Sermon for June 7th, 2015 - Revision history

Iraneal at 06:44, 7 June 2015

2015-06-07T06:44:08Z

Iraneal at 06:32, 7 June 2015

2015-06-07T06:32:41Z

Iraneal at 06:10, 7 June 2015

2015-06-07T06:10:41Z

Iraneal at 06:05, 7 June 2015

2015-06-07T06:05:33Z

Iraneal at 05:27, 7 June 2015

2015-06-07T05:27:47Z

Iraneal at 05:23, 7 June 2015

2015-06-07T05:23:03Z

Iraneal at 21:08, 6 June 2015

2015-06-06T21:08:02Z

Iraneal at 19:36, 6 June 2015

2015-06-06T19:36:45Z

Iraneal at 19:26, 6 June 2015

2015-06-06T19:26:56Z

Iraneal at 19:22, 6 June 2015

2015-06-06T19:22:34Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:44, 7 June 2015
Line 64:		Line 64:
	Through it all, David continues to work diligently at the vocation he has been given. "King" is just a title, in Hebrew as well as in English. David's vocation is shepherding others--sheep, people--it doesn't matter; and it remains constant throughout his life. God has called you to a vocation as well. Perhaps it's the one you're currently engaged in; perhaps it's not.		Through it all, David continues to work diligently at the vocation he has been given. "King" is just a title, in Hebrew as well as in English. David's vocation is shepherding others--sheep, people--it doesn't matter; and it remains constant throughout his life. God has called you to a vocation as well. Perhaps it's the one you're currently engaged in; perhaps it's not.

−	I ran away from my vocation calling for at least 18 years before finally listening to God. When I was a college student, I made fun of theology majors. Then after graduation, I got a job working for a church as a youth director. I loved that job, but I pretended that it was because God was calling me to work with teenagers, not because God was calling me to work in the church. And so I left the church and became a high school English teacher, still running from my calling. Even when I finally enrolled in seminary, about seven years ago, I informed God that my vocational calling was going to be planting new churches. But God had something better and more beautiful in mind all along...and it was you. I'm glad I stopped running the other way.	+	I ran away from my vocation calling for at least 18 years before finally listening to God. When I was a college student, I made fun of theology majors. Then after graduation, I got a job working for a church as a youth director. I loved that job, but I pretended that it was because God was calling me to work with teenagers, not because God was calling me to work in the church. And so I left the church and became a high school English teacher, still running from my calling. Even when I finally enrolled in seminary, about seven years ago, I informed God that my vocational calling was going to be planting new churches. But God had something better and more beautiful in mind all along...and it was you.
		+
		+	I'm glad I stopped running the other way, and I hope that you will always find yourself running with God: In your vocation, in your family, as you lead others and as you follow. This is the blessing of David: When God chooses you--no matter how unexpected, no matter how unlikely you think you are--when God looks deep within your heart, may he find his own heart reflected there.

@@ Line 54: / Line 54: @@
 . David has good vision, or good sight.  This could be taken literally (after all, he's pretty good with a slingshot), but I think it also means foresight, or the ability to see what is far away, distant, in the future. Much of David's military success in later chapters comes from his uncanny ability to stay ten steps ahead of his enemies.  A good leader must be able to anticipate the changes in the world around her, to percieve the long-term consequences of his actions or those of others.
-What can we learn about Vocation?
+So what can we learn about Vocation from today's passage?
-*What was David doing when Samuel arrived? Shepherding. Working. Doing.
-*What does David do after he is anointed?  He goes back to shepherding.
-*What does David end up doing in the long run? Shepherding.  People, not sheep.
-Story of my own vocational calling.
+. When Samuel arrived, what was David doing?  He was shepherding. Working. Doing.

@@ Line 50: / Line 50: @@
 . David is earthly-minded.  He is practical, focused on the problems and challenges all around him, grounded in the present.  Even Jesus, in the gospel of Matthew, points to the example of David going into the temple with his men and eating the bread that was reserved for the priests.  Jesus' point in telling this story is to prove to the pharisees that sometimes practical concerns trump spiritual ones.  A good leader is not so spiritually minded that he or she is no earthly good.
-. David has an eye for beauty.  This is the artistic side of David, the musician, the psalmist, the poet.  He sees what is up close, the details, and has an appreciation for God's creation, for the past.  A good leader must be able to see the beauty in the world in order to inspire others to greater depth and height.
+. David has an eye for beauty.  This is the artistic side of David, the musician, the psalmist, the poet.  He sees what is up close, the details, and has an appreciation for God's creation, for the past.  A good leader must be able to see the beauty in the world in order to inspire others to greater depth and height.   Of course, it's worth noting that this one ultimately gets David in trouble, too.  His eye for beauty leads him to a rooftop, and an adulterous affair with Bathsheba. Sometimes our greatest strengths also contain the seeds of our greatest failures.
-. David has good vision, or good sight.  This could be taken literally (after all, he's pretty good with a slingshot), but I think it also means foresight, or the ability to see what is far away, distant, in the future.  A good leader must be able to anticipate the changes in the world around her, to percieve the long-term consequences of his actions or those of others.
+. David has good vision, or good sight.  This could be taken literally (after all, he's pretty good with a slingshot), but I think it also means foresight, or the ability to see what is far away, distant, in the future. Much of David's military success in later chapters comes from his uncanny ability to stay ten steps ahead of his enemies.  A good leader must be able to anticipate the changes in the world around her, to percieve the long-term consequences of his actions or those of others.
 What can we learn about Vocation?

@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 . When God chooses you, it's immediate.  As soon as David comes before Samuel, God tells him "Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.”  The very next verse does NOT say, "and then over the years, young David slowly grew into his anointing, gradually, only as much as he could handle..."  It says "and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward." That doesn't mean we don't grow, that we'll never have setbacks, or days where we don't feel God's presence. Our commitment to God wavers all the time, although it hopefully grows in time.  But God's commitment to us is instant, consistent, and forever.
-That's what we can learn from Samuel, and from God.  But this sermon series is about David, and here he makes his grand--or, rather, "humble"--entrance.  What can we learn about David, here? There's really only one verse that tells us much of anything about him, and unfortunately, it's a pretty confusing verse, one that has suffered from centuries of poor translation.
+That's what we can learn from Samuel, and from God.  But this sermon series is about David, and here he makes his grand--or, rather, "humble"--entrance.  What can we learn about David, here? There's really only one verse that tells us much of anything about him (verse 12) and unfortunately, it's pretty short, as well as pretty confusing.
-    וְה֣וּא              אַדְמוֹנִ֔י         עִם־יְפֵ֥ה     עֵינַ֖יִם      וְטֹ֣וב      רֹ֑אִי
+I've always thought it somewhat odd that in verse 7, God says not to judge someone based on outward appearance, and then as soon as David shows up, in verse 12 we read about how good looking he is.
-   (roi)  (v'tov)  (eyenim) (im-yfeh)      (admoni)          (v'ho)
-  (sight) (good)    (eyes)(with beautiful) (Adam/red/earth)  (he)
+    וְה֣וּא              אַדְמוֹנִ֔י               עִם־יְפֵ֥ה           עֵינַ֖יִם         וְטֹ֣וב         רֹ֑אִי
    -"Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome." (NRSV)
@@ Line 44: / Line 46: @@
    -"He was earthly-minded, with eyes for the beautiful, and good vision. (INL)
-#Earthly-minded (what is all around you - present)
+The standard translations identify three attributes of David that are largely based on outward appearance.  The last translation (my own) remains faithful to the Hebrew, but translates each attribute as an inward quality, a quality of the heart or mind.  So what can we learn from David? What qualities does God see inside him?
-#Eye for Beauty (what is up close, details - past)
-#Good Vision (what is far away, distant - future)
+. David is earthly-minded.  He is practical, focused on the problems and challenges all around him, grounded in the present.  Even Jesus, in the gospel of Matthew, points to the example of David going into the temple with his men and eating the bread that was reserved for the priests.  Jesus' point in telling this story is to prove to the pharisees that sometimes practical concerns trump spiritual ones.  A good leader is not so spiritually minded that he or she is no earthly good.
-Ecclesiastes 3:11 - "He has made everything suitable (beautiful) for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end
+Of course, David is, after all, a human being like the rest of us (It's one of the reasons I like him so much) and his greatest strengths contain the seeds of his greatest failures.  Toward the end of his life, his earthly practicality causes him to lose sight of his relationship with God, and he is led astray by the influence of other gods.  His eye for beauty leads him to a rooftop, and an adulterous affair with Bathseba.  His vision and foresight are frustrated
 What can we learn about Vocation?

@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 . God uses different criteria to judge a person that we are accustomed to.  When Samuel seems surprised that God has rejected Jesse's eldest son, the Lord tells him, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” God's criteria are different than our criteria.
-. When God chooses you, it's immediate.  As soon as David comes before Samuel, God tells him "Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.”  The very next verse does NOT say, "and then over the years, young David slowly grew into his anointing, gradually, only as much as he could handle..."  It says "and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward." That doesn't mean we don't grow, that we'll never have setbacks, or days where we don't feel God's presence.
+. When God chooses you, it's immediate.  As soon as David comes before Samuel, God tells him "Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.”  The very next verse does NOT say, "and then over the years, young David slowly grew into his anointing, gradually, only as much as he could handle..."  It says "and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward." That doesn't mean we don't grow, that we'll never have setbacks, or days where we don't feel God's presence. Our commitment to God wavers all the time, although it hopefully grows in time.  But God's commitment to us is instant, consistent, and forever.
     וְה֣וּא              אַדְמוֹנִ֔י         עִם־יְפֵ֥ה     עֵינַ֖יִם      וְטֹ֣וב      רֹ֑אִי
    (roi)  (v'tov)  (eyenim) (im-yfeh)      (admoni)          (v'ho)

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 "Good," replied the student, as he quickly lifted the stack of completed exams, shoved his in the middle, and walked out of the room.
-What can we learn from Samuel?
+We all want to be famous, but sometimes anonymity has its advantages too.  The most famous king in the Bible, King David, begins his story as an obscure nobody, almost forgotten by his own family. And yet, in this episode, there is so much we can learn, not just from David, but also from Samuel and from God as well.
-*Action is a good antidote for despair.
-*Persistence pays off (If at first you don't succeed...)
-*Expect the Unexpected
-What can we learn about God?
+To set the stage:  Last week in our sermon series on the rise of David, we talked about how there came to be a king in Israel, how the elders of Israel gathered to demand that God's representative, the prophet Samuel, appoint a king to rule over them like other nations.  That first king was Saul, and at the time when today's scripture reading takes place, God has already rejected Saul, but he still sits on the throne.  That's why Samuel is so afraid to follow God's orders and choose a new king: "If Saul hears of it, he will kill me."
-*God chooses unlikely leaders to do his work.
-*God measures with different criteria than we do.
+Although David makes his first appearance in the story today, the prophet Samuel is still the central character, so I'd like to begin with the question, what can we learn from Samuel in today's reading?  There are (at least) three things:
-*God looks at the inside of a person (heart), not the outside (appearance, size, etc.).
 What can we learn about David?

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:08, 6 June 2015
Line 5:		Line 5:

	==Give Us A King: The Annointing of David==		==Give Us A King: The Annointing of David==
		+	It was final exam day for an introductory Biology course at the local university. The exam was two hours long, and exam booklets were provided. The professor, who had a reputation for being strict, told the class that any exam that was not on his desk in exactly two hours would not be accepted and the student would fail. Half an hour into the exam, a student came rushing in late and asked the professor for an exam booklet. With an air of disgust, the professor said, "You're not going to have time to finish this," but reluctantly handed the student a booklet.
		+
		+	Sure enough, when time was up and the other students placed their booklets in a pile on the professor's desk, the late student continued writing. When he finally finished, and came up to turn in his exam, the professor said, "I'm not going to accept that. It's late." The student looked incredulous and angry. "Do you know who I am?" he asked.
		+	"No," replied the professor, "as a matter of fact, I don't."
		+	"You really don't know who I am?" the student asked once again in a louder voice.
		+	"No, and I don't care." replied the professor with an air of superiority.
		+	"Good," replied the student, as he quickly lifted the stack of completed exams, shoved his in the middle, and walked out of the room.

	What can we learn from Samuel?		What can we learn from Samuel?

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 ==Give Us A King: The Annointing of David==
-What is anointing?
+What can we learn from Samuel?
-*(מָשַׁח) to smear, with oil.
+*Action is a good antidote for despair.
-Interpretations:
+What can we learn about God?
-*Classic interpratation 1: God chooses unlikely leaders to do his work.
+*God chooses unlikely leaders to do his work.
-*Classic interpretation 2: God uses different criteria than we do.
+*God measures with different criteria than we do.
-*Classic interpretation 3: God looks at the inside of a person (heart), not the outside (appearance, size, etc.).
+*God looks at the inside of a person (heart), not the outside (appearance, size, etc.).
-−
-God and the Unexpected:
-*My own call story:  I used to mock theology majors.  Teaching high school as an escape from calling (Don Foresman), told God in seminary that I was called to church planting.
-−
-Vocation:
-*What was David doing when Samuel arrived? Shepherding. Working. Doing.
-*What does David do after he is anointed?  He goes back to shepherding.
-*What does David do in the long-term? Shepherding.  People, not sheep.
-−
-Beautiful eyes...or eyes for beauty?
     וְה֣וּא              אַדְמוֹנִ֔י         עִם־יְפֵ֥ה     עֵינַ֖יִם      וְטֹ֣וב      רֹ֑אִי
    (roi)  (v'tov)  (eyenim) (im-yfeh)      (admoni)          (v'ho)
@@ Line 38: / Line 31: @@
 Ecclesiastes 3:11 - "He has made everything suitable (beautiful) for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end