Called

14 January 2018 – Epiphany 2 – Wingrave Methodist Church

Old Testament I SAMUEL 3

The Lord calls Samuel

The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.

² One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. ³ The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. ⁴ Then the Lord called Samuel.

Samuel answered, ‘Here I am.’ ⁵ And he ran to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’

But Eli said, ‘I did not call; go back and lie down.’ So he went and lay down.

⁶ Again the Lord called, ‘Samuel!’ And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’

‘My son,’ Eli said, ‘I did not call; go back and lie down.’

⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

⁸ A third time the Lord called, ‘Samuel!’ And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’

Then Eli realised that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹ So Eli told Samuel, ‘Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”’ So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰ The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’

Then Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’

¹¹ And the Lord said to Samuel: ‘See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. ¹² At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family – from beginning to end. ¹³ For I told him that I would judge his family for ever because of the sin he knew about; his sons uttered blasphemies against God, and he failed to restrain them. ¹⁴ Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, “The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.”’

¹⁵ Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, ¹⁶ but Eli called him and said, ‘Samuel, my son.’

Samuel answered, ‘Here I am.’

¹⁷ ‘What was it he said to you?’ Eli asked. ‘Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you.’ ¹⁸ So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, ‘He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.’

¹⁹ The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. ²⁰ And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognised that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord.

Hymn 2

663 I the Lord of sea and sky

Gospel John 1

Jesus calls Philip and Nathanael

⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, ‘Follow me.’

⁴⁴ Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’

⁴⁶ ‘Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?’ Nathanael asked.

‘Come and see,’ said Philip.

⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, ‘Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.’

⁴⁸ ‘How do you know me?’ Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, ‘I saw you while you were still under the fig-tree before Philip called you.’

⁴⁹ Then Nathanael declared, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.’

⁵⁰ Jesus said, ‘You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig-tree. You will see greater things than that.’ ⁵¹ He then added, ‘Very truly I tell you, you will see “heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on” the Son of Man.’

Sermon p132—12

‘I was ready to give up. With my cup of coffee sitting untouched before me, I tried to think of a way to move out of the picture without appearing a coward. In this state of exhaustion, when my courage had all but gone, I decided to take my problem to God. With my head in my hands, I bowed over the kitchen table and prayed aloud.

The words I spoke to God that midnight are still vivid in my memory. “I am here taking a stand for what I believe is right. But now I am afraid. The people are looking to me for leadership, and if I stand before them without strength and courage, they too will falter. I am at the end of my powers. I have nothing left. I've come to the point where I can't face it alone.”

At that moment, I experienced the presence of the Divine as I had never experienced God before. It seemed as though I could hear the quiet assurance of an inner voice saying: “Stand up for justice, stand up for truth; and God will be at your side forever.”

Almost at once my fears began to go. My uncertainty disappeared. I was ready to face anything.’ Stride towards Freedom—Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King, Jr. was changed by this epiphany—often referred to as his ‘vision in the kitchen.’ Nathaniel’s epiphany, in which he suddenly could see clearly who Jesus was, changed Nathaniel—just as Samuel’s vision in the Temple changed him.

Today—Epiphany 2. Readings describe two manifestations:

1. Eli could not perceive God—like others in his day—like our day? But the boy Samuel could.

2. Jesus first called Philip—Philip immediately called Nathaniel—‘we have found the Messiah.’ In response to his objections—‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’—Philip does not engage in debate, does not persuade, does not argue—“Come and See.”

⁴⁹ Then Nathanael declared, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.’

⁵⁰ Jesus said, ‘You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig-tree. You will see greater things than that.’

Characteristics of Vocation

1. God’s call may not be audible or obvious to us—very often may not be what we want or choose to hear—like Eli who was condemned, and all his family with him, by what God imparted to Samuel

2. We may have to rely on intermediaries—those people might not be obvious either—like Samuel

3. For many people in ordination training—call not clear—relied on doors opening and doors closing

4. God sometimes seems to be laughing at our detailed and personal planning of our lives

5. Call may be nothing like what we had in mind—God does not seem to micromanage our lives—we must remain openminded like Nathaniel and Eli. God may not answer in the way we expect—unlike Martin Luther King’s testimony.

6. God’s response might have no logical basis we can understand—how did Nathaniel jump from doubt to total affirmation of Jesus as Messiah?—there was no logic to his thought process or the reason why he came to his startling conclusion.

7. Our response to God is

a. Personal (‘Come and See!’)

b. Faith-based (gradual or immediate)

c. Having the potential to bring transformative change

How can we prepare?

Samuel and Eli were unprepared. It took 2 calls by God to Samuel before we read:

⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

Eli clearly had not prepared Samuel—this same Eli mistook Hannah’s prayers for her being drunk—and it took Eli 3 attempts to recognise the voice of God in what he says he heard—yet God persisted, and so did Samuel.

This same Eli had sons Hophni and Phineas who were scoundrels and had scant regard for their priestly duties—Eli’s eyes were growing dim—not perhaps only physically, but spiritually too.

Eli had several opportunities and attempts to put matters to rights—but failed each time. Eventually he was left with no alternative but to accept God’s judgement on him and on his entire family.

¹⁷ ‘What was it he said to you?’ Eli asked. ‘Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you.’ ¹⁸ So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, ‘He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.’

In the end—God’s will will be done—regardless of whether or not we respond to his call. That is a comfort in dark times like this. But we are the hands, feet and fingers of God—how can respond except by hearing and discerning how we can obey his call with all the gifts of grace he has given us?

Nathaniel was a naysayer—who can blame him for doubting Philip’s belief he had found the Messiah? Yet he was prepared for his preconceptions and prejudices to be challenged. What else but an epiphany could have turned Nathaniel round so completely?

Scripture is full of such moments—many of us are able to look back on such manifestations of God’s work in our lives. All we need do is keep an open mind—just as Nathaniel did—and follow where he leads us. Amen