Where is Waldo? Learning to find Jesus hidden in the poor

1 Samuel 16:1B, 6-7, 10-13A

     The LORD said to Samuel: “Fill your horn with oil, and be on your way. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen my king from among his sons.”  As Jesse and his sons came to the sacrifice, Samuel looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is here before him.” But the LORD said to Samuel:  “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.” In the same way Jesse presented seven sons before Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen any one of these.” Then Samuel asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” Jesse replied, “There is still the youngest, who is tending the sheep.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send for him; we will not begin the sacrificial banquet until he arrives here.”  Jesse sent and had the young man brought to them. He was ruddy, a youth handsome to behold and making a splendid appearance. The LORD said, “There—anoint him, for this is the one!” Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand, anointed David in the presence of his brothers; and from that day on, the spirit of the LORD rushed upon David.

     I asked Pastor Ulrich before we began if it was permitted to use holy water in the Presbyterian Church.  He kindly consented.  If you’ll allow me, I’d like to sprinkle us all with holy water as a symbol of beseeching God’s anointing.  Samuel anointed David and the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him; I pray that happens to us.  Before asking God’s blessing, let me make two disclaimers.  First, do you know how you make holy water?  You boil the hell out of it.  I hope it’s okay to say “hell” in church; we have to tell you what to avoid.  Second, sometimes when I sprinkle people with holy water, some people burst into flames.  Please don’t be alarmed if that happens.  That happens ALL THE TIME in the Catholic Church; it’s very normal.  With those two caveats, let us pray that the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon us as it did upon the young David.  May almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

     Madeline L’Engle tells this true story about a party in a large English country house.  She writes: “Often after dinner people at these parties give recitations, sing and use whatever talent they have to entertain the company.  One year a famous actor was among the guests.  I believe it was Charles Laughton.  When it came his turn to perform, he recited the Twenty-third Psalm, the most beloved psalm in the Psalter.  ‘The Lord is my shepherd.  I shall not want.’  His rendition was magnificent, his pace and enunciation flawless, and there was loud applause when he finished.

     As the evening wound down, someone’s great aunt was dozing in the corner.  In addition to her drowsiness, she was deaf as a post and missed most of what transpired.  When informed it was her turn to recite – English education in her era had stressed such skill – she thought for a moment, and in her quavering voice, began: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…”  There were a few suppressed giggles, but as she continued the room fell silent, and by the end there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.  Everyone’s head was bowed down in prayer.

     Later in the evening, one of the guests sought out the famous actor, and after complimenting his superb recitation, asked why the funny old lady’s recitation had been so moving.  Laughton replied: “I know the Psalm, but she knows the Shepherd.”  Laughton made a great point: while it’s good to know Psalm 23, it’s far more important to know the Shepherd of that Psalm.  But it’s not so easy to know the Shepherd: he’s not in plain sight, in obvious places or in expected people, he prefers to remain hidden.  Did you ever enjoy those books called “Where’s Waldo?”  You have to search very hard to find Waldo. Well, the Shepherd is like that: he loves to hide his among his sheep.

     In our Scripture reading today, the prophet Samuel is learning to find the future shepherd of Israel, and he finds it’s not so easy.  Samuel mistakenly thinks Jesse’s older sons – each one handsome, strapping, confident, all Matt Damon and Brad Pitt look-a-likes – will be the next king of Israel.  But God teaches Samuel, “Do not judge by appearances or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him.  Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.”  Like Charles Laughton said: it’s one thing to know the psalm, but it’s another thing entirely to know the shepherd.  The characteristics that count for God has far more to do with what’s on the inside of a man than what’s on the outside, with the quality of his heart rather than his place in high society, with the longings of love rather than with the lap of luxury.  It’s not so easy to find the shepherd; he’s not usually where we would first guess.

     Have you heard of Pope Francis?  After all, you guys are Presbyterians so I didn’t want to presume. Pope Francis is teaching us to find the Shepherd hidden in another surprising place and among very unlikely people, namely, in the faces of the poor.  One of Francis’ catch-phrases is: “I want a Church which is poor and for the poor.”  The poor are his priority.  Why?  Well, because he believes that’s where the Shepherd loves to hide, among his poorest sheep.  Listen to this quotation from his recent document, and see if you can tell like Samuel how God prefers to be hidden among the poor.  Francis writes: “The poor have much to teach us.  Not only do they share in the sensus fidei (that means “the sense of faith”), but in their sufferings they know the suffering Christ.”  Sounds like that funny, old aunt who knew the Shepherd, doesn’t it?  Francis continues: “We need to let ourselves be evangelized by them.  The new evangelization is an invitation to acknowledge the saving power at work in their lives and to put them at the center of the Church’s pilgrim way.”  The poor should be at the heart of the Church’s mission because that’s where the Shepherd is.  Finally, Francis teaches where to find the Shepherd: “We are called to find Christ in the them (the poor), to lend our voice to their cause, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them” (Evangelii gaudium, 198).  Just like that creepy old aunt with the creaky old voice knew the Shepherd much better than Charles Laughton, so too the poor enjoy an inside track on Jesus.  We may know the Psalm, but the poor know the Shepherd.

     A priest friend of mine recently visited the Salvation Army shelter here in Fort Smith.  He stood outside visiting with some of the residents of the shelter getting to know them, and introducing himself.  One lady resident said, “If you want to talk to the main people who run the shelter, they are inside in that office building.”  The priest smiled and said, “I’m already talking to the main people right here.”  That priest caught what Samuel at first missed: the Shepherd is not to be found in those of lofty stature and nobility, but in the poor and lowly. The poor are the “main people.”  The Lord said to Samuel: “Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!