“Samuel, Rise and Anoint David, for He Is the One!” - Pastor Jacqueline Hines

 

“Samuel, Rise and Anoint David, for He Is the One!”

Pastor Jacqueline Hines

June 13, 2021

 

Last week we saw that God’s people wanted to go in the direction of the rest of the world and have a king. They were not satisfied with having God lead and guide them. Does that sound familiar? We all remember a time when we, like Jonah, go in the opposite direction of where God is leading us. Going against God’s direction ended in catastrophe for the Israelites. Men, women, boys, and girls all paid a terrible price for being out of the will of God.

This week we see that Samuel is not happy that the king he anointed did not work out. Samuel loved and appreciated Saul and was afraid of Saul even though Saul was not right with God. Samuel had a hard time going on to anoint and serve the next king God had chosen. How easy is it to be close friends with people who are not close to God?

Anointing King David was a way of getting God’s people back on track for the good life, the holy life.  One detail of this choosing of a king stands out this morning. When Samuel arrived, the elders were very tense, even trembling. Samuel was God’s spokesperson and when he showed up, they knew that he had a message from God. Everyone knows when God speaks, it’s time to listen. When God speaks it could be good news and it may be rough news. The elders were tense because they knew that Samuel showing up could mean a show down because God was serious business. The days we don’t pray are often the days when we refuse to hear anything but good news and exactly what we want to hear.

The elders accepted the authority of God, so when Samuel showed up, they waited to hear what he was saying just as we wait to hear what a doctor has to say. The elders listened as if they were in court waiting for the jury and the judge to share the verdict.  Like us Christians, they were braced for a spiritual spanking or some expectation that may have for the moment seemed unreasonable and unfair. They were also well aware that they could be blessed with a wonderful windfall. We take the bitter with the sweet.

What Samuel came to tell the elders was to sanctify themselves. What did Samuel expect them to do when he asked them to sanctify themselves? To sanctify is to set apart for a special purpose. We know that every culture has a way of separating themselves in order to better themselves. During the Lenten season the Bishop has called all her clergy to a “Lenten Day Apart” in order to become emotionally prepared for the Lenten season of sacrifice and repentance. In those hours with the bishop, there is worshipping in song, prayers, focused reading, meditation and sermons on certain scriptures with the expectation that after all that preparation we will be able to see God more clearly, follow God more nearly, and love God more dearly. It can be said that God blesses us in those days apart so much so that we are nurtured and strengthened to keep the faith and continue the journey and stand before God with cleaner hands and more humble hearts and enjoying being in God’s presence because God delights in us and is glad we are here.

It is after spending time with God apart from our daily routines, but closer and closer to God that we sing with peace in our hearts a song written by Sadhu Sundar Singh:  “I have decided to follow Jesus…though none go with me, still I will follow.”  Athletes and actors and musicians often set time aside for certain rituals, exercises, and training that they do in order to prepare to be the best that they can be at what they do. Samuel told the elders to sanctify themselves. It was to help them be the best leaders they good be. Sanctification increases Godly character and enables us to do good deeds of mercy and justice for all peoples. How do we make that happen? Do we have to pray certain prayers, light special candles on particular days, sing music, listen to speakers, or study for a religious degree? All countries and all cultures have all kinds of prayers and practices that may include bouquets of flowers, fire, incense, processionals, dances, and drums designed to deepen our connection to God and to one another. What matters most is not what we do and how we do it. What matters is that we are hungry for the things of God and that we are willing to have more of Jesus and we do something to help that happen.

Samuel told them to sanctify themselves, to purify themselves, to make themselves holy. Why? God says be holy for I the Lord your God am holy. Is that even possible? It must be possible or God would not ask God’s children to do it. It is possible. We may not be perfect, but we can prepare ourselves in such a way that we can live a clean life, think clean thoughts, have clean relationships, and come to God in prayer with clean hands. There is a bowl of holy water found in some churches at the door of the sanctuary.  The water symbolizes our need to clean our hands of dirty deeds 

and our mind of dirty thoughts – to repent and present ourselves before a holy God showing that we take God seriously!

We will never be perfectly clean or holy, but by doing all we can to be as clean as we can, things are better than they would be. Just as a doctor scrubs hands before examinations and surgery, so Christians read the word, pray, praise, worship, serve and even sacrifice in whatever way we know how in order to keep evil from germinating and growing in us and to decrease the risk that we pass some terrible sin on to infect those around us.

Some churches have changed dramatically in the last decade or so. Many changes make us sad and afraid and worried. It is not God’s will for us to remain sad or afraid or worried. God’s will is that we keep our eye on the prize – God’s son Jesus, our good shepherd who loves us and leads us in the path that leads to life.

We may become sad when our churches are not crowded, but no matter what the state of the church is, God has a purpose and a plan that we can understand better if we come closer to God and the people of God.

The time to worry is when God does not show up. The time to be sad is when we realize the bible is considered just another book rather than the Word of God. The time to be worried is when a heart becomes hardened and unable to do justice and love mercy.

The truth that sets us free is that God will provide, that God will guide us in ministry – whether great or small, that we are loved with an everlasting love and that love is contagious. We serve a good God. There is none like God, for our God is Holy and calls us to be holy, sanctified, set apart to do God’s will and live life abundantly for God’s sake and for the sake of the whole world.

We are the hands and feet of Jesus. You recall that childhood saying, “The church is not the building. The Church is not the steeple. It’s the people!

A three year old boy learned in Sunday School that Jesus was tempted by the devil. As he was talking to his mom about Jesus, she asked him “Honey, if we were at a store, and Dad and I were in one aisle, and you were in another aisle, and there was candy, and the devil said, ‘You should take some!’

What would you say back to the devil?”

A genuine grin lit up the boy’s entire face and without hesitation he replied, “Oh! I would say thank you!”

It’s not surprising that a 3-year-old missed the point, but as we grow and mature spiritually, we learn better. We learn to do whatever it takes to stay close to God and do the right thing. As we grow, we ask ourselves: where does the devil use me. Where does the devil tempt me?

More than ever we are realizing that we need to be close to God, for there are so many unpredictable, uncertain, unusual, unhealthy, and unhelpful situations that are in our path. As one songwriter put it “I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus. I cannot bear these burdens alone. Jesus will help me. He is a kind, compassionate friend. I must tell Jesus. I must tell Jesus. Jesus will help me, victory to win.”

Being close to God is being close to the truth, the light, the way, the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. May we all sanctify and set ourselves apart and find a friend in Jesus today. Amen.