Inside (1 Samuel 15:34-16:13)

When people shop at the supermarket, we can choose products for a range of reasons. We might look for the least expensive items, products that are made in Australia or from fair trade companies, the best value, or maybe better-quality products no matter what the cost.

Could you imagine shopping at a supermarket and only buying items with the best-looking packaging? Companies spend lots of money to design and produce packages that will stand out from other products on the shelves and catch the buyers’ attention in the hope that we will buy them instead of their competitor’s items. For example, there are wine producers who will invest heavily in having attractive labels so people will buy their bottles.

This can challenge us to ask what’s more important: the packaging or the product? The way something looks or what it is? What’s on the outside or what’s on the inside?

There are ways that we can all focus on what’s on the outside over what’s on the inside, or the way something looks over what it is. For example, we can prioritize our appearance, the clothes we wear, the things we own or the ways we behave, because we can worry about what other people will think of us. We can also make assumptions or come to conclusions about people or circumstances based on the way things appear rather than taking the time to understand what’s behind other people’s actions or behaviours. Especially in a digital, online society where appearance is so important, it is vital that we are aware of the ways in which we can focus on appearance instead of what’s below the surface.

In 1 Samuel 15:34-16:13, the Old Testament reading for this Sunday, the prophet Samuel is on a mission to anoint the next king of Israel. Saul hadn’t worked out as the nation’s first monarch, so God sent Samuel to the family of Jesse in Bethlehem to choose one of his sons to take his place. At first, when Samuel saw Jesse’s oldest son Eliab, he thought that he was the one based on the way he looked. However, God had other ideas. He said to Samuel,

“Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7 NLT)

God gave Samuel a different way to see people and situations which we can still learn from today. Instead of looking at the outward appearance, God looks beneath the surface to see what is at a person’s core and centre. Jesus teaches us that everything we say and do, both good and evil, comes from our hearts in Luke 6:45. We might be able to keep up a façade for a while, but in the end what lies in our hearts, at our core and centre, will show through in our words and actions. That’s why God was a lot more concerned with the heart of the new king, not just how he looked.

Jesus taught the same idea when he was being criticised for his teachings. He said, ‘Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly’ (John 7:24 NLT). His opponents were only looking at Jesus’ ministry from a superficial point of view, judging him for breaking their laws and challenging their customs. Jesus wanted them to look beyond a superficial understanding of what he was doing to gain a deeper faith and trust in his work and the good news of the Kingdom of God. Both in this story of Samuel anointing David and from Jesus’ point of view, what’s on the inside is always more important than what’s on the outside.

God looked at David’s heart and chose him to be king, but David didn’t always get things right. Paul referred to David as a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22) but David still did wrong. In the same way, we might look into our own hearts and see problems, flaws or sin in one way or another. There are times in all our lives when we can join David in asking God to create clean hearts within us (Psalm 51:10). God responds to prayers like this by giving us the new hearts we need to love him and love others the way Jesus teaches us to. In Christ, God removes our hearts of stone and gives us hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26). Jesus takes everything that is wrong with our hearts to the cross, puts it to death with him, and gives us new hearts which are full of love for him and others through his resurrection. In his grace, God gives us what he requires of us: hearts that are full of his goodness which overflow with all the good the Holy Spirit gives us. Like David, when God gives us new hearts through faith in Jesus, our lives will be full of the love and goodness he pours into us.

This is why Paul tells the Christians in Corinth not to regard or evaluate others from a worldly (NIV) or human (NLT) point of view (2 Corinthians 5:16). He doesn’t want us to make assumptions based on appearance, like choosing products from the supermarket based on packaging and not what’s inside. Paul wants followers of Jesus to see each other through the eyes of Christ. He writes, ‘if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!’ (v17 NIV). When we are ‘in Christ’ through faith in him, the Holy Spirit gives us new and pure hearts. This is good news for us because even ‘if our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts’ (1 John 3:20 NIV). God’s gift of new hearts in Jesus is stronger and more powerful than any accusations we might feel.

This is also good news for our relationships with others because Jesus gives us a new way to see each other. When we trust that all who are in Christ are being made new, we will see each other from God’s point of view and not the world’s superficial perspective. Instead of just looking at the outward appearance, we can look below the surface to see hearts that are being made new by God’s grace and love through faith. Even though other people’s outward behaviours or actions might not appear to be what we think they should be, when we see each other through the eyes of Jesus we can see the new hearts that God has placed in all of us, and the people we have the potential to be as we grow in God’s grace together.

We probably wouldn’t buy products based just on the outward packaging. What’s on the inside is much more important that what’s on the outside. The story of Samuel anointing David teaches us that the same is true with people. God looks at our hearts, not just our outer appearance. Even when our hearts are stained with sin, God gives us new hearts through his grace for us in Jesus. Then he teaches us to look at each other the same way, not just at what’s on the outside, but seeing the new hearts he creates on our inside.

More to think about or discuss:

• Would you buy something just because of its packaging? Why or why not? Give some reasons for your answer…
• Why do you think God looks at our hearts rather than our outward appearance? How can that give us a new way to see ourselves?
• What do you think Paul meant when he said that we no longer regard others from a human or worldly point of view (2 Corinthians 5:16)? How might it make a difference to your relationships if you saw others as people who are being made new in Christ (v17)?