"Only God Can Judge Me" - 25m:24s

Scott McFarland
05/07/17 - Sun AM Worship

Scripture Reading: Matthew 7:1-6

Things Are Not Always As They Appear

Many will never forget the episode of Britain's Got Talent that aired April 11,  2009. Like most talent shows, there were many talented acts that came through  the stage, most of which featured young, attractive looking contestants in the  prime of their lives and career. The crowd was surprised then, when a 47 year old  homely looking woman in an outdated dress and heels got up and belted out a  show stopping performance of Les Miserables’ "l Dreamed a Dream." The  woman's name was Susan Boyle--an unemployed, single Scottish woman who  never married and had spent the last 10 years taking care of her ailing mother  and singing in her church's choir. Based on her looks, the expectations most had  of Susan before hearing her were low. lf you have ever watched her performance  on Britain's Got Talent, you remember watching the crowd and judges laughing as  Susan introduced herself, and the almost instantaneous cheering as she began  singing and everyone realized they were watching a truly talented singer. In  December 2009, YouTube declared Boyle's performance on BGT as the most  watched video of the year with over 120 million views, more than three times the  second most watched video.

In an interview with The Washington Post following her performance and almost  immediate rise to stardom, Susan spoke to the low expectations people had of  her before hearing her perform. “Modern society is too quick to judge people on  their appearances.  There is not much you can do about it; it is the way they  think; it is the way they are. But maybe this could teach them a lesson, or set an  example.”

We do often live life by stereotype. We think we know how talented, intelligent,  successful, and otherwise worthy people are based upon their appearance.  Susan's story reminds us all that sometimes the most talented are the most  unsuspecting, and things are not always as they appear.       

Scott     

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