1 Samuel 3:1-11 & John 1:43-51
January 14, 2024
The Rev. Todd R. Goddard, Pastor
Rush United Methodist Church
1 Samuel 3:1-11
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
Then the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle.
John 1:43-51
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
| Centering Prayer |
The news wasn’t good.
His brothers had been caught red handed.
His father failed to react;
To do anything about his scoundrel sons.
(1 Samuel 2:12)
Instead the father,
An elderly priest,
Turned and looked away.
The boys had been caught stealing from the offering plate.
No, not money.
They had been stealing the remains of
animal sacrifices from the Temple
Which were designated for the poor.
Instead of waiting at the end of the line,
Like any good parish pastor at a dish-to-pass dinner knows to do,
These contemptuous brothers (1 Samuel 2:17)
Budged in first,
Took the choice cuts for themselves,
Then turned over
the leftovers and scraps for those in need.
All are called to righteousness and justice.
When the crooked brothers blasphemed the Lord by their behavior
The Lord took notice.
Eli chose not to.
Their evil behavior didn’t end by stealing the choice cuts of lamb.
Elkanah, or Eli as he had come to be known,
Had tried to confront the boys, Hophni and Phinehas,
About their evil dealings in the local brothels.
(1 Samuel 2:23)
But they would not listen.
A man from God even came to Eli
To warn him that the Lord honors those who honor him,
And despises those who hold him in contempt. (1 Samuel 2:30)
But Eli would not be moved.
If the nearly blind, elderly priest
Would not respond to the Lord’s directive from an outsider
Perhaps the Lord had another card to play.
There was a third son,
A mere boy,
Meaning he was younger than the age of maturity,
Younger than 13.
It was time for the Lord to call Samuel.
The call of Samuel,
Which we have earlier heard proclaimed,
Is recognized as a monumental text
That has catapulted the imagination of many
And launched them into the process of discernment.
“Since God called the young child Samuel,
When is God going to call me?”
Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.
Too often,
When we hear the word “call,”
Or the Lord “calling” someone,
We assume the call is to become a pastor.
In Samuel’s case, nothing could be further from the truth.
The Lord called Samuel to a life of righteousness and justice;
The Lord also calls Samuel to a ministry of prophecy and judgment.
The Lord had a message to send to Eli
Through his newly called child prophet, Samuel:
Daddy and his boys were going to pay,
And pay mightily,
For the iniquity,
The blasphemy,
Eli’s house had committed.
They would be punished.
They would pay with their lives.
Justice and righteousness matter to God;
Both values to which God’s people are called.
Samuel was faithful to his call
And he did just what the Lord requested of him.
He informed his father, Eli,
Who took the news to heart.
“It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.”
(1 Samuel 3:18)
Finally, Eli had listened to the Lord.
The Lord fulfilled his promise.
Eli and his two sons would die.
Samuel would become a life-long,
trustworthy prophet of the Lord.
(1 Samuel 3:20)
He would mature into the role as God’s last Judge (leader) in Israel,
The one who the Lord rallied to defeat the Philistines,
The one who God directed to anoint kings, Saul and David.
Samuel’s exciting life as God’s prophet can be read in the
Biblical books of Judges, and 1st & 2nd Samuel,
Which I highly recommend.
…
Question.
Are we living out our call to act with righteousness, upholding justice?
Samuel’s childhood call narrative teaches us something about our relationship with God.
Indeed, the Lord often guides one to diverse roles,
Changing over the course of life,
Spanning from childhood to old age.
It begs the question,
What does God’s call look like,
At this time,
At this place in your life?
Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.
…
Both this Sunday and next Sunday
We are experiencing powerful call narratives from the Gospel;
Today from John and next week from Mark.
Jesus is launching his ministry by calling his first disciples.
John was doing his job.
You know John, don’t you?
The Baptist guy.
The one who had amassed quite the following;
The one who had been baptizing the crowds in the Jordan River;
The one who baptized Jesus in Jordan’s icy current.
He had been standing on the street corner with two of his followers,
Andrew and Simon (who would also be known as Peter),
Both Andrew and Simon Peter were from the seaside Galilean village of Bethsaida.
John, Andrew, and Peter
Were standing on a street corner in the lower Jordan valley,
In the region of Judah,
Someplace within a day’s walk
From where John was preaching and baptizing;
Quite possibly in the ancient City of Jericho (of Jushua’s fame).
Jesus is seen walking by when John exclaims,
“Look, here is the Lamb of God!”
(John 1:35)
Testimony, as is often the case, results in action.
Andrew and Peter immediately followed Jesus.
“What are you looking for?” Jesus inquires.
“Rabbi,” they respond, “where are you staying?”
“Come and see,” Jesus replies.
Come and see.
And the first two disciples were called. (John 1:37-39)
Bethsaida, the town where Andrew and Simon Peter grew up,
Was a small village,
Kind of like the hamlet of Rush,
And, like in every small town,
Tongues tend to wag.
Everybody knew everybody else’s business.
Everyone, it appeared, was related.
Siblings, cousins, and neighborhood kids grew up together.
While Jesus’ first two disciples were from Bethsaida,
Jesus had grown up in the nearby village of Nazareth,
Less than 30 miles to the west.
If Jesus intended to expand the number of his disciples,
Perhaps he should stretch his network of those who he is calling.
Thus, it makes sense, for
Them to travel to Andrew and Peter’s hometown, Bethsaida.
In your mind’s eye,
Think of these three (Jesus, Andrew and Simon Peter) walking the path
That paralleled the Jordan River, then, around the east side of the Sea of Galilee,
Arriving at the bustling village of Bethsaida.
It is here where the Gospel picks up the narrative.
Jesus finds Philip, quite possibly
a friend or relative of Andrew or Peter.
“Find” is a very important word,
Especially in the context of the Gospel of John;
It serves as a launchpad for deeper reflection as the story unfolds.
Find.
To be found.
Know.
To be known.
The easy way out would be to suggest
Andrew and Peter had simply briefed Jesus about Philip,
“Primed the pump,” as it is often said,
And convinced him
On the road between the Jordan in the south
And Bethsaida in the north
That Philip was a really good chap
And would serve as an excellent recruit for our Lord’s third disciple.
Yet, when we look at the Gospel of John in total,
From a thirty-thousand foot perspective,
We see this longing desire for our God to know us
Through his Son, Jesus Christ;
To know his disciples,
To know those who are being called to make up his body.
Finding and knowing are characteristics of God, played in spades.
God finds and knows disciples before each are called.
As Nathanael comes towards Jesus, he said,
“Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”
“Where did you get to know me?” Nathanael asked, apparently mystified.
“I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you,” Jesus replied.
Nathanael immediately comes to recognition,
“Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the king of Israel!”
(John 1:47-49)
John witnessed to Andrew and Peter.
“Come and see” was our Lord’s invitation.
In turn, it was Andrew and Simon Peter who led Jesus to Philip and Nathanael.
Jesus found them and knew them,
Even, as I would suggest, Andrew and Peter
Had a chance to introduce Jesus to Philip and Nathanael.
It is the Divine nature of Jesus that finds disciples.
It is his love, that seeks to know each and every one of us.
It is his call, that every baptized disciple receives,
To come and follow him.
The call, for Andrew and Peter, for Philip and Nathanael,
Is for the one who is called to go and find more disciples,
Those whom Jesus already knows
Where they are
And who they are.
Jesus is the one making disciples.
It is the roll of his disciples to support Jesus to make more.
Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.
…
Have you testified like John,
Pointed to Jesus, saying “Look, here is the lamb of God!”?
Have you introduced friends and neighbors to Jesus?
Who in your network hasn’t yet heard the whisper of God?
Who are your acquaintances
Who haven’t yet been introduced to Jesus?
“God so loves the world,” Jesus teaches.
The whole world is called to Jordan’s baptismal waters,
To become a member of Christ’s body;
To be claimed by God,
Adopted by God.
Found and known.
As members of Christ’s body,
The Son of God,
All of us are called to live righteously before God,
To always try to do the right thing.
Follow God’s commands.
Act according to God’s instructions.
Prioritize justice.
Let us be like Samuel.
Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.
As members of Christ’s body,
The Son of God,
Let us dedicate ourselves to introducing others to Jesus,
To take an active roll in disciple making.
Witness what you have seen.
Testify to what you know.
Introduce others to Jesus
And let God do the rest.
What does God’s call look like to you,
At this time,
At this place in your life?
Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.
Some of us are called to pastoral ministry.
Some are called to prophecy.
Some are called to teach.
Others are called to justice ministries,
To advocate for the poor,
To feed, house, and provide shelter,
To visit in prisons,
To minister to the sick and dying.
The apostle Paul even reports that some are called to speak in tongues.
What does God’s call look like to you,
At this time,
At this place in your life?
Know this to be true:
God calls all of us to righteous living.
Jesus calls all of us to bring to him new disciples.
Amen.
Breaking Yokes 