“KING
ELIAB?”
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A sermon preached Readings: 1
Samuel 16:1-13, John 18:33-37 |
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1 Sam
16:6 When they arrived, Samuel saw
Eliab and thought,
Surely the LORD's anointed stands here before the LORD.
First
a recap on the story so far for those whose OT history is a bit shaky -
The tribes of Israel seem to have first settled in
Palestine around 1200 BC.
They had the memory of their great leader Moses,
but for a couple of centuries they had no single national leader.
Indeed they were less a nation than a confederation Scottish clans with
chieftans.
But when a particularly powerful or charismatic
figure - a Samson or a Gideon -
appeared on the scene, they took on a position of authority amongst the clans,
but it was a very ad hoc form of government.
New leaders were a bit like the old leaders of the
Tory party -
they emerged by customary processes.
The last of these leaders to emerge was Samuel.
But God tells Samuel to institute a monarchy and anoint a King.
So Saul becomes the first King of Israel.
At first he is a good thing, but then he departs
from the ways of the Lord,
and God tells Samuel that he can no longer support Saul as King.
Samuel is to anoint a new King.
At
first Samuel drags his feet -
he’d be happy to let things stay as they are -
In the words of scripture, “Samuel
mourned over Saul”
But
God says to Samuel “Why mourn over Saul?”
-
go to the house of Jesse, because there I have chosen a new King.”
And
so the old servant of the Lord - albeit against his better feelings -
accepts that things must change, and sets off at God’s command
to the House of Jesse to anoint a new King.
The
scene is reminiscent of Cinderella with Prince Charming and the Glass
Slipper.
Here
is Samuel with his oil, and Jesse offering an identity parade of all his
sons. -
on offer not a glass slipper or a royal wedding,
but
the future crown of Israel.
And
Jesse in the role of Pantomime dame
first pushes forward the first and eldest of the none-too-ugly-brothers.
His
name is Eliab.
Indeed
he is not ugly, for as we read,
“when Samuel saw Eliab, he thought,
‘Here, before the Lord, is
his anointed King’” (1 Sam 16:6)
But
Samuel has yet to learn that you cannot tell a book by its cover.
Samuel
is, to put it simply, conned by outward appearances.
Indeed, according to the mediaeval rabbis,
Samuel did actually try to anoint him, but the oil,
like jelly left too long in the jug, had simply set,
and would not pour try though he might.
Whether
that happened or not,
God
certainly says “no - he is not the one”.
This
is God checking Samuel’s over-easy assumptions
about who is called to do what -
It a constant Biblical theme which after 3000 yrs we
are still inclined to forget -
God doesn’t rate people
by their salary or qualifications or the size of their mortgage or the shine of
their hair -
all the things the world uses to judge -
Indeed if anything God seems to favour those who are
poor and despised
according to the ratings of worldly success
God looks at the inner person not at the externals.
God
is as unimpressed by the apparent good looks of Eliab
as
was Prince Charming by the Powder and Paint of the Ugly Sisters -
what is required by God is a good shepherd for the flock of Israel -
one who is pure in heart.
And so finally,
as Cinderella was fetched from raking the cinders,
so Jesse says shamefacedly, well there is the lad looking after the sheep -
Looking after the Sheep! -
and perhaps at last Samuel begins to guess the truth,
that here is the new shepherd of Israel -
and
so David is fetched, and
“Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed
[David]” (1 Sam 16:13)
And this time according to the mediaeval rabbis, -
never unwilling to embellish a good tale –
not only did the oil pour,
it positively flew of its own accord from the jug in
Samuel’s hands
onto the forehead of David,
so that it ran down his face and onto his shoulders.
For
this is not Samuel’s choice, it is God’s.
Now
this is not the end of the story.
If
we had time we could read the rest of 1 Samuel
to
see how the anointed one of God lives
under
the shadow of King Saul for 15 more chapters,
until
finally Saul dies and David claims his throne.
I
might add that even David does not turn out to be the perfect ruler –
like
some more modern Kings and Presidents,
he
could on occasion misuse his power
for
the purposes of his own sexual gratification.
But
he was God’s chosen one, and through his albeit flawed career,
God’s
work was done.
The
story of Samuel and David took place
almost
exactly 3000 years ago –
and
I wonder what it has to say to us today
as
we seek to appoint our leaders
and
run our nations in a modern world?
Gone
are the days of theocracy.
When
we need a new leader, we do not expect
that
the Archbishop of Canterbury or the President of the Methodist Conference
or
their equivalent to choose and anoint a new Prime Minister or President.
A
cursory glance at the newspapers and the history books
shows
us how leaders are chosen and appointed today –
through
a mixture of the bomb and the ballot,
the
power of the people and the power of the powerful.
Just
reflect on
·
yesterday’s
happenings in the Georgian Parliament,
·
attempts
to set up governments in Baghdad and Belfast,
·
the
American Presidency
from Kennedy’s assassination to George Bush’s Florida vote
Think
of the complex mixture of genuine democracy,
political
wheeler dealing, military and business muscle,
and
sometimes sheer corruption,
which
marks our modern political process.
So
how do we find God’s will in all this?
Well,
like Samuel we have to search it out.
Like
Samuel we may be easily led astray by our own assumptions or prejudice,
but
like him we must listen to the Lord
and
seek the true shepherd for the people
who
will live by Kingdom values
and
who will understand the poor and the marginalized.
And
if that person is not accepted by the powers that be,
then
we must stick by the Lord’s servant
and
hold fast to the vision of the ruler who walks in God’s ways.
Looking
at the politicians on offer,
that
may sometimes seem a rather tall order -
and we need remember that even King David wasn’t a perfect leader.
But
what the Old Testament does teach us
is
that God does care about the political process –
our
faith involves not an escape from society,
but
rather a driver to redeem it.
So
on this Christ the King Sunday,
we are called to follow Samuel with his anointing oil
To
search for ways to redeem the present
and
bring the Kingdoms of this world
closer
to the Kingdom of Heaven.
But
let me end with a coda.
We
can read the story of Samuel in a second,
quite different, but I think equally valid way.
Nothing to do
with power politics,
but about you and me in our everyday lives.
We
maybe think we know what God has in store for us –
and
sometimes we can be very wrong.
We
are approaching Advent –
a
time of expectation,
when
we await the coming of the Christchild,
the
coming of God in glory
-
like
the watchmen on the walls of old
-
like
the bridesmaids
-
we
await Christ’s coming again into our lives.
And
this advent what will he say? What
will he call us to do?
We
are a family like the family of Jesse –
a
mixture of the great and the strong, the weak and overlooked –
Eliab
and David –
and
I wonder who we are and what we think God wants us to do?
“Oh
I am just an ordinary person” we say –
“God
is not going to use me for anything special”
But
never be too sure -
He
may, like Samuel with the anointing oil,
come
knocking at our door, saying
·
Fetch
Cinderella
·
Fetch
that forgotten lad out in the cold fields
·
He
is the one I want to shepherd my people
Let
us be ready for that call.
For
God wishes to anoint every one of his children -
to mark and bless and direct each of us on the path he has ordained -
So,
like Samuel and King David,
like holy Priests and Prophets and Princes
and holy servants and slaves down the ages,
let us hear his call
and be ready to do his will,
whatever that may be.