Bible Text: 1 Samuel 16:1-13 and Mark 4: 26-34 | Preacher: Rev. Jenn Geddes
If I said the name Susan Boyle, how many of you would recognize it? In my mind Susan Boyle was one of the first youtube stars, a video which last time I checked had over 228million views. For those of you who still have a puzzled look, perhaps you will remember back in 2009, when a plain, 48 year old woman auditioned on Britain’s Got Talent. She was not your typical applicant, not only because she was older than most, but also her appearance was, well, perhaps frumpy could be used to describe her look. If you watch the clip Simon Cowell actually rolls his eyes when she tells him how old she is and gives a “whomph” expression with his mouth when she says she is a singer. Members of the audience smirk when she says she wants to become as famous as Elaine Paige. Susan then sang, “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables and soon after she begins the judges have their jaws on the floor and the crowd is standing in ovation. One of the judges said it was “the biggest wake-up call ever”. When Boyle’s first album was released it became the UK’s best-selling debut album of all time, and was number one on Billboard for six weeks. She was even one of the performers for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. No one could have guessed at her success when she first stepped on camera, which is a tragic reality of our pop culture world, a reality that seems to have existed for many centuries, even millennia. Like the judges on Britain’s Got Talent, Samuel experiences a wakeup call about God’s expectations and needs.
Samuel is an incredible character in the Bible. He begins his life in the temple as a young boy, learning from and being guided by Eli. Then the first official prophetic words that Samuel utters are of condemnation to Eli when he disobeys God. Imagine, having to condemn your mentor and the only father-figure you have ever truly known. After Samuel successfully leads the Israelis against the Philistines, the people begin hounding him for a King. Yet, the people also state that Samuel cannot be king because his sons have acted less the favourably. God grants the wish to have a king and tells Samuel to set a king over them. Samuel anoints Saul as king. We are told that Saul was a handsome young man. Chapter 9 even states, “There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he; he stood head and shoulders above everyone else”. Based on this description it seems that Samuel feels certain that Saul will make a good king. But Saul does not turn out to be the king that God intends for Israel when he disobeys God’s instruction – which by the way-was an instruction to put all of the Amalekites to death and destroy all of their goods. So, for most of us, Saul did what a lot of us would do. He refused to kill and destroy. But this disobedience fractures the deep relationship between Saul and Samuel and Samuel knows he has to walk away. It is a striking story just before our passage in which Samuel turns away to leave and Saul latches onto the robe of Samuel, tearing off a piece of fabric and Samuel continues to leave. Samuel sees this as a metaphor and says to Saul, ”The Lord is now tearing the kingdom away from you.” Even though it is Samuel who turns from Saul that does not make Samuel’s hurt any less real. Samuel grieves over the loss of this friendship the same way one grieves over a death. I also think that Samuel is sad for Saul because he knows that God has rejected Saul- the first king of Israel.
It is at this moment that our passage begins- but you can see how complicated and emotional Samuel’s life has been thus far. It is one of the reasons why I feel Samuel is one of the most underappreciated characters in the Bible. Samuel’s years as a prophet thus far have not been exemplary. He has had some failures. Yet, even after he has to condemn his mentor, even after he his first protégé disappoints him, Samuel always has hope in God. Old Testament Professor, David Garber Jr. says it best, “In spite of Samuel’s grief and failings, the prophet remains open to God’s word and to new possibilities…this offers a realistic picture of the human condition and of the ways in which we might deal with disappointment. While we may often feel the grief, remorse, and guilt of past failings – real or imagined – God does not condemn us for them. Rather God provides us with guidance, and new possibilities even when we may not see them.” Much like we do not see the potential and life hidden in one seed.
This brings us to essentially Samuel’s final act as a prophet. Samuel takes on the task of finding a new King, but this time it is done in secret because Saul is in fact still officially King. I think we forget how serious it would have been if the elders had found out that Samuel had anointed a new king before the old one had died. It is an act of treason. But Samuel’s fear helps us to remember and notice how God does not condemn Samuel’s fear. Even God knows it is a legitimate and rational feeling. They plan a bit of a ruse to get Jesse’s family to come to a sacrificial meal – even Jesse doesn’t know what is about to happen.
Samuel trusts this divine guidance and finds himself among seven of Jesse’s eight Sons. Samuel sets his eyes upon Jesse’s oldest son and immediately thinks, this man is tall and handsome, surely God will pick him. But it is at this audition that Samuel is reminded over and over that looks and height are not what makes a King. In fact, it was this expectation that a King must be tall that got Samuel into trouble the first time around. God instructs Samuel to suspend human logic and expectations, for God sees much deeper than that. Seven times Samuel looks upon the person he thinks should be king and seven times God does not choose him. Samuel faces more disappointment when all the sons he sees have been turned down. And then Jesse presents the youngest Son – a shepherd.
Now I will say it is curious that the narrator still gives us a physical description of David after God was pretty clear about saying that outward appearances don’t matter. And I have not found a satisfactory argument for why this happens. But here is my hypothesis: David is described as ruddy, in Hebrew adominy, which has the root word adam- meaning human, and a word we would also identify as the name of the first human in Genesis. So the narrator is linking David to Adam. Perhaps foreshadowing the kind of relationship David will have with God. I’m guessing that the detail about beautiful eyes relates to the ancient eastern idea that eyes are a window to the soul. With his beautiful eyes we know he has the right heart for kingship. Samuel is told to anoint this shepherd. It is a wakeup call- because the last person anyone expected to be named king is someone who holds a very disreputable job. It’s almost as crazy as a divorced American actress becoming a princess. And then David’s anointing marks the end of Samuel’s prophetic life.
I wonder how many times we need to have a wakeup call in order to see the beauty that really lies around us, or to find hope in the most unexpected places. I wonder how many times our eyes see something and make judgement calls purely on what we see. How many times do we miss out on God’s wishes because we are busy leaning on our own expectations. Is it possible that we only see what we want to see which then prevents us from experiencing God’s will? God tends to challenge and invert accepted expectations and values. God sees what we cannot and God works in unexpected ways. In strikes me that this is the message of the two seed parables as well. The parable of the mustard seed might be so familiar to us that we are blind to rich meaning in the text. As a novice gardener I know the feeling of planting seeds and watching them grow. A true farmer is confident that a seed will produce a crop as a result of practical experience and likely scientific knowledge- but in the fullest sense does the farmer really know how and why this happens? The decision to sow is an act of faith. The metaphor of the mustard seed suggests the vastness of God’s kingdom. It grows from seemingly insignificant beginnings. Both parables point to mystery but also that the reign of God, although it begins in obscurity or even appears insignificant will grow into something majestic, something massive, something life changing. But at first when peering at a seed, one could never guess how great it could grow or how big it can get. These readings show us how far off the mark human expectations or norms can be. But Samuel reminds us to wake up, open our eyes and trust and the parables remind us that God is at work in things seen and unseen. Amen