Things Are Not As They Seem

Things are not as they seem. That’s the message we get from all three of Sunday’s lessons. What appears to be the case on the surface really isn’t; it’s the meaning inside, the hidden meaning, that counts.

The first reading describes how the prophet Samuel found the one destined to become a legendary king of Israel. The beginning is not very auspicious. Afraid of the jealousy of the current King Saul, Samuel has to use subterfuge when visiting Bethlehem to look for the new king. (Already things are not what they seem to be.) Samuel knew that the chosen one will be a son of Jesse. The eldest, Eliab, must have been tall and good-looking, for Samuel immediately thought, “Here he is!” But God chastised his quick judgment based on appearance. “The Lord does not see as mortals see,” God reminded Samuel, “they look on outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” So Samuel worked his way through seven sons, without success. Finally Jesse had to call the youngest from tending the sheep. Only after that one is anointed as the next king is his name revealed: David. He was not only handsome; God knew he had a good heart.

The Apostle Paul, too, knew that things are not as they seem. “We walk by faith, not by sight,” he wrote. We hope for what we cannot see. The new life in Jesus Christ is hidden, not so apparent to outsiders. Paul even echoed Samuel when he spoke of “those who boast in outward appearance and not in the heart.” Yet he emphatically stated that because of Jesus Christ, everything has changed even though it may not look that way. “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”

Sunday’s parable told by Jesus really emphasizes that things are not as they seem. He used the example of a tiny mustard seed which no one would expect to grow almost ten feet tall. It’s a bit of a stretch to talk about birds nesting in its branches (Matthew and Luke stretched it even further, calling the mustard a tree), but the point is made – what started out really small became really big, bigger than anyone could have predicted by looking at the size of the seed. As we would say, “Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.”

What are we to draw from these readings? The story about David is obvious: don’t judge people by their outward appearance. We know that, but we don’t practice it very well. We judge people by how they are dressed and whether they’re showered and shaved. We make false judgments based on appearance all the time. Sometimes that judgment is quite unjust. In many places, including the town where I work, a black man is much more likely to be stopped by police than a white man, especially at night, simply because he is black.

Paul and Jesus talk less about quick judgment and more about the kingdom of God. Both assert that the kingdom is already here. It grows whether we like it or not, whether we are part of it or not. For Paul, especially, it means that everything has changed in spite of the fact that everything looks the same. Yes, we still grow old and die. Yes, the rich still get richer and the poor get poorer. The paradox of Christian faith is our conviction that Jesus Christ has changed that reality. It is no longer the future. The reign of God has already broken in. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the promise of new creation for all.

And in the meantime? We can work with that new creation or against it. We can judge less by appearance and instead search for the face of Christ in everyone we encounter. We can strive for justice and peace among all people. We can walk by faith, not by sight. We can hope for what we cannot see, looking toward that day when we will know fully, even as we are fully known by God. That is the Christian hope, the hope that sustains us, that things are not as they seem.

[Pentecost 3: 1 Samuel 15:34-16:13; 2 Corinthians 5:6-17; Mark 4:26-34.]