Listen
to the Voices of the meek
Text:
1 Samuel 9:1-14
This
passage illustrates the story of a man who went in search of his father's lost
donkeys and founds a kingdom instead. This is the preface for the first anointing
of Saul a benjimate as king of Israel who was sent out by his father to search
for his lost donkeys which had strayed. Saul and the servant searched for the
donkeys in vain. As time goes Saul feared that his father might have been
worried about them leaving the thought about the lost donkeys because they were
far away. So when Saul decided to return
home then his servant said that there was a man of god in the town, man of honour, whose words always come true. He
also said that perhaps the prophet will
tell us about the journey on which they have set out. It was very absurd that the
servant knew about Samuel and told Saul
of his presence in the city in the land of zuph. This may disturb us and sound
very strange. We suppose that the name of Samuel could have been as familiar to all the people of Israel as the
name of Gandhi to the people of India. But for Saul it was something new. Doesn't
this indicate that here was a family living entirely outside all religious
connections, entirely immersed in secular things, hearing nothing about godly
people, and hardly ever even mentioning their names? .
Verse
7 also says about a custom in Israel that
if a person want to a meet a seer, they should have a present as a token of respect. When Saul thought of the
present he should bring to the man of God, he found his hands empty. Here again
the poor servant came with solution that he can present the money that he had
to the man of god to tell about their way, a quarter shekel of silver. A quarter
shekel of silver would have been equivalent of a week or so of wages for the
ordinary working man. This would be appropriate considering the value of the
donkeys that had been lost. On other
hand we can say that the poor unknown servant is the reason why Saul to get the
kingship, the greater privilege for a Benjamin, a small tribe could never have
aspired to dominate over other large tribes in Israel
In the bible also we see many
people like this whose service and help enable others to get blessings in their
life. For an instance in 2 kings 5 we can see Naaman getting healing on account
of the initiative of an unknown young slave girl.
Dear friends, in our society
and in our church we see many people like this who don't have any name or
identity or any recognition. But in the fuss of the society we cannot see or
hear their voices. We are not ready to recognise or honour them nor hear the
voice or cry of the meek. When we hear the voices of the meek we consider it as
silly, because we feel that we are more experienced, educated and sometimes far
better in the social status . But these incidence of unknown servant and
unknown slave girl shows that the voice of the meek may lead to change and
blessings in our lives. There are many barriers
which restricts us from hearing their voice, the barriers of economic
status and social statuses. We should overcome our barriers to build the
Kingdom of God. Jesus Christ who is the
model for our mission and vision gives importance to the poor widow's
offering rather than all the other rich offerings.
In our midst we also see such persons
whose silent actions and works result in the greater achievement of society as
well as our church. We neither recognise nor listen to their words or hear
their cries. Don't we think that they were
only the stepping stones for our success. Don't we close our eyes and
ears to the cries of the poor, low and downtrodden, who lose everything even
life, in the name of development and modernization. We should also be sensitive
to their voices. It is our responsibility to respond to their voices, some time
the voice of cries. How much importance are we giving to their cries? their cry
for their land, rights etc. For instance
the land acquisition for power projects in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, lot
of people lost their land and their right to
live. What's our stand towards the victims of the so called
developments. As a theological community, the follower of the Christ, the
revolutionist for the poor, what's our stand?. In Matthew 25 last judgement is
based on our attitude towards the poor and needy.
what
is our response towards vulnerable. Will
we become an agent for a change ?
May
the almighty strengthen us to become agents for a sea change. Amen
[Biji M.Raju, the preacher of this sermon, is a second year B.D student in Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute, Chennai.]
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