not what we perceive them to
be… And as we learned in the Old
Testament lesson, God does not see as people see.
Jesus goes on to explain that when sown in the ground, this smallest
of seeds becomes the mightiest of shrubs.
This isn’t something that we would normally expect. It doesn’t make sense to us, because we make assumptions…
We assume that because it’s such a small seed, that the
plant it yields won’t amount to very much.
But that is exactly what the Kingdom is like… The Kingdom of God is different than our own perceptions. It’s doesn’t fit our human descriptions because
it isn’t what we would expect it to be.
It is easy to quickly jump to conclusions based on limited
information, or even have a bad idea about something because we have misinformation. It is at those times, we should be still. Be still and listen to that still small voice
of God that teaches us to look beyond our own perceptions and attempt to see
things as God does. Maybe open our minds
a bit and try see things in a different way.
Look at the unexpected chosen small things that will go on to do
miraculous things for the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom that is like a mustard seed. So unexpectedly small, that we couldn’t imagine
that it would grow into a great strong shrub.
Because God always takes the unexpected and unimaginable, and does far
more than we could ever fathom.
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