March 30, 2014
Stetson Memorial United Methodist
Church
Sermon
Series on “The Names of God”
Sermon
12 of series-
“The
Sacred Names of God: Ebed Yahweh”
1
Samuel 16:1-13 The Message Bible
Isaiah
53 The Message Bible
Let
us pray…
Loving,
gracious all knowing and giving God, we thank you for this day that we have
come into Your house to hear Your Word. We thank you for the Spirit of Truth
that You have placed in each of us. We pray that by that same Spirit You would
open Your word for us so that we may better understand how You would have us
live out our sojourn here on this earth. May the meditations of our minds and
hearts and the words of our mouths be pleasing to You our God…our Rock and
Redeemer. Amen
Have you ever bought anything just
because of its looks? Have you ever looked only at the outside of someone or
something only to be disappointed by what’s really on the inside? There are so
many things that look good on the outside but upon a closer look…it is not what
it seems. How are we to know what is good and what is not if we can’t tell by
looking at it? How are we to figure out how God would have us see things? Can
we look at things through the eyes of God?
We are continuing on our journey of
learning the Sacred Names of God and
praying in that same name. We have prayed to the one true God…our Elohim…we have talked about and prayed
to El Elyon who is the Most High
God…we have come to realize that our God is the everlasting, eternal God…our El Olam. Our God is our Redeemer…He is Go’el. We know that our God is El Emet the God of Truth and as we
follow our Rabbouni…our teacher we
are lead in the light of God’s Truth. As
we follow our Rabbouni, we discover a
new name for Him, Ebed Yahweh, for He
is the Servant of the Lord.
Now I asked how we are to find what is
good in God’s eyes? How do we see through the Eye’s of God? What does God see
that we may not see from first glance?
Does God even see things differently than we do? Well…I think we can get
some insight as we look at 1 Samuel 16:1-13.
Listen to what the Scripture is saying and see if you can pick out how
we can see through the eyes of God…I am
reading from the Message Bible this morning.
God
Looks into the Heart
16 God addressed Samuel: “So, how long are you
going to mope over Saul? You know I’ve rejected him as king over Israel. Fill
your flask with anointing oil and get going. I’m sending you to Jesse of
Bethlehem. I’ve spotted the very king I want among his sons.”
2-3
“I can’t do that,” said Samuel. “Saul will hear about it and kill me.”
God
said, “Take a heifer with you and announce, ‘I’ve come to lead you in worship
of God, with this heifer as a sacrifice.’ Make sure Jesse gets invited. I’ll
let you know what to do next. I’ll point out the one you are to anoint.”
4
Samuel did what God told him. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the town fathers
greeted him, but apprehensively. “Is there something wrong?”
5
“Nothing’s wrong. I’ve come to sacrifice this heifer and lead you in the
worship of God. Prepare yourselves, be consecrated, and join me in worship.” He
made sure Jesse and his sons were also consecrated and called to worship.
6
When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Here he is!
God’s anointed!”
7
But God told Samuel, “Looks aren’t everything. Don’t be impressed with his
looks and stature. I’ve already eliminated him. God judges persons differently
than humans do. Men and women look at the face; God looks into the heart.”
8
Jesse then called up Abinadab and presented him to Samuel. Samuel said, “This
man isn’t God’s choice either.”
9
Next Jesse presented Shammah. Samuel said, “No, this man isn’t either.”
10
Jesse presented his seven sons to Samuel. Samuel was blunt with Jesse, “God
hasn’t chosen any of these.”
11
Then he asked Jesse, “Is this it? Are there no more sons?”
“Well,
yes, there’s the runt. But he’s out tending the sheep.”
Samuel
ordered Jesse, “Go get him. We’re not moving from this spot until he’s here.”
12
Jesse sent for him. He was brought in, the very picture of health—bright-eyed,
good-looking.
God
said, “Up on your feet! Anoint him! This is the one.”
13
Samuel took his flask of oil and anointed him, with his brothers standing
around watching. The Spirit of God entered David like a rush of wind, God
vitally empowering him for the rest of his life. Samuel left and went home to
Ramah.
God looks at the inside not the outside
as the world has its view. What matters most is the inside. I for one praise
God that He looks at the inside. If He were to look at the outside of me…if He
looked at me from the worlds view…I don’t think I would be where and who I am
today. We, as Christians, need to have a heavenly view of the people and the
situations around us. If we don’t look at things through God’s eyes we can tend
to be discouraged at the things we see. But we have hope because our eyes that
can see the good…we can have a heavenly view verses a temporal view.
When the Jewish people were looking for
a Savior they looked for someone that the world would have a Savior. They were
;looking for someone to take Rome by storm. But God had someone very different
in mind for a Savior. He had our Ebed
Yahweh in mind…our Servant of the Lord…some would call Him Ish
Makaboth…The Suffering Servant or Man or Sorrows …but that is a sermon for a couple of weeks from now…
So let’s look at the word servant
through the eyes of God. Now…servants were seen as slaves to someone. Though
the Israelites were not considered God’s slaves, they were considered his
servants, freely putting his interests before their own, confident of his care
and protection. Prophets, judges, and kings were called servants of God in the
Bible. Scripture speaks of Moses,
Joshua, Hannah, David, Isaiah, Mary the mother of Jesus, and many others as
God’s servants because they lived a life of faithful obedience. We too are Gods servants. We are out there
doing the work of God, putting His kingdom before our own, trusting that He
will use us and take care of us as we work in His fields.
In
ancient times, a servant’s status was directly related to the status of his
master. To be a servant of the King of Kings, then, is the greatest of
privileges. It is no surprise to discover that the word minister, derived from
a Latin word, and the word deacon, derived from a Greek word, both mean
“servant.” There are passages called Servant Songs in Isaiah and they all speak
of a mysterious Servant who would bring justice to the nations. Through his
suffering, this Man of Sorrows, or Ish
Makoboth (ISH makuh-BOTH), would redeem many. The Jews may have understood
this as a reference to Israel, while early Christians understood these passages
as messianic prophecies pointing to the suffering, death, and resurrection of
Jesus Christ. By becoming one of us, Jesus suffered both with and for us. He
was the Servant, Ebed (E-bed), beyond
all servants.
What if Jesus had pursued a life of
pleasure and comfort? No doubt he may have lived to a ripe old age. But we
wouldn’t know, because history would have forgotten him. Who cares about a
person who lives only for himself? That’s not the God we worship, not the Lord
we follow. But that is not what happened. He became that perfect servant, even
unto death. But Jesus is the Ebed Yahweh,
who has served us in the most profound way possible, by allowing himself to be
nailed to a cross so that we might have life and have it to the full. Praise God that we have that kind of Ebed
Yahweh…that Servant of the Lord…who made room for you and me in the Kingdom of
God…so that we may be redeemed by His blood…so that we too may become that servant
of the Lord.
Yahweh
protects the souls of his servants. All who take refuge in him will never be
condemned. (Psalm 34:22).
But
that’s not the way it’s going to be among you. Whoever wants to become great
among you will be your servant. Whoever wants to be most important among you
will be your slave. (Matthew 20:26-27)
Do people judge you because of what they
see on the outside? Do people not even give you a chance because of things you
might have done in the past even though you may have changed on the inside? Or
even worse, do you judge people only
by what you see and not give them a
chance? Perhaps we, as Christians, need to put on our eternal glasses so that
we can see people and situations through the eyes of God. Maybe then we can
turn the tide of despair and hopelessness…maybe we can learn to give others the
benefit of the doubt…I have been on the
side of people judging me by the outside and it is not a happy place to be. Maybe
you are looking for a real Savior that can bring you a new and improved life? Ebed
Yahweh is there for us. He may not look like what the world would consider a
Savoir but then again God doesn't see through the eyes of the world but He sees
through the eyes of compassion and love. He is there waiting for humanity to
decide that it needs a real Savoir…someone who would save them from the
darkness all around. Maybe, just maybe,
as we look through the eyes of compassion we can lead others to the Ebed Yahweh that they need. We need to
lead them to the Ultimate Servant, our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. Maybe then we
the world would finally find the peace and wholeness that it desperately needs.
But it begins with a new “world view”…it begins with you and me. Then maybe,
just maybe…
Let
us pray… (Pray to Ebed Yahweh)
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