There’s work to be done.
Let’s get on with it!
Don’t get stuck in regret.
Move on to the future!
Is there anyone in this room who doesn’t have regret?
Is there anyone here who doesn’t make a trip back to some moment in time, and you think to yourself, “If only I had made another choice.”
Gone to another school.
Taken another job.
Married someone else.
If only I had done differently …
If only, if only, if only …
But things happen, don’t they?
We make the wrong choice.
Or maybe we fail to act.
God’s choice didn’t work out with Saul.
Sometimes the people God chooses fail badly.
Ever put your trust in someone!
You say to yourself, “I’ll trust Susie to do this.”
She’ll get it done.
But Susie doesn’t get it done.
It never gets done.
Or it’s done poorly, and now you look bad.
And maybe Susie even went behind your back …
Gossip …
Betrayal …
Who knows what else …
And now you could kick yourself around the block a few times, “Why did I trust Susie?”
“If only I had chosen Sally, instead.”
“But, noooo, I had to pick Susie … was I dumb or what?”
Ever been there?
Of course …
And sometimes even in darker ways …
Our own behavior …
A moment of irresponsibility …
Too much to drink …
A couple of joints …
A snort or two at the party …
Or a shady deal …
A friend of mine, a good and decent man …
Went to jail for a few years …
Fraudulent deal …
He said to me, “I knew it at the time. Why I did it, I don’t know. I just did it.”
He lost a fortune, but his family stood by him.
His wife waited for him while he paid his debt to society.
He children loved him even in his failure and shame.
They’ve since put life back together again.
But there’s no undoing the facts.
We can only get on with the future.
And that’s the point.
Who hasn’t messed up a time or two?
Who hasn’t been messed up by someone else’s bad behavior?
Life isn’t very neat.
Life isn’t very clean.
We all make errors.
Sometimes really stupid ones.
We all sin.
We all mess up.
We hurt one another.
But last week, we celebrated Communion.
When you came forward to receive the bread and drink, the servers said to you, “You guilt has departed, and your sin is blotted out.
That’s what the angel said to Isaiah.
That’s what the angel says to us, too:
Your guilt has departed, and your sin is blotted out.
Let the past be the past.
Press on from here.
There’s work to be done.
And you can still do it.
Don’t get stuck in regret.
Move on to the future.
That’s what my friend did.
Because there’s always a future, no matter the past.
No matter what you did.
Or someone else did to you.
Don’t get stuck in regret.
Move on to the future.
Samuel is told by God to Bethlehem, to the House of Jesse, and there Samuel will find the next king of Israel.
Samuel says to God, How can I do this?
If Saul finds out, he’ll be furious.
I’ll be toast.
It’s hard to move on, isn’t it?
A million reasons for staying the course, and most of the time it’s good to stay the course, but we have to know when to “hold our cards, and we have to know when to fold “em.”
It’s good to stay the course.
Who likes a quitter?
But sometimes we just need to move on.
We need to make that fateful decision.
It’s been rolling around inside of us for months, maybe even for years.
We’ve prayed about it, thought about it, talked about it.
Time to move.
Time to get on with our life.
Time to let some things go.
Sell ‘em on eBay …
Give ‘em to Good Will …
It’s time to move on.
“But pastor,” you say, “what if I’m making a mistake? What happens then? I may not like where I am right now, but at least I know where I am.”
Well, we all know the truth about life:
There are no guarantees, are there?
The Bible says of God:
The LORD was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel.
Wow.
No guarantees
Not even for God.
But don’t get stuck in regret.
Move on to the future.
God says to Samuel, Throw a party. You don’t have to tell anyone what you’re doing. Just go there and have a good time, and I’ll show you the one who will be the future king.
When Samuel arrives, the town is abuzz with rumor.
No one was happy about his visit.
This whole political thing with Saul and Samuel was more than they bargained for.
This tiny little town just wanted to be left alone.
But here comes Samuel, one of the big guns.
And Saul may likely follow him.
And who knows what kind of trouble they’ll cause us.
Do you come peaceably? They ask.
I come in peace, says Samuel. Let’s have a party.
A sacred party.
Sanctify yourselves and come with me.
Samuel made a special effort to invite Jesse and his boys.
And now the party begins.
Samuel thinks to himself,
Wow, a look at all the fine men here … surely one of them is the next king of Israel.
But God kept saying, Nope, not yet.
One by one, seven sons of Jesse, on parade.
Sort of like a Ms. California beauty pageant!
Only it’s a bunch of guys: Look at those muscles. Goodness, he’s tall. What a hunk! He’d make a good king … Surely one of them.
But God said, Nope, not yet.
Come on LORD.
These are all good men … they’ll be just fine.
Can’t be any worse that your first choice.
Maybe a whole lot better.
I wonder if Samuel said to God, “Look God, you don’t have the best track record here.”
But the LORD said, I see things differently.
Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”
Samuel asks Jesse, Any more sons?
Well, now that you ask, there IS one more, the youngest …
Oh, he’s not much.
He’s out tending the sheep … out in left field.
Someone needed to stay home and keep an eye on things.
Samuel says, Send for him. I want to see him, too. We can’t have the party until HE’S here.
I like this part story …
Sort of like the lost sheep story told by Jesus.
99 sheep – all good.
But one is missing … and that’s the one I’ll go and find.
Jesus always paid special attention to the folks out in left field.
The woman at the well.
Zacchaeus up a tree.
Blind Bartimaeus by the side of the road.
The thief on the cross.
No one left out.
No one overlooked.
Especially, the least of these.
The one least likely to succeed.
The one who doesn’t have it all.
Not the prom queen, nor the captain of the football team.
Not even the valedictorian …
Yup, there’s one more son – he’s out in left field.
I have a friend.
She’s a prayer warrior.
When she prays, she really prays, and God is there.
Her prayers rise out of the deep places of her heart.
She talks to God!
When I first met her, oh my – she was a left-field kind of person:
The usual markers were missing.
That’s what my eyes saw.
But my eyes deceived me.
Sort of like Susan Boyle and her appearance on “Britain Has Talent.”
Not one of the judges had any confidence when they saw Susan Boyle step out on to the stage – “she’s just a frumpy spinster from nowhere. Who does she think she is anyhow? She doesn’t have a chance. Who let her on the show?”
All the beautiful people said, “I don’t think so.”
Well, we know the rest of the story.
The music began …
Susan Boyle opened her mouth …
And she began to sing.
In a heartbeat, the judges were blown away.
The audience was cheering.
Tears in many an eye.
Everyone was caught in the same trap.
The trap of the eye.
The eye was deceived.
Everyone prayed a little prayer of repentance:
Oh LORD, I’m sorry.
I’m sorry I judged Susan Boyle by her looks.
I’m sorry, LORD. It’ll not happen again.
Several things for us this morning …
Don’t get stuck in regret … move on to the future.
There are a millions reasons not to move, but move on any way.
Be careful of your eyes … they don’t tell the whole story.
Be sure to include the guy or the gal out in left field.
Amen and Amen!
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