July 14: the Anointed Ones

1 Samuel 15:34-16:13
Psalm 20
2 Corinthians 5:6-10, (11-13), 14-17
Mark 4:26-34

Last week we heard the people of the Old Testament clamoring for a King.  They cried out: God, we want to be like everyone else.  All the other nations have Kings, God, why can’t we have one too?

A familiar whine to every parents’ ears: “Everyone else has one!”  But this whining is even more sinister.  This request for a King is really a rejection of God because God is meant to be the King of humanity.  But God is not a tyrant.  God is a King that allows the King’s people to choose, and they chose another, so God granted them a mortal king---allowing them to be just like all the others.

Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed David in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward.

In the Old Testament, people were anointed with holy oil as a sign of blessing or protection or empowerment.  Here, David is experiencing all of these things---blessed, protected, and empowered.  David is being set apart for a special role---King.  David becomes the Anointed One. 

Let’s pay attention to an important element of the story: David was anointed and then the Spirit came mightily upon him; the Spirit came to David that he might be empowered to do all he was called to do and be.  Knowing the rest of David’s story, we know that sometimes David allowed the Holy Spirit to work through him---resulting in God’s Kingdom being made known through his words and actions,  and sometimes, David was a roadblock for the Spirit’s work and his words and actions were not Kingdom-like at all.  Again, God is a God who grants free will; God is not a tyrant.  God leaves David the choice whether David will serve God or serve himself, whether David will receive the gift of the Spirit or deny it.

And this is our story, too.  We are anointed—with chrism oil---at our baptism.  We are chosen and set apart---blessed, protected, empowered---to be able to do the work we have been given: continuing the Messiah’s work here in this world—spreading the King’s Kingdom by living the Way.

I know sometimes, when we stop and realize the bigness of this mission, we feel insignificant; like the young David, we feel ill-prepared.  Maybe like me you think:

“Wait a minute, God; you want me to do what?  You want me to spend my money how, exactly? You want me to greet perfect strangers with open arms?  You want me to touch the sick and the dying?  You want me to sit with the ill, the elderly, the homeless.  I don’t wanna.  They make me uncomfortable. “

“I can’t do that,” we say. “I’m not that kind of person” or “It’s not my nature to be like that.” or “I’m no good at that kind of thing.”

Today we are reminded that it’s not about what kind of person we are; it’s about the kindness that we have as persons.  A kindness that is not necessarily a natural by-product, but a product of this immersion into the Holy Spirit that begins with our baptism and is reinforced through the eating of blessed bread and wine, holy fellowship, conversation and study, and by our practicing the gift of kindness when we serve others in Jesus’ name. Kindness, St. Paul tells us, is a gift of the Holy Spirit.

Today we are reminded that while it may not be in our human nature to be radically welcoming and generous, it is in our DNA because we are made in the image of God, and like David, we can choose to be a conduit of the Spirit or a roadblock. As the anointed and Chosen, like David, we are empowered by the Spirit to do the work of Jesus---even when it makes us uncomfortable or we’d rather not.

“I’m no good at that kind of thing” needs to be stricken from our vocabulary—at least when we are talking about being agents of God’s transformation.  If God calls us to the task, then God will equip us for the task.  As David’s story shows us: God isn’t in the business of calling the qualified.  God’s in the business of qualifying the called.  And we are the called, the chosen, the Anointed.

Every Sunday after the morning service, and every second Wednesday at our Public service of healing, and whenever someone needs or asks for it, I anoint people with oil.  That’s part of what I’ve been set apart to do---to continue this avenue of opening oneself up to the Spirit through anointing.  But, I never do this on my own.  Usually, others join me—bidden or unbidden—and lay their hands upon the person being anointed---because God comes to us through flesh,  through community--- through this web of grace we call the Body of Christ.

And even if I am the only mortal whose hands are being used, the Spirit is present as she descends and fills the recipient with God’s grace.  God provides us with ongoing and continuous streams of Spirit-infused grace, made available to us through the Body of Christ. 

Like David, we can receive and be sanctified or we can block and harden our hearts.  God has never been in the business of forcing God’s love upon us.  God simply and steadfastly offers grace and love in a never-ending stream; no drought or famine here.  God never pulls back or withdraws.  God is always abundantly present.

And here’s the kicker---the wham-pow of the promise: when we choose to inhale the life-giving breath of the Spirit, when we walk in the footsteps of Jesus, when we quit wanting and whining to be like everyone else and choose to live as the Anointed, the Chosen, the living members of the Body of Christ who have God as their King, then the heavens are opened and the Kingdom is made known. Like a mustard seed, we may seem and feel small and insignificant, but through the sustenance of the Holy Spirit, we become more than we can dream--a source of life-giving shade from the devastating heat.

We are transformed into a new creation that provides restorative shade from the heat of poverty, thirst, and hunger.  Our community of faith becomes a pool of refreshment from the life-sucking heat of loneliness, illness, and loss.  As God dwells within and among us, we are the shelter for those who suffer from scorching rays of prejudice, oppression, and greed.

Like the seed in the parable, we are to do what we are made to do: be planted and grow.  Be planted in the soil of God, watered by the Spirit, growing in the light of the Son, expanding far and wide. 

I believe that this faith community, this church, this gathering of people known as Intercession Episcopal—this is a place where anyone who wants, and anyone who is willing, can be planted.  A place where every seed is welcomed because we know the diversity of our garden is its beauty and its strength.  This is a community where each of us can know God, where the Spirit can quench our thirst and nourish our hunger, where Jesus is met---alive and present.  We are a new creation---blessed, protected and empowered by the Spirit. 

No more whining about being like “everyone else”---“all the other nations.”  We are citizens of the Kingdom.  Let us be who we are called to be: a community who expects the miraculous, made holy and whole through the grace of God. We are the Anointed ones through whom the work of Jesus continues.  God’s Kingdom Come.  God’s Will be done. Amen. Amen. Amen.