Ron's Notes January 18, 2009

Sunday 18th January 2009 Second Sunday after Epiphany

Sentence
We have found the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, the king of Israel!
John 1:49

Collect
Eternal God, Whose Son Jesus Christ is now revealed as Lord of all, and pours out His gifts upon the Church; grant us that unity which only Your Spirit can give, keep us in the bond of peace, and bring all creation to worship before Your throne, through Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Amen

OLD TESTAMENT LESSON 1 Samuel 3: 1 – 20

The boy Samuel was in the Lord's service under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rarely heard, and there was no outpouring of vision. One night Eli, whose eyes were dim and his sight failing, was lying down in his usual place, while Samuel slept in the temple of the Lord where the Ark of God was. Before the lamp of God had gone out, the Lord called him, and Samuel answered, "Here I am!' and ran to Eli saying, "You called me: here I am.' "No, I did not call you,' said Eli; "lie down again.' So he went and lay down.
The Lord called Samuel again, and he got up and went to Eli. "Here I am!” he said. "Surely you called me.” "I did not call, my son,” he answered; "lie down again.' Samuel had not yet come to know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not been disclosed to him. When the Lord called him for the third time, he again went to Eli and said, "Here I am! You did call me.' Then Eli understood that it was the Lord calling the boy; he told Samuel to go and lie down and said, "If someone calls once more, say, "Speak, Lord; your servant is listening." ' So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
Then the Lord came, and standing there called, "Samuel, Samuel!' as before. Samuel answered, "Speak, your servant is listening.' The Lord said, "Soon I shall do something in Israel which will ring in the ears of all who hear it. When that day comes I shall make good every word from beginning to end that I have spoken against Eli and his family. You are to tell him that my judgement on his house will stand for ever because he knew of his sons' blasphemies against God and did not restrain them. Therefore I have sworn to the family of Eli that their abuse of sacrifices and offerings will never be expiated.'
Samuel lay down till morning, when he opened the doors of the house of the Lord; but he was afraid to tell Eli about the vision. Eli called Samuel: "Samuel, my son!' he said; and Samuel answered, "Here I am!' Eli asked, "What did the Lord say to you? Do not hide it from me. God's curse upon you if you conceal from me one word of all that he said to you.' Then Samuel told him everything, concealing nothing. Eli said, "The Lord must do what is good in his eyes.'
As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him, and none of his words went unfulfilled. From Dan to Beersheba, all Israel recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. So the Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, because he had revealed himself there to Samuel.

PSALM 139: 1-5 & 12 – 18
O Lord, You have searched me out and known me: You know when I sit or when I stand, You comprehend my thoughts long before.
You discern my path and the places where I rest: You are acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word on my tongue: but You, O Lord, know it altogether.
You have encompassed me behind and before: and have laid Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me: so high that I cannot endure it.

For You have created my inward parts: You knit me together in my mother’s womb
I will praise You, for You are to be feared: fearful are Your acts, and wonderful Your works
You know my soul, and my bones are not hidden from You: when I was formed in secret and woven in the depths of the earth
Your eyes saw my limbs when they were yet imperfect: and in Your book were all my members written.
Day by ay they were fashioned: and not one of them was late in growing
How deep are Your thoughts to me, O God: and how great is the sum of them
Were I to count them, they are more in number than the sand: were I to come to the end, I would still be with You
EPISTLE 1 Corinthians 6: 12 – 20

"I am free to do anything,” you say. Yes, but not everything does good. No doubt I am free to do anything, but I for one will not let anything make free with me. "Food is for the belly and the belly for food,” you say. True; and one day God will put an end to both. But the body is not for fornication; it is for the Lord--and the Lord for the body. God not only raised our Lord from the dead; he will also raise us by his power.
Do you not know that your bodies are limbs and organs of Christ? Shall I then take parts of Christ's body and make them over to a prostitute? Never! You surely know that anyone who joins himself to a prostitute becomes physically one with her, for scripture says, "The two shall become one flesh”; but anyone who joins himself to the Lord is one with him spiritually. Have nothing to do with fornication. Every other sin that one may commit is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the Spirit is God's gift to you? You do not belong to yourselves; you were bought at a price. Then honour God in your body.

GOSPEL John 1: 43 – 51

The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He met Philip, who, like Andrew and Peter, came from Bethsaida, and said to him, "Follow me.” Philip went to find Nathanael and told him, "We have found the man of whom Moses wrote in the law, the man foretold by the prophets: it is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.' "Nazareth!' Nathanael exclaimed. "Can anything good come from Nazareth?' Philip said, "Come and see.' When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said, "Here is an Israelite worthy of the name; there is nothing false in him.' Nathanael asked him, "How is it you know me?' Jesus replied, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip spoke to you.' "Rabbi,' said Nathanael, "you are the Son of God; you are king of Israel.' Jesus answered, "Do you believe this because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than that.' Then he added, "In very truth I tell you all: you will see heaven wide open and God's angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.'

NOTES ON THE READINGS

Old Testament Lesson
I am surprised, if I may say, at the extent to which so many of the old stories from Scripture are no longer known or remembered. So, if the comment that follows seems unnecessary for you, then I am most glad! The story of the prayer of Hannah, Samuel’s mother, (1 Sam 1) is remarkably parallel to the Song of Mary – and it is worth a look! Here is the tale of the very young Samuel with one huge task dropped in his lap. When I was young, the Sunday School story (and a hymn to match) focussed on little Samuel to whom God spoke. It is a touching story but we were never pointed to the purpose of the tale, which was that God may well require young and inexperienced people to lead older ones to truth.

Can you imagine the fear in little Samuel, having to unload all that baggage on the old priest? Can you imagine yourself in a situation where you need to convey maybe unpleasant realities on someone close to you? In our day and age, we tend to prevaricate and pussy-foot. And then we wonder why nothing ever changes!

Psalm
This is a remarkable Psalm in its perception of God and His relationship to us. It may be a little much to assume that God’s individual interest is so personal, but it seems to me that the point of this psalmist is ….. that God knows us inside out, and there is neither need nor excuse for either of us to hide from our own realities. I find that, when I realize that the Lord knows me inside out, and continues to care, that I ca come to terms with my own weaknesses and even demons if it comes to that. If HE can handle it, then I guess I can also. Mind you, I will find it more than sad if YOU are unable to handle my realities.

Epistle
We live in a strange world these days, it seems to me. So much of the population is trying to be what it is not, trying to avoid facing the realities of being human, and trying to do all the wrong (that is, damaging) things and then assuming that no consequences will ensue. Life is simply not like that.

It may well be that, in the past, people reading this passage limited their view of what Paul is saying to matters sexual and therefore naughty! I doubt very much if that is the case. What Paul is saying, seems to me, that there is a freedom in being human, but that freedom does not extend to anything --- shall I say super human ? I am human, certainly, but I am not superman. Nor am I God. I do not and cannot set either the rules or the limits, or even the consequences of going beyond the values of being human. If I act or behave in a sub-human or super-human way, then I am likely to encounter some problem. For instance, if I try to breathe underwater, then the water will win and not me! However, if I work within the parameters, then life can be rather beaut indeed.

Gospel

It is probably important for any reader of this passage to know something about the original story of ascending and descending angels. To miss that point is to miss the purpose of the tale. Go back to Genesis and the story of Jacob fleeing home and heading for Haran. (Genesis 28:10ff) It was a simple tale and yet hugely significant. Jacob was fleeing from expected retribution from his brother, having stolen the birth-right. He would have expected retribution from God as well. What he did know, from contemporary belief, that when he moved from God’s territory he also moved from God’s protection.

The dream of Jacob that night was what we may well call a transfiguration. What Jacob expected turned into something quite unexpected. Behold God is in this place and I knew it not was the startling discovery for that renegade. And that is the nature of the surprise all the time. God in the unexpected, in the unfamiliar or even the familiar.

Here, the epiphany is not FOR Jesus but of Jesus. It was Nathanael who was taken by surprise in this instance, taken aback by Jesus’ awareness of him. There is nothing miraculous in this for you will almost certainly have the experience of somehow knowing the credibility and depth in someone you may have just met. And please remember that the term ‘Israel’ means ‘the one who struggles with God.’ In other words, the answers about life may well come with some difficulty. And the struggle is the search.

NOTES FOR A SERMON

It strikes me that Epiphany is somewhat like Advent – there is rather more in the Season than meets the eye. Epiphany, certainly, has to do with light coming into a dark place, as does Advent. And sometimes, that light surprises. Occasionally, it shocks!

I wonder if you can follow along with me! In today’s Readings, it strikes me that in just one of the passages there is the expression that growth or epiphany comes from Scripture. In the other readings, I wonder if you dare follow me in seeing that growth or epiphany comes from outside Scripture. Perhaps I should give you some time to get past the shock.

What Paul wrote about in the Epistle goes back to the Ten Commandments, basically. That business about adultery. I find it interesting that he takes the matter rather beyond the deed, so to speak, to the reality of what happens in such a situation. What he pointed to was the lie that is created. And lies damage people. In this sort of situation, the damage is bi-lateral. Mind you, in quite recent days, I recall a radio programme where an avowed atheist lady bemoaned the way modern kids seem to rely on other people’s views and theories about what is right and wrong. That lady made it quite clear that her own parents encouraged her and her siblings to look inside, and think and ponder before doing anything – for there, said her Mum – one finds their real answers. Now, if I shocked you a little while ago, be ready for another shock – or epiphany.

I would go along with what that atheist mother said to her daughter, although I would go on to see that in situations like that, it is the Holy Spirit at work, in believer or unbeliever, for anyone who searches for the truth will find it. Epiphany outside of Scripture, do you see?
In Jacob’s situation, his epiphany came with total unexpectedness, as he could not have imagined that the writ of God extended to where he was, in hostile and godless territory. In spite of Jacob being a rather less than pleasant fellow, supplanter and cheat, God still spoke to him in the same way God spoke to that atheist lady and her daughter. I am not being at all dogmatic about this – in fact I ask you to look way beyond the confines and control of dogma. I am asking you to look at life, at the reality that surrounds you, and to see, in fact, that God is right there in it, and in a rather bigger way that Jacob expected, and that we expect. We are talking about God after all!

And the same sort of revelation came to Nathanael. Like the rest of us, dear old Nathanael thought that our innermost self is not all that visible to other people, and that we can hide behind the self-erected screen. But this is rarely so: we may fool some of the people some of the time, but very rarely will be fool all of the people all of the time. And that has repercussions on how we should operate as humans beings. What I really am will become clearer to you the better you get to know me. That is not to be some sort of disadvantage to either of us – but it does mean I need to be fair dinkum with you and with others if you are ever going to begin to trust me.

So when Scripture talks about epiphanies, (and remember that the word simply means that light is being shown in a dark place) it is not talking about matters entirely spiritual. It is talking about life as it is lived. That is where the Faith is designed to operate, and we remove it from that sphere only at great damage and disadvantage to ourselves.

So this Epiphany works somewhat in reverse to what otherwise we may have thought.