It's all about us

“Not as man sees does God see, because he sees the appearance, but the Lord looks into the heart.”
--1 Samuel 16:7

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
--Mark 2:27

In this case, Samuel saw what he judged to be positive qualities in Jesse’s son Eliab, but these weren’t the qualities God was looking for in a king. We are sometimes fooled by people’s outward attractiveness; more often than not, however, we are fooled by what we judge to be the outward negative qualities of others, whether their appearance or their outward behavior. Think of the Pharisees in today’s Gospel, who see Jesus’ disciples eating grains they picked on the Sabbath. This behavior did not conform to their expectations of how people should act.

This is our more typical mode of reactions to others—negative judgment. And, more times than not, it’s actually well deserved, as well deserved as Samuel’s positive assessment of Eliab’s outward appearance. We are, by and large, frail, broken, selfish, and often repulsive in our relationships with others. Despite our own positive qualities, whether outward or inward, if someone wants to judge us they usually have plenty of good evidence to point to.

But this is not the Lord’s way, and we should be grateful for it. The Lord not only “looks into the heart,” but does it in a way that does not see “as man sees.” God sees all that is worthy of judgment, but somehow sees more. God sees us as a beloved child. And our weaknesses, our frailties, our sins, are secondary to the overwhelming, redeeming love God pours out to us, anointing us as lovingly and generously as Samuel anointed David at God’s command.

As sinners, we make everything all about us. Paradoxically, God makes everything all about us too. The Sabbath, the sacraments, the scriptures, the structures of Church…are all made for us, given as gifts to beloved children who are made worthy by a God who sees more in us than we can see.