A WORD FOR TODAY, January 13, 2021
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, January 13, 2021
Scriptures for January 17, 2021, Second Sunday after the Epiphany: 1 Samuel 3:1-10 [11-20]; Psalm 139:1-10; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; John 1:43-51
“Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me.” Psalm 139:1, WEB
Today’s psalm reminds me of the Christmas song, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” The lyrics speak of an omniscient being who watches our every move and judges our worthiness based on the good and bad things we do. “You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout I’m telling you way, Santa Claus is coming to town.” It goes on, “He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.” This idea of someone being able to see and know the intimate details of our lives is somewhat frightening to many people. It doesn’t help that Santa Claus is a little creepy in his red furry suit. Though Santa is not equal to God, but the idea of an omnipotent being is equally disturbing to some people. We are not even willing to share our deepest secrets those closest to us, such as our spouses or best friends. The idea of anyone knowing us totally is hard to accept. I guess that’s because we think of omniscience in terms of Santa Claus; we fear that if they really know us, then we won’t receive any blessings from the relationship. If we’ve done something bad, Santa won’t bring us our gifts and we worry that if God knows our hearts, we won’t experience His grace.
But God is more than a spouse or a best friend. He knows everything and loves us anyway. This is very comforting to me. I looked back on my past use of this psalm and discovered that I’ve used it dozens of times in twenty plus years. I even used it twice in the weeks I dealt with my ailing father. In the midst of the trauma and decisions, I must have found comfort in these words to be drawn to it twice in such a short period of time. But it is good to know that when everything else is falling apart, God is with us. He is there to care for us. He has a plan for us. His grace will win out even when it seems like nothing will ever be right in our world again, because He is faithful and He is present. As we consider the depth of the promise that He knows us and loves us anyway, we can go forth in faith to do whatever it is to which He is calling us to do, knowing we are never alone.
The news was not so good for Eli and his sons, whose lives were not lived for the glory of God, though they were tasked with the responsibility of being priests in God’s Temple. Eli’s sons were given their positions in the Temple by inheritance. They didn’t have the heart or the attitude to have the power or authority of priests of God. They took advantage of their positions, using them for their own gain. They did nothing for God’s people; they did not serve the Lord. They were given all they had and they did not value it. They abused their power and lived sinful lives. Eli knew his sons were evil, and tried to stop them, but he did not succeed. They continued to be wicked and the Lord decided to put them to death and end the house of Eli. They lived under a promise made to Eli's father that they would minister before the Lord forever, but since Eli chose to honor his sons more than God, God chose to end that promise.
Samuel was very different; he was a most unusual young man. His mother Hannah was barren, but loved deeply by her husband Elkanah. He treated Hannah with love and grace to the point of making his other wife jealous. Whenever he went to Shiloh to worship the Lord God Almighty, Penninah treated Hannah so poorly that she wept and refused to eat. Elkanah asked, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why don’t you eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?” She ate and then went into the temple to pray. Her ache was so deep and her tears so bitter that her prayers came from the very depths of her heart even while her lips moved soundlessly. Eli the priest saw her and thought she was drunk. He rebuked her, but she told him that she was pouring out her soul to the Lord. He said, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him.”
During her prayers, Hannah made a vow, “Yahweh of Armies, if you will indeed look at the affliction of your servant and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a boy, then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and no razor shall come on his head.” She became pregnant and gave birth to Samuel. As soon as he was weaned, Hannah took Samuel to the temple and gave him to Eli to serve the Lord for his whole life. Her faithfulness was rewarded as she was blessed with more children.
Today’s Old Testament lesson picks up Samuel’s life sometime later, perhaps a decade. He was probably in his early teens. He had been ministering before the Lord, learning the priestly work under his mentor Eli. It was a time when God had been silent; there were no visions and the word of the Lord was rare. Samuel had never experienced that kind of incarnation; he probably didn’t even know that it could happen. His understanding of God was limited; though he served in the temple, his service had always been to Eli. Eli was as like a father to him and Samuel did everything he could do to help Eli. Eli was quite old, he could barely see; he needed a helper to do even the most mundane things on a daily basis.
Samuel was attending the lamp in the temple, ensuring that it would not go out, when he heard a voice calling to him. He assumed it was Eli and he ran to his mentor’s side. “You called?” Samuel asked. Eli answered, “No.” Samuel went back to the lamb and heard the voice a second time. He ran to Eli. “You called?” Eli said, “No.” This happened a third time. This time Eli understood that the Lord was calling Samuel. “Go back and when He calls, answer, ‘Speak; for your servant hears.’”
Samuel obeyed. When the Lord stood there and called Samuel’s name, Samuel answered as Eli told him. Did he understand what was happening? I am not so sure; even at this point Samuel was obedient to Eli, the one he knows and has served for so long. It must have been a frightening thing since his experience of the Lord had been so mundane.
It didn’t help that the Lord spoke words against Eli which were difficult for Samuel to hear. What would you do if the Lord came to you and told you that He was going to do this horrible thing to someone that you loved? The words made Samuel afraid. How could he tell Eli this truth? The first thing God laid on Samuel’s shoulders as His prophet was this harsh word. Eli warned Samuel to be honest with him, and that God would punish him if he hid anything. Samuel told Eli what he heard. Eli answered, “It is Yahweh. Let him do what seems good to him.”
Talk about baptism by fire! This was a hard way to begin a career serving the Lord, but this harsh word verified to Eli that Samuel was a chosen prophet. He was not telling Eli something new; Eli had already heard this word, and now Eli knew without a doubt that it was true. But Eli also knew that God was not leaving the people desolate. Imagine if you were Eli, trying to reign in out of control sons, knowing that you have failed to be not only the father but also the priest that God called him to be. It was up to him to ensure the spiritual welfare of his people, but how could that happen if there was no one to carry on the ministry? Samuel was a ray of hope in a hopeless situation. Samuel grew and ministered to the Lord; the people heard God’s Word through him. God was no longer silent.
His life was never easy, but He was obedient to God and He did what God called and sent him to do. The people of Israel were, as all of us are, imperfect. They believed God but often fell away. The history of God’s people is a constant circle of faith, apathy, sinfulness, repentance and faith. God had to remind His people of their failure, their needs and His grace over and over again. They suffered the consequences of their apathy and sinfulness but were always given a word of hope and God always remained faithful to the promises He made to them.
I had a friendship that began when we were just little children. Our parents were friends because we were neighbors out in the country. Our family moved into the city, but we continued to enjoy that friendship. My friend was invited to all my birthday parties and we spent several weeks each summer staying at each other’s houses. We loved to camp out in the woods behind her house when we were old enough to be “on our own.” We even roughed it, using a hole in the ground instead of the cozy indoor plumbing in her house.
Our paths went different directions when we were in High School. We had different friends and different interests. We attended the same Girl Scout meetings for awhile; I rode the bus home with her and her mother took us to the meetings. She stopped going, but I liked that troop and we made arrangements that I would still go home with her and her mom made sure I got to the church where the meetings were held.
One day, my friend brought another friend home with her. There had already been evidence that she had chosen a group of friends who were involved in drugs, but that day I saw it for myself. The two girls smoked a joint in her basement. I left them alone and went to find a quiet place to read a book. That day I decided that we no longer had anything in common. I stopped going to Girl Scouts and we lost touch.
Unfortunately, my friend died at a very young age. Her death was unexplained, but the reports denied it was drug related. Whatever the cause, her life had been wasted. She had a learning disability that was not properly diagnosed and she used it as an excuse to never accomplish anything. She accepted her failures as a fact of life and found comfort in the company of others who didn’t care about the future. She was drawn into the world of people who willingly threw their lives away following a path of abuse and addiction. That became her home and her life.
Paul talks about the use, and abuse, of the body in today’s lesson. He was addressing the issue of the Corinthian attitude about the Law. They thought that nothing they did in the flesh had any bearing on their spiritual life. Paul agreed that all things are lawful, that the rules of the past are no longer binding to the person who has been saved by God’s grace. But, he went on to say that all things are not beneficial. It was fine for a Christian to eat meat that had been given as an offering to a foreign god because it had no meaning to the spirit of the believer. However, was everything beneficial? No. Some things are harmful to the body, to the soul and to the fellowship of believers.
In this case, Paul discussed fornication with the prostitutes of the foreign gods. Would a believer lose his eternal soul if he fornicated with those priestesses? God’s grace is always bigger than our failures. He has overcome our sin and has defeated death despite our inability to stand firm in His promises. However, sin is very powerful. Drugs at first offer a moment of bliss apart from a world of pain and suffering, but they eventually take over, harming the flesh and life of the addict.
We are part of something much bigger than ourselves. Though we might enjoy the things that tempt us, let us always remember that our life is a gift from God and our body is His temple. Sin often seems harmless at first; who is harmed by one joint in the basement? But it would do us well to ask the same question as Paul: is it beneficial? We are called to make a commitment to the body of Christ, and if our actions are not beneficial, then we should answer like Paul. It might be lawful, but we should not be brought under its power. This is not only for the sake of one person’s flesh, but for the entire body of Christ. We should always keep away from those things that might bring harm to ourselves or others.
There was a scene in a movie (actually, many movies) with a woman who had heard a piece of incredible news. She wanted to shout it out to the whole world, but not before she told someone who was particularly special. “I wanted you to be the first to know,” she said. I’m always happy when my daughter calls me with something exciting that has happened. I used to love calling my mom, too, when there was happy news. She was one of the first people I thought of when I had something to share. Throughout the years I’ve had friends who have been my confidents. I tell Bruce everything, and my kids. I’ll share news with friends at church or parents of fellow students at my kids’ schools. Some things are just too good to keep to yourself.
Philip was excited about what was happening in his town. John the Baptist was preaching a good word about God and baptizing people in the Jordan. John told his followers that someone greater was going to come along. They were expecting a Messiah because Moses and the prophets had written about him. So, when Philip met Jesus, he knew this was something that he should not keep to himself. He found Nathaniel and told him about Jesus. Nathaniel didn’t believe Philip right away because the news did not match his expectations. “What good can come out of Nazareth?” he asked.
Nazareth in Jesus’ day was a dirty small town with average folk and even a few shady characters. It wasn’t the type of place you would expect to bring forth someone as important as the Messiah. Nathaniel was not necessarily putting the town down, but there were certain expectations. How could the Messiah possibly live in a place like Nazareth? There was no power, no prestige, no position available in that town. How can this man overcome his lack of credentials to become the promised leader of God’s people? How could this man, a carpenter’s son, become a warrior king of Israel and lead them into a new Golden age?
Philip didn’t argue, he just said, “Come and see” and in doing so gave Nathaniel the chance to believe that his news was true. Jesus showed Nathaniel His credentials, power and authority. But the thing that made Nathaniel believe was just the beginning. Jesus promised that they would see incredible things. This news of the coming Messiah was the start of something really new in the world.
Sometimes God seems quiet, as He was in the days of Eli and Samuel, but God still speaks to His people. The writer of Hebrews tells us, “God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.” (Hebrews 1:1-2)
The Old Testament stories show us that God spoke to His people through the patriarchs and the prophets. He came to them in a very real way; sometimes He sent angels, sometimes He spoke in dreams. He even appeared pre-incarnate in human form. Last week we talked about the powerful voice of God. When He spoke, things happened. God spoke and the world was transformed. Now, we are told in Hebrews, that we hear God’s voice in the words of Jesus.
So, we know God does talk to His people, through the scriptures and through His Son. We also know that God still talks to us through others. Yet, there are many contradictory voices out there. Which church is right? Who has the best understanding of God’s Word? Is God calling us to do this thing or not? It can be very confusing, especially when we see so much politics in our religious communities. When two Christians disagree vehemently about an issue, who is right? What is truth? Who is speaking God’s Word? It is no wonder that we doubt what we hear because the world is chaotic.
And sometimes we will make the wrong choice. We will believe the wrong word. We’ll speak the wrong word because it makes the most sense to us in our understanding of God’s love and grace and Word. We’ll say and believe “God told me,” when the voice we heard was not His. We will fail because do not always listen to the voices around us through the lens of God’s Word. I was so glad that when God did speak to me, He did so in words that I knew were His. “My grace is sufficient for you,” was more true than all the other words being spoken to me by the voices who truly believed that they were speaking for God.
Thankfully, God’s grace is always bigger than our failures. He has overcome our sin and has defeated death despite our inability to stand firm in His promises. When we are confused by the voices we hear, when we listen and believe what they say, we can trust that God will keep calling us until we hear what He is really saying. We may be led down a wrong path, but God will find a way to turn us around.
God still speaks and He calls us into a relationship. It is difficult in this world because even Christians wonder if we are really hearing the voice of God. We want to be accepted, to be respected, to be happy. We want to fit in. But God’s grace is sufficient. To believe otherwise is to doubt God.
On this second Sunday of Epiphany, we are reminded that God has invited us into a new life, a life following Him. It doesn’t matter if others think we are crazy because we have met the Messiah in an unexpected place or way. What matters is that we live the life that glorifies Him, trusting that He has done something we might never fully understand. God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows what we are meant to do. He knows what purpose our life holds. And He has promised that we will see extraordinary things happen. When we hear His voice, and we will, we need only say, “Speak; for your servant hears.” Unfortunately, sometimes the Word God wants us to speak will be uncomfortable and unpopular.
God knows our hearts. It might be uncomfortable to think about God reading our hearts, knowing our fears and our doubts, but we can find comfort in the knowledge that God knows what we need and that He is faithful. We are just like the Israelites who repeatedly turned from Him. We still experience that constant circle of faith, apathy, sinfulness, repentance and faith, but God is quick with mercy and forgiveness. He knew that we’d never truly be faithful, so He sent Jesus to be faithful for us. Now He is the Word God speaks into the world and we are called to hear His voice and answer.
We are made new when are baptized into Christ Jesus, but there is more to that gift than just receiving His grace. We are also called to be partners with God in the work of His Kingdom. We are His and we are to glorify Him in body and spirit. When we remember that our bodies are God’s temple, and that we are blessed by our position within God’s world, we listen for His word, act upon it and are blessed even more so by the glory He receives. We do not take advantage of the position He has given us, but we use it to share His grace with others, no matter how foolish they think we might be. We can trust that He will let none of our words fall to the ground, and like Samuel will use us to grow His kingdom. Like Phillip we can change the lives we touch with the ministry to which we have been called by pointing to Jesus.
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