June 15, 2009 — 10:07 AM
Good things come in small packages
Texts:
1 Samuel 15:34-16:13
Mark 4:26-34
What do you think of when you hear the phrase “Good things come in small packages”?
Maybe you’re like a colleague of mine and you think of Christmas presents and how often the smaller packages contain more valuable gifts – like fine jewelry, gift cards, or money.
Along that same line, maybe it makes you think of a White Elephant gift exchange where this phrase is thrown out as someone reaches for the smaller gift in the bunch.
Or, maybe like me, the phrase makes you think of different candies, such as Hershey’s Kisses and Altoid mints.
Or, have you ever heard someone who is of a (shall we say) shorter stature use the phrase to let you know that he or she packs a real punch?
This phrase is used in all kinds of situations as a way of reminding us that we shouldn’t judge something purely on its outward appearance. While something might be small, it may very well be valuable, tasty, or powerful. This phrase addresses our very human tendency to judge things on how they look. The phrase aims to counter our way of thinking that says bigger equals better.
I would venture to say that we Americans have taken this bigger is better thinking to a whole new level – look at our McMansions, our Super Value Meals, our Hummers…. We like things big. I know many of us here don’t exactly fit that stereotype. We try to moderate that preference for the big. But compared to people around the globe, even we fall into this bigger is better category. Our “small” is only small by Americans standards.
I speak from experience here. I drive a Mini Cooper. It’s small. But it’s almost double the size of the original that came from England. And I know my car would have a hard time fitting down some European streets if any other cars were around. I’ve chosen small, but I still want a little space. I’m used to it. It’s what I grew up knowing.
Our passage from First Samuel today shows us that we aren’t alone in judging things by their outward appearance and that we aren’t alone in thinking that bigger equals better.
The passage begins with two verses telling us that Saul’s time as king was over. And it was ending poorly. Even though Saul the person was still very much alive, he was being mourned as if he were dead. God regretted the decision to choose Saul as king and Samuel mourned over his role in anointing Saul to that role. We can only guess about Saul’s state of mind, but I think it’s safe to say that he was none too happy with this whole turn of events either. He had been drafted reluctantly into this whole being king thing to begin with. And now it was ending in disgrace? Who needs that?
Samuel had originally been drawn to Saul as a leader because he stood head and shoulder above the rest. His big stature helped draw attention to him and made him appear to be a good candidate for the position. Samuel had let his eyes convince him of the merits of the person. And God allowed this choice to be made. But, in the end, Saul rejected God’s word and so God rejected Saul. Saul’s inside character did not live up to his outside appearance. And so God sends Samuel to find someone new to be anointed as king.
So out Samuel goes. And you’d think that Samuel would be living by that old saying, “Once bitten, twice shy.” But you would be wrong. Samuel gets to where God sent him – Bethlehem and the house of Jesse – and immediately, he is wowed by outward appearances. In walks Jesse’s son Eliab, and Samuel is blown away and immediately thinks, “This must be the one I have been sent to anoint.”
But God puts on the breaks, saying to Samuel: “Hey, whoa there Samuel! Don’t get suckered again by looks and height! You may be impressed, but I’m not. This isn’t my guy.” (Okay. So maybe I’m paraphrasing a bit here. But you get the point.)
Then God delivers the real punch: “The LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (verse 7)
Well now. That had to sting just a little, don’t you think. If I were Samuel, I’d be a little taken aback. Sure, God has a point there. But man! Way to put Samuel in his place.
But that’s what needed to happen. Samuel was jumping ahead of himself. Coming to a conclusion about who to anoint without consulting the one who had sent him – God. He was so impressed by Eliab’s appearance that all other considerations flew out the window. God had to intervene, and fast, or the situation with Saul would have been repeated.
Samuel, snapped back to his original call by this reprimand, continues to look over the sons of Jesse. One by one each one is rejected by God, leaving Samuel scratching his head. Really, he came all this way not to find the one God had sent him to find? Surely something was missing from this picture.
Then comes the final son, David. He isn’t so bad looking himself (something that will get him in trouble later – but that’s a story for another day). And finally, God tells Samuel, “This is the one. Anoint him.”
God had seen David’s heart and knew that David would follow God’s word. This was not a trait that could be seen from David’s outside appearance. It was not something Samuel could ascertain by giving David a once-over. Only God knew.
This was an important lesson, not only for Samuel, but most especially for David. He was not coming to the throne by force or by any act on his part. He was coming to the throne because God had chosen him. David would need to be reminded of this many times throughout his reign. He was human after all. And he got a little to full of himself – thinking higher of his abilities than maybe he should have.
It’s not surprising that this would happen, really. As Lord Acton stated back in 1887, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” I think we’ve all see examples of this. Power has the tendency to corrupt unless the people wielding it acknowledge that the power does not come from them but rather has been given to them from an outside or higher source.
When we forget whose we are and who empowers and sustains us, we tend to think that we are all that – that we have gotten to where we are by our own doing. We end up focusing on our own achievements instead of acknowledging that God has given us all that we have. This can get us into a lot of trouble.
Jesus was addressing just such a tendency towards aggrandizement in his short little parable about the growing seed – the first of our two parables for today. A man scatters seed, but beyond that, he has nothing to do with the sprouting and growth of those seeds. He can do whatever he likes, day or night, and it won’t affect the growth of those seeds.
It’s not about the man who sows the seeds. It’s about the seeds themselves. By sharing this parable, Jesus reminds his listeners that it is not about them and their own efforts. Rather, it is about God and the Good News of the Gospel.
It’s not about us. Really?! Harrumph!
Really. It’s about God.
It’s God who can see the heart of a person. It’s God who can take something so small, like a mustard seed, and make it into something thousands of times bigger and stronger than what it came from. It’s God who creates, empowers, and sustains all that is.
It’s God.
Now, we may all know that intellectually. We may be able to get our heads to ascent to that statement. But I’m guessing that we all struggle from time to time with getting our hearts to go along with it as well. We have a hard time living like that is actually true. Instead, we live like it’s all about us and our own actions. We act like we have got to fix everything. And many of us end up getting overwhelmed in the process.
Can you think of situations, issues, causes that weigh heavily on your heart? Situations that you wish were not realities, but are so huge, you struggle to understand how you might act in a way that might have some impact?
For some it might be bringing about peace in the Middle East – and especially, in the Holy Land. Fighting has gone on in this area for so long. Attempts at brokering peace have been tried so many times. Campaigns to bring awareness to injustices there have been waged. What more can we do? It can make a person throw up his or her hands and walk away in defeat.
For others it might be working so that all who have gifts and feel called to ministry can be ordained, regardless of sexual orientation. Decades have gone by in which dialogues and struggles and votes have taken place. And yet, here we are, still unresolved in how to more forward justly as a body on this issue.
For yet others it might be working to end human trafficking. Public, political approval of this act ended in the United States long ago. And yet, today, human trafficking continues at an unprecedented rate. Now it affects mainly women who are being trafficked for sex.
For many, it is the issue of hunger. Why are so many people going hungry and dying of starvation in our world when more than enough food exists in the world to feed everyone with much leftover? And why, especially in our country that is the richest in food sources, do so many men, women, and children go to sleep each night with empty stomachs?
Unfortunately, our list could go on and on: water rights issues; global warming and environmental issues; health care issues; issues around education (or lack thereof); issues of equality of pay. We haven’t done so well as a society or a world to watch out for one another. Rather, we have more often fallen back on our proclivity to exploit others for our own gain.
That’s what happens when we make ourselves the focus instead of focusing on God.
But the seeds of God’s realm have been sown. God’s love has a way of breaking through the tough ground. And it is growing from a tiny little mustard seed into the largest plant in the garden, with many big branches providing perches for birds and shade for the weary.
Don’t be fooled by appearances. Someone who stands heads and shoulders above those around him might not make the best leader for the nation. Something that looks so small as to be insignificant might just grow up to be the largest plant in the garden. With God, all things are possible.
God calls us to act in small, and maybe even large, ways to share God’s love with all of God’s creation. We just need to trust God to use our efforts to bring about God’s realm in very real ways. We need to be like the man in the first parable sowing the seeds of God’s love wherever we go and then letting God do the rest.
It’s not about us and our efforts, but God can and wants to use us as a part of the process of bringing about the new heavens and the new earth. And God can do this when our focus is right – when our eyes are on Jesus and we are following him.
Walter Brueggemann, a retired Old Testament professor and poet, says it well in his prayer called, “In Human Form,” which reads…
You are God, high, lifted up, majestic. As we say, “Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory… forever.”You are high and lifted up;
it dazzles us that you work your will
through human agents –
those whom you call and choose and empower,
even the weak, the lowly, the nobodies.You are high and lifted up;
it stuns us that you have worked your will
through such human agents as David,
the runt of his family,
almost left behind and forgotten,
and you called him to power and
obedience and success.You are high and lifted up;
it staggers us that you have worked your will
through this Jesus of Nazareth,
he of no pedigree,
he of no form or comeliness,
he who emptied himself in obedience;
and you have raised him to new life,
before whom every knee shall bow.You are high and lifted up;
it astonishes us that you work your will
through human agents like us,
people of little consequence and
limited capacity.You call us beyond ourselves;
you send us beyond our imagination;
you empower us beyond our capacity,
and we become your agents in the world,
day by day doing justice and mercy and
compassion.At the end of the day we still say in astonishment,
that you are high and lifted up and majestic.
We are your creatures,
and we give our life back to you,
filled with gratitude,
eager for the rest that only you can give.
Good things often do come in small packages. God calls us to act in small ways each and every day to make God’s love known to a broken and hurting world. God calls us to do these acts in humility, always keeping our focus on God, trusting that God will do great things with our offerings. May God empower us to be bold in proclaiming the Good News of God’s shalom. Amen.
