Three golfers got struck by lightning and ended up at the pearly gates of heaven. They asked St Peter if there was golf in heaven. St Peter assured them that there was incredible golf in heaven, but there was just one rule: Don?t hit a duck. As they played, one of the guys hit a duck. St Peter approached with a not-so-gorgeous woman, homely in fact, and said, ?You?re the one who hit a duck.? St Peter handcuffed the homely woman to the man and they took off to be that way for all eternity. The two others continued to play and eventually another one hit a duck. Sure enough, St Peter approached with another un-gorgeous woman and handcuffed her to the one who hit the duck and they were that way for all eternity. The last guy continued to play. One day St Peter approached with a knock-down, gorgeous woman and handcuffed this stunning beauty to the guy. Elated, the last golfer said, ?I don?t know what I did to deserve this!? The gorgeous woman said, ?I hit a duck.? This is a funny story with a sad truth. Our world judges on externals, by how we look on the outside. God does not make judgments on externals. God looks at the heart. God also wants his people to resist judging on externals. We see this truth in The Story as we come to the anointing of David as Israel?s king. I invite you to pray with me over the sermon titled ?From Shepherd to King.?
Over the past couple of weeks and even the past 1.5, we have been looking at ways to grow our congregation, reach people in the neighborhood, and create a place where people experience the love of God. Well, we didn?t have to do much for people to experience God?s love when they are here. You naturally love people, you give of yourselves, and you welcome everyone in who walks through these doors. Once a person walks through these doors, you don?t hear that people leave because they didn?t feel welcomed! What we have on the internal, YOU, is amazing! But because people are people, the internal is not the first thing folks see when they cross the path of Wintergarden. So that is why we have been spending time and money on the outside, on the external. Adding a little bit of curb appeal, which is a long process, and getting ready to clear out the land. We would love to do more to help with the curb appeal. Kari, our finance person, had a dream about painting the church this pretty golden-brown, of redoing all the flooring in the building, putting a fresh coat of paint on the inside, and putting more plants and flowers around the church. Someone else had a dream of putting a community garden on the property for the neighborhood, while others have more dreams of helping the external look more attractive for those who are onlookers. In thinking about external vs. internal, I also think about the difference between being a believer vs. a follower of God.
Let?s look at the beginning of the story of David as we saw a little bit of in the video. Saul wasn?t cutting it as the king that God needed for the people. So Samuel needed to find a new king for the people. When God looked for a new king to eventually replace Saul, God went about it a different way. David was chosen as a king because God saw his potential, his full engagement in caring for his sheep, watched how he protected and rescued the sheep from danger, but most importantly, God saw how David was a man after God?s own heart. God saw the internal part. But others, well, they saw the external.
When Samuel arrived at the house of Jesse, Jesse summoned his sons to meet with Samuel. After 7 of them being evaluated, Samuel had to ask if there was another son. It wasn?t until that time, the Jesse had his youngest son come and meet Samuel. David?s own father didn?t think he was worthy to be king! But Samuel anointed David to be the new king at the age of 16. Then we have David?s older brother who scolded David for leaving his sheep to come ????? and watch the battle with the Philistines. Then King Saul viewed David as mere boy and not king material. And Goliath called David ?a stick? just before David killed him. But Jonathan, Saul?s son and successor to the throne, saw David with the potential of a king (1 Samuel 18:4 Jonathan gives David his royal robe).
Then for the next 14 years, David goes through king training before he is inaugurated as the king of Israel. Saul, who is hostile to David, is God?s tool to train David in godly, kingly character. David lives as a fugitive, depending on God for guidance and help. After all of this, David is ready to represent God and God?s character as the rightful king over Israel. Does he do it perfectly, no. But God has taken what was in the internal, molded it even more, and prepared David for what was happening in his life and for what was to come.
There is a lot of ?stuff? I can pull from these passages to connect them to our lives, our congregation, our church, our community, our world?but the one thing is the importance of being ?all in.? Are you ready for the questions? So, if God said David was a man after his own heart, so what is it that God really sees inside of David? And what is it that God looks for when he gazes into your heart? When the Apostle Paul shares this story about King Saul to the church in Antioch, Paul says these words: ?After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ?I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do (Acts 13:22).? This is the kind of person with whom God wants to build his nation, his kingdom. Still today, God wants our priorities to be his priorities, our allegiance to be completely to God. Saul was almost totally committed, but he kept a little part of life to control for himself. Saul withheld his allegiance just a little, thinking it wouldn?t matter. But it did and it still does.
You know, ?almost? never works with God. Instead, ?all in? is what works for God. Do you remember those words from Deuteronomy, called the Shema? ?Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.? This idea of being ?all in? is throughout the bible and is God?s desire. God is ?all in? for us, and God wants us to be ?all in? for him, his people, and his world. ?Almost? doesn?t work, it doesn?t cut it. And throughout the Old Testament, God is asking for the people to be ?all in,? but instead sometimes people ?almost? give and other times people don?t at all.
As I think about Wintergarden, I wonder what it means for us to go ?all in.? Over the past week, I have been thinking and praying about what that means for me and our congregation to be ?all in.? Here is where I have started with being ?all in.?

Being all in means working on your heart.
Working on your heart means focusing your life on God.
To do that, we need to have a life of prayer, devotions, and reading the Scriptures.
In doing this, we are grounded in God?s story, we can share God?s love with those we meet.
In addition, we are able to serve in our community because we are grounded in God?s story.
And when we serve, when we share stories, when we talk with people, people will see God?s love within us and know we are ?all in? for God; and that our hearts are hearts after God.

As I think about the beginning joke about the golfer and the ducks, I am reminded that God is handcuffed to all of us. And from all of us, God wants ALL of us. God wants us to be ?all in? as followers of Christ. In saying that, being ?all in? is a hard thing to do. It takes work, time and devotion. It takes a change in heart. I would like to ask you to take a minute and share with your neighbor what it could mean for you in your life to be ?all in? in how you live out your faith.