THE LORD ANOINTS HIS SERVANT
1 Samuel 16:1-13 - January 8, 2006 - Epiphany 1
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Dear Fellow-Redeemed and Friends in Christ:
What is in your heart this morning? Verse 7 of today’s text states the Lord looks at our heart. Maybe in our heart there are those things we don’t want anyone to know about or to see or to hear. For sometimes in our hearts are those deep, dark things that ought not be brought out into the light. When Jesus came in the New Testament and talked to the scribes and Pharisees, he reminded them it wasn’t their outward appearance that mattered. From their hearts came evil thoughts, murders, adulteries and every evil. Even though at times we too harbor secret, sinful things in our hearts, our hearts have been changed and our lives have been changed. When God made us his believers then the Lord poured out his Spirit on us. When the Holy Spirit came to dwell in us, everything changed.
We heard about this in our second lesson (Acts 16:25-34). The jailer at Philippi was responsible to make sure the prisoners did not escape. He did not care about their welfare. An earthquake shook the prison. But the prisoners stayed put, they did not leave. When the Lord worked on the jailer’s heart, he was baptized. His life changed immediately. The jailer brought the prisoners home, cleaned them up, and made a meal for them because of the joy of faith in his heart. God is able to do such great things. God does great things for us. The prophet Ezekiel wrote: "I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them. I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 11:19). Today, the Lord has given us a heart of flesh to hear his word. Today, we are reminded in our text:
THE LORD ANOINTS HIS SERVANT(S). God does this
I. With divine choice and
II. With the Holy Spirit
I. WITH DIVINE CHOICE
This was an important time in the history of the children of Israel when things were going to change. Saul had been chosen by God to be the first king of Israel. Saul was coming to the end of his rule. Saul had forgotten about God until God had to reject Saul, as king. There was going to be a new king. Our text begins: "The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel?" Samuel was the prophet of the Lord. He was the one who had anointed Saul as the first king. There was great celebration and rejoicing at the Lord’s choice of Saul.
God says to Samuel: Saul has been rejected. “Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king." Samuel knows that Saul, even though he has been rejected and his kingship is coming to an end, is still the king. Samuel says to the Lord: "How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me." Samuel was concerned. The Lord gives Samuel his assurance. "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 to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.’" The Lord was going to make his choice of whom Samuel would anoint. Here, the Lord says to Samuel, "I will provide the next king for you. I will also protect you and preserve you on your way to Bethlehem."
We are told in the next verse: "Samuel did what the LORD said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, ’Do you come in peace?’" Even though Saul was king, Samuel was the Lord’s prophet. The Lord’s prophet, when it came to pronounce the Lord’s judgment, was more powerful than the king. The Lord spoke directly to God’s prophet. From time to time Samuel had pronounced the Lord’s judgments against kings and kingdoms. These kings had come to a great fall. No one could withstand God’s righteous judgment. So Samuel comes to Bethlehem and the elders ask, "Are we the next town to face the Lord’s punishment?" They are scared what judgment the Lord might pronounce against them through his prophet. "Samuel replied, ’Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.’" Consecrate is to "make holy" or "make ready."
Next we are told: "Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice." Samuel knows that one of Jesse’s sons is to be chosen as the next king. Our text continues: "When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, ’Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.’" The Lord said, "No." He explains why: "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." The Lord knows what is in the heart, and the Lord always looks at the heart of each person. Eliab, the oldest, was not to be the next king. Man only can see the outside and does not know what is in the heart.
The next son, Abinadab, comes; and then the son, Shammah, follows. Again, the Lord says that these are not the ones. Jesse’s seven sons come, but the Lord says that these are not the ones. Samuel wonders, "Well, there has to be more." So he asks Jesse, "Is there another son?" Of course, there is. When that son comes in, what do we see? "Then the LORD said, ’Arise and anoint him; he is the one.’" The youngest was the chosen and was anointed as God’s servant. We note that now Jesse’s youngest son was anointed as God’s servant. Before this time Saul had been anointed as king. Before him, Samuel had been anointed as prophet. In all these cases it wasn’t necessarily what the people thought should happen, but it was what the Lord wanted done. It was the Lord’s divine choice.
It is still the same today. In our world mankind looks all around and looks at all kinds of different things for success. Many think success consists in the accumulation of wealth. Success sometimes seems to consist in the abundance of property and possessions or positions of honor. Those are important to make people seem to have a great standing in this world. When the Lord looks at people, he sees very simply into our hearts and sees a soul that needs salvation. How does the Lord provide for our salvation? He doesn’t gather all the riches in the world and pay for our sins, does he? Instead, the Lord sent his Son. Jesus, God’s own Son came, suffered and died on the cross, an instrument of torture and death. When Jesus’ blood was spilled out, our sins were paid for. This doesn’t seem very powerful. The fact is when Jesus was born, he did not come in great power. Jesus never had a castle even though he was the King of Kings. God’s Son was born in a manger in Bethlehem. That was God’s choice at the beginning of salvation for mankind. God’s choice was that our salvation would be paid for with the price of the Son of Man and Son of God dying on the cross. That was God’s choice! Paul says in Corinthians: "But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong" (1 Corinthians 1:27). Paul later wrote that in his weakness he knew the Lord’s strength. God’s divine choice is to save us with the holy, innocent blood of His Son. We celebrate this miracle of God’s divine choice for the eternal salvation of mankind.
Another miracle, of course, is that God has chosen us who sit in darkness, to sit now in his marvelous light. During the Epiphany season we will talk a lot about Christ being the Light of the world. God has chosen us who were born as his enemies. God has chosen us who were not his friends to become his very own children, members of his family, we, who once were outsiders and not deserving of a thing. This is God’s divine choice. Our gracious God through the Holy Spirit anoints us with faith. God in Ephesians says: "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will" (Ephesians 1:4,5). Another miracle--God chose us. We did not choose him.
God has now anointed us as his servants. This is his divine choice. What does that mean? We look at anointing in Scripture. Note the anointings we have before us today. Saul was anointed to be king. So what happened? He gave up his previous life and ruled Israel. Samuel had been serving the priest in the temple. God anointed him as prophet, so Samuel gave it up to preach the word of God. David is a shepherd, but gives that up. Jesus was anointed at his baptism and does what God wants. You and I are anointed to be believers, God’s chosen children. This means that we do not always do what the sinful nature wants. Instead, we do what God motivates and inspires us to do because of God’s great love for us. What we now do by faith is described in Colossians: "Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience" (Colossians 3:12). This passage states our motivation. God has chosen us and made us holy. God loves us so dearly that he sacrificed his Son. We, as believers, live in a world that sometimes does not have any of these characteristics at all. We need to live in this world anxious to reveal to the world our compassion, our kindness, our gentleness, our humility and patience. We are saved first by God’s divine choice. Then our choice is to live lives filled with these Christian fruits. The Lord anoints our lives with fruits of Christian living. It takes practice and work to develop these spiritual fruits of faith. As we clothe ourselves with these, they can become evident in our lives especially to those around us.
The Lord anoints his servant with his divine choice. The Lord also anoints his servant with the Holy Spirit; namely, the gift of faith to know and believe in God. Now we see God anoints his servant
II. WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT
We go back to Samuel. He wanted Saul to remain as king. Samuel anointed Saul as the first king and felt he was going to be king forever. But this is simply not going to happen. Samuel goes to Bethlehem. Jesse’s sons come before him, the oldest coming first proceeding down to the youngest. There is Eliab, Abinadab, Shammah and the rest. They were not God’s choice. Samuel knows that there has to be more sons than these. "Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, ’The LORD has not chosen these.’ So he asked Jesse, ’Are these all the sons you have?’"
What is interesting is to look at the answer of the father. "There is still the youngest,’ he answered, ’but he is tending the sheep.’" The youngest was just a teenager tending the sheep. Anybody could tend the sheep. So he was out in the field. Jesse does not even mention the name of the youngest. Jesse says, "the youngest." "Samuel said, ’Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.’" Samuel knows that there is one left. This one has to be God’s choice. They would wait for the youngest to arrive. "So Jesse sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features. It is interesting to note that God looks at the heart. Here man stills looks at the outward appearance with this description. The youngest is described as a fine, handsome, young man. "Then the LORD said to Samuel, ’Rise and anoint him, he is the one.’"
Finally, the one who didn’t seem to be the most important because he was the youngest and who didn’t seem to be the one who could lead because he tended sheep, is the one whom God is going to choose. He anointed. Listen to this: “So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers." Anointing him was to pour oil on his head. The youngest of Jesse’s sons stood in the midst of his brothers. Think about that picture. They are gathered around waiting to sit down to eat, waiting to celebrate, waiting to sacrifice. The entire family, including all the older brothers, wait for the youngest son to come in from the field. Then the Lord says, "He is the one." Samuel, the prophet of God, pours his oil on him. This is the one who is now set aside to be the next king of Israel. It would be a number of years before he was king, until Saul was done with his rule. Saul’s death ends his reign as the first king of Israel. Now the youngest of Jesse’s sons becomes king.
Everybody present knew that someday, whether sooner or later, this youngest son would be king. I am sure his brothers were astonished; Jesse was astonished and maybe even Samuel was amazed. But he realized that God looked at the heart. How is Jesse’s son going to be prepared? "From that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power." This teenager grew in a strong faith. His name is revealed at the end of this text—David. David, Jesse’s youngest son, would be one of the greatest kings and well-known kings of Israel. David would be an ancestor from whom the Savior would be born. David’s name means "beloved." God’s choice was upon him, and the Holy Spirit was poured out on him. David would rule with wisdom and with faith, which the Lord God almighty provided.
On this first Sunday after Epiphany we hear a lot concerning baptism. Today’s readings tell of the baptism of the jailer at Philippi, the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. This reminds us of our baptism when the Lord anointed us with the power of his word connected with water. Through baptism we became children of God. We were born into this world as enemies of God. We are snatched out of the snares of Satan and place into the grasp of our gracious God through the miracle of the Sacrament of Baptism. God’s choice was upon us. Paul writes in Titus: "He (God) saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5). This describes baptism. Our sins are washed away. Our heart of stone is changed to a heart of flesh. We are renewed by the gift of the Holy Spirit.
This miracle makes all the difference in the world for us. As our hearts are changed, our lives are also changed. The lives of all the people in our text were changed. Saul was changed, Samuel, and David. Jesse’s family lives were changed a bit. The life of John the Baptist in the New Testament was changed. All these lives were changed because they were people of faith. They had been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. No longer could they sit back and say, "Let the world take care of itself." No longer could they sit back unconcerned and uncaring. But instead, because God had worked faith in their hearts, their lives were changed so that they were concerned about the world around them--just as we are today. God, who lives in heaven, is not just part of our life, but lives in us by faith. In Romans we are told: "You, however are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ" (Romans 8:9).
As the world grows more and more wicked, sometimes it is easier to see those who do not have the Spirit of Christ. It is not that we can look in men’s hearts, but we can look at men’s lives. What is in their hearts is going to be seen in their lives, whether they want their heart to be seen or not. Not too many can hide what is truly in their hearts. Sadly, as the last days approach, we know that many will fall away. Many will turn their back on the salvation that God has prepared for them. The Lord reminds us that he anoints us as his servants with his divine choice and with the Holy Spirit so that we might share the saving gospel message with others. We are anxious to do this as we live as children of God. In 1 John: "Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us" (1 John 3:24). What a blessing to know that our salvation is certain! What a blessing to know that by faith we are saved. God makes sure we know and believe, that faith is in our hearts. We know this faith is in our (and seen in our Christian living) by the Spirit given to us at our baptism. This is also the same Holy Spirit given to us as we hear God’s word, the same Holy Spirit given to us as we study God’s word and read God’s word day after day and year after year.
The Lord anoints his servants. God sets his people aside by his divine choice that says we are God’s children. God does not just set us aside but helps us to grow in our faith by providing us with his word, the word of God that is always true. It is by this word of God that we grow in our faith. In 2 Corinthians Paul sums this up by saying: "He (God) anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come" (2 Corinthians 1:22). Paul uses that same Old Testament idea--God anointed us. He tells us how God has anointed us. We don’t picture us getting oil dumped on our heads in the New Testament times. Paul states, "God anointed us -- by setting his seal of ownership on us. God’s divine choice is upon us." God put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Our loving Lord anoints his servants with his choice and by the Holy Spirit. What does that mean? Scripture says, "a deposit guaranteeing what is yet to come." We are still early enough in the New Year that some are wondering what will happen in this New Year. Maybe there are some things that we are fretting or worrying about. If we aren’t, we can find people who are. What is going to happen with gas prices, oil prices and wheat prices? What is gong to happen to the economy or the weather? People can worry themselves sick. What does God say? Our gracious God says that he has anointed us. God has put his choice on us. Our Lord has put his Holy Spirit in our heart to guarantee what is yet to come. What is yet to come is eternity. What is yet to come is heaven as our home no matter what comes in between now and that time. For the Lord has chosen us to be his servants. The Lord has poured out his Holy Spirit on us to live and serve him as his faithful children. Truly, this is God’s anointing. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
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EPIPHANY 1 Readings: ISAIAH 42:1-7; ACTS 16:25-34; MARK 1:4-11
