Heavenly
Father, may Your Word guide us and enable us to see our being chosen as Your
children was not chance, but Your divine plan.
For You have anointed us, changed us and made us Yours by and through
the gift of the Holy Spirit. May Your
Holy Spirit speak to us and guide us as we chart our course for all of us
Saints here at Emmanuel. AMEN.
During
the last two weeks we have been lost and thirsty and heard how God struck the
Rock and provided us drink. How God
feeds us through the sacrament of the Altar like this morning through and by
the Word made flesh that has dwelt among us, Jesus Christ. As we conclude our series this morning, we
hear how God chooses a King, anoints him and changes him and us through the
power of His Word for His Work.
This
May Michele and I are looking forward to the movie, the Avengers arriving in
theaters. For those of you who don’t
know this is the Marvel Comic Books that have been made for the big screen thrillers with hits like Iron
Man and Thor. One of the
characters from the Avengers is Captain America. When first introduced to Steve Rogers in the
film entitled, Captain America, he is 98 lbs. sopping wet, scrawny and
according to military standards, not even acceptable to be a soldier. The military personnel see nothing but failure
and weakness in Steve, but the scientist who is the major advisor for the
project, sees in Steve the keen intellect, the self-sacrifice and especially
the heart of a warrior.
In
our Old Testament lesson this morning, Samuel like the scientist has the
ability given by God to not see the outward trappings, but to see the
heart. We heard how Samuel looked upon
the seven sons of Jesse, including Eliab, Abinadab and Shammah, but Samuel
looking with the eyes of man like the military looked at appearance, but God
spoke to Samuel, because “the Lord looks at the heart” and
rejected each of the sons of Jesse.
Finally, Jesse sends for the youngest, the sheep tender. “Now he [that is David] was ruddy, with
beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance.” This the last of Jesse’s children, had been
tending the families flock, he probably hadn’t bathed, was dirty and had been
summoned by his father to pass before Samuel.
And
what occurs, “And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.” This boy, this child, God looked at his heart
and God chose him. God looked through
the outer man and saw in David, the shepherd and the King that he would
become. God looks at us as well. God see’s through our designer clothes our
bib overalls, our John Deere, Fontanelle, Pioneer, K-State or KU apparel and
see’s our heart. Through the sweat of
our brow the Kansas fine dirt, oil or grease that cakes on our face, arms, lips
and skin, God penetrates to our soul.
For God Who formed us in our mother’s womb, chooses us!
Samuel
then “took the horn or oil and anointed him [that is David] in the midst of
his brothers”. God anointed
through Samuel, David to be King. Just
as when we baptize and anoint the head and heart with the chrism of oil in the sign
of the cross sealing the child as God’s, Samuel, took the horn of oil and
anointed David. Right in front of his
older brothers, this child, God seeing the heart of David anoints him and makes
him King of Israel.
As
David was anointed in the sight of his brother’s, father and family, “the
Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David”. God’s Spirit descended upon David and signed,
sealed and delivered him to be the King of all of Israel. God’s Spirit inhabited his heart and would
lead David to become the greatest King of all of Israel. Not only would God’s Spirit inspire David to
write the Psalms which we use for our liturgy, God’s Spirit would guide the
people to become a great nation. God
made David who he would become, because His Holy Spirit would rest upon him,
just as it rests upon us today. It
changed David so profoundly that God foretold David the Messiah would come from
his line. The Messiah that would come to
save God’s people would be of the off-spring of David. David’s life was changed by God and we are
grafted into the promise to David, because of our baptism into Jesus Christ Who
changes us.
For
we who have been baptized have been sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
baptized into the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and we are
changed. As Luther would say, we are
still sim ul ustis et pecator – saint
and sinner – at the same time, but by the blood of the Lamb of God Who came to
take away the sin of the World, God has changed us. God has redeemed us through His Son, Jesus
Christ’s life, death and resurrection and made us heirs of eternal life.
As
heirs of eternal life, we have been chosen, anointed, changed and enabled to
worship, work and witness God’s work through our lives. We come as chosen children to worship our
Lord and Savior and partake of His Feast He offers to us that gives us eternal
life. This food of His precious Body and
Blood, broken and shed for us for the forgiveness of sins, satisfies our
spiritual thirst and hunger and enables us to work as God’s children for His
glory, whether here in the church, in the community or in our service to God
for His Glory. This then is the witness
we become not only for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ here within
the four walls of the church, but also the witness for those who have not heard
what Jesus Christ has done for each of us on the Cross of Calvary. Our witness brings glory to God, for it is
Him, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit that we come and worship on Sunday,
His message that we come to hear proclaimed, His work in worship and the church
and our witness for others of God’s choosing us, anointing us and changing all
of us saints who gather here at Emmanuel.
Yet,
the question still remains, “What is God’s Plan for Emmanuel?” God’s plan isn’t a difficult long drawn out
set of steps or challenges for us to accomplish, God’s plan of salvation has
been completed and we now are empowered to proclaim the message of salvation
through Jesus Christ innocent death for each and every one of us. Through Jesus precious Body and Blood that we
receive, we are called by the Holy Spirit to worship, sent out to work in our
world modeling the message of salvation that changes us and therefore witnesses
of what God’s Holy Spirit has done in each of our lives. For the promises of God are sure, His Word
will not return without accomplishing His purpose and we having been baptized,
anointed and grafted into the promise of salvation. May all of us in unity discern God’s plan for
Emmanuel and fulfill it for all of the saints gathered here at Emmanuel, in
Goodland, Northwesk KS and our world.
AMEN.
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