The Rev. Kenneth H. Saunders III
St. James Episcopal Church
Greeneville, TN
In today’s lessons from the Holy Scriptures, we get many images of call and response. God’s call and God’s people’s response. Jesus’ call and the follower’s response. I’m not talking about calls like you would make on the telephone or by yelling across a room.
This is a deep-seated sense of call. A hearing, not necessarily with your ears, but with your whole body. A feeling deep down, deep in your bones. It’s like when you hear an older, wiser person talk. They sometimes say, “I know it in my bones.”
These people often have the gift of discernment, or the ability to perceive and respond, by the Holy Spirit’s movement, respond to God’s will. It is sometimes referred to as spiritual sensitivity. It’s said that a spiritually sensitive person is “in tune” with God’s heart. But, I think the lessons we heard today go beyond just call and response. They are about God speaking, God’s people listening, and God’s people hearing and knowing. They talk about honoring God with lived lives and responding to God fully by following.
Samuel’s mother, Hannah, was initially unable to have children. Eli, the priest, happened upon her when she was praying silently for God to give her a child. Eli blessed her and asked that God grant her request. She gave birth to her child and named him Samuel (God heard me). Samuel was her long-awaited child, and she thought it only proper to honor God by giving Samuel to God's service.
We can only imagine how hard it would be to give up a child, our only child, to be raised by someone else. We can hardly comprehend that grief. Samuel grew up in the service of God, but he was not a servant to Eli. And Eli, in his advanced age, was not a master, nor was he merely Samuel’s caretaker. I think the relationship was more like father and son, or even grandfather and grandson, or at the least, mentor and student.
I find it fascinating that God called out to Samuel in the story, and it came 3 times before he even knew what was happening. Then, Eli perceived that God was calling to the boy and that Samuel needed to listen.
The scene in the reading from Samuel is all too familiar. The word of the Lord was rare, and visions were not widespread. When was the last time you saw a vision of a pillar of fire, a column of smoke, or maybe a parting river or sea? No, we haven’t seen many visions that we perceived to be from God recently. That doesn’t mean they’re not there. It just means that we don’t recognize them.
God sometimes needs to call us repeatedly until we finally understand God is calling. Until we finally start listening. I know that when I began the process of discernment and self-discovery in the process of Holy Orders for the church. I realized that I had been called as a young adult. Called but didn’t listen. That doesn’t mean I never heard. It just means that it took a while for me to understand that it was from God. After spending most of my life running in the other direction, finally, at 35, I stepped up and said, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”
Perceiving, hearing, and listening to that divine voice is something we are each called to do, but it’s complicated. The best that we can hope to do is honor God with our life. That’s what Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth is saying. In this reading, like in all of scripture, context matters. We have to remember that Corinth is a large port city in Greece. It was an epicenter of big trade on the Gulf of Corinth’s shores that led out to the Mediterranean and the known world.
Corinth saw all types, sorts, and conditions of people. Some people say that it was more like the Las Vegas of the day, known for its riff-raff, its prostitutes, and pagan temples. I had a study group of pastors that used to say, “What happens in Corinth stays in Corinth.” In Paul’s letter to the Corinthian Church, Paul addresses their struggles and points them toward a righteous living that honors God.
He reminds them that regardless of what surrounds them, they are vessels of the Holy Spirit, bearers of the divine spark, and he calls them to glorify and honor God with their life. He calls them to listen and respond with honor. Listen to the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit and respond with honor in their actions. In this case, what do they do with their bodies?
In the case of our gospel reading, Jesus has just been baptized by John in the River Jordan. We were there last week as Jesus came out of the water, the heavens were ripped open, and a booming voice came down from heaven, “You are my son, the beloved. With you, I am well pleased.” God spoke, and some thought it sounded like thunder.
Now, we are with Jesus as he goes to the region of Galilee the day after he is baptized. He starts on what I like to call “his recruiting tour” as he rounds up folks from the towns and villages around the Sea of Galilee, most of them fishermen. Today, we hear of Jesus calling Phillip, a contemporary of Andrew and Peter, from Bethsaida. A small fishing village on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. There, Jesus told Phillip, “Follow me,” and Phillip then found Nathanial.
Nathanial comes off as uninterested in this man Jesus from Nazareth and even asks Phillip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Again, in our reading, context matters! Nazareth was considered the equivalent of a place on the “wrong side of the tracks.” Indeed, it is not a place for a messianic teacher to be from. But Phillip’s invitation was simple: “Come & see.”
Nonetheless, possibly reluctantly, Nathaniel goes to Jesus, and Jesus identifies Nathaniel as an “Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” Nathanial replies that Jesus is the Son of God and King of Israel. And Jesus tells Nathaniel, you haven’t seen anything yet.
In their interaction, Jesus calls Phillip, and Phillip turns around and calls or invites Nathaniel. It reminds us that sometimes, in our travels, we depend on others to help show us the way. Like Eli showed Samuel. The simple invitations in this portion of John’s Gospel account are “follow me” and “come and see.” No flamboyant promises are made other than you haven’t seen anything yet.
Phillip and Nathaniel heard Jesus’ call and responded with their life. They responded to something they perceived to be much bigger than they were. They knew that Moses and the prophets spoke of one who would come, and when Jesus arrived, they answered the call.
So, where does that leave us today? How do we hear the voice of God? How do we respond to God’s Call when it seems like God isn’t saying much or doing much? I would like to remind us that we need to remember to stay still enough to listen. Listen to that still, small voice from God that comes through at the most unexpected times in the most unforeseen and strangest places. And sometimes through the most incredible people and in the most unexpected situations.
When that happens, then hear God out; believe me, you will know if it’s of God. A good litmus test for it would be something that Bishop Curry always says, “If it’s of Love, then it’s of God.” If it builds up, honors, restores, empowers, and heals God’s people (which is all of humanity), then it’s of God.
The next thing we need to do is honor God. Put God first at all times and in all things. God put us first by entrusting us to be bearers of the Holy Spirit. We need to honor God by putting God first. Remember that God loves you and wants to use you to help restore this broken world. God calls you and me into a relationship to function together as Christ’s body on earth.
We are Jesus’ hands and feet as we lift up, heal, and work for justice and peace. St. Theresa of Avilla reminds us when she says: “Christ has no body but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world, Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good, Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.”
And finally, like Phillip called Nathaniel, we are called to bring others into a relationship with Jesus. We are responsible for making other disciples who will follow Jesus in a way that leads to life and salvation. Phillip simply told Nathanial to come and see. In this day and age, it might be “click and watch,” but whatever it is, it is a first step for them to see what a relationship with Jesus could do for them. Inviting them to worship with God’s people and be nurtured by the word and sacrament of our Lord.
Things may be quiet now, but we know God is still speaking. Folks may not hear initially, but we know God’s people listen, hear, and understand. We know this world needs help, and we know God’s people are honoring God and trying to respond fully by following Jesus in the way. So, we continue to follow Jesus and invite others to Come and See what life in Christ is all about.
