Epiphany 02B

Getting Ready for Sunday

©Robert Gail Stoddard

Introductions to the Lectionary Readings Assigned for

The Second Sunday after the Epiphany

January 15, 2006

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth.

O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy your consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

1 Samuel 3:1-10

Even in spiritually dry times, the people of God must be ready to hear and respond when God calls, because God is calling. God can achieve extraordinary things in ordinary times … if we’re willing to hear and do. This Bible lesson presents an historic “mini-drama” unfolding at the heart of Hebrew religion (in the Tabernacle) as the Lord calls Samuel, launching the prophetic ministry that will transform Israel from a tribal confederacy into a monarchy, and point the way to the Messiah.

If it wasn’t so serious, the way Yahweh-God is forced to keep coming back to Samuel would be humorous. However, this is no laughing matter. Samuel’s confusion, which has him running to Eli rather than God, reflects a fundamental problem: Samuel lives in a time when spiritual messages and visions are unusual. According to this text, the consequences are devastating. Samuel doesn’t know God! According to v. 7, “Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before.” While alternative readings are possible, the NLT suggests that, at least for Samuel, there is a specific connection between knowing the Lord and receiving the Lord’s messages (prophecy). Once he receives the Lord’s message, he knows the Lord.

Since Eli serves as both a priest and political leader (“judge” – see 1 Samuel 4:18 NRSV), he is in some sense responsible for Samuel’s situation. Perhaps he was more interested in maintaining peace and quiet than he was in finding and following the Lord. Fortunately, there comes a time when even Eli is forced to recognize what’s happening and, at least momentarily, mentor Samuel.

Samuel returns to bed, and God returns to call him one more time. There is a note of irony here, of course: traditionally, God “lived” above the Ark in the Tabernacle. He should have been there all the time! Oh well. Mentored by Eli, Samuel finally responds, “Yes, your servant is listening.” The dry spell is ending. At least one person will receive heavenly messages and visions, and Israel will be transformed.

For us, the passage works on two levels. First, regardless of how you evaluate the century-long Pentecostal revival, some believers are still receiving heavenly messages and visions. When we do, we need to take them seriously and take action. Second, even if we have never received a heavenly message or vision – or even reject the notion of heavenly messages and visions altogether – every believer (remember “the priesthood of all believers”?) needs to be prepared to mentor-forward those who are being called to a deeper relationship with God.

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Christians are truly free: Christ has set free us from the law and so, in some sense, we can do whatever we want. Both Paul and his opponents agree to that much. But Christian freedom also creates Christian responsibility.

On a purely physical level, there isn’t any argument between Paul and his opponents. Despite the health consequences of our behavior (Paul’s reference to food and stomachs makes me think of overeating), our physical health won’t decide our place in eternity. However, that doesn’t excuse irresponsible, immoral living.

Paul’s reasoning is difficult to follow, but it seems to turn on understanding that Christians live in two dimensions – spiritual as well as physical. As a result, moral decisions in the physical realm can have lasting consequences in the spiritual.

Paul adopts human sexuality an example. From a biblical perspective, sexuality involves our physical and spiritual natures. Our United Methodist marriage ceremony points out that marriage unites two families and creates a new one, a spiritual truth that is physically “realized” in sexuality. Sexual activity outside of marriage ignores this, with long-term spiritual consequences.

However we understand Paul’s logic, we can agree that God paid a tremendous price for each of us – and he didn’t pay that price for “half a loaf.” Believers are washed, justified, and sanctified (see v. 11, immediately before our Bible lesson). He bought us “body and soul” and so, despite our freedom, God expects us to act responsibly in all circumstances.

As American Christians, we experience freedom and responsibility in both our civic and spiritual lives. Democracy won’t work if citizens adopt the view that they are free to act irresponsibly, doing anything they please. For instance, we are guaranteed freedom of speech, but shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theatre could have devastating consequences. The same applies in our Christian lives. Christ has set us free from the law of sin and death, but – in the process – we assume responsibility for the morality of our lives.

John 1:43-51

Throughout his ministry, Jesus called disciples, then sent them out to extend his ministry to others. Philip is just one example (Andrew had already reached out to Peter; see John 1:40-41) but, when Philip found what he was looking for in Jesus, he raced to share his discovery with Nathanael. When Nathanael met Jesus, he realized he’d found what he was looking for, too: “the Son of God—the King of Israel!” Jesus welcomes him into the fellowship of faith, inviting Nathanael to come and climb with him.

Jesus seeks out and calls Philip to discipleship and, immediately, Philip goes off to share his experience with Nathanael and invite Nathanael to meet Jesus. Although we have only the barest outline of these two encounters, in no more than a few hours Philip goes from anonymity to an effective evangelist. His seemingly instantaneous insight is breathtaking. “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about!” he tells Nathanael. “His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

Clearly, Nathanael trusts Philip’s judgment. He doesn’t dispute the notion that Philip has found the Messiah. However, there’s a problem. According to the prophecies we share each Christmas, the Messiah was supposed to be born in Bethlehem.[1] Philip isn’t put off by this objection. Instead, he invites Nathanael to come and meet Jesus for himself.

As Nathanael approaches, Jesus welcomes him as “an honest man – a true son of Israel.” Baffled by this welcome, Nathanael wonders how Jesus can be so certain, and Jesus replies mysteriously, “I could see you under the fig tree…” However, it isn’t necessarily so mysterious. According to The Life Application Commentary on John, “sitting under the fig tree” was a euphemism for meditating on the scriptures. Truly, Nathanael is a son of Israel! (I’m not sure it’s a point worth pursing, but “bar mitzvah” marks a young Jewish man as “a son of the commandments” which seems remarkably similar to Jesus’ description of Nathanael as “a true son of Israel.”)

Nathanael quickly trumps Philip’s confession. Jesus, he declares, is “the Son of God—the King of Israel!” This confession leads to a tremendous promise. Like the beloved patriarch Jacob, Nathanael “will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down upon the Son of Man,” as Jesus – the Son of Man – connects heaven and earth, and invites believers to come and climb.

This story illustrates prevenient grace, as Jesus prepares the way for us even before we know who he is. There is no hint that Jesus or Nathanael had met before yet – by calling Philip and acknowledging Nathanael’s devotion – Nathanael is able to confess Christ and claim a place in salvation. The same prevenient grace is at work in each of our lives. Have you responded and confessed Christ as God’s Son and your King?

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture readings are from the Holy Bible: New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189. All rights reserved.

----

[1] “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village in Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past” (Micah 5:2).