[T]he LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.
Samuel has been charged with finding the next king from amongst Jesse’s sons. All of the strapping, healthy, successful sons are trotted out, and God tells Samuel, not that one. No son is left, except young ruddy David, but everyone thinks it can’t possibly be David. But yes, it is. And because everyone overlooked David, God tells Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or the height of his stature.” Rather, God reminds Samuel that God sees what is in the heart.
Oh, to be able to see like God sees. We see people and dismiss them or disparage them. Addicts, people too rich or too poor for our tastes, too right or too left, too evangelical or too Muslim. People who’ve hurt us, or not helped us. We see the outside. Maybe sometimes we think we see the insides, we think we know what’s in their hearts.
But only God really knows what’s in someone’s heart. Imagine if we had glasses so we could see like God sees, if we could see beyond the ugly, the broken, the illness. No such glasses exist. How else might we see as God sees? In my faith tradition, when we are either baptized or we reconfirm the vows we took at baptism, we say, I will seek and serve Christ in all persons, respecting the dignity of every human being, with God’s help. All persons. Every human being. Maybe I cannot see as God sees, but I make a commitment to serve Christ in all people.
Maybe I cannot see as God sees, but I can strive to behave as if I do. I can do that by living out those covenants I make, and fully believing it to be true. Christ is present in every person. As such, I must treat them with respect and dignity, and see beyond the labels, the additions, the dirt, the politics. I need to seek Christ, which may be as close as I’ll get to seeing as God sees.
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