INSIDE OR OUTSIDE: WHICH MATTERS THE MOST?
In June, we are going to explore spiritual truth in some of the biggest movies that are recent releases. Let me give a few disclaimers: (1) We are not endorsing these movies. However, we are considering the spiritual truth that is illustrated by scenes from these movies. (2) As a church, we need to realize and acknowledge that movies and media in general are the most powerful force for ideas in our culture. Therefore, we need to examine some of the ideas and concepts found in the movies of our culture.
One of the powerful themes of the film Shrek is what is on the outside doesn’t matter as much as what is on the inside, which illustrates the focus God has in 1 Samuel 16.
1 Samuel 16 tells us about Israel’s search for a King. We find out what God searches for in a King, and how God goes about choosing and making a King.
The background of 1 Samuel 16 is that the prophet Samuel is in distress over the sin of the current King Saul. Saul the first King of Israel has not turned out well. The vision for a King was someone who would be faithful to God and faithful to the people. A King who would use his power to bless and serve the people, promote justice, and lift up the needy. But Saul turned out to be faithful to no one but himself. So, Samuel is deeply troubled and discouraged. Samuel had high hopes, and they were shattered.
Then, God gives Samuel a new assignment–choose a new King. He contacts Jesse and his sons and began his search with this family. Eliab, the oldest, was the first to be considered. Eliab was tall, handsome, a commanding presence, and Samuel thought this is probably the new King.
“When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, ‘Surely this is the Lord’s anointed!’ But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” 1 Samuel 16:6-7 (NLT)
God doesn’t look at what we look at. He looks at the heart.
All of Jesse’s sons were considered and rejected. All except the youngest, David, who was out in the fields tending the sheep. David’s outward appearance is described in verse 12.
“So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the Lord said, ‘Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!’” 1 Samuel 16:12 (NKJV)
The point? David doesn’t look like a King. He looks scrawny and little. God tells Samuel–”This is the one.” Though David looked unimpressive on the outside, he was a man after God’s own heart.
LESSONS FOR US FROM HOW GOD CHOOSES:
David was ordinary.
OK, but didn’t David turn out to be a great King and live an extraordinary life? And he wrote all those Psalms in the Bible? And defeated Goliath? Yes. David became extraordinary not because he was extraordinary, but because God’s power was upon him. Because David was ordinary, God could be extraordinary through David.
“So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah.” 1 Samuel 16:13 (NLT)
God takes the plain, the ordinary, the reject, and pours His power into them. God’s miracles come to those who are weak in themselves, but strong in their confidence in God. David wrote Psalm 23–The Lord is my Shepherd. Which means David saw himself as a sheep, and he never got over that, not even when he was King.
Only one person in your life can be seen as great. Are you willing for that to be you, or God?
2. God made David extraordinary in the pasture.
David is chosen as King, a momentous moment, and then…crickets. David goes back to the pasture and the sheep. He doesn’t go into an elite King training program, he doesn’t shop for crowns and regal robes. He goes back to tending sheep.
In verse 19, a few years later, they hunt for David and he is in the pasture. Was there some mistake? No. What was happening? God used the pasture to prepare David.
How? In the pasture, God developed David’s skill in: (1) Using a slingshot–which would come in handy later. (2) With the harp–David began to write songs. (3) God developed David’s courage. He faced a lion and a bear. (4) He learned humility. He knew where he was coming from and how God had a plan for him. (5) And David learned patience. God taught him to wait, and trust.
This is still what God does. Life is pretty consistent with giving us monotony, obscurity, and things going slower than what we want. But, the lesson is there for us to see: Faithfulness in the small produces power in the big. Some of the key times in my life were when God prepared me for what was ahead, while I just thought I was waiting, and when I was frustrated things weren’t going fast enough.
Don’t waste the pasture. Times of silence, solitude, reflection and prayer can all help us have the heart God wants to give us.
God will bring great things out of your faithfulness. Obey in the small and God will give you power in the great. What matters to a green ogre and to all of us–is what’s inside–what kind of heart that we have.