March 22, 2020 I
Samuel 16.1-7 * John 9.1-14 “Spiritual
Growth: Don’t Look, Don’t See” Pastor Hines
Since 911, every American citizen has been put on
the alert for terrorists. We are told, “If you see something, say something.” At Bethel we have a different twist on that
saying. We say, “If you see something,
don’t say something. Rather speak to a Team and the Team will prepare a
sensitive and thoughtful response rather than a typical cultural response
wherein others become unnecessarily offended. The Team is officially charged
with Speaking the Truth in Love.
I am convinced that sometimes we as Christians are
very afraid to speak up perhaps because our first thoughts are not so kosher
and we blurt them out of our control and once they are out, we cannot put them
back in.
It is true that one of the top fears in life is
public speaking. None of us wants to make a fool of ourselves. None of us wants
to be rejected for sharing our perspectives. As we spend time with God and
God’s people, the Spirit can give us a holy boldness to say whatever we need to
say for God’s sake, for goodness sake, for the sake of those who urgently need
to hear words of encouragement, affirmation, or warning.
Our words filter through our personalities and
our culture. Prayer increases the chance that our words will resonate with
holiness to refresh, heal, and transform lives.
The same thing is true for what we see. In our
Old Testament lesson, the prophet Samuel goes in search of the perfect king, though
God warned them that no earthly king could be as kind and fair a ruler as God
can be. God sent Samuel to find a king to replace the evil Saul. God would
reveal the right choice in due time.
Samuel went to Bethlehem and looked at the seven sons of a man whose name
was Jesse. Among the seven men, Samuel picked out the one who looked most like
a king. He had that royal look, handsome, tall, confident, and smart. But, God
whispered in Samuel’s ear with a still small voice. ‘Do not
look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected
him; for the Lord does
not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’
“Don’t look on his appearance.” That is not
easy to do, but if we don’t look on the appearance, the outside, the
superficial…we see much deeper than what appears on the surface.
In this morning’s New Testament lesson, Jesus
covered a blind man’s eyes with mud. You cannot see through mud. “Blindness”
keeps us from seeing the things that are in front of us. Not being able to see
forces us to look deeply within ourselves, to think carefully, to reflect
honestly.
The blind man allowed Jesus to cover his eyes
with dirt that Jesus spit in and made mud. It reminds me of a blood transfusion,
Jesus shared a part of himself in order to bring healing. The mud assured the
man could see nothing at all, not even shadows or a little light that he might
have been accustomed to seeing. And, if he dared open his eyes with mud on
them, dirt would get into his eyes and we all know how irritating that would
be. If we don’t look, we don’t see what is on the surface. We will see much,
much deeper.
Both scripture lessons this morning remind us
to see our world through God’s eyes because God sees through the eyes of a
greater love and purpose than we can imagine.
Every day we see pictures of the Corona virus.
On the surface we see a plague. We see reasons to be afraid. We see things that
make us afraid that we or a loved one will get sick or die. We see grocery
lines a mile long, the stock market crashing, the National Guard policing food
delivery trucks and sanitizing equipment, businesses closing, job layoffs. We
see things that make us afraid that we may soon lack something that we do not
want to live without. Don’t look! Don’t see merely what is on the surface. Let’s look at what God sees. Let’s look
within, let’s think about what God has done in troubling time, and let’s
reflect on what God is saying to us.
When we look within, when we search our
hearts, we see all the amazing gifts God has given us. We have been blessed
with talents that help the church to stay strong, to grow the spiritual fruit
of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, (or generosity),
faithfulness, and self-control. When we look within, we see that we have gifts
that build people up. We have attitudes that move mountains of obstacles. We
have what it takes to do God’s will in the midst of a storm. If God brings us
to it, God will bring us through it. Let’s look within and see what God has put
in our hearts and our lives to bless us and to make us a blessing.
If we don’t look on the surface, we don’t see
the surface. We begin to think about what God has done in the past. How has God
healed you? How has God helped you? If you have ever been through a test, you
have had the opportunity to witness God’s goodness and mercy. You have a
testimony. Let’s look within. Let’s think about how God has touched our lives
in the past.
Finally, let’s reflect on what God is saying
to us? I found myself singing a song the other day: “Hallelujah anyhow. Never
gonna let those troubles get me down. When those troubles come my way, I’ll
hold my head up high and say, ‘Hallelujah anyhow.’
Praise and thanksgiving flows out of our souls
to God – sometime it may be just a trickle. In every situation, there is
always, always something for which to thank God. God designed gratitude to ease
our anxiety, to unite us as one, to bring harmony where there is dissonance, to
help us focus on what God is doing, rather than focus on what is feeding our
fears. We praise God for God’s promises “I will never leave you or forsake you.
I am the God who heals you.
Don’t look at the problems before us, don’t
see with a superficial lens. Look within and see all the good things that God
has given us to be a blessing. Count your many blessings, see what God has
done. Know that God loves us with an everlasting love and is saying, “Be
still…and know that I am God.” God knows
and God cares. Watch God work.
LET US PRAY:
Waymaker god, thank you for reminding us this day of
your promises to take care of us, to deliver us from our many afflictions, to
guide us to a place of healing and calm. Bless us with humble hearts to be the
sheep of your pasture and to follow where you lead us. We pray as you taught
the disciples - our father who art in heaven, hollowed be your name. Thy
kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day
our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us
not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the
power and the glory forever and ever amen.
The
Lord Bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and give you
peace.
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