It’s official. President Obama as much as announced to the world last week that his country’s spy agencies don’t know what they’re doing. Obama made that comment in the wake of the failed airline bombing on Christmas Day. It turns out that American spy agencies had all the info they needed to keep that Nigerian terrorist from getting on a commercial flight. They just failed to “connect the dots” and so allowed this terrorist to come within moments of ending 250 people’s lives.
Don’t you hate it when leaders don’t know what they’re doing? Many in our province feel that way about our premier. They figure that if he knew what he was doing, our health care and economy would be in better shape. It shouldn’t surprise us when government officials don’t know what they’re doing; they’re only human. But have you ever felt that God doesn’t know what he’s doing – especially in regard to the people he chooses to lead his church? Our text today puts those thoughts to rest. God knows what he’s doing when he chooses leaders. That’s because he detects and he directs hearts. Let’s find out what that means.
Thanks to the recent terrorist attempt to blow up an airliner, you may have to step through a full body scanner before boarding your next flight. As one radio commentator quipped, “Be sure you’re wearing clean underwear!” One thing that scanner won’t be able to see, however, is your heart and mind. The scanner operator won’t know if you’re annoyed at the increased security or if you don’t mind it because you’re just so happy to be flying somewhere warm for vacation. But God can see these and every other thought. He detects what’s in our hearts.
God made that clear to the prophet Samuel in our text. The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel?” (1 Samuel 16:2) Samuel was bummed because King Saul had turned out to be such a disappointment. He had started out as a humble leader but along the way thought he could do better on his own and so ignored God’s Word. This weighed heavily on Samuel, and God knew that.
Even this morning God knows what’s weighing on your heart even if no one else does. So why hold on to those cares? Hand them over to your Lord. Let him carry them for you since he already knows what they are. If we refuse to hand over our worries, we only have ourselves to blame when those concerns weigh us down to the point immobility. But perhaps you have handed your cares over to the Lord but are still having a hard time getting out of bed to face the day. If so, talk to your doctor. The weight that’s hanging over you may be physical rather than spiritual. If the chemicals coursing through your brain are out of whack, your doctor may be able to help get you back on track.
God not only knows what’s bothering us, he knows what makes us tick. And so when he sent Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint the next king from one of Jesse’s eight sons, he was conducting a different kind of examination of the candidates than Samuel was. When Samuel saw Jesse’s eldest son, Eliab, he was certain that God wanted this man as king. But God said: “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” (1 Samuel 16:7). God knew the hearts of all eight of Jesse’s sons. And he rejected them all except for the youngest, David.
What was it that God saw in David that others didn’t? It must have been the child-like faith David demonstrated later when going up against the giant Goliath. While seasoned soldiers, including David’s own brothers, cowered, David strode up to the giant confident that God would not let this oaf get away with cursing his people. And so it didn’t matter to David that he was outmatched. For David knew that the battle was the Lord’s, not his.
Still, David’s father and brothers must have wondered at God’s choice. Did he know what he was doing? David was a snot-nosed kid whose only known talent was to follow sheep around. We too may feel that way about God’s choice of leaders in our midst. Can we really trust a 27-year old Seminary graduate with a congregation? Is a staff minister really equipped to do what we’ve called him to do? Can she really handle those Sunday School kids? Does he have any idea how to get a church built? When we say things like that we’re forgetting something: formally or informally God himself has called these individuals to fill those positions of leadership. We may not think they’re up to the task but God obviously does.
Does this mean we should never criticize our leaders? No, God did that with King Saul. But he criticized Saul because he abandoned the Lord and did things his own way. Likewise if the leaders of this congregation forsake the Lord, if they are not faithful in developing and using their talents, then they should be called to repentance. And if they don’t repent, they should be removed from office. But if they are diligently using God’s Word and their gifts to the best of their abilities, we need to build them up by encouraging them. After all they are God’s choice. And God knows what he’s doing.
Yes, we leaders need your encouragement. Why? Because when I hear that God detects hearts it doesn’t make me think, “God chose me to be your pastor because he knows I’m such a swell guy. Why can’t you see that?” Instead it makes me tremble to hear that God detects hearts, for it means that God knows every single reason why I’m not cut out to be your shepherd, just as God knew that David would one day commit adultery and engineer a man’s death to cover up his sin. So why did God choose David to be king? Why did he choose a sinner like me to be your pastor? The same reason he chose you (and me) to be his children: grace. Listen again to how the Apostle Paul put it in our Epistle Lesson: “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he 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, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:3-6).
Thank God he not only detects hearts but also directs them. When Samuel anointed David we’re told that the Holy Spirit came upon him in power (1 Samuel 16:13). At your anointing in baptism the Holy Spirit also came upon you. He created or strengthened faith in your heart so that the forgiveness Jesus won for everyone in the world is now a benefit to you. Your grumbling against God’s leaders, whether pastor, staff minister, councilman, or parents has been washed away like splattered mud being blasted off your windshield at the car wash.
I need a daily reminder that it is God himself who directs my heart because when I hear how God expects his pastors to shepherd his people by binding up the brokenhearted and tracking down the strays, it’s easy to wonder: “Who is equal to the task?” On my own I’m certainly not. But I’m not on my own. Nor is our staff minister. Nor are you members. God directs your hearts by giving you the gifts to do the job to which he has called you. Trust him. Find courage in him – as did David when he faced lion and bear, Goliath and guilt’s despair.
Kids, if you think today’s sermon has nothing to do with you because you’re not an adult and don’t have any kind of leadership position, think again. David may have barely been a teenager when he was anointed king. Even then he didn’t actually become king for another 14 years! For the time being he went on taking care of his dad’s sheep and he had to go to bed when his mom told him to. In other words, although he had an exciting future ahead of him as king his immediate mission was to obey his parents. And that seems to be your immediate mission too. So eagerly sweep the floor. Complete your homework on time. Cheerfully pick up your toys when asked. Serve the Lord faithfully in the “little” things and this habit will hold you in good stead when God gives you greater responsibilities.
I don’t envy security personal whose job it is to keep terrorists off airplanes. Their job would be so much easier if they could detect what’s in hearts like God can. Yes, God can see through you. He knows when a smile is hiding a judgmental heart. He’s aware when we inwardly seethe even as we offer words of forgiveness. Tremble at this knowledge. God does not take this kind of hypocrisy lightly, just ask King Saul. That’s why there is no room for boasting about our positions of leadership. God called me to be your pastor in spite of what he saw in my heart. But thank goodness God doesn’t just detect hearts but directs them as well. Remind me, our staff minister, our councilmen, our Sunday School and Mum & Me teachers of this fact: God knows what he’s doing. Amen.
