That was usually the sad lot of Denis Weeks (name changed) who had thick glasses, zits, a complexion that always looked like he had just been seasick, a stammer, an awkward gait and who was the last in our class to break his voice. He was every inch a loser and could quite effortlessly lose the game for his team in the first 10 minutes if told to play in the back four.
After last week, I seriously wonder if the F.A. hired him as defence coach for the national team… I was usually picked with undisguised reluctance two or three boys before Denis Weeks.
Have you had similar humiliating experiences in life? Of being one of those who never seemed to get into in the in crowd? Of getting picked last? Of missing the boat? Of failing to make the cut? Of getting passed over for selection?
Well, lift your head this morning – because one of the greatest designations of the Church of Jesus Christ is God’s chosen people. God doesn’t choose like the world does. 1 Corinthians 1.27 says that “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”
Listen to these Scriptures; if you are a Christian believer today, these words from the Bible are about you.
“Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.” (Romans 8.33)
“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession…” (1 Peter 2.9)
We’re going to look at how God chooses this morning. What are the criteria he uses in his sovereign choices about people? And we’re going to focus on 1 Samuel 16, which is the beginning of the story of David.
Verses 2-5 set out for us the background of the times in which David lived, about 1000 years B.C. God says to Samuel to fill his flask with aromatic oil to go and anoint a future king. Saul, the first king of Israel, and present incumbent, has just fouled up big time in chapter 15 and now the whole atmosphere of his reign is one of fear and suspicion. In v2 Saul is scared to go to Bethlehem because he has to pass through Gibeah - where Saul lives. Samuel would rather avoid that because he knows Saul is out of control. He could easily lash out and kill a man of God in a fit of jealousy. So Samuel has to travel with the pretext of offering a sacrifice to God for fear of his life.
And that atmosphere of instability and intrigue permeates the whole nation. Because in v5, when Samuel arrives in Bethlehem, the elders of the town ask nervously, “Is everything all right? Have you come in peace?” It’s horrible.
You know when a church or a work environment or a family has become dysfunctional when no one trusts anyone anymore. There’s an atmosphere. People are suspicious of each other’s motives. If your family or your home group, or any relationship you are in, has gone that way there’s only one way back - and that’s the cross; the place of forgiveness.
So Samuel says to everyone in Bethlehem living in anxious fear in v5 “Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” In New Testament terms that means “get your hearts cleansed by coming back to the cross; the source of grace.” It’s the way back.
Do you remember when God told Abraham to offer his son Isaac? When they got there Isaac said, “The fire and wood are here but where is the sacrifice?” In other words, “Everything is in position but the essential is missing. That’s like saying “We’ve got everything in place for worship; great musicians, all the latest stuff for the sound, banners, a good building, nice chairs and a decent projector. But God says “Where is the sacrifice?” This is a matter of the heart isn’t it? Are you offering up to God your whole heart, your whole life?” Let me just ask you, are you really giving God the best in worship?
So much for the atmosphere in the nation. What about the atmosphere in Saul? The reason why Saul is in such a bad place is that he has been rejected - by God. We have to understand this; God chooses but God also rejects.
Let’s read v1 again. “The Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel?’”
The Lord is saying to Samuel here, “Don’t be nostalgic for anything that is contrary to my will.” Saul has been continuously disobedient to God. He has not stopped compromising God’s standards. That’s why he has been an ineffective leader of God’s people because he has no real heart for God.
We’ve got to be ruthless in our opposition to sin. I don’t mean we should castigate sinners. How could we? We’re all sinners. But we’ve got to be clear in our minds that we will give no concession to compromising God’s word.
But why would a loving God reject anyone? And does this mean that God might ditch us as his chosen people as well? Should we be feeling a little less secure?
Listen, God never ever abandons or forsakes those he loves. Jesus never ever changes his mind over the chosen people he paid for with his own blood. He never ever lets anyone or anything snatch his treasured possession from his hands. What it says here is quite different. Look carefully and notice that God says, “I have rejected (Saul) as king over Israel.”
It means God was relieving Saul of his responsibilities as king. Saul’s disobedience to God’s word had direct consequences on his fitness as a leader of God’s people. God was therefore withdrawing the authority he had given him. He was removing the anointing he had poured out on him.
God actively regulates the proliferation of evil in the world by limiting the length of office of ungodly political leaders. That’s why, when you work out the average length of reign of all the monarchs in 1 and 2 Kings, the good ones reign, on average, three times longer than the bad ones. It pays to read the Bible with a calculator sometimes! All those elected to office will have to give an account to God for their record in government – and the King of kings and Lord of lords can remove them at any time he wishes.
Similarly Hebrews 13.17 says, “Have confidence in your (church) leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account.” All those in pastoral ministry will answer to God for their decisions in leadership – and the Lord can relieve them of their posts whenever he wants to.
So much for how God rejects. What about how God chooses?
The gentile journalist William Ewer once said, “How odd of God to choose the Jews.” To which an anonymous Jew replied, “Not odd of God. Goyim annoy ’im!”
But goyim don’t annoy God any more than Jews do. In fact, the Bible says that God chooses in two ways. The first is how he chooses those who are to be his people and is found in verses like Deuteronomy 7.6-7 which say this:
“The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery.”
That means that God’s sovereign choice is nothing to do with the qualities of those he chooses. That God has chosen us as his treasured possession is nothing to do with our merits, our strengths, our attractiveness or our plus points, whatever they might be. It’s pure grace from beginning to end. It is completely undeserved and unconnected to the way we are.
That’s the first way God chooses. But who does God choose among his chosen people to place his anointing on? What are the criteria for that? That’s the second thing and that’s what this story is about.
Verses 6-11 show us just how naturally people fall into the trap of judging by appearances. We all instinctively look people up and down when we first meet them and form instant opinions about them based on their face, hairstyle, shape, clothes, jewellery, age, sex, voice and body posture. Jesus never did. It says he knew all people and what was in them.
Saul had stood out from the rest when he was made king. 1 Samuel 9.1-2 says, “There was a Benjamite, a man of standing, whose name was Kish… Kish had a son named Saul, as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else.”
Saul was tall, dark, handsome and from a wealthy family. He was the George Clooney of ancient Israel. Ladies, what’s not to like?
So when Samuel went looking for a new king and saw Eliab he thought “I reckon it’ll be him” because Eliab was the kind of guy who’d look good doing coffee adverts; good looking, with a strong physique. Samuel was looking for more of the same. But it wasn’t Eliab, Aminadab, Shammah or any one else. Verse 7: “The Lord does not look at the things human beings look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
That’s one of the reasons why there is no physical description of Jesus in the Bible apart from this one from Isaiah 52.14 foretelling his suffering; “His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness.” Yet he was supremely anointed; that’s what the word “Christ” means – the anointed one.
It’s not your face or your physique that qualifies you for God’s anointing – it’s your character. “Character” says Bill Hybels “is who you are when no one is looking.”
Who wants to have a good reputation? Well, God’s not interested in reputation. He’s looking for character.
Reputation is what you are supposed to be. Character is who you are.
Reputation can be made in a flash. Character is built over a lifetime.
Reputation can grow like a mushroom. Character always grows like an oak.
Reputation is what people say about you on your tombstone. Character is what the angels say about you around the throne of God.
So when you read v12 it’s quite a surprise to read that David’s physical features were actually not that shabby. “He was glowing with health, with a fine appearance and handsome features.”
So you don’t have to be ugly, small, bald, hook-nosed and bow legged to qualify for God’s anointing! The truth is it makes no difference at all what you look like.
When it comes to who God is going to pour out his anointing oil, he is not looking at our faces. He is looking into our hearts. And David, the Cinderella of his family, had a heart for God.
As we’re going to be seeing over the next few weeks, he had a worshipping heart. “Psalm 9. A psalm of David. I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.”
God is looking for men and women with a heart for worship who are committed to giving the very best to exalt his greatness worthily. Are you going to be one of them?
He had a servant heart. Acts 13:36 says “David… served God’s purpose in his own generation.”
And he is looking for servant-hearted men and women who are passionate about doing the will of God in ours. Are you going to be one of them?
He had a trusting heart. “David said: ‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken’” (Acts 2:25).
God is looking for men and women who will not be moved because their hearts have placed their trust in God’s unshakable promises. Are you going to be one of them?
He had an undivided heart. “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.” (1 Chronicles 28.9).
He had a prophetic heart. Acts 2:29-30 says “(David) was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.”
God is looking for men and women who will hear from him and speak out his word. Do you want to be one of them?
He had an obedient heart. Acts 13:22 says “God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’”
In short, David had a heart for God.
And if you have a heart for God you already have the key for the Lord’s anointing over your life as well.
Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 4th July 2010.
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