Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbott
The accounts related in the Bible can often seem very remote and unrelated to contemporary life. Yet it seems to me that the themes in today’s first reading speak to spiritual truths that are very relevant for how each of us lives our life today.
The first reading for today explains how David is chosen to be king of Israel to replace Saul, who has found disfavor with God. God instructs Samuel to go to Bethlehem to the household of Jesse. The new king is to be chosen from among the sons of Jesse. Jesse and his sons accompany Samuel to a ceremony in which Samuel makes a sacrifice to God. Then Samuel considers each of Jesse’s sons in turn going down the line from the oldest to the youngest. For each of the brothers present, God indicates that he is not the one. Finally Samuel asks if Jesse has any other sons, after which David is found and anointed by Samuel.
It is important to see in this account that Samuel did not choose David to be king. God does the choosing. Samuel is there to act out God’s will and to fulfill God’s purpose in the situation. Why God chooses one person rather than another is a mystery; yet one has to believe that there is a reason for God’s choice. Samuel may have thought that the best choice would have been Eliab, Jesse’s eldest son. Many people who witnessed the event found it strange that God chose the youngest of Jesse’s sons to be king.
God’s choice of David to be king reminds me of the gospel reading for this past Sunday. There is a strong similarity between the account of Samuel’s scrutiny of the sons of Jesse and the portrayal of Jesus looking at Simon and stating that he would be called Peter (John 1: 41-42). God had plans for Peter just as he had plans for David. Yet we know from scripture that both David and Peter were imperfect human beings. So God does not choose people because they are perfect or righteous already. Instead God sees who we can become, and God is constantly leading us in pursuit of that goal.
Besides David, there are numerous other examples in scripture of people who are chosen for great purposes but who started off seeming inadequate for the task. Think of Moses with his lack of confidence in speaking; Joseph, who was called a dreamer by his brothers; and even Samuel himself. This is continued in the New Testament with the annunciation to Mary, the calling of the twelve disciples, and the conversion of Saul to Paul. This model of God’s choosing the weak to do his will seems to be part of the very essence of Christianity. Consequently, we Christians should not be dismayed if we find ourselves to be weak and imperfect. By learning to obey God despite our imperfections we learn humility.
How does this relate to us today? It seems to me that today’s scriptures are teaching us that we, too, have a calling from God. At the very least we are called to listen to God’s voice and seek to do God’s will in the situations in which we find ourselves on a daily basis. This is something that all Christians are called to do and it lies the very center of Christian discipleship. Today let us pray that God will help us to listen for God’s voice and to discern God’s will for our lives so that we, like Samuel, can learn to be instruments of God’s plan of salvation in the world.
- Joel Schickel