25th October 2023

25th October 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read - 1 Samuel 16:1-13 (focus 6-7)


Message Alan Burke 


It is a long time since I read Shakespeare Macbeth and the only reason why I read it was as part of my English Literature GCSE which I failed so my memory of it might not be all that it should be. In Macbeth there is a huge difference between the reality and appearances, we all know that appearances can be deceptive and Shakespeare does a good job of highlighting that throughout his tale. The play blurs the lines between what the reality is and look like. In life we are all faced with situations that can look one way on the outside and very different when we start to peal the veneer away that so often covers it and when it comes to people we can all be good at putting our best foot forward, putting on the brave face when there is something very different hidden beneath. 


Here as Samuel arrives in Bethlehem and the irony is in all of it is that even though he had been fearful to go his arrival brings fear to the elders of the City and the house of Jesse. They were more frightened of the man of God that he was of them, the queried his intentions, why he had come, Samuel put them at was, explaining he had come for a pastoral visit and give the Lord’s blessing to the people there. Samuel did what Saul had not, he had obeyed the LORD, he had responded to the Lord in faith. As he arrives he claps his eyes on Eliab, and he thought to himself that this is the one, surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the Lord. Samuel had in a sense done exactly what the people of God had done when they back in chapter 10 clapped their eyes on Saul and saw that he was a head taller than any of the people they shouted “long live the king”. In Eliab the externals may have been right, he might have been perfectly proportioned, a great hulk of a man but this was not the one. 


The Lord to Samuel’s assumption says that “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 Sa 16:7). We are just as guilty as Samuel was that day in his assumption, we are all too easily impressed by what we see with our eyes, like the glitz and glamour of the red carpet may be something that we look at and it attracts us but we can’t see the carnage that lies behind the suits and the frocks, the clothes and makeup that someone wears, the car that they drive, the home that they live in, the things that they have, the person that they make the world believe with their special media posts do not reveal the truth of what really matters. Sadly this world is more about the external appearances than it is about the character of the person, or the spiritual depth, as people and the church we can be too focused on things that don’t matter rather than what really does. The outward only tells so much and often it is only what others want us to see because they are afraid of letting people see what is within. 


While we cannot judge the hearts of others perfectly there are things that are telling of the reality within, their character when their backs against the wall, when things are tough, at the end of a hard day, whether or not they are quick to repent of their failures or happy that people just ignore them? What do we see in ourselves, is there love, peace, patients, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, are these things manifest in our character? (Gal 5:22-23) Or is there an area that is lacking, where we instead of love have hate, where instead of peace there is animosity with those around us, instead of patience we are quick to anger, instead of goodness there is a nasty streak that we try to hide, instead of faithfulness we are faithless, instead of gentleness there is harshness, instead of self control there self indulgence? If you belong to Christ Jesus this day then you should be seeking to mortify the sinful nature, putting it to death, with its passions and desires. When we fail we should be those who are quick to seek forgiveness, attempting to make right where we have wronged and to become more and more like Christ our Saviour.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q79 Which is the tenth commandment?
The tenth commandment is, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’ s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’ s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’ s. (Exod. 20:17)
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