RonBlog

Sunday 15th January, 2012 Second Sunday after Epiphany
Sentence
We have found the Messiah; Jesus Christ the Son of God the king of Israel. John 1:41,49

Collect
Eternal God, Whose Son, Jesus Christ, is now exalted as Lord of all, and pours out His gifts upon the Church; grant it 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 Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God now and for ever. Amen

Old Testament Lesson 1 Samuel 3: 1 – 10

Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli. The word of the LORD was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was.
Then the LORD called, "Samuel! Samuel!" and he said, "Here I am!" and ran to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call; lie down again." So he went and lay down. The LORD called again, "Samuel!" Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call, my son; lie down again."
Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. The LORD called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Now the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."
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, 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.

I will praise You for You are to be feared: fearful are Your acts and wonderful are Your works
You knew my soul, and my bones were 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 day they were fashioned: and not one of them was late in growing
How deep are Your thoughts to me O God: 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
"All things are lawful for me," but not all things are beneficial. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be dominated by anything. "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food," and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power.
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, "The two shall be one flesh." But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

GOSPEL John 1: 43 – 51
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth." Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" Nathanael asked him, "Where did you get to know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you." Nathanael replied, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these." And he said to him, "Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

© New Revised Standard Version of the Bible
Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. All rights reserved

NOTES ON THE READINGS......
Old Testament
Most of the OT stories of Samuel make rather good reading, so it is small wonder that this person was a real focus for OT Jews. This story is particularly indicative and present-day readers are encouraged to read on in your Bible. There is told the tale of this novice and youngster having been given the task of telling Eli that his faults and failures were leading to his downfall. Strangely enough, Eli was sufficiently aware of the truth of Samuel’s divinely-given charge that there was no explosive response.
It always makes me ready to hear ‘from the mouths of babes and sucklings,’ for while kids may be immature, very many of them have an innate awareness of the truth and certainly of fairness. In other words, do not be surprised if you come out with some devastating truth even if it be unpopular.

Psalm
Speaking of unsophistication, this psalm is a delight and yet carried real impact in its attitude to life, oneself and God. I find it enormously encouraging to know that God knows and understands me inside out, and whether I am right, wrong or off the rails, His care continues. So far, I find that such awareness saves me from all manner of stress and strain and worry. I am free to get on, past mistakes and sins notwithstanding, and learn from all, good and bad.

Epistle
You may not be aware of it, but one of the damn nuisances of the emerging first century Church was the then widespread ‘religion’ of Gnosticism. This sort of thing is not al that distant from New Age stuff, most of it baloney, and certainly an approach that pandered to people’s terribly human pursuit of being superior. A little like some situations, where it is a matter of if you knew the rules that others don’t – then you are head and shoulders above them.
It was against such practices and beliefs that Paul wrote, preached and spoke. Constantly. He would have been quite strong against ‘New Age’ which is really nothing of the sort, but as old as the hills in spite of its recurrent emergences.
That sort of thing was very much part of the Pharisaic mores, so its appearance in budding Christianity was no surprise to the Apostle. (The second issue of fornication was very much a Greek and Roman ‘thing,’ and here he was focussing on the real thing. Much of OT literature speaks of it, but rather more in terms of religious fornication, turning to other gods and goddesses.)
Only recently I was burdened with a great load of literature, pounding me with my fault and failure in not celebrating the Sabbath as ‘demanded by Scripture.’ I find it enormously sad when people can expend such enormous energy on non-issues yet manage to ‘overlook the weightier matters of the law,’ so to speak.




GOSPEL
This short but clear pen-portrait of Nathanael is interesting and poignant to me. It is fairly clear that here was a determined person, searching for truth and yet not likely to be led by the noser by anyone, least of all his mates. If I am allowed to express it, he follows the pattern of the sort of person often touched by God, a person exploring the possibilities and yet not a little hidebound by bias and perhaps bigotry, Nazareth was no favourite for this man, for reasons unexpressed, a little like the jealousy between Sydney and Melbourne.
However it was Jesus’ reaction to the man that not only described him but also surprised him.
For the record, it is quite likely that Nathanael was also known as Bartholomew.

NOTES FOR A SERMON
In a note of family history related to me many years ago, my father reported a conversation with his mother (marvellous person) and one of her nephews who happened to be Dean of Hobart at the time. Said Dean was acting in a very superior manner, when my grandma called him to account. ‘Stop acting as if you are a cut above everyone!’ she exploded. The response from the Dean was curt: ‘But, Aunty, we clergy are, we are!’ I will draw a curtain of politeness over what followed that stupidity! Grandma was no slouch when it came to powerful riposte.
There is an interesting ‘compare and contrast’ in today’s lessons: between Samuel as a youngster and Nathanael as an adult. Both were searchers, and both responded to a reality presented to them. There is nothing fancy about either character and yet both were involved in really useful and helpful ministries at various times in Hebrew history. The real point at issue is that neither was chosen because of being an important personage. One does not see much of any such emphasis in Biblical history.
And that strikes me as being what today’s readings are getting across. Although such a proposition is not a real issue in Australia of today, it used to be very much the case that it would be only important people whom God would call to minister and serve in His kingdom. Most of the rest of us felt totally inadequate or ill-prepared by life. Sunday School lessons, in my time at least, seemed always to underline the great faith and enormous purity of saints of old, and disciples and Apostles. Reality was always somewhat different. In fact, (again in my experience, which is all I can go by!) those who were all too often go-getters and ladder-climbers seemed to appear and demand positions of authority and go on to make messes monumental – because they operated from the very false base.
Spend some time looking at such a contrast, even if only through Biblical stories. The perceived require-ments of high spirituality and piety are rarely evident in the lives of the go-getters. This does not apply only to Biblical stories but is rather more evident in ordinary history and leadership. So what does that say to us?

The answer is a bit of a shock in a way. Is God calling you to some ministry or service for which you feel inadequate? Then that just may be the very attribute that will be required of you for the task. I kid you not. (For instance, I could never understand why God called me to priesthood, when one of my great mates was far more spiritual, far more holy and far more religious than me. We started off together, but he never continued. Not towards ordination anyhow. He remained a faithful Christian all his life. But God chose to put up with me, as did many people from quite a few parishes over a large number of years. Goodness me!