Quinquagesima February 27, 2022
1 Samuel 16:1-13
“It’s Not What but WHO is In Your Heart That Counts”
v. 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Dear friends in Christ, we find in our text for this morning some very sound advice. In fact, I’m sure that over the course of time most of us have either thought or said this very thing to someone else, or had it said to us, “Don’t judge a book by its cover...it’s what’s in your heart that counts.” Indeed, such is what the Lord told His prophet, Samuel, when the Lord chose to replace Saul as King of Israel. As is the case with our Lord He does things in His own fashion—and never the way that we would expect.
Where does God instruct Samuel to go and find the future king of Israel? To one of the great military families of the land? To one of the wealthy or powerful families of the land—someone with a good education and superior administrative talent ? No. He sends Samuel to a common, ordinary, everyday family—a family of farmers and herders—to Jesse’s family. Once there, when Samuel first looks upon the sons of Jesse (and there were many) he thought that the oldest, hardiest, were bound to be the chosen one of God. But time and time again the Lord passed over the favoured sons, Eliab, Abinadab, and Shammah until the Lord gently chastised Samuel for judging by mere outward appearances. It is the condition of the heart that matters most to God. And so David, the lowly shepherd boy, was chosen by God to become Israel’s next (and greatest) king.
Dearly beloved, Samuel’s problem continues to be ours today doesn’t it? We quickly pass judgement over people based upon nothing more than outward appearances. How often do we “judge a book by its cover,” pronouncing judgement upon people from the throne of our hearts—showing hatred, enmity, and spite—jealousy, anger, impatience—based upon nothing more than outside appearances? How often do we get angry at the person who cuts us off in traffic, who speaks rudely to us at the store, who perhaps merely looks at us in what we consider to be the wrong way? When we do (and this happens a lot) we fail to show the kind of love that our Lord desires us to have for one another—the kind of love expounded by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13.
In fact that whole chapter in 1 Corinthians is nothing other than harsh, convicting Law when we compare the way we live our lives to the loving way that God expects/demands us to live. And what is worse, is that even if we loved our neighbour perfectly by all outward appearances, it still wouldn’t be enough. For the Lord looks upon the heart—your heart—my heart. And this dooms us.
“What’s that?” you say. “That can’t be right! God knowing what’s in my heart is supposed to be a good thing! That’s what I’ve always been taught and believed.” But this is not so, dear friends. For our hearts are not pure and innocent— our hearts are not true to God. Our hearts are full of anger and hatred and sin, rather than love and mercy and compassion. If it is “what’s in your heart that counts” before God—we are lost and dead. Listen to what Jesus says in Mark 7:21-23, "For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."
Since then, our hearts cannot save us, but rather only condemn us in God’s sight because we are breakers of God’s holy Law, what can? Only the perfect heart...the pure love...of God Himself. For to us, it is not so much what is in our hearts that saves, but rather what is in the heart of God. Though we don’t deserve it. Though no one could have ever foreseen it, just as no one could have ever foreseen the young shepherd boy, David, becoming king, yet God has chosen you, dear friends. He has chosen you in His grace and mercy—and He has sent His only-begotten Son, Jesus, to suffer and die for you.
Indeed, we know that David serves as a type of foreshadowing figure of Jesus Himself. For as no one expected God to choose him as king, so no one expected the Messiah to take on human flesh, be born in a humble stall in the little town of Bethlehem, live as a carpenter’s son, and then grow and be crucified and die at the hands of the Romans—all to save mankind from its sin. Yet this is precisely what God has done.
God constantly is shaming the wisdom of the wise. This is shown so clearly in the fact that God used the suffering and death of His Son Jesus—the weakness and shamefulness of the cross—to bring about the salvation of the world—to conquer the strongest enemies of man—sin, death, and the devil. To be sure, people judged Jesus by outward appearances—they still do today. “He is a good moral teacher...a kind man...a gentle and wise teacher.”
But He is so much more than that. He is the love of God incarnate. He is that perfect and pure love and righteousness of God in the flesh—given up in death to save you and me from the eternally damning consequences of our own sin.
And, as if that were not enough, He has chosen you...yes, you, dear friends to receive His love and mercy and forgiveness. You don’t deserve it—no one does—but God in His grace has chosen to pour it out upon you—because of the love that is in HIS heart. “For the love of God is shown for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
God looked upon you—looked at your heart—He saw the evil, the sin, the death that resided there—and instead of leaving you to forever die in your sin—He did something about it. In Baptism God cleansed your heart from every spot or stain of sin. Washing you with water and the Word of His promise given in His holy name you are wiped clean and given life instead of death. Where once the darkness of sin reigned in your heart—now the light of Christ’s love shines brightly. Where once the Devil lived...now God the Holy Spirit has taken up residence—filling you with the gift of faith in Jesus Christ as your only Lord and Saviour.
You daily partake of His mercy and love in the Word that God gives to you. Whenever you hear His Holy Absolution proclaimed into your ears—that life-giving medicine goes straight to your heart—building you up—strengthening you to bear up under the sinfulness of this broken world. When you come before this altar to eat the very body and blood of Jesus in the bread and wine, you eat of forgiveness and life and joy and peace.
So, it is not so much what’s in your heart that counts, but WHO is in your heart. And through the working of the Holy Spirit—the Lord and giver of Life—the Lord Jesus reigns supreme in your heart. Calling you to repentance in the face of sin—calling you to faith and life in His name.
The Father does not look on the outside—He does not see the sin you daily commit and condemn you for it—rather He looks on your heart—a heart of faith in Jesus by the gift of the Spirit—and He sees the perfect life, death, and resurrection of Jesus—and so declares you righteous and holy. Cleansed by the shed blood of Jesus on the cross—and given a heart full of faith and life in the magnificent King of kings and Lord of lords. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Saviour and King. Amen.
1 Samuel 16:1-13
“It’s Not What but WHO is In Your Heart That Counts”
v. 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Dear friends in Christ, we find in our text for this morning some very sound advice. In fact, I’m sure that over the course of time most of us have either thought or said this very thing to someone else, or had it said to us, “Don’t judge a book by its cover...it’s what’s in your heart that counts.” Indeed, such is what the Lord told His prophet, Samuel, when the Lord chose to replace Saul as King of Israel. As is the case with our Lord He does things in His own fashion—and never the way that we would expect.
Where does God instruct Samuel to go and find the future king of Israel? To one of the great military families of the land? To one of the wealthy or powerful families of the land—someone with a good education and superior administrative talent ? No. He sends Samuel to a common, ordinary, everyday family—a family of farmers and herders—to Jesse’s family. Once there, when Samuel first looks upon the sons of Jesse (and there were many) he thought that the oldest, hardiest, were bound to be the chosen one of God. But time and time again the Lord passed over the favoured sons, Eliab, Abinadab, and Shammah until the Lord gently chastised Samuel for judging by mere outward appearances. It is the condition of the heart that matters most to God. And so David, the lowly shepherd boy, was chosen by God to become Israel’s next (and greatest) king.
Dearly beloved, Samuel’s problem continues to be ours today doesn’t it? We quickly pass judgement over people based upon nothing more than outward appearances. How often do we “judge a book by its cover,” pronouncing judgement upon people from the throne of our hearts—showing hatred, enmity, and spite—jealousy, anger, impatience—based upon nothing more than outside appearances? How often do we get angry at the person who cuts us off in traffic, who speaks rudely to us at the store, who perhaps merely looks at us in what we consider to be the wrong way? When we do (and this happens a lot) we fail to show the kind of love that our Lord desires us to have for one another—the kind of love expounded by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13.
In fact that whole chapter in 1 Corinthians is nothing other than harsh, convicting Law when we compare the way we live our lives to the loving way that God expects/demands us to live. And what is worse, is that even if we loved our neighbour perfectly by all outward appearances, it still wouldn’t be enough. For the Lord looks upon the heart—your heart—my heart. And this dooms us.
“What’s that?” you say. “That can’t be right! God knowing what’s in my heart is supposed to be a good thing! That’s what I’ve always been taught and believed.” But this is not so, dear friends. For our hearts are not pure and innocent— our hearts are not true to God. Our hearts are full of anger and hatred and sin, rather than love and mercy and compassion. If it is “what’s in your heart that counts” before God—we are lost and dead. Listen to what Jesus says in Mark 7:21-23, "For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."
Since then, our hearts cannot save us, but rather only condemn us in God’s sight because we are breakers of God’s holy Law, what can? Only the perfect heart...the pure love...of God Himself. For to us, it is not so much what is in our hearts that saves, but rather what is in the heart of God. Though we don’t deserve it. Though no one could have ever foreseen it, just as no one could have ever foreseen the young shepherd boy, David, becoming king, yet God has chosen you, dear friends. He has chosen you in His grace and mercy—and He has sent His only-begotten Son, Jesus, to suffer and die for you.
Indeed, we know that David serves as a type of foreshadowing figure of Jesus Himself. For as no one expected God to choose him as king, so no one expected the Messiah to take on human flesh, be born in a humble stall in the little town of Bethlehem, live as a carpenter’s son, and then grow and be crucified and die at the hands of the Romans—all to save mankind from its sin. Yet this is precisely what God has done.
God constantly is shaming the wisdom of the wise. This is shown so clearly in the fact that God used the suffering and death of His Son Jesus—the weakness and shamefulness of the cross—to bring about the salvation of the world—to conquer the strongest enemies of man—sin, death, and the devil. To be sure, people judged Jesus by outward appearances—they still do today. “He is a good moral teacher...a kind man...a gentle and wise teacher.”
But He is so much more than that. He is the love of God incarnate. He is that perfect and pure love and righteousness of God in the flesh—given up in death to save you and me from the eternally damning consequences of our own sin.
And, as if that were not enough, He has chosen you...yes, you, dear friends to receive His love and mercy and forgiveness. You don’t deserve it—no one does—but God in His grace has chosen to pour it out upon you—because of the love that is in HIS heart. “For the love of God is shown for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
God looked upon you—looked at your heart—He saw the evil, the sin, the death that resided there—and instead of leaving you to forever die in your sin—He did something about it. In Baptism God cleansed your heart from every spot or stain of sin. Washing you with water and the Word of His promise given in His holy name you are wiped clean and given life instead of death. Where once the darkness of sin reigned in your heart—now the light of Christ’s love shines brightly. Where once the Devil lived...now God the Holy Spirit has taken up residence—filling you with the gift of faith in Jesus Christ as your only Lord and Saviour.
You daily partake of His mercy and love in the Word that God gives to you. Whenever you hear His Holy Absolution proclaimed into your ears—that life-giving medicine goes straight to your heart—building you up—strengthening you to bear up under the sinfulness of this broken world. When you come before this altar to eat the very body and blood of Jesus in the bread and wine, you eat of forgiveness and life and joy and peace.
So, it is not so much what’s in your heart that counts, but WHO is in your heart. And through the working of the Holy Spirit—the Lord and giver of Life—the Lord Jesus reigns supreme in your heart. Calling you to repentance in the face of sin—calling you to faith and life in His name.
The Father does not look on the outside—He does not see the sin you daily commit and condemn you for it—rather He looks on your heart—a heart of faith in Jesus by the gift of the Spirit—and He sees the perfect life, death, and resurrection of Jesus—and so declares you righteous and holy. Cleansed by the shed blood of Jesus on the cross—and given a heart full of faith and life in the magnificent King of kings and Lord of lords. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Saviour and King. Amen.