Joan Hogge’s Sermon – 3/2/08
Trusting in God’s Plan
Discerning God’s Will, Part II
1 Samuel 16:1-13
All of us in our lifetime will experience loss in some form or another. For some it may be the loss of a loved one through death or divorce, loss of a friend, loss of a job, loss of a place (maybe we have had to move to another city or away from home), even the loss of an activity ( a hobby or a sport in which we can no longer participate). When we experience loss, we also experience grief. Psychologists tell us that grief is something that can disrupt a person’s whole life. Grief is like a tangled ball of yarn that involves a whole gamut of emotions that we may never have experienced before, emotions such as anger, disbelief, shock, numbness, uncertainty, fear, difficulty thinking clearly, and even difficulty completing ordinary tasks. When we have experienced loss, it often feels like there’s a big hole inside of us, like a big chunk of us is missing. Grief is a process that must be worked through, where, with time, hopefully the brokenness in our lives will begin to heal and we feel that we can move forward to experience meaningful activities once again. Grief is like a journey which takes us from a time of mourning what we have lost, to a point where we actually feel like we Will live again.
In the opening verses of our text for today, this is exactly where we find Samuel, in the midst of grief. Why is Samuel so overcome with grief? A lot has happened in Samuel’s life recently. Earlier chapters of 1 Samuel tell us that the people of Israel wanted to be like all the other nations. They wanted a king to rule over them. They wanted a king to lead them and to fight their battles. Samuel had warned the people that having a king would only cause problems. He kept reminding them that only God was sovereign and that God is their king. By choosing a human king, they would be rejecting God as Lord of their life. But the people didn’t listen! They wanted to be like all the other nations!! So God heard their pleas and instructed Samuel to give them a king. The first king of Israel was Saul and he was known as the people’s king. Just as Samuel had predicted it wasn’t long after Saul was anointed king that problems began. Saul disobeyed God on numerous occasions and in the end his kingdom was taken from him. It was Samuel who had to tell Saul that God was rejecting him as king, and that the kingship would be given to another. After confronting Saul, Samuel never saw Saul again for the rest of his life. So here we find Samuel, grieving for how it used to be before the people of Israel demanded a king, and also grieving the loss of his relationship with Saul. After all that has happened, Samuel is uncertain about his own future, as well as the future of Israel.
We don’t know how much time has transpired since God rejected Saul as king but as we read our text, we see God trying to gently nudge Samuel out of his grief and mourning, out of dwelling on what might have been, by saying to Samuel the he needed to begin living his life again. God said to Samuel: Samuel, I have work for you to do. I need you to carry out my divine plan. I have already chosen the next king of Israel and it will be your job to go and anoint the new king.
So Samuel is instructed to get up, fill his horn with oil and be on his way. Samuel only knows two things when he set out on his journey: that God is sending him Bethlehem to make a sacrifice and that God has chosen one of Jesse’s sons to be king. It’s hard to image how Samuel must have felt when he received this call to move on with new possibilities. We could all probably agree that Samuel is feeling confused, afraid, uncertain, and hesitant about what all this means. Samuel has no idea how to handle this task the Lord is calling him to do! We hear his feelings when he says to God: “How can I go? How can I actually do this job that you want me to do? Saul will hear about what I have done and he will kill me!!! This would be treason for me to anoint someone else as king when Saul is still officially on the throne!!”
Samuel has no idea how he is to carry out God’s daunting task. In the midst of all that’s happening, what is Samuel forgetting? Samuel, in all his grief and confusion, is forgetting to trust God!!! He is forgetting who God is and that, he, Samuel, is as a child of God. Samuel has been a priest all his life, he even started at an early age working in the temple with Eli, the priest. But here we find Samuel forgetting the old stories he knows by heart, stories about God’s love and care for God’s people. Samuel is forgetting how God heard the cries of the people when they were slaves in Egypt and how God safely led them out of Egypt to live as free people. Samuel is forgetting the story of the long journey in the wilderness and how God provided food and directions every single day.
In his compassion for Samuel, God has to remind Samuel that God is the one in charge, and that God will be with Samuel just as God was with Samuel’s ancestors in their journey and in their times of uncertainty. God says to Samuel, “I will show you what to do.” I will be with you, Samuel. No matter how afraid you are, no matter how frightening and how uncertain life looks right now, I will be with you and I will show you what to do.
It is only when Samuel is able to step out in faith and trust that God will be with him, that he is able to begin his journey to Bethlehem. Keep in mind here how God often works within our everyday activities! As a prophet, priest, and judge, Samuel often traveled a circuit between Ramah, his home, and cities like Bethlehem. This was familiar territory for Samuel, and he was known by the people, so his coming to Bethlehem to make a sacrifice would not be unusual; it was part of his job description. When he arrives Samuel is greeted by the elders of the city and our text tells us that they were trembling!! They wanted to know if Samuel was coming peaceably. Perhaps they had heard about the feud between Samuel and Saul and were afraid that Saul might retaliate against them because of Samuel’s presence in their town. But God has a plan!!! Even in the midst of all of Samuel’s fear and uncertainty, it is still through Samuel that God’s plan will be carried out.
Jesse and his seven sons are invited to the sacrifice and Samuel meets each one of them. As each son is brought before Samuel, we are told that God rejects each one of them as the future king of Israel. Samuel thought surely God would have chosen Jesse’s eldest son because he was good looking and striking in appearance! Not So!!! God, at this point, needed to remind Samuel, that God had a plan: God had already chosen the new king. God said to Samuel: “The Lord does not see things as people do. People can only see outward appearances, but God looks at the heart.” Samuel now must be patient and wait for God’s direction. Samuel has to wait for God’s choice. Again, we don’t know how long Samuel waited before he met, David. But when David does arrive, Samuel is instructed by God to rise and anoint him; David is the one God has chosen! The divine plan is now complete!
Samuel now sees that God has chosen the least likely of Jesse’s son’s to become king. Why was he the least likely? First he was too young (hardly more than a boy). Second, he was too inexperienced; David was only a shepherd. Third, as the youngest son in the family, David was would have been considered insignificant (he was the eighth son who was not even there with his father and brothers but rather out in the field tending sheep). Yet, God chose David!!!! Samuel could not see into the future to know what kind of king David would be, but Samuel knew David was God’s choice and part of God’s divine plan. We all know the rest of the story: David was the greatest king that Israel ever had, and it was to be from the house and lineage of David that the Messiah would be born. God had a plan, and the divine plan was complete because Samuel, even in the midst of so much uncertainty in his own life was able to step out in faith, and trust that God would be with him.
Just like Samuel, all of us in our lifetime, will experience loss in some form or another. This may not necessarily be loss through death, but can include loss in other ways, like loss of a job, or like Samuel, the loss of a relationship. Churches, too, can be subject to grief when they lose a program that has been vital to the ministry of the church, or a beloved minister who is called to another congregation, or even when individual members leave or move away. Like Samuel we, too, may feel uncertainty and fear about moving forward, and we may long for the way things used to be. In the midst of it all, we can’t imagine any kind of meaningful future. Samuel would never have predicted God’s divine plan, that God would choose the least likely of Jesse’s sons to be anointed the king of Israel. It was only when Samuel was open to God’s call that he was able to step out in faith and trust; only then could God’s plan be accomplished. Like Samuel, we need to be open to discerning God’s plan for our own individual lives and for our church. Samuel has shown us that our plan may not always be God’s plan, but we need to have faith that God does have a plan. Only then can we trust and be reassured that all things work together for good for those who love God, and for those who are called according to God’s purpose. Paul’s words in Romans 8:28 testify to God’s sovereignty. It does not say that God wills all things that happen in our life, but rather that God works IN all things, in all the circumstances of our lives, for the good of those who love God and who are called according to God’s purposes. Amen. May it be so!