Anatomy of the Call

2 Epiphany B  January 18,2015

1 Samuel 3:1-10  Psalm 63:1-8

1 Corinthians 6:11b-20  John 1:43-51

 Lectionary Link

   One of the effects of writing is to make the readers think that we attain an actual imaginary state of "being there."  That is the illusion of literature and art; it traps us in a state of immediacy and we forget that it is "representational" or literary art.

  And so I like the delicious writing in the story about the calling of the boy Samuel.  The writer writes that "the word of the Lord and visions were rare in those days."  This was right after the writer reported that the eyesight of the priest Eli was "dim."  The whole story about Eli and Samuel is about the loss of succession of the office of Judge and priest by the household of Eli.  Eli was a good priest but his sons had corrupted the priestly office and so right under the nose of Eli, God was calling someone else to be the next judge and successor.  Samuel was the one whom God was calling to replace the sons of Eli as the leader of Israel.  Family succession in leadership was quite common and so for there to be a break in the succession a significant event would need to occur.  For such a significant   change it had to be understood as divine intervention or as a God "event."

  Samuel was a "God child."  He is in the biblical line of "immaculate" births of great persons.  The immaculate birth story motif is a biblical motif to trace the origins of great people as "special events or acts of God."

  Samuel's mother Hannah was the poor childless wife who prayed ceaselessly for the blessing of a child.  Childless women in those time were taught to regard themselves as half people...half women; women of those times had to have their social and family identity authenticated through child birth.

  Hannah prayed in such sorrowed ecstasy at the temple at Shiloh she was thought to be drunk.  Hannah promised to give her child to God if she could only conceive and bear a child. And God answered her prayers and she bore the child Samuel and gave him to God to serve at the temple with Eli as one who took the ascetic vows of the Nazirite.  He would not drink alcoholic drinks, or cut his hair and he would avoid ritual impurity.   And this special immaculately conceived child Samuel would be called to replace the corrupt priestly leadership of Israel.  The Judge Samuel is the one who ushered Israel into the age of their monarchy as he is the one who anointed both Kings Saul and David.

  The biblical writers who wrote the history of the change in succession wrote that it happened because of the special call of Samuel.  When the priesthood was corrupt and people were "out of touch" with God, God spoke to Samuel and called him to restore integrity to the office of priest and judge who served in the Tent of Meetings in Shiloh.

  In the history of our world, the event of Jesus Christ changed the world.  And when it was becoming obvious about how widespread the Jesus Movement was happening, the leaders of the church wanted to trace the origins of their Movement.  The original dynamic of the Jesus Movement started in the person to person contact of Jesus with those who were drawn to his teaching.  Disciples fell under the effect of his charisma and the encounters which led to the early disciples to be devotees of Jesus Christ are designated as the Call of Christ.  We have the rather interesting call of Nathaniel recorded in our Gospel lesson today.  What we might conclude from this calling of Nathaniel is this:  Jesus could read body language from afar.  He had read Nathaniel seeing him from afar and watching his behavior when he was under the fig tree.  We also conclude that Jesus was highly ironic and perhaps even appreciated skepticism and sarcasm.  Nathaniel had asked his friend Philip, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"  When we think about inter- collegiate or inter-city rivals, one can imagine the inter-village rivalries of Galilee and perhaps the jealousies and the competition which resulted.   Perhaps Jesus would have been amused by Nathaniel's banter.  Is this why he seems to jokingly say? "Well, here is an Israelite who truly speaks his mind!"  Well, Nathaniel is quite impressed that Jesus had taken an interest in him and Jesus says, "well you're easily impressed, because there is going to be much, much more.  Even Jacob’s ladder will be surpassed."  The Call in Christianity is about the succession of the Gospel from one person to the next.  The call of Christ happens when faith is shared from one person to the next.  This is how Christianity grew and this is how it survived.  Jesus called disciples and they called disciples and the calling has rippled to the edge of the pond of history where we live now.

  We can find in our other Scripture readings some ingredients of the call of God and Christ. The first thing that we realize is that "we do not belong to ourselves."  The secret of not abusing our bodies is to learn how to shift the ownership of our lives to God and receive God's help in the stewardship of our lives.  Our bodies are God's Temple, God's place of residence and we need to take care to maintain God's house.  So the call of God in Christ means that we regard ourselves to be a dwelling place of God.

  The Psalm which we have read today is the poetry of a person who has discovered that he or she was put in this life with a purpose.  Everyone needs to have the Yogi Berra experience of "deja vu all over again."  When we encounter sublime moments in our lives of being the "perfect" fit for an event or situation, we have the "aha" moments of the call of God.  Wow!  It is not all just a random accident!  I fit this life in a significant way.  I have purpose for events and people and not because I'm famous.  I fit the events in life because I experience love, hope and joy and because people are meaningful to me and occasionally I experience that I am meaningful to them.  This all seems so wonderful, so ordained.  This was the poetry of the call as articulated by the Psalmist who felt like he or she was known by God and followed by God in each time and place of life.

  My friends, today you and I have been called.  We are in the succession of a long line of people who have been called by God.  Some are more famous than others, but the fame does not matter, the Call of God does matter.  We have been called to make the temple a traveling building again.  The Temple in Shiloh was the movable tabernacle before it became fixed in Jerusalem.  The destroyed Temple of Jerusalem means that the Holy Spirit or God's glory has hit the road and dwells within the address of each of our bodies now.  We are called to be the dwelling place of God; let us treat ourselves as such.

  Finally, the call of God gives the moments of poetic ecstasy when we feel like we really "fit" this world in events of sublime beauty, in events of friendship, in events when justice and love really wins the day.

  Let us be thankful today that the call of God in Christ is upon our lives.  Amen.