Samuel Anointed David, a sermon based on 1 Samuel 16: 1-12, preached on October 22, 2023

On Monday mornings, I often wish for a redo of the previous day’s sermon. More often than not, I wake up wishing that I could change or rephrase something that I’d said the day before. No doubt, the same thing will happen tomorrow. Surely between now and tomorrow morning, something will happen. Maybe one of you will say the perfect thing that I wish I would have said, or will ask me the perfect question on your way out of here, a question that I hadn’t even thought to address. Maybe this afternoon, you’ll email me, and I’ll think to myself, “Had she asked me that question on Saturday, I might have written a much better sermon for Sunday morning.” So it happened after the last sermon that I preached on the boy Samuel. I preached that sermon two weeks ago. In today’s second Scripture lesson, he has grown into a man, but in the passage that we read together two weeks ago, he was only a boy sleeping on the floor of the Holy of Holies when the voice of God woke him up. You likely know about the Holy of Holies. It was the most sacred place in the Temple where the Ark of God was kept. The Ark, as the Rev. Cassie Waits told us last Sunday, held holy relics from the time of Moses. In it were the pieces of the Ten Commandments, the priest Aaron’s staff, as well as a golden jar containing manna from the wilderness. The Ark was also God’s throne. The people believed that God would come and sit on the Ark as a king in the throne room. Why, then, would the boy Samuel have been using that space as his bedroom? That’s the question Harriette Majoros asked me the Monday after I preached my last sermon. It’s a wonderful question, and I want to take a moment today to try and answer it because this question will help us to better understand the prophet Samuel and the impact he made on the nation of Israel. Here’s what we must all understand about the prophet Samuel: Samuel left Israel better than he found it. Like a boy scout who came upon a mess that he didn’t make, he cleaned things up and made things better. Even though the mess wasn’t his making in the first place, he left things in Israel better than he found them. When it came to the Temple when Samuel was a boy, the Temple was not the revered and respected space it should have been. Temple practice had devolved. The priesthood was corrupt. That the Holy of Holies had turned into a boy’s bedroom is a good indication of how far standards had fallen in the Temple and among the priesthood, so imagine with me what the religious life of that nation had become. In those days before Samuel, things were bad when it came to the maintenance of divine worship. The spiritual life of the people lacked integrity. The priest Eli was in charge, and he was known to be pious and kind; however, both his sons were known to be scoundrels. Whenever anyone offered a sacrifice, Eli’s sons would grab a fork. That’s literally what the Bible says: 1st Samuel 2: 12: Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord or for the duties of the priests. When anyone offered sacrifice, [they] would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in [their] hand, and [they] would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up [they] would take for [themselves]. Furthermore, when women came to the Temple, they faced harassment from these sons who abused their power, used their office for personal gain, and when the nation went to war with the Philistines, Eli’s sons thought that bringing the Ark out to the battle front might turn the tide, giving Israel an advantage. Instead, the army retreated, Eli’s sons were killed, and the Ark was captured by the heathen Philistines. I tell you this today because I want you to understand how things were in Israel before the time of Samuel. I want you to know that Samuel left Israel better than he found it. Before Samuel, things were bad. Why did he sleep in the Holy of Holies as a boy? It’s because things at the Temple were a mess. There was corruption in the priesthood. Things in the government weren’t much better. We hear in the book of Judges about the government of Israel before the time of Samuel. If you know anything about the book of Judges, it’s likely the very last verse: In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes. How does that sound? Some might say, “That sounds familiar.” You could say that, but I also want you to hear that it was nearly chaos, and what you need to know about Samuel is that he is the bridge between that time of the Judges, those days of near chaos and occasional heroism, and the reign of King David. What you need to know about Samuel is that he reformed the Temple and the nation, leaving things in Israel far better than he found them, thanks be to God, but hear this account of Samuel and know that we are not the first nation to experience good times and bad times. The 21st Century is not the first chapter in human history when good people wanted to throw up their hands in disgust and disappointment. Now is not the first age in need of religious renewal. Samuel stepped onto the stage and things got better. Thanks be to God. Yet to truly get his beloved nation on the right course, there was something else that he needed to do. He did something that we all should do after dedicating ourselves and our days to service. After improving things in his nation and at the Temple, he listened to the voice of God again as God called him to consider who would lead after he was gone. Having run his race in faith, God asked him, “To whom will you pass the baton?” Having served the Lord faithfully, “What will you do to prevent things from going backward once you’ve died?” Samuel lived a life worthy of our remembrance, but look with me today to our second Scripture lesson and notice the greatest thing he did: Answering God’s call again, Samuel anointed David. This is a beautiful thing, to pass the work on to the next generation. My friend Mike Velardi remembers the Rev. Dr. Joan Gray asking him repeatedly, “Mike, who’s behind you? Who will keep things going?” Samuel anointed David. Obeying God’s call, the work that God began in Samuel continued with David so that Israel’s greatest days were not in the past but in the future. Think of these things with me today and remember how important it is, not just for us to do our best, but for us to have some faith in the next generation. Today, I remember the words of billionaire Warren Buffett: The perfect inheritance is enough money so that children feel they can do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing. Think about that with me. How can we help our children to believe that they can do anything? How can we help them to answer the call of God on their lives? How can we show them that just as God called us to live for a higher purpose and to find deeper meaning, so also does God call them to do more than entertain themselves on their phones? Speaking of inheritance and money, I remember not ever knowing how much my parents gave to this church. Money wasn’t something that anyone in my family ever talked about. Was it the same in your family? I once asked about my father’s salary, and my mom acted as though I’d just asked to investigate his underwear drawer. Money was not something that we talked about, ever. Yet more recently, my dad told me that he once received a call from the session, where an elder thanked him for being a substantial financial contributor to the church. To hear that his was one of the larger gifts came as a great surprise, and it also embarrassed him because in my house we didn’t talk about money. However, it was good for me to hear that. Hearing what my father gave this church provided enough information for me to understand that being a part of a church requires a certain level of financial commitment. Keeping this place going doesn’t just happen, and you don’t have to be a millionaire to make a difference. Likewise, I remember hearing as a kid that Dr. James O. Speed, then the Senior Pastor, tithed a full 10% of his income, and if the church needed it and his household could afford it, he would give even more. My friends, I want you to know that I do the same thing. 10% of what you pay me goes right back into this church. I learned that from my father. I learned that from Jim Speed. I learned that it is possible to do something powerful with what God has given me, and I want my children to learn the same thing because it’s not enough for me to leave this place better than I found it. We must pass the tradition of generosity to the next generation. Having answered God’s call ourselves, we must teach others to hear His voice and to follow, that they might know the joy of giving to something that is worth believing in. First Presbyterian Church of Marietta will soon be 200 years old. The Gospel will be no less necessary in 200 more years than it was 200 years ago. May our example now shape that future, and may the future be brighter than our yesterdays. Let us show our children and our grandchildren how it’s done. Let us set an example for them to follow. While I was writing this sermon, Denise Lobodinski texted me a quote: “The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion.” That’s a good one, isn’t it? I’m thankful she sent it to me on Thursday rather than Monday. Consider with me how important your example is, and what a powerful moment it was for me as a kid to line up with this entire congregation and to walk down that aisle to make a pledge following the example of my Sunday school teachers, pastors, youth advisors, and parents. This morning, the children will be watching us. They’ll see us as we invest in this church. As we invest in her future. As we give a portion of what God has given us to make ministry possible for another year, may they see in us the kind of generosity that not only ensures this place will make it another year, but may they hear us encourage them to believe that through them God will do more than we ever dreamed. It’s true that Samuel left Israel better than he found it, but David was that nation’s greatest king. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the children who will grow up to reform this nation and revitalize the Church are sitting right in here with us. What they need from us today is our example and our blessing. Friends, let us show them how to follow the Lord, that they might also hear His voice and answer His call. Amen.