This sermon is a rewrite of an earlier sermon entitled "Standing in Wait," and was delivered by Rev. Don Van Antwerpen to Unfinished Community on November 16, 2023. It draws from 1 Samuel 16:1-13 and Ephesians 5:8-14.
Old Testament Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1-13
The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me." And the LORD said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.”
Samuel did what the LORD commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, "Do you come peaceably?” He said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice." And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed is now before the LORD.” But the LORD said to Samuel, "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."
Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, "The LORD has not chosen any of these."
Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?" And he said, "There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; for this is the one."
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.
New Testament Reading: Ephesians 5:8-14
For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light - for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible,
for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, "Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
Sermon: “The Royal Welcome”
Every once in a while, usually when you least expect it, someone will inadvertently tell you exactly who they are.
We see this all the time in life, don't we? We might have known someone only for a short time, or maybe even for our entire lives, and then one day they'll say or do something that shows us some odd, terrible, or just plain strange dimension to who they are as a person that we never could have expected. Maybe it's our "gently" conservative uncle one day going on a racist, bigoted rant against immigrants and refugees, or an old friend who suddenly decides to tell you with unyielding certainty that all medicine is poison and vaccines will turn you into a gay, autistic, penguin or something.
Or, maybe it's just somebody you know who, in the middle of a conversation about some issue or another, unironically says "wake up, sheeple!" or something like that.
I know we’re supposed to be all reverent about the scripture, but I kinda feel like that is what we're getting with Paul here in Ephesians. Not only do we literally get the whole "sleeper, awake!" thing almost 2000 years before the invention of tinfoil hats, but from here Paul goes on into all kinds of specific instruction about how everyone should live their lives, full of judgmental language, and even some of the greatest misogyny in the Bible; this is the same chapter that the whole "Wives, submit to your husbands" bit falls into, after all.
It's a tough read, even when taken in its original context. Yes, there is a lot to be said regarding just how much of this is later editorial additions, and yes, preachers for generations have been doing their homiletical best to water down Paul's tone here, but if we're being honest…this bit does come across not only as being weirdly judgmental, but the exact same kind of judgmental that many, many of us have experienced from the church throughout our lives.
How many times have we been told - condescendingly at best and with frothing vitriol at worst - to “wake up” as a form of judgement? How often have we been told that we need to wake up from our supposedly sinful lives, even when all we’re really doing is loving each other and playing Pokémon or whatever?
How often have we been told, as Paul says here in Ephesians, to “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness,” only to look into the darkness and see loving couples who harm no one, immigrants and refugees trying to live a better life (or even just to survive), people playing video games, having fun, learning, growing, and being together as a people united in the love of Christ?
How often are the "unfruitful" works of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control condemned by those in seats of authority who preach a gospel of hatred, bigotry, war, impatience, cruelty, tight-fisted miserly-ness (often called "economic conservatism" for short), rage, unrestraint, and the worship of power instead?
It is so terribly common for people to take what Paul says here, and base the fullness of their authority, the fullness of their understanding of everything about how life is meant to work, on the rantings of this one guy who wasn't Jesus but definitely rejected the authority of the Church that Christ had founded, writing a single letter, to a single church, all because the judgmental way he put things backs up that desire we all have to draw clear lines that tell us who is, and who isn’t, righteous, blessed, and loved by God.
But when we start building from places of judgment, even when that judgment comes from the pages of the Bible itself, it leads us to a place where we think we know exactly who, and what, God wants. And, as so many of us have seen over the years, this tends to result in quite a lot of us quietly (or sometimes all too loudly) being paradoxically shown the door in the name of the God of infinite reconciliation, un-earnable grace, and unfailing love.
Of course, just because we're sent out of the door, cast out into the fields because we don't reflect the narrow image of what people in power think is appropriate, that doesn't mean that God doesn't actually want us.
Yes, quite a lot of have been told that God’s house is not open to us, that the joy and unity of a diverse community of people “… from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages (Revelation 7)” is simply not achievable, not reasonable. It is just not possible for us to be who we are and be welcomed in the community because in a worldview formed by judgment, unity can only be formed by conformity. And when it comes out that we are unwilling to surrender everything that defines who we are, to exchange our unalterable uniqueness for the khaki conformity of American evangelical culture, we are told that truly, in the deepest recesses of our hearts and souls, we must have never actually wanted to be part of a church in the first place.
What an amazing example of gaslighting that is by the way, to cast someone out of the Christian community while saying, in the same breath, that it is they who rejected God!
But the truth we all know in our hearts is that every one of us longs for that space of togetherness with other people. We want to join with each other in praise and worship of our creator, to learn together with friends and family, to share jokes, to share life, and to welcome others into a space built on God’s impossible love. And when we are told that this place is not our place, that God's house is not our house, and that we cannot be who God made us; not if we mean to walk through those hallowed doors….it can honestly be devastating.
We all react to that rejection in different ways, of course. Some, quite understandably, turn from the church entirely and seek community in other places instead. Others, like myself, get a little bit indignant about it, and spend our lives fighting back, trying to reclaim some small measure of space within the community not just for ourselves, but for all those who have been pushed out of the community of God, even if it costs us. So we take up the banner of God's justice, firm in our scriptural conviction that the church must be open to all, and we try to make it happen.
And as desperate a cause as it might seem from time to time, it is starting to happen! Conversations about inclusivity are happening around the country, even around the world, in churches big and small. Obviously it's not happening everywhere, but so many churches are talking about how to be anti-racist, how to open the doors to immigrants and refugees, how to bring in the poor and the hungry, and how to find room among them for the LGBTQIA+ community.
"Welcoming", is the word I hear used most of all by pastors, churches, and others who have started trying to make space for all those who have historically been unable to find a place in our communities.
And, I'm not gonna lie, it's been a fight just trying to get things this far, right? How many of us have found ourselves locked in discussions, arguments, even screaming matches with the people of our communities, fighting just for that one scrap of presence, that single, brief moment of divine acceptance summed up that one shining word;
Welcome.
It makes sense, of course. “We all long for connection, even though we are all just a little bit alone,” and simply being welcomed into that place of connection, of community, is like a warm blanket after years spent out in the cold. But in scrapping, tooth-and-nail for that little bit of real community and connection, I wonder if our desperation to take hold of that welcome which God's church must, indeed ought to afford to everyone without consideration might have blinded us to the greater calling that has been placed on all God's people.
Consider our other passage from today, the calling of King David by the prophet Samuel. At the time of this story, Israel already had a king; King Saul. And Saul wasn't just any king, he was the king. He had risen his people to greatness, led them through war and struggle and, despite being followed the far better-known line of his rival - is generally regarded as the first Monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel.
And he is still king, ruling from his throne in the capital city Gibeah of Benjamin. Before the beginning of the story today, he has begun to break away from the guidance of the Prophet Samuel, performing his own sacrifices to God and waging war against Israel's enemies in his own way, making compromises that result in greater resources and power coming to the throne - to Saul.
So, God rejects Saul as king, withdraws divine support from his kingship, and instructs the prophet Samuel to seek out the next person who God has chosen for kingship; rulership over the entire United Kingdom of God's people.
And that brings us to the city of Bethlehem, in what would in a still-distant time come to be known as Judea, and the home of Jesse and his many sons. Now God has already told Samuel that among the great number of Jesse's sons they will find the one who God has chosen as king.
And thus begins the presentation.
Both Samuel the prophet, and Jesse of Bethlehem think they know what God is looking for in a king. In fact, they both thought Eliab - presumably Jesse's eldest - was God's chosen king based solely on his appearance.
"But the LORD said to Samuel, "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.""
So Samuel listens, because of course he does, and goes back to checking through the list of sons. And as God rejects each of them on similar grounds, it eventually comes out that Jesse stacked the deck a bit, and left his youngest out of the presentation. After all, his youngest was the sheep-keeper; he knew nothing about the appearance of power and prestige, nothing about the fine arts of kingly presentation or fine speech, and while he may have been handsome, it was in a rough-and-ruddy way, and not in any way that spoke of refinement.
So when the time came for Jesse's family to come together and meet with Samuel to decide who next would be king, young David had been quietly shown the door. Left out in the fields doing the work that needed to be done, while the rest of the family gathered together in their Sunday best to push and preen for power.
Sound familiar?
I think that we all tend to get so lost in what we think is right, careful, and above all safe, that we loose sight of just how undeniably radical our God truly is. Our God doesn't care for those who look the part, those who you might expect to set the course for the entire church. Our God doesn't look to what has been as a map for what is yet to come. Our God doesn't come to Jesse's house looking for Saul the Warrior.
God comes looking for David the Shepherd. David the non-traditionally attractive. David the conspicuously absent, David the out-caring-for-the-sheep-instead-of-embracing-sanctity-sacrifice-and-kingly-appearance. David the quietly unwelcome.
David the King.
Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible,
This is the truth that Samuel had to figure out in that moment, the truth that Paul communicated so clearly to the church in Ephesus despite appearing so confusing and problematic to everyone else, and the truth which most of us are still wrestling with today:
What is pleasing to the Lord isn't the secret, shameful lusts of the proud and the powerful, nor the judgmental criteria of those who think they can see, at a glance, what is right and pleasing in the sight of God. Remember that Jesse didn't proudly or clearly proclaim his intention to leave David out of the selection process; he just…quietly showed him the door, sent him out to the fields without so much as a care as to whether this ruddy little boy might actually be the great king that God had already chosen to lead God's people into the future.
But when the powerful falter and fail, when the prideful like Saul place their own desire for power and control above the word of the Lord, when the well-meaning like Jesse in their determination turn away from those who tradition and practice tell them could not possibly be welcome in God's house, let alone called to lead it…
…God says otherwise.
In the world today, the powerful of the church have faltered and fallen. Nearly every denomination of the universal church has been divided over the sins of the powerful men, screaming into the world their hateful rhetoric and determined insistence that not everyone is welcome in the house of the Lord, that some folks are in fact ruddy-faced and unwelcome, unnecessary before the obvious kingship of better, truer Christians.
While at the same time the entire LGBTQIA+ community, the poor, the immigrants, the refugees, the prisoners, the widows, and all the broken of the world are sent out to the fields in search of lost sheep. And as all who have been sent away from the church wander those fields, they find more of the lost and the vulnerable in every crack and crevice into which they might have retreated, and they form together in spaces of fellowship and community, gathering together in candlelight and starlight; a church of table scraps, while Jesse's lineage sacrifices and feasts in painted sanctuaries of old.
Kings and Queens in exile all; ordained by God not just to be welcomed, grudgingly, into a community that just happened to remember their existence, but the next phase in the evolution of Christ's body here on earth.
My friends, my dearest siblings in Christ who the churches and temples of this world have called insufficient. My dear friends who the powerful and the privileged ignored and forgot while they pursued an image of piety and perfection that God never asked for, and which is unappealing in the sight of the Lord.
Beloved of Christ, God has not called you to be welcome.
God has ordained you king.
God has ordained you queen.
God has ordained you leader and ruler, the standard by which the next stage of our institutions of faith at work in this world will be measured. And in the presence of your siblings, fathers and mothers, and all those who thought they knew what church must necessarily be for now and for always, God has anointed you, and the Spirit of the Lord shall come mightily upon you all from this day forward.
So, as you go out into the world knowing that God doesn't care to uplift yet another of the same failed king that the divine just turned away from, knowing that God sets the future by looking to those on the outside, looking to those who others have rejected and cast aside, knowing that our God reaches for that cornerstone that all the builders refused, you can go secure in the knowledge that you are not only welcome but empowered; not only invited, but encouraged; not only sought after, but looked to as example of the divine's first, best choice to lead.
So take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, the shady dealings of the powerful and the privileged who came before, but instead commit yourself to exposing them all. For what they do in secret is shameful, but everything exposed to the light becomes visible, made clean in the light once again.
Grasp firmly the authority given you in Christ Jesus, in the name of the Lord God our Creator, the maker of heaven and Earth. Know the full measure of your value to God, and let your compassion guide all of us into a season that truly and better reflects an earth that may yet be as it is in heaven.
God has sent for you all, and the people of the Lord will not sit down again until you've come home once more.
Amen.
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