Seeing It God’s Way

The 1993 hit film “Rudy” tells the true story of Daniel Eugene “Rudy” Ruettiger.  He had one dream—to play football for the University of Notre Dame. Problem was he was not built like a football player.  He was barely over 100 pounds, and it was pushing it to say he was over five foot tall.  The coach would look at him, and readily pass him over.  The coach had allowed him to be a manager on the team, but it was not until the very last game of the season of Rudy’s senior year that the coach let him dress with the team (and that was only because his teammates threatened not to take the field if Rudy was not allowed to wear the uniform). However, even as the game wound down, and Notre Dame was ahead by 21 points with only 27 seconds left in the game, the coach still would not consider putting Rudy in.  He did not look like a football player.  But, after one of the chief defensive players asked the coach to put Rudy in the game in his place and the team and crowd begin to chant Rudy’s name, the coach finally puts Rudy in for one play. And, in his only collegiate football play, Rudy threads the offensive line and sacks the quarterback.  Rudy didn’t look like a football player, but his heart was all football.

Samuel had been sent by God to anoint a new king.  This was Israel’s second king.  It’s important to know a little of the history behind this story.  Israel had never had a king for generations…being led by the judges and prophets.  The begged Samuel to anoint a king for them, and despite trying to convince them otherwise, with God’s blessing he anointed a king for Israel.  The king’s name was Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin.  Hear the words that described Saul at his anointing: 

There was a Benjamite, a man of standing, whose name was Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bekorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin. ² Kish had a son named Saul, as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else (1 Samuel 9:1-2).

Wealthy, handsome, tall—kingly, right?  Well, evidently, because Samuel anointed him.  But, Israel’s first king proved to be a failure in many ways, so God instructs Samuel to get back to king-making and sends him to Bethlehem.

Samuel was worried about Saul finding out and killing him. And he had good reason, in chapter 14 Saul would prove perfectly willing to kill his own son because of a hasty and foolish oath. So, God provides Samuel with a cover story, “Say that you’re going to offer a sacrifice to the Lord.” The truth, just not the whole truth. God is not obligated to tell anyone the entirety of his plans.

Reluctantly Samuel goes on to Bethlehem, to the house of Jesse.  As Samuel gathers with Jesse and his sons, Samuel sees the oldest son, Eliab. “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord (vs. 6),” he thought.  Of course, it would be Eliab, as the oldest it would have to be Eliab.  However, God made it clear that Eliab was not the one,

Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart (vs. 7).

This is significant. Remember Saul, the first king—wealthy, handsome, tall—all the things that someone would look at from the outside and say, “He’s got the charisma, he will be the leader that everyone will follow.”  And people did follow Saul, but Saul’s heart was not for God—that was the whole reason that God had sent Samuel to anoint a new king.  God tells Samuel, “Don’t look at that outward appearance. That didn’t work out so well for you the last time, did it?  I’m going to bring the new king before you, not based on how the world sees him, but on what I see in his heart.”  So, Jesse’s sons continue to pass before Samuel and Jesse, and one by one, God rejects each one of them until no one is left.

God had sent Samuel here, surely there was some mistake.  Maybe Samuel had misunderstood what God had said about one of the brothers, all the young men had passed before him, and having taken the risk to come in and anoint a new king, they were standing there with no one.  Samuel turns to Jesse and asks, “Are these all your boys?”  Jesse answers, “There is one more, but he is the youngest…he’s only a kid.  We figured it wasn’t important for him to be here, so we sent him out to tend the sheep.”  Remember, in this time, children did not count for much.  They were handy for tending the flock, but until they were older, they were meant to be unseen and unheard.  That was all about to change in David’s case.

Samuel told Jesse, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives (vs. 11).” They brought David in and he stood there. Young David, the kid, probably still wearing his shepherding clothes, possibly having the aroma of sheep wafting after him with every move.  He had no idea why the prophet had asked for him to appear.  David was no Cinderella locked away in the tower, but as the youngest, he had his responsibilities—tending the sheep.  Yet, as this young boy stood before the aged prophet, God opened Samuel’s eyes and mind, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one (vs. 12).”  God’s Word says, “He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features (vs.12).”

Now before we jump on the he-was-handsome-like-Saul bandwagon, suggesting that there was no difference, that we are still going by appearance, remember Saul was a head-and-shoulders above everyone kind of handsome—starting quarterback on the football team handsome.  David was more of the water boy, Rudy, “Isn’t he cute” kind of handsome.  You know the difference I am talking about.  However, Samuel, under God’s command, did not take the top draft pick, Eliab, nor any of the others that were slated to go in the next six rounds.  God waited for the kid who had not even declared himself eligible for the draft.  That’s who God wanted in the line-up.

Why would God do that?  It is because, as he tells Samuel, “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  God saw David’s heart and knew that it would be true. Not perfect—we all know David had his problems, but God knew David’s heart would seek to be true to God.  In fact, David is the only one in all of Scripture that God declares was “a man after my own heart (Acts 13:22).”

Had any of us been there, we would not have gone with David, we would have been most likely to go with Eliab or one of the other brothers, not the kid David—the harp playing, sheep tending kid.  Why is that?  Because we tend to look at things with human eyes.  We tend to place value on physical beauty and strength, on wealth, on power, or on great wisdom.

It has always been that way.  That’s why Samuel was all ready to anoint the oldest brother.  That’s why so many failed to recognize Jesus for who He was—the Messiah.  Remember what the prophet Isaiah had said?

² He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
    and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him (53:1-2).

He was the son of a carpenter and came out of Nazareth.  Remember how Nathanael said, “Can anything good came out of Nazareth?”  Remember how the people said, “Isn’t that Joseph and Mary’s boy?”  They still remembered the scandal. How Mary had been pregnant before the wedding and when they arrived in Bethlehem, Jesus had to be born in a stable.  Nobody would have thought him the next quarterback, much less King.  When he died on the cross, he was mocked, never once considered to be the Messiah.  After he was laid in the tomb, everyone thought it was over.  Why? Because everyone was looking through human eyes, not God’s eyes that see beyond what we can see. He can see into the heart and into the future.

Consider another Saul, later known as Paul. Who would have thought he would be drafted as a starting running back—taking the Gospel throughout the world? Yet God considered his heart and did not see the murderer that others saw.  Most early Christians would have ranked Paul’s usefulness with his namesake.  Yet God did not look at the situation with mortal eyes, but with His holy and hopeful eyes, and saw his man.  Later, Paul would echo God’s words to Samuel that we are to start seeing it God’s way, “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view (2 Corinthians 5:7).”

We need to start seeing it God’s way—start seeing the world, start seeing those around us with the eyes of God.  When we do, we will realize that:

God loves not only the quarterback, but also the drunk…

God loves not only the cheerleader, but also the prostitute…

God loves not only the wealthy, but also the homeless…

God loves not only the model, but also the meth addict…

Not only the graduate, but also the dropout…

Not only the white, but also the brown…

Not only the country club member, but also the Hell’s Angel.

The list could go on and on, looking at people the world considers important and valuable because of who they are, what they can do, what the look like, how much money they have, how strong they are—the world calls them “valuable.”  The other list could go on as well, those who lack everything the valuable seem to have, and the world calls them “worthless.”

The truth is, we are guilty of it as well.  When we think of who we want to meet, who we want to share a meal with, who we want to worship alongside, we think of the first group.  Yet the truth of the matter is, if we start seeing things God’s way and start looking at people in the same way God looks at people, we will see that though there is nothing wrong with reaching out to the first, we cannot neglect the second.

“For God does not show favoritism. All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law (Romans 2:11-12).”

And, since “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23),” we realize that the sins of the second group, are no worse than the sins of the first.  God sees the heart regardless of whether it is wearing a starting jersey or a leather biker’s jacket and offers His grace to each because he loves everyone.

I don’t know where we are today.  I do not know if we are one of those who has judged another person’s value because of their outward appearance or if we are one of those who have been judged by someone else.  I don’t know if we are among those who have elevated ourselves because we think God loves us more, or if we have felt unworthy of God’s love.  What we all need to hear is that God doesn’t look at us the way the world looks at us. God does not place our value and worth and pick us because of our outward appearance, but God truly considers our hearts, redeems us by His grace, and calls us His beloved children, if we but surrender to the loving embrace of His Son.  Then he calls us to start seeing things His way.  And that is Good News.