SERMON | 1 Samuel 16:1-13 & John 9:1-41 | LENT - LEARNING TO LIVE INSIDE OUT - 4. "In the Presence" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Sellersburg United Methodist Church in Sellersburg, Indiana
Learning to Live Inside Out — a Lenten journey with Jesus…
toward the cross…
toward the death of sin and self
We’ve talked about fasting…
About a life of faith taking us from the familiar and comfortable into the unknown…
About recognizing the deeper thirst we have for a life only God can lead us into…
Today we wrestle with the question of how to know when you’re in the presence
of God.
How do we know that we can, in fact, see clearly with our hearts and minds and souls and bodies?
In a world where so many claim to be able to see clearly… how can we know what to believe?
Who to follow?
Who to trust?
Art museum story…
We all want to see clearly in our lives.
We want to have a sense of certainty and comfort in our knowing.
We want to be assured that we are on the right track…
standing in the right place…
seeing the picture clearly.
We want to know that we are living a life in the direction of Jesus Christ and in the presence of God.
We want to be a part of what God is doing in the world as well things are being brought together and summed up into the renewal of all things.
Our lenten journey is to get ourselves looking at ourselves and our world in a better way so that we can actually see… Amen?
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Samuel the prophet had lived his whole life in devotion to God.
His devotion began before he was even born because he had an amazing mother named Hannah.
Samuel had been a part of what God was doing.
He anointed Israel’s first king, Saul.
Saul looked the part.
He looked and seemed like a king when Samuel anointed him.
But Saul didn’t pan out.
Samuel had been so focused on the details of what he thought made a king that he had, somehow, missed the bigger picture…and things didn’t go well.
It had been, well, a disaster.
But God is still at work and called him to anoint a new king…while Saul was still on the throne.
Step by step, Samuel follows God’s instructions, until we come to the home of Jesse who parades his sons in front of Samuel.
Samuel, still looking to finely at the details, sees a few that look like a king…
But God keeps saying, “No…next…” until no sons remain.
That’s when David is summoned to join the party.
David…an afterthought…comes in and God says, “Yes…he’s the one…”
God sees not like people see—on the outward appearance… God sees the heart.
David gets anointed…and then Samuel immediately leaves the scene and the story altogether.
Did he ever come to see clearly? Or did he just follow God’s command?
We don’t know.
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The story in John is one of great discussion and debate.
Much is said today about thinking someone’s lack of certain abilities means they aren’t every bit as capable as anyone else.
Much is said about forcibly rubbing mud into the eyes of someone who never asked or gave you permission to do so.
Much is said about people not believing the word of someone who has or did have a disability of some sort.
These are important discussions in their own regard, but I fear it is focusing too much on the brushstrokes of the story as a whole.
When we stand back and see the story as a whole, we find a challenging invitation.
Will we recognize the work of God right in front of us?
We get so caught up in the details that we miss the bigger picture.
And not just about what’s happening in the world around us…but in our own lives.
Like the man in the story, we are all CALLED to share our story.
— not know all of the answers
— BUT to tell what we DO know
— and no guessing!!
Maybe your story doesn’t seem miraculous…yet.
Maybe your story seems boring or simple.
Friends, God works in the boring and simple more than the miraculous.
In fact, the miraculous