SERMON | 1 Samuel 16:1-13 & John 9:1-41 | LENT: LEARNING TO LIVE INSIDE OUT - 4. "In the Presence" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Sellersburg United Methodist Church in Sellersburg, Indiana

Sellersburg United Methodist Church Sermon Podcast

SERMON | 1 Samuel 16:1-13 & John 9:1-41 | LENT - LEARNING TO LIVE INSIDE OUT - 4. "In the Presence" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Sellersburg United Methodist Church in Sellersburg, Indiana

Learning to Live Inside Out — a Lenten journey with Jesus… toward the cross… toward the death of sin and self We’ve talked about fasting… About a life of faith taking us from the familiar and comfortable into the unknown… About recognizing the deeper thirst we have for a life only God can lead us into… Today we wrestle with the question of how to know when you’re in the presence of God. How do we know that we can, in fact, see clearly with our hearts and minds and souls and bodies? In a world where so many claim to be able to see clearly… how can we know what to believe? Who to follow? Who to trust? Art museum story… We all want to see clearly in our lives. We want to have a sense of certainty and comfort in our knowing. We want to be assured that we are on the right track… standing in the right place… seeing the picture clearly. We want to know that we are living a life in the direction of Jesus Christ and in the presence of God. We want to be a part of what God is doing in the world as well things are being brought together and summed up into the renewal of all things. Our lenten journey is to get ourselves looking at ourselves and our world in a better way so that we can actually see… Amen? __________________________________________________ Samuel the prophet had lived his whole life in devotion to God. His devotion began before he was even born because he had an amazing mother named Hannah. Samuel had been a part of what God was doing. He anointed Israel’s first king, Saul. Saul looked the part. He looked and seemed like a king when Samuel anointed him. But Saul didn’t pan out. Samuel had been so focused on the details of what he thought made a king that he had, somehow, missed the bigger picture…and things didn’t go well. It had been, well, a disaster. But God is still at work and called him to anoint a new king…while Saul was still on the throne. Step by step, Samuel follows God’s instructions, until we come to the home of Jesse who parades his sons in front of Samuel. Samuel, still looking to finely at the details, sees a few that look like a king… But God keeps saying, “No…next…” until no sons remain. That’s when David is summoned to join the party. David…an afterthought…comes in and God says, “Yes…he’s the one…” God sees not like people see—on the outward appearance… God sees the heart. David gets anointed…and then Samuel immediately leaves the scene and the story altogether. Did he ever come to see clearly? Or did he just follow God’s command? We don’t know. _____________________________________________________________ The story in John is one of great discussion and debate. Much is said today about thinking someone’s lack of certain abilities means they aren’t every bit as capable as anyone else. Much is said about forcibly rubbing mud into the eyes of someone who never asked or gave you permission to do so. Much is said about people not believing the word of someone who has or did have a disability of some sort. These are important discussions in their own regard, but I fear it is focusing too much on the brushstrokes of the story as a whole. When we stand back and see the story as a whole, we find a challenging invitation. Will we recognize the work of God right in front of us? We get so caught up in the details that we miss the bigger picture. And not just about what’s happening in the world around us…but in our own lives. Like the man in the story, we are all CALLED to share our story. — not know all of the answers — BUT to tell what we DO know — and no guessing!! Maybe your story doesn’t seem miraculous…yet. Maybe your story seems boring or simple. Friends, God works in the boring and simple more than the miraculous. In fact, the miraculous is that God uses the boring and simple to change the world. God could part seas and raise up the dead and shake the foundations of the earth. We have stories about how God has done those things in our Bible. But God’s plan most often is not about doing the work God-self. Rather, it’s inviting us into the story—to be the miracle worker of sorts. A life changed…is miraculous. Have you had your life changed by God? Have you witnessed someone’s life changing? Maybe your picturing some monumental change that occurred in a short span of time…because we are still thinking in the realm of the “miraculous…” But many of us here can look back at our lives across a long span of time and see incredible change in how we live. We can look and see how far we’ve come in our understanding of our lives, God, faith, the Bible, love, and our world. YES? Is this not miraculous? Can you explain how you’ve come to experience this change? We might say, “God, Jesus, or let’s not forget the Holy Spirit” But there’s a mystery to it all, isn’t there? We have to admit that it’s not all that different from someone spitting into mud and working this change through the messes we’ve found ourselves in. Somehow…we traversed dark and difficult times…and came to see things in a new light. This is the Holy Spirit in us and around us, friends. This is how it works. This is our story. This is our life like a painting. We can get so caught up in the individual brushstrokes that we forget to step back and see the bigger picture. We can forget to remember the bigger story. Not only of our own lives, but of the lives of others. Not only of others, but of our family and our church. We can carry this kind of seeing in how we view our community…our country…and our world. When we start to step back… When we view the bigger picture… and, more importantly, when we enter into conversation with others about what they see as we step back together and share our stories… We come to see everything differently. We realize that we DO have a story to tell. We have our own story and OUR own story. Now…there will always be those who refuse to see it. For them, it’s terrifying to see things any differently than they already do. They will deny evidence right in front of them because it costs them too much to loosen their grip on their own certainties. They will harass… They will invent false narratives… They will slander… They will accuse… They will spread rumors… They will attack the integrity of the person and the story itself… out of FEAR. That’s part of how it works.; We mustn’t let that stop us. We can invite them to step back and see the bigger picture, but we cannot force them…nor should we! Trust that the same miraculous and wonderful Holy Spirit that has worked in your life over time is working in their, too. Trust in the grace of God through Jesus Christ to work miracles. Make every effort to not hinder their progress by putting them on the defensive…because there is no surer way to hinder someone’s growth than to put them on the defensive. Maybe it’s your grace that is the vessel of the miracle! Let us TRUST God to reveal the presence of God to us…even if it takes time. Even if we have come to know only a small part of the bigger story. Maybe we’ll feel like Samuel…knowing God is working, but not understanding it at all. Maybe we’ll feel like the blind man…we KNOW God worked, but we struggle to know how, why, or through whom Maybe we’ll feel like the neighbors…we can see something has happened, but we are struggling to wrap our heads around it. Maybe we’ll feel like the parents…we KNOW something has happened, but we’re terrified to understand it because it reveals a power that is unnerving Maybe we’ll feel like the Pharisees…we KNOW something has happened, but we must make sure it is labeled in a way that maintains our own limited perspective—even to the point where we label the miraculous movement of God as evil…as going too far…as dangerous…as something that needs to be stopped or abandoned. Instead…TRUST in the Holy Spirit to open their hearts, their minds, their souls, and their bodies just as the Holy Spirit has done for thousands of years. Focus on your own continued growth and gaining of sight. Continue to strive to see things as God sees them…see people as God sees them…see yourself as God sees you…see the world as God sees it. Only then can we come to know the truth… that we are ALWAYS in the presence.