Men of Faith-People of God!

Sermon 1 Samuel 16:1-5 June 21, 2015 Ordinary Time/Father’s Day/Departure from lectionary.

Men of Faith-People of God!

Ecumenical Benediction-World Day of Churches.
People of Faith-We stand United.

Samuel is a man of faith. And yet today we find him in the depth of a pity party. He had ‘one job’ and felt he had failed at the ‘one job’ given to him by God. He was probably listening to all the meme voices in his head saying, “You had One Job!”

He probably filled his head with images of complete-Fail!

We’ve all seen the memes across the internet and they are really funny. The one that shows the yellow stripe down the center of the highway as it curves everywhere and we laugh at the “You had One Job” failure.

Samuel was an anointer of kings and the very first king he anointed turned out to be a disappointment. Saul was dangerous. He was vindictive. He was more worried about himself and his power than he was about leading a nation.

God had had enough.

God had decided it was time for a new king.

And Samuel blamed himself. He was after all the anointer of kings and this one was a complete Fail job.

Perhaps what Samuel forgot was that he did have One Job-he was the anointer of kings-not the sustainer of them.

This story is perhaps the strongest example of how God works in our lives to keep us on task for God’s purposes. Samuel was a prophet. His way into the world was an answer to the prayer of his mother Hannah. He was dedicated to God before he was even born. His life was determined just as the psalmist wrote, “Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days formed for me, when none of them yet existed.”

His purpose was again set apart in his call story in chapter three. From that famous story we sing the song, “Here I am.” Yes, Samuel, was a man of faith. He was a man of God. He had lived his life fulfilling the purposes God had set before him. Yet, today we find him suffering. We find him deep in regret for his actions. We find him filled with grief. God promised Samuel a job to be done and Samuel fulfilled his role even though he felt it was not successful because the king turned out to be a failure-God did not count the failure to Samuel. Because the king’s success or failure was not Samuel’s job it was Saul’s job to be king and to follow God. Yet, Samuel could not hide his grief and could not help but feel responsible for the work he had done to bring Saul to power.

Perhaps we have served on committees or in political arenas or other positions where we supported the advancement of another. And when they rose to their position it did not work out well. We are embarrassed and grieved that the person we held up did not meet their end of the bargain. It can be a struggle for us. We might wonder about our decision making or about our ability to discern. We might completely rethink our value and our purpose. We might shy away from serving again. We might choose to dissociate ourselves from making any decisions. Perhaps our work cost us. Perhaps it took a piece of our dignity or worse-it cost us a loss of money or even our position. And then like Samuel we found ourselves deep in a pity party. We found ourselves lost in the grief of what could have been, what should have been and what we thought was meant to be. Perhaps we lost our faith and left the church.

To be honest, I have been in the depths of grief. I feel responsible for the Church of Jesus Christ. I feel a loss and a failure in the work I have been given because the world is still filled with hate and anger and suffering and pain. I feel at a loss when my friends are no longer safe in the sanctuary of God and are murdered as they welcome someone to join them for Bible study. The murders at the Mother Emmanuel AME Church has left each one of us as pastors stunned. It has left us with the sense that we have lost our purpose. It has left us wondering about the call God has placed on people of faith. “Where is the fruit of our labors?”, we cry out. How can we preach joy of the Word of God, the wonder and magnificence of God’s creation, the amazing power of the Lord at work in the world and in our lives when on Wednesday the safe, sacred, space was torn apart by gunfire?

Today’s Scripture speaks to us more loudly than ever to remember the Spirit of God in our lives.

Men of Faith you are called. People of Faith you are called. We pledged to love God with our heart and our soul and our minds. God has not abandoned that call on us. Even if the failures are all around us, God still has a claim on us. Our pledge, our promise to God is still valid. And even greater God’s pledge and promise to us is still valid.

We live beyond the gates of Eden and are pilgrims in this land. We will find that beyond the gates of Eden things are askew and not quite perfect yet. And yet, beyond the gates of Eden God is there. God is present with us. God continues to call us. God continues to call us out. We have tough choices, difficult situations, heart wrenching alliances of love and commitment and yet, it is these very things that propel us into the redeeming arms of the God who claims us and will never forsake us.

The voices of Samuel and others like him in Scripture remind us of the abundance of joy and the chaos of circumstance that meet us along the Way. In these stories we find assurance and hope as we continue to move forward holding on to hope and living in the presence of the love of friendship through God our Savior Jesus Christ, until he comes.

Samuel’s story continues as God lifts him out of his pity party and sends him on his way to anoint another king. God lifts us out of our grief sometimes with a swift kick, a two by four or a strong command, sometimes with a still small voice, a gentle touch and a soft leading by the hand. Whichever way God takes us, God reminds us we have a job to do and we must get out and do it.

When Samuel got up he went to the house of Jesse and there God had Samuel see David as the next king. There Samuel realized the power of God at work as he poured out the oil on David. There Samuel was renewed in his faith, renewed in his call and rejoiced in the joy of God.

Now more than ever, we are not to lament, but to respond to God. I praise God for all the "Men of Faith" who have shaped my life through the way they lived their lives.
You will never know the depth of the impact you have on one single person-make it count-it can and will change the future. God is concerned about the future and we are part of that future. This Father’s Day is a day to remember all those men of faith who have shaped our lives.

Let me offer to you today Men of Faith the power of God within you as I share these eight things for your take away today.

1.       Remember you are fearfully and wonderfully made.

2.      You have been called by God and you have a job to do.

3.      If you need time to grieve God will give it to you.

4.      God will lift you up and put you back on the Way.

5.      God knows the future and you are part of it.

6.      Your faith will impact others.

7.      Become part of a group of men of faith to sustain you-perhaps our “Faith meets Life’ group.

8.     Stay the course, have hope, and God will lead you in the paths of righteousness.

Our hope is secure in the God who loves us, through many dangers toils and snares God’s grace brings us through. Rejoice for the Lord is here. Rejoice for God is our King. Rejoice for you are our future through the power and love of Jesus Christ.

We will enter and leave God’s sanctuary, his courts, with praise and thanksgiving!!

Amen.