A New Set of Eyes

As part of my diaconal internship duties, this past Tuesday, I had the pleasure of speaking and sharing a meditation followed by Eucharist with about a dozen elderly members of the Springmoor Retirement Community.  I must admit that I was nervous about what I would say to them.  Seriously?  What could I tell them?  Clearly these people have had lots more life experiences, and frankly I could stand to learn a thing or two from them.  Thank God that the Holy Spirit came through!  The reading came from I Samuel 15:34-16:13, the story of when David was anointed king of Israel by Jesse.  This is one of my favorite bible stories.  In this story we see how God at times will choose the least likely person to do his will at that time for his people.  

God sent Samuel, a priest to Bethlehem to anoint King Saul’s successor.  Samuel went to Jesse’s house, as God instructed.  All of Jesse’s sons came before Samuel, and God said nope, nope, absolutely not, not on your life, as the sons walked by and were presented before Samuel.  But after Jesse’s first son Eliab came out, God spoke to Samuel and said “For the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.  I’m pretty sure that after all of Jesse’s sons had come before Samuel, he was more than agitated, probably thinking that God was wasting his time.  He turned and asked Jesse.  “Are these all your sons?”  Jesse quickly remembered that David, the baby of the family was outside tending sheep.  Samuel sent for David and God said that is the one.  Samuel poured the oil on David and the Bible says that the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward.

I love this story, David’s own dad had forgotten about him as being a potential king and nearly missed out on a blessing.  It is so easy for us to look at the outer appearance of our brothers and sisters.  I asked my elderly audience to allow me to look at them through God’s eyes.  When I looked at them through God’s eyes, and looked at their hearts, I saw people that were full of life and love, people who had raised children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, people of vision and wisdom, people of a strong and rich heritage.  But most importantly, I saw people that were made in the image and love of God, whose life stories at times demanded that they walk by faith and not by sight.  Through the eyes of God, a new set of eyes, I saw God in them, and I hope that they saw God in me.

Peace,

Karsten