“God Calls David” 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 51:10-14

  Calls from God are always emerging and being spoken into our lives. The question is - are we listening. And not only are we listening, but are we willing to wait to live into our calling in God’s time and in God’s way.

Flashback to last week when we heard of the call of Samuel. He is a young boy serving in the temple when God calls his name. When he finally had clarity about what was happening, he responded asking God to speak and saying that he was in a posture of listening. And God told him that he was going to do a new thing in Israel.

Now we encounter Samuel again, only this time he is grown and he is serving as a priest in Israel, not Eli or Eli’s family. He had been part of anointing Saul as King when the Israelites cried out to God that they wanted to be like all of the other nations around them - all of whom had Kings. 

But now God is about to do a new thing again. For Saul has disappointed God. Yet, even Samuel who has heard before about someone deeply disappointing God and God choosing a new way, is finding himself grieving Saul. Maybe it is because he was part of Saul’s call. Maybe it is because he, like the rest of Israel, seemed to put his hopes and dreams on Saul’s shoulders instead of turning to God. Either way, the Holy One now speaks to Samuel and tells him that he is being sent to anoint the next King of Israel.

But this time instead of respond, “speak Lord, for your servant is listening” Samuel answers out of fear - How can I go? If I do this thing you are asking God, and Saul finds out, I will surely be killed? 

I wonder where we find ourselves, truthfully, today. Are we people who more often say, speak Lord, for I am willing to listen and go wherever you send me? Or are we people who seem to think it is our job to tell God all the ways that God’s call could go badly for us?

Friends, if we truly believe that God knows all and is in all, then don’t you think that God already knows our excuses? And that God does not let our excuses stand in the way of the Kingdom. In so many ways it sounds like the Israelites a few weeks ago, doesn’t it. Surely God brought us here to die. No. If God has brought us this far, then surely God will bring us through.

Now does that mean that everything always goes smoothly, in our terms? No. Does it mean that what God is calling us to will keep us comfortable and require no sacrifice, no. But do we want to be part of what God is doing or not. Because we can’t say, Lord, I’m willing to follow, but only when it is convient for me. That my friends is not living into our call. Which Samuel is about to find out.

For God tells Samuel that there is already a plan for how to avoid Saul finding out and killing in. In other words, this thing that Samuel thought that he was revealing to God, as if it was a flaw in God’s plan, the Almighty had already provided a way through. And once Samuel realized that God was in control, he laid down any remaining excuses that he may have had and set off to see Jesse and meet his son who was to be made King. 

Oh if only it was that easy, brothers and sisters. But for many of us, we throw excuses after excuse for years. We are afraid that the cost to our personal lives won’t be worth much in the economy of the Kingdom of God. We don’t lay down our excuses, we use them to build walls, brick by brick, between us and what God is calling us to do. We do this both as individual and as the body of Christ.

“We don’t have the resources.” - Brick. “No one will come.” - Brick “This is going to fail” - Brick. “We’ve never done it that way before.” - Brick. “People just don’t want to hear the Gospel any more.” - Brick. 

The question is, are we willing to lay those bricks aside in order to live into our calling for such a time as this?

Even when Samuel thought he had laid down his bricks, shed his excuses, he still had other stumbling blocks that stood in the way from responding to God. See Samuel arrived at Jesse’s home and he started to judge Jesse’s sons, one by one, by the wisdom and way of the world. Eliab looked strong and tall. Surely its him. But God says no, don’t look with the eyes of the world. And one by one, God said no, until Samuel got the point, and until it looked like Jesse had run out of sons. But there was one more son left. One who was out tending the sheep. David. 

The youngest. The one his dad didn’t even consider. The one who was not seen by the eyes of the world, but by God looking into his heart. This is him.

Friends, when we start to dissemble all of those excuses and walk down that wall that prevented us in the past from living into our calls - we still need to be in a constant state of examining our hearts and learning to see how God sees.

Whenever I disciple and mentor folks who feel a call in their lives, it is not uncommon for us at some point to have a conversation where its said, “I feel this call, but I don’t see any other pastors doing anything like this. Am I mishearing God?” Not mishearing, but also not understanding. Because even in this call to be a pastor there are calls within calls and calls for a specific season and the constant reminder that you living into this role is made for you by God, not you trying to fit into the mold of anyone else. 

Brothers and sisters, that isn’t just a message that Samuel needed to hear. And its not just a message that pastors need to hear. It’s a call that we all need to hear. David could not have lived into his call if Samuel would not have been willing to set aside both his excuses and his ideas from the world about who is meant to be a King. 

I wonder, as we have been spending this time talking about calls, what you have felt bubbling up in your heart. I wonder what excuses God is inviting you to set down. And I wonder what ways of the world we need to shed. 

And I wonder not just those things for us as individuals, but for us as this local church as well. Friends, you are called and we are called. It is my belief that we have all of the callings we need within this church to do whatever God is calling us to do next, but we need to be seeking after the heart of God, not the heart of the world or the heart of the past or the heart of what comes easiest and at the lowest cost to us.

Samuel followed the call of God on his life and he was able to bear witness to the call of God on David’s life. For the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in a mighty way. 

Let us be willing to live into our calls so that others may discover the calls upon their lives. Let us set aside all of our stumbling blocks and blindspots so we may clearly see the Spirit of the Lord working in a mighty, mighty way. Amen.