OPEN: How many of you have ever watched “American Idol”?
(Nearly ½ the congregation raised their hands).
Ok, how many of you have ever seen “Britain’s Got Talent.”?
(A few hand went up)
That’s understandable since “Britain’s Got Talent” is aired in Britain. It’s the English cousin of our “American Idol” and it shares many things in common with our show.
• It has a stage where different acts from across the British Isles come to compete in a show of talent.
• It has three judges who vote to decide which acts will proceed to the next level.
• And it has Simon Cowell – the almost universally disliked judge who makes it his goal in life to belittle and put down any act that doesn’t meet his high standards.
Several weeks back a 47 year old Scottish woman competed on their show. Simon visibly smirked as this frumpy and unattractive singer walked onstage. Her hair was gray, thin, and un-styled. She was overweight. And it turns out that she was the last of nine children, had been deemed "slow" by her teachers, and had spent the bulk of her adult life taking care of aged and sick parents. As she explained that her dream was to be a professional singer the studio audience alternately groaned or giggled at her naïve aspiration. Everybody appeared ready to let her embarrass herself and leave the stage – so someone with real talent might emerge from the wings.
But what they saw that day was this (cue youtube video on Susan Boyle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY)
APPLY: God delights in the triumph of the weak.
In 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 we’re told
“…God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things— and the things that are not— to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.”
God has always favored the weak,
The lowly,
The despised,
The things that are “not”
In James 2:5 we’re told “Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?
The psalmist writes: “(God) raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes, with the princes of their people.” Ps 113:7-8
In Isaiah God says and “…if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.” Isaiah 58:10
And in Proverbs 22:9 we’re told
“A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.”
Repeatedly throughout the Old testament, God instructs His people to be careful to…
• take care of the widows and the orphans,
• to allow the poor to glean the edges of their fields
• to pray and fast and use the money you’d have spent on your food to give the poor.
And in the New Testament, the theme is repeated.
Jesus spent most of his time with the lower classes – the Lepers/ tax collectors/ prostitutes, etc, that the Pharisees grumbled about it.
Luke15:2 tells us “the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’”
In Matthew. 25 Jesus talks about the Day of Judgment.
He tells us that on that great day God will separate the sheep from goats.
But what’s interesting is the criteria God will use to judge He accepts and those He doesn’t.
"Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you invited me in,
I needed clothes and you clothed me,
I was sick and you looked after me,
I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
"Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
"The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you DID for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Mt 25:34-40
To the goats – who go into the fires of hell He says:
"Whatever you did NOT do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Mt 25:45
It’s the same message over and over and over again through out Scripture:
God favors the weak,
The lowly,
The despised,
The things that are “not”
Now that all seems a bit counterintuitive.
It doesn’t make any sense to many people.
One of the major themes of most of the world’s religions is that
• God honors the successful and the rich
• God prefers the powerful
• God is attracted to the beautiful.
In Hinduism, people in the lower castes are looked down upon and treated roughly.
They even have one caste that’s called the “untouchables” because they are so low they are unworthy to even be touched.
In Hinduism people are taught that those in the lower castes are there because they’ve done more evil in their past lives than those of the upper classes.
They’re only getting what they deserve
In Buddhism, it’s the same story:
When someone suffers, they suffer because they are receiving their karma.
They are receiving the payment for their past sins.
The idea that God would honor anything less than the best of humanity runs counter to how many people think.
ILLUS: Back in the 3rd-century there was a debate between a skeptic named Celsus and the Christian leader Origen. Celsus said to Origen:
"When most teachers go forth to teach, they cry, ’Come to me, you who are clean and worthy,’ and they are followed by the highest caliber of people available.
But your silly master cries, ’Come to me, you who are down and beaten by life,’ and so he accumulates around him the rag, tag and bobtail of humanity."
That’s what make sense to a lot of people.
God should only favor the best, the brightest, the most attractive.
But today, as we read from I Samuel 16, we find God favoring an unimpressive candidate for King. David is one of the least qualified (by man’s standards) of all the possible candidates for leadership in Israel.
When Samuel came to town - and Jesse had the opportunity to parade his sons before this great prophet - Jesse didn’t even bother bringing David in from the fields.
David was insignificant.
He was the runt of the litter.
He wasn’t worth a 2nd thought when it came to impressing powerful men.
Even Samuel (God’s prophet) is taken by surprise.
1 Samuel 16:6 says that when “Samuel saw Eliab and thought,
‘Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.’”
Eliab is tall.
He’s handsome.
He has the manner and the bearing of a great leader.
He looks good… on the outside.
But the LORD said to Samuel,
"Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.
The LORD does not look at the things man looks at.
Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." I Samuel 16:7
Don’t be fooled by what is on the outside.
Don’t be deceived by appearances.
But, a lot of people are.
ILLUS: I was talking with another preacher that I work on these sermons with and he sheepishly confessed that he had fallen into this trap on occasion. The congregation he serves is filled with good decent hard working people. But there aren’t any doctors or lawyers or political people. And he admitted that a couple of times he had asked God “Why can’t we get one of those influential people once in a while?”
ILLUS: Joyce Brothers is a well-known and popular psychologist. In her book “Better Than Ever” she points out that we often believe “beautiful people have beautiful personalities … We consistently judge them to be more sensitive, kind, intelligent, interesting sociable, and exciting than less attractive people.”
She then goes on to speak of a study made in a school among kindergartners and teachers that attempted to determine what kinds of people they were most often attracted to:
Dr. Brothers observed “They (the children) picked the most attractive children as their favorites. Their teachers did likewise, and considered the less attractive children more likely to be troublemakers.”
Now, in my experience I’ve found that once those attractive/ powerful/ influential people get into the church – the opposite is often true. It’s those folks who are the most successful/ beautiful/ powerful in this world who are often the troublemakers. Once they get into church they often try to dominate the church and attempt to get their way. I mean, it works for them in the world… why shouldn’t it work for them in church?
ILLUS: I knew of a church that was filled with Doctors, Lawyers, and politicians. It was the “in” congregation to belong to. They were rich and powerful, because that’s the kind of people they had sitting in their pews. But just beneath the veneer was a toleration for sin, and a tendency to engage in power plays.
And, you know, the early church had this very kind of problem themselves.
In James 2, James teaches “Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, ‘Here’s a good seat for you,’
But say to the poor man, ‘You stand there’ or ‘Sit on the floor by my feet.’
Have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?
But you have insulted the poor. (apparently, this had been a problem in that church).
Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?” (James 2:2-6)
Why would they do that?
Why would they favor the rich over the poor?
Well, because they are fooled by appearances.
They’d only looked on the outside and they failed to consider the heart of the person they honored.
There are Christians who only want to invite “nice” people to church.
They’d never think of inviting folks that didn’t measure up.
And churches often fall into this trap when it comes to selecting leaders.
They’ll vote for a person for elder or deacon because the person looks good, or sounds good, or have been in the church forever. But they don’t give much thought to examining that person’s life to see if they please God.
ILLUS: I once served in a congregation where they voted for everybody (even the janitor and piano player). But they often voted people into office who had no business being there. People filled with bitterness and hate. Folks who’d go down to the bar and get drunk. Liars and gossips. It wasn’t a pretty sight. But they never considered the hearts of those they voted in… just the fact that these were their friends.
And selection of leaders in the church often turns into a beauty contest where the prettiest candidates with the most votes becomes a leader.
If there are 50 votes cast and a person received 26 – they’re in!
ILLUS: Several of our churches have begun to change this approach.
One church that I know of has the Eldership and preacher get together and pray about a prospective candidate. Then they’ll bring the man in for an interview where they ask specific questions - about the man’s commitment to Christ, the church, how much they tithed, and how willing they are to share their faith (why should a person be selected for leadership if they’re not committed to the support and success of the body of believers they lead?)
If the church leadership satisfied is satisfied with those answer they’ll have the candidate shadow them for a few weeks - learning what they do in their responsibilities for the church.
And THEN (and only then) they bring this man before the congregation for a vote.
But this isn’t a beauty contest.
You can vote “yes” on a candidate, but the only votes that are considered a negative ones. The leadership will ask the congregation to submit reasons why this man should NOT be a leader in the church. The negative ballots need to be explicit and they need to be signed If there are any negative comments (only those that are signed) the elders visit the people who said “no” and ask for specifics.
If there are valid reasons why a candidate should not be selected as leader (moral problems, an unfit parent or husband) the man won’t be selected… even if he receives 99.9% of the all the rest of the votes.
And that’s the way it ought to be!
God’s people need to learn to think like God.
We need to quit looking at outward appearances and begin to look at the heart.
So, here’s the lesson for today:
Don’t be deceived by appearances.
Realize God’s not impressed by Doctors, lawyers, or politicians.
The rich and the famous don’t excite Him.
When Susan Boyle took the stage on that British TV show, God already knew what she could do, because God wasn’t swayed by what was on the outside. He knew what lay within.
God is never deceived by appearances.
The only thing that impresses God is in the heart
2 Chronicles 16:9 tells us “… the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him….”
And that’s something this world never quite understands, whether it’s on a talent show, or within many of the world’s religions, or even in school rooms.
CLOSE: Earlier we considered what Celsus said to Origen
"When most teachers go forth to teach, they cry, ’Come to me, you who are clean and worthy,’ and they are followed by the highest caliber of people available.
But your silly master cries, ’Come to me, you who are down and beaten by life,’ and so he accumulates around him the rag, tag and bobtail of humanity."
But Origen replied: "Yes, they are the rag, tag and bobtail of humanity. But Jesus does not leave them that way.
Out of material you would have thrown away as useless, he fashions men, giving them back their self-respect, enabling them to stand on their feet and look God in the eyes.
They were cowed, cringing, broken things.
But the Son has set them free."
