We are such good Anabaptists here at Hyattsville Mennonite, so focused on Jesus and his teachings. Our friend Elham – new to the faith, commented to me recently that she could tell the New Testament is the most important because we don’t read the Hebrew bible. It’s true; we do mostly focus on the New Testament here, on the gospels specifically. Still as someone who is very interested in how the old stories inform and shape the newer stories in the bible, I am a bit alarmed to hear Elham’s observation. I take her comment as a challenge, not that she meant it that way. Instead of looking at only the beautiful sower and seed parables of Jesus this morning, let’s look at what the story from I Samuel might have for us.

The scholars who assemble the lectionary, or the prescribed readings for Sundays throughout the year, chose this story of David’s anointing to go along with the text from Mark about the mustard seed. It is a lovely pairing of texts. The mustard seed is the smallest of seeds and yet it grows into a tree in which birds can live and build nests. And David is the youngest and smallest son and yet God chooses David to become the king, over the older, bigger brothers. Both lovely G rated stories, unless you read the back story and the next story in I Samuel.

Like any great political drama, our story today is way more complicated than this single episode. It is not easy, or even fair, to pick out a little snippet of the history and attempt to find a lesson for all times and places. It is like focusing on one day in the life of George Washington and thinking you understand how the United States works – then and now. (Remember the infamous cherry tree incident?)

So it is a strange, and anachronistic task and commitment that we make to engage with the ancient text, to find those places where there is meaning and where there may be intersection with our own experiences. It is not always easy to make sense of how the biblical writers understand God working in the world nor is it simple to make sense of how the Holy may still be speaking – if we are listening. Yet, we think there is value here so we try again and again.

Our story from I Samuel today is way more complicated than the sowing of a small seed, though perhaps this incident is the seed that grows to entwine with the stories of King Saul and the prophet Samuel, Saul’s son Jonathan, Saul’s daughter Michal, and many others.

Or maybe the seed of the story is the prophet Samuel, for whom the biblical book is named. But then Samuel’s story really starts with his mother, Hannah. Perhaps Hannah is the small seed. She is so grateful to finally have a child that she dedicates Samuel to God. She takes him to the “house of the Lord” at age three;it becomes his new home. Hannah sings a song that is probably the basis for the one that Mary sings when she finds out she is pregnant with Jesus. Part of it goes like this:

              YHWH raises up the poor from the dust,
              the needy from the ash heap,
              to make them sit with princes
              and inherit a seat of honor.

In the story today, Samuel participates with God, raising up the most humble, the shepherd boy, to “sit with princes,” indeed to eventually become a king.

But Samuel is no pushover with a preference for the poor and lowly. Did you notice that when Samuel follows God’s directions and goes to Bethlehem to find Jesse and his sons, the elders from Bethlehem approach Samuel and ask if he comes in peace. He is a prophet of God, of course he comes in peace. Except that in the story immediately preceding this one, Samuel is not a prophet of peace. at. all.

Samuel goes to King Saul and tells him to get rid of the Amalekites. The Amalekites have been idol worshippers and cruel enemies of Israel since the people left Egypt. The seeds of animosity and anger were sown generations and generations ago. Now, as God’s mouthpiece, Samuel tells King Saul to rid the world of the Amalekites once and for all, every last one of them. The entire society must be destroyed. There can be nothing left, not even an animal that knows what it is like to live under Amalekite rule.

How horrific! This kind of holy war is unfathomable to us. Perhaps we can think of it symbolically or metaphorically, understanding that the old must die off so that the new and healthy can emerge. It doesn’t really help with the problem of all that killing but in this way at least I can understand the systemic nature of the problem that the Amalekites present to Israel.

So King Saul does as Samuel instructs. King Saul sends in the troops and, without going into detail, let’s just say that this over the top “scorched earth” approach is successful, minus one thing. King Saul allows the ruthless Amalekite king, Agag, to live (and some of the best livestock as well.) Maybe Saul wants to publicly humiliate old king Agag, or just have him around to be reminded of his own brilliance and strength.

Whatever the case, Samuel and God will have none of it. (Fort he full story, you can read chapter 15 for yourself.)  Even though Saul apologizes for holding onto the livestock, asks for forgiveness and says that he was saving the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to Samuel’s God, it is not enough. God rejects Saul as king. The text says, “God was sorry that God had made Saul king over Israel.”

Since King Saul will not kill King Agag of the Amalekites, it is left to the prophet Samuel to finish the job. Killing King Agag does not seem to trouble Samuel, but it does bother him that Saul will no longer be king.

Samuel grieves over Saul and can’t stop grieving. It seems that God gets impatient with Samuel, ‘How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. I tell you what – Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.’ And just like that God has moved on, even if Samuel has not.

This new move of God’s troubles Samuel since Saul is still king, even if he has been rejected by God. It is treasonous for Samuel to be looking for a new king. So God comes up with a ruse – take a heifer (could it possibly be one from the Amalekites?) and if anyone asks questions just say you are going to make a sacrifice to God.

This is when Samuel approaches Bethlehem and the elders come out to greet him. They are more than nervous. Word has gotten around about how Samuel disposed of King Agag. The elders are suspicious; how can this prophet possibly come in peace? But Samuel just says, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.”

No further word on the skittish elders but Samuel does go to Jesse as God has instructed. Jesse gathers his sons and they prepare for the sacrifice. Samuel first sees the tall, oldest son, Eliab. Surely here is the new king that God has chosen but God tells Samuel that height and age do not a king make. So Samuel has Jesse call the next son, Abinadab. This is not the one either. Then Shammah passes by; nope, not him either. One by one, each son is called to pass by Samuel. And each time God says, “No, don’t think that it is the outward appearance that counts; I look on the heart.”

After all seven sons are paraded in front of Samuel, he is still getting “no”s from God. Has Samuel heard wrong? What is going on here? “Jesse, do you have any more sons? None of these are the one I am looking for.”

Jesse and his sons don’t even know what Samuel is doing. They think he is there to make a sacrifice to God. And he has invited them to participate. What is taking so long? Just pray so we can eat the beef already.

Still, Jesse is a faithful, patient man; he is after all the grandson of Ruth who lived out true faithfulness and loyalty to her mother-in-law, Naomi. Jesse admits – there is one more son, the youngest who is out tending sheep. But how could this young one possibly be wanted by the prophet? Jesse sends for the youngest son and he arrives, the picture of health, handsome and with beautiful eyes. “This is the one,” God says to Samuel. It appears that even though God looks primarily on the heart, it doesn’t hurt that the chosen one is good looking.

The text does not name the chosen son until after Samuel anoints him, with his brothers and father looking on. They must find it strange that the prophet comes to make a sacrifice and before they can pray and eat, the very youngest brother is anointed with oil. Do they know what this represents? It would be dangerous for them to speak of it if they do. And does the young son know why this has just happened to him? Does he know that this means from this moment on his future is inextricably linked with the future of his country and religion? Does David feel the “Spirit of the Lord” come upon him? Did Saul feel the Spirit of the Lord leave him?

Samuel makes a practice of listening to God. It is how he finds out he is called to be a man of God in the first place; as a young boy, about the age of David, he hears God’s voice in the night. Perhaps over the years, as he has aged, Samuel forgets that the young can be chosen by God. In anointing David, he is reminded again that God starts small and things grow from there.

The parable tells us that even the one who plants the seeds doesn’t understand how the growth happens. With people it is similar. Who would have imagined that out of barren Hannah would be born a prophet – Samuel with such a direct line to God? Who would have known that Ruth’s determined loyalty would lead to great grandson David becoming God’s chosen king.

Who could have guessed that nine people in their 20s could start a church that 63 years later thrives and grows right here on East West Highway.

I wonder what seeds are being planted now? Where will the current young adults direct us? Can we imagine how and where the 75 children and youth among us will grow and lead? What ideas are forming in us, old and young alike, that might lead to small plants and tall trees? In this garden here and in other community gardens?

May we be given ears to listen, eyes to see, and hearts that are open, to even the smallest seeds of possibility.