June 18 sermon - The Chosen 1Samuel 15:34-16:13

Well this is my 1st sermon at the new church. I've gotten good "reviews" so far. I pray hard about this. Lots of things need to happen. Lots of things to do. Pray pray pray. visit visit visit.

June 18 sermon

Struggling to make ends meet on a first-call salary, the pastor was livid when he confronted his wife with the receipt for a $250 dress she had bought. "How could you do this?!""I was outside the store looking at the dress in the window, and then I found myself trying it on," she explained. "It was like Satan was whispering in my ear, 'You look fabulous in that dress. Buy it!'" "Well," the pastor replied, "You know how I deal with that kind of temptation. I say, 'Get behind me, Satan!'" "I did," replied his wife, "but then he said, 'It looks fabulous from back here, too!'"

Saul was a failure. He had done the opposite of what God wanted him to do. He would quickly kill anyone who opposed him. No hesitation in making sure he was in control. The prophet Samuel understood this. God told him to get his oil ready and go.
It’s time to anoint the new king. Samuel grieved over Saul. It’s really not surprising. I think Samuel maybe thought of himself a failure when Saul failed. Maybe he did not talk to Saul enough, or get his message across.

Maybe he did not do enough pastoral counseling. More Pentecostal preaching and less singing of boring hymns. Whatever he was thinking, he prayed to the LORD that he would change his mind about Saul. But God had enough.
Samuel was also scared though like I said. “Saul will have me killed when he hears about this.” “No worries.” Says God, “I have a solution. Go down and lead worship with this tribe. Make sure that Jesse and his boys are there.” Well Samuel gets there and the elders are now the ones to be scared.
When a prophet like Samuel comes into a small town, it’s as if God himself were there. What kind of revelation is he going to bring. So they ask “are you coming in peace?” Of course Samuel says. I’ve come to lead worship.
Now you start to think…is God deceiving the elders by doing this? I mean come on; Samuel is there to anoint a king. Well no.
Samuel is there to lead worship. In the worship, God will reveal to them who the next king will be. God often has more in mind than he initially reveals. Revelation can come at any time, not just worship.
I was sitting down here at the alter rail Thursday night singing my heart out to the one who created me. As I was singing “I Can Only Imagine” the Spirit of God washed over me and I had this feeling…I’m not sure how to describe it.
Peace, assurance, comfort. Maybe all rolled into one. I know God delivered us to the right church.

Well with a great sigh of relief, the elders welcome Samuel into the community and they start worship. Samuel sees Jesse’s oldest son Eliab. Tall muscular boy. He would make any father proud. This must be him. The new king. “No” says God. “You look on the outside, but I see what is inside every man.” All of Jesse’s sons pass by but the LORD rejects them all.
Can you see Samuel throughout this whole process? Start with the tallest, best looking man and he is turned down. As the family procession goes by, and each are turned away, Samuel’s face gets sadder and droopier.

It’s kind of like a cell phone.
I tell you, we have Sprint and we are having a heck of a time getting signal. I’m in the master bedroom, and I have 2 bars, I’m in the living room and I have 1 bar, I’m in the garage touching the 3rd light socket and standing on one foot and I get 3 bars.
I even walked up the fire escape on the side of the church. At the bottom I get 1 bar (maybe), half way up I get 3 bars, and at the top I’m back at 1 bar. But at least with one bar I have signal.
All of Jesse’s boys go by, and Samuel is frustrated now. YELLING OUT “Is this it. Don’t you have any other kids? Anyone??”
Well there is the runt. He is tending the sheep now. Low kid on the totem pole. He can’t go to worship with the rest. Someone has to watch the sheep and he is assigned that chore.
“Go get him” Samuel said. I don’t think the look of Samuel would change when David shows up. Just a dirty kid. He stinks from the sheep. He is handsome, but come on, he is the runt.
But God, Oh God….He gets a big smile on his face, raises his hands and says “YES. This is the new king. This is the chosen one”.
Like when your child makes her first goal, hits his first home run, wins the gold medal, it’s a satisfying smile of God.
Mother Theresa went to the church one day. She said “I have 3 pennies. I plan to build an orphanage. I will help many children.” The church said “You can’t build an orphanage with 3 pennies!!”
And Mother Theresa just smiled and said “That’s right. But with God and 3 pennies I can do anything.”
Can churches be the same way of picking like Samuel was?
Picking pastors certainly has some of the same signs. I’ve looked at different posting for churches looking for pastors. “Looking for mature charismatic preacher who is tall and handsome, between 30 and 35 with 15 years of preaching experience (outside of school), a PhD in biblical studies,
speaks fluent Greek and Latin, has spent at least 8 years in a youth pastor position, and knows how to follow directions. Please send a picture with your resume”.

I’m thinking more of churches though. Most people have heard of Willow Creek church. Rick Warren is the pastor of that mega church. He wrote “the Purpose Driven Life”. Many have heard of Joel Olsteen and Lakewood church in Houston. They were getting so big, they bought the sports event center there. 35000 attendances on a Sunday.
What do you hear from the small churches. Or… what do small churches like Sardis United Methodist Church have in common with David? Maybe like David, it’s what you don’t read in the headlines that makes a church and how a church makes disciples of Jesus Christ.
I asked one member last week to tell me about this church. She said she could feel the presence of God here. The love was overflowing.
When we pulled in with all our stuff, we got the same feeling. Bill was there talking to Brandy waiting for us to arrive. Melanie, Doris, and Ann came over with some good food. Mike and Tammy showed up to help unload he truck. They didn’t do this because they had to or to impress the new pastor. They did it out of love.
Pastor Rod has told me some things about the church. I pulled him aside at Annual Conference and told him “That if everything you said is true, and I don’t doubt it one bit, this church is definitely a model church for others to see.”
I can be a great preacher, but my preaching will not make this church grow much. When Barna surveyed Christians and asked them why they go to a particular church, over 75% say it was because they were invited by someone they know.
Christians invite other people to church because something is “happening” in the church. You can feel the Spirit moving like I did the other night. There is excitement in what we as a congregation can do to impact Sardis, to impact the Waxahachie district, to impact the Central Texas Conference and beyond.

Jesus did not say that his commission was to go and make disciples of the choir. No. We are to go make disciples of Sardis, all of Central Texas, and beyond.
This here is worship time where we lift our voices up and sing to the one who created us and knows every hair on our head.
This is the time that we greet one another and thank God for what he has given us and what he has held back.
This is the time we petition God for his will to be done thru us and to reveal to us that will.
The SERVICE though, starts in 15 minutes. As soon as you stand up to walk away, then the service begins.
Just as David’s deficiencies were provided for by the Holy Spirit, so will any perceived deficiencies be provided for that we may have when our service begin.
There will be times when you don’t feel up to the challenge, or think you are not worthy or educated enough, old enough or young enough to do a task God is calling you to. Kind of like being a new father.
I’ll tell you right now, if God is calling you to it, He will make a way for it to happen. If one door closes, the window beside it will have flashing lights around it saying pick me pick me.
By reading God’s Word regularly, talking to God daily (some people call that prayer) he will guide you.
I want you to think this week. Where does God want you to go. It might be to the neighbor’s house. It might be to the homeless shelter to serve food.
It could be to the children’s home to read stories. It could be to the Appalachian Mountains to build houses. It could be to Calcutta to work in an orphanage.

But it could be to the nursery to care for the children. It could be upstairs to lead the youth in Sunday School. Don’t dismiss a thought because “I’ve never done that” or “I’m not trained to do that.” Go with the Spirit leading you. If it is of God, he will bless your ministry and HE will multiply it. I would like to see a time where church is completely integrated into all our lives. So when John tells Bob he is moving across town, Bob calls six guys to come over and help. When Mary mentions her porch is about to fall down, a group goes over and rebuilds it. When Bill says there are lots of people struggling in this area, a group gets together and starts a weekly dinner that is open to the public. These are not to bring people to church, but to bring the church to them. That’s the love Christ wants us to show. So like the song says “I can only imagine what it will be like”, it can be a glimpse of heaven right here.