18 June 2006

Samuel was most assuredly not happy with his latest assignment, which we heard about in the Hebrew Bible reading this morning. He was undoubtedly caught between a rock and a hard place as the saying goes.
On the one hand he had Saul, the king of the Hebrew people watching his every move. Samuel was the chief priest—the head honcho in the Temple. And kings worry about such a person. On the other hand Samuel had God. And you don’t ignore God—especially if you’re the chief priest.
And God was asking Samuel to do a very hard thing. A dangerous thing. He was to anoint the new king. While the old king was still around.
Saul had been made king and was ruling over the kingdom of Israel. But then Saul displeased God and God withdrew God’s support of Saul’s kingship.
Now you can imagine that such a thing would not be pleasing to Saul; to have that all that power and then have it removed from you? No, Saul isn’t happy and isn’t going to be pleased with anyone who goes along with this new plan.
So Samuel has his instructions—go to Bethlehem and from among the sons of Jesse, one of the local bigwigs no doubt, he was to anoint a new king. Sounds simple except as Samuel says, if Saul hears of it, he’ll kill Samuel. Not what chief priests have in mind when they sign up for the job. But that’s often the job of religious figures isn’t it—to fly in the face of the politicians? But that’s probably another sermon.
So Saul goes to Bethlehem. He takes a heifer with him as a cover. If anyone asks, he’s going there to sacrifice to God—that’s all. And the townspeople are nervous to have this august person come to their tiny little village. The elders rush out to meet him and say “have you come peaceably?” He reassures them that he’s only there for a sacrifice to God.
It’s at the sacrifice that God is going to reveal to Samuel who among Jesse’s sons is to be anointed as the new king. So everyone is there for the big sacrifice and Samuel has Jesse parade his sons before him. Samuel is sure that he’s found the right one as soon as he sees Eliab. Eliab is undoubtedly the eldest. He was probably tall in stature, good looking and ready for whatever God threw at him. But Samuel was wrong. This is not the son of Jesse that God has chosen. Neither are Abinadab nor Shammah. In fact, 7 of Jesse’s sons pass before Samuel and God says, “Nope, not that one,” to each of the 7.
At this point Samuel must be wondering if God is playing some trick on him. All these young men, fine specimens of Hebrew manhood, come before him and each of them, in his turn, is rejected by God. Samuel must be thinking, “Come on, God—give me a break. You give me this impossible task and then don’t give me the support I need. Couldn’t you just pick one?!”
Probably out of desperation, he asks if all of Jesse’s sons are here. Jesse replies, probably somewhat embarrassedly that, well, yes, there is one more. He’s the youngest—the least important of all—but he’s out tending the sheep. He’s got one of the lowliest jobs around. That’s what youngest children often end up doing—the jobs no one else wants.
So they bring him in from the fields and of course, as we all know, this is the one that God has chosen. The author of 1 Samuel makes a point of telling us how good looking he is—he’s got a ruddy complexion and is handsome and has killer eyes. Of course this is David, the future king of Israel, against whom all future kings are measured. David is so important in fact that our Christian scriptures trace Jesus’ lineage back through him. And we’ll learn more about David’s story in the coming weeks through the lectionary readings. Right now I want to focus on David’s call to be king.
Remember last week, in the Hebrew Scriptures which we read? We heard about Isaiah’s call to be a prophet. In short, God asks whom God will send out to be a prophet among the Hebrew people and Isaiah responds “Here I am, send me.” Well, David’s call to kingship is completely the opposite. Not that he resisted but David, out there among the sheep, had no idea that he would make the transition from pasture to palace. God chose David as the next king.
This is clearly two forms of call—one in which the person who is called responds by filling a need. The other in which God chooses someone to do a job that’s completely unexpected. Either way, there is a job that needs doing and the need is filled.
I read a quote recently, I forget who said it, but it went something along these lines: “What if God calls everyone into ministry and makes do with those of us who say yes?” It’s an interesting thought. What if we are all called into ministry and only some of us respond?
Of course, we are all called into ministry—each one of us here is called to ministry. The ministries differ of course: Isaiah wasn’t called to be king and David wasn’t called to be a prophet. But each of us is called to ministry in some form. And most of us here today have already said yes to calls. We’re here today, that’s one good sign of call acceptance. We’ve responded, in no small way, to God’s call to be among a community of God’s people to worship God this Sunday morning.
But what about the larger calls? Are you listening carefully for where God might be calling you? Are you prepared, like Isaiah, to say here I am, send me? Or maybe you’re out in the sheep pasture, minding your own business, and there’s an urgent call for you to come into the sacrifice where you will, unexpectedly, be anointed.
Calls are funny things. Maybe our call isn’t to be prophet to an entire nation or leader of a country. Likely it isn’t. But we have calls each and every day from God that lead us into situations where God’s work is needed. Perhaps it’s to do the work of Interfaith Hospitality Network or tutoring with Homework Central. Perhaps it’s to be an officer in this congregation or with Peninsula Interfaith Action. Perhaps it’s to speak out on a local level about an issue that confronts your community.
There are so many ways that God calls each and every one of us. It is our job to be attentive and to listen carefully. And then of course, to come in from the sheepfold and actually get to work on doing whatever it is God calls you to.