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3-17-96	The Light of Life	1 Samuel 16:1-13

Ephesians 5:8-14

John 9:1-7

This morning's Old Testament lesson has a real lesson in it for everyone. It starts out with the Prophet Samuel being described as mourning the fact that God has rejected Saul as the king of Israel. In fact, Samuel is very depressed about this, because he feels personally responsible for Saul's failure to be the king Israel needed. It was the prophet Samuel, after all, who had chosen Saul from all the other young men of Israel, because Saul was the most handsome and tallest young man in Israel. He had even proved to be a respected leader. People would follow him at a moment's notice. And as a king he even won battles against the Philistines. The only problem was this: He was not faithful and obedient to God. Saul may have looked good to human eyes, but he didn't have the integrity of spirit that God wanted to see in the king of God's people. To human eyes, Saul looked good – tall and handsome. But, as it turned out, to God's eyes there were some shortcomings that really got in the way.

And, so, the prophet Samuel was depressed. He realized he had made a big mistake. He had chosen by outward appearances, forgetting that God chooses, not by outward appearances, but by virtues that go deep to the character of a person's soul. So, God sent Samuel out with definite instructions on how to find the next king of Israel. Samuel was told to go to the little town of Bethlehem with a heifer for sacrifice. And when he arrives at Bethlehem God tells Samuel to gather the people, and especially the sons of Jesse, to witness the sacrifice of the heifer. And as the sons of Jesse stand before him, Samuel is about to make his choice when God tells him these important words: "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things human beings look at. Human beings look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." And, so, as the sons of Jesse pass by the prophet Samuel, he listens to the voice of the One who looks into the heart, and realized that even though each of them was tall, strong, and handsome, none of them had been chosen by the Lord. And, so he asked Jesse if this was all the sons he had. And Jesse told them that his youngest son, David, was out tending the sheep. And so Samuel told them to go get David. And when David came in, although he was just a skinny, ruddy teenager, and although he was only the youngest of Jesse's sons, Samuel immediately knew that this young man was the one God had chosen.

Certainly, this is a lesson for us to remember, especially as we, ourselves, are prone to judge by outward appearances. Of course, when we have done this in the past, there have been times when we were fortunate. Abraham Lincoln, for example, was one who commanded attention at first glance, simply because he was so tall and handsome. But, fortunately, along with his height he had strength of character, intelligence, and integrity. So, although his outward qualities gave him the appearance of a leader, his inward qualities complimented and confirmed that appearance. And, certainly, Lincoln was one of our greatest leaders.

But, this doesn't always happen. One's gifts, one's talents, one's qualities are not always revealed by what that person may look like on the outside. And, in fact, those qualities may even go on undiscovered and unused in a person unless others really take the time and care enough to take a look.

Take Helen Keller, for instance, who at the age of two was stricken deaf and blind. Now, that is a tough combination. It's tough enough to be challenged in just one of those ways. But to have both is a challenge, indeed. Without being able to benefit from the input of sight or hearing, most people didn't hold out much hope for her. And then along came Ann Sullivan a teacher of the blind who had learned sign language. Taking the precious time and having the patience to sit down with Helen Keller and teach her to feel with her hands words being spelled out by her own hand, Ann Sullivan saw Helen Keller blossom and grow. And as most of us know, Helen Keller became a noted lecturer, author, and advocate for those with handicapping conditions.

Of course, there are other examples of this kind of thing. Who would have thought, for instance that a little kid named Albert, who couldn't even talk until he was three years old, would become the greatest physicist ever known – Albert Einstein? Who would have thought that this young man who almost dropped out of school, and who cheated on his final exams would have ever come up with the very Theory of Relativity that led to the splitting of the atom? By outward appearances no one would have ever known. It took someone else who knew what it was like to be overlooked because of outward appearances, Franklin Roosevelt, a man in a wheelchair, to realize the importance of Einstein's mind.

How many more examples do we need before we start taking the time to learn more about each other, and appreciating one another for the gifts God has given to each of us instead of simply judging by appearances? Someone once said, "You can't judge a book by it's cover." Certainly it would be nice if you could. After all, it takes time to sit down with a book in order to determine whether it is worth reading. In fact, you often don't know whether a book is worth reading until you've spent the hours needed to finish it. And even then, you may not know how valuable that book was to you until several days or months or even years have passed.

How true this is of people, as well. There are some who think that they are good at reading people. They meet someone and can tell by the way they dress, or by their handshake, or by their speech, or even by their handwriting, what kind of qualities they may have. But, in so doing, they make the same mistake Samuel made when he chose Saul. For in order to appreciate what a person may have to offer, it takes time. It means listening to the voice of God. It means caring enough to really learn about that person. And, sometimes, it means even spending time to learn about ourselves.

Our Epistle Lesson for today talks about how important it is for us to know the truth, to live in goodness and righteousness. And, yet, even truth, goodness, and righteousness are not always immediately apparent in today's world. For instance, it may be legal for a businessman to open up a topless bar out on the edge of town. But, just because it is legal, doesn't mean that it is a good thing in God's eyes so that I am going to run over to that topless bar and go in, sit down, have a drink, and enjoy the ambiance. And just because it legal to buy lottery tickets in the state of Michigan doesn't mean that it is a good thing in God's eyes, so that I am going to

run out and buy five or ten every time I get my paycheck. Outward appearances, such as laws that say something is alright, don't necessarily agree with God's laws. What is truth, goodness, and righteousness isn't always easy to determine, at all. Nevertheless, it is our duty to be a searcher for such things. Or, as Paul said, "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."

Likewise, our Gospel Lesson for today has Jesus healing a man who was blind from birth. And disciples, caught up in the ignorance of the day, wondered if the man's physical problem was due to someone's sin. That was the typical attitude of people in those days. If a person had a problem, they just figured that it was God's punishment. It was the natural conclusion based on outward appearances. But, Jesus told them flatly and plainly that sin had nothing to do with it. Instead, he implied that any problem that a person may have is simply an opportunity for God to do remarkable things. What we need to do is give these problems over to the Lord, allow God to work on them, to change them, to remold them, to use them. The problems become opportunities. The challenges become strengths. The diseases become healings. That which is broken becomes whole. And in the process God is glorified.

It isn't surprising that along with the healing of the man born blind that Jesus said, "I am the light of the world." After all, the world is full of problems. There are obstacles that we encounter every day that may seem impossible due to the darkness of our own inner vision. And, yet, Christ is the light of the world. With that light shining brightly in our hearts the obstacles are transformed along with our attitudes. With that light shining brightly in our hearts the problems become opportunies. But in so far as we are concerned, what it boils down to is faith to listen and a willingness on our part to give God time to work.

Amen.