SEEING WITH DIFFERENT EYES

I love the story about the biblical prophet and high priest Samuel searching for a king for the Jewish people.

The Jewish people have asked for a king, and Samuel has told them that God is their king. No, the people want a human king— just like the ones their neighbors have. 

Samuel feels that Spirit has acquiesced to the demands of the people, and he chooses Saul to be king.  This turns out to be a big mistake for several reasons, and Samuel once again is hunting for another king.

The prophet comes to the house of Jesse and asks to see his sons. Something deep inside leads him to believe that the next king could be one of Jessie’s sons. But he does not sense that any of the sons he has seen should be anointed to become king.

“Do you have any other sons,” he asks. The story is starting to sound like Cinderella, after the two stepsisters can’t fit into the glass slipper.

Well, there is the youngest son, David, but he is sort of like the runt of the litter, Samuel is told. David, who is out watching the sheep, is brought to Samuel. Strange as it may seem, Samuel believes that God is telling him to choose David to be king.

God says to Samuel, “The Lord does not look at the things the way people look at things. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). In essence Spirit says, “I look with different eyes than you. I see in a different way. I perceive what you do not perceive.”

And of course, the rest is history. David goes on to be a great king and Jesus— in the New Testament— is proclaimed to be a descendent of David. Now, I don’t care if you take all of the above literally, metaphysically, or some combination of the two. But it is a powerful story with many spiritual truths for us in the modern world.

Recently, I was meeting with a person who has a serious handicap. He was relating to me an academic achievement that he recently accomplished. To be perfectly honest with you— and I’m not proud to have had these thoughts— I congratulated the person, but then I thought this achievement was nothing compared to the Ph.D. and two masters degrees that I have earned.

Immediately, I felt Spirit lovingly taking me to task and in essence saying, “Are you certain that I don’t look at this person’s academic accomplishment as being a far greater mountain climb than yours?”

It reminds me of the time Jesus was in the temple and saw a Pharisee make a large donation to the temple. Then he saw a poor widow contribute just a few coins. Jesus told several of his disciples that the widow’s contribution was far greater than the Pharisee’s donation.

Daniel Schantz

I recently read a story by Daniel Schantz that really drove these points home about God seeing with different eyes. Daniel is a professor at Central Christian College. He is also the author of a popular children’s series about a young boy named Wheeler. Daniel also has written several biographies, including one about Walter Scott.

Daniel remembers the time when he was invited to speak at a church in Iowa. “It was a six hour round-trip, with rain in the forecast. Reluctantly, I agreed to go.”

However, he thought he really “bungled” his sermon on “God’s Grace.” Fortunately, he thought, the number of people at this country church was very small that Sunday.

As he was leaving, an old farmer in bib overalls, came up to Daniel and hugged him. “Thank you for explaining Grace,” the farmer said to Daniel. Then the farmer told him about his family, which included three boys, and one girl. “When he got to the girl, his voice tightened,” Daniel remembered.

“She died… When she was only 33… She was the best of the lot… Everybody loved her… I blame myself… I wasn’t a good father… I was harsh…,” the farmer explained.

Daniel and the farmer then had a powerful conversation about God‘s forgiveness and grace. Driving home, Daniel had the following conversation with Spirit:  “God, you didn’t send me up there to speak, did you? You sent me there to listen to one man whose heart was crushed.”

“Then I thought of all the people I pass by every day who may also be struggling with regret. The gentle swish, swish, swish of the windshield wipers reminded me that I need to slow down my pace and be ready to listen to people in need,” Daniel added.

We ministers all too often think in terms of “how many butts are in how many seats?” But it really is all about spiritual transformation. And God sees this with such different eyes.

There is a powerful scene in that great novel by Franz Kafka, The Trial. Kafka often created dream like worlds. The central character of the novel, Joseph K, believes that he has come to a great cathedral to show a visitor around one of the tourist destinations in the city.

However, it turns out that the real reason that Joseph K is there is because some archbishop-like character wants to have a serious chat with him. It has nothing to do with the out-of-town visitor. Spirit sees with different eyes.

I think there is much truth to the old saying, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your long run plans.”