Today’s Scripture Reading (December
1, 2012): 1 Samuel 9
If there is
a place in our culture that is not marred by discrimination, we might hope that
it would be the church - because, although we often miss it, the Bible is a
very forward thinking document. The Bible pioneers concepts like equality, both
a racial equality and equality between men and women. If we read the Bible as a
document in its time, we find that it is a very radical document. It talks of an
equality between the races, it describes slaves as having the rights of person
(which cannot be found anywhere else in the ancient world) and it describes the
leadership ability and value of women (again missed anywhere else in the
ancient world.) So it is a bit surprising to find the church still struggling
with some of these concepts in the post-modern world.
An
acquaintance of mine pastored a church about a decade ago that seemed to define
itself in discrimination, although I know that they would have never admitted
that. Pastors for this church have been accused of not measuring up because of
such moral failures as being overweight, too short, not enough hair or because
they came from the wrong national background (in this case it is a Canadian
Church that, until very recently, seemed to refuse to hire pastors that were
Canadian – preferring American, as in from the United States, pastors instead.)
Appearance - and heritage - meant everything.
Samuel says
that Israel rejected God as their king. Actually, Samuel took that decision a
little personally and God spoke to him and reminded Samuel that it was not
Samuel that was being rejected, it was God. And the cry that went out from the
people of Israel was that they wanted a king like all of the other nations
around them. So God designed to give to them that kind of a king.
Enter Saul.
Samuel says that he was an impressive young man. Saul was taller than the any
of the other men who might be chosen as king. A tall stature was very highly
valued when the other nations chose their kings – and so Saul fit the mold. Saul
came from a family of wealth and power, just like the other kings. And Saul
looked great. If being king was all about looking good – if it was all about
appearance – then there was no one better suited to the position than Saul.
Of course,
we know the end of the story. Saul was going to be a disaster as a king, and
Israel was going to take its first painful step toward the realization that
looking good is often not good enough. Because, no matter what was on the
outside, it is what we are like on the inside that determines our success or
failure.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1
Samuel 10
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