1 Samuel 3:1-20 / John 1:43-51

The Second Sunday after Epiphany | January 14, 2024 | 1 Samuel 3:1-20 and John 1:43-51 | Ryan Mills |

1 Samuel 3:1-20

¹Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.
²At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; ³the 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. ⁴Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” ⁵and 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. ⁶The 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.” ⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸The 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. ⁹Therefore 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.
¹⁰Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” ¹¹Then the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. ¹²On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. ¹³For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. ¹⁴Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.”
¹⁵Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. ¹⁶But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” ¹⁷Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” ¹⁸So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.”
¹⁹As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. ²⁰And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord (NRSV).

John 1:43-51

⁴³The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip 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.” ⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” ⁴⁹Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” ⁵⁰Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹And 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” (NRSV).

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son +, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 This morning, at the beginning of the year, we hear the Bible’s account of a child. Not that child! Not the Christ child whose birth we’ve celebrated. But another child, Samuel, Samuel a little kindergartner whose name means “God has heard.” The Bible begins the story of Samuel by telling us that the Word of the Lord was rare in those days, that the heavens were shut up, that it was a time in Israel’s history of despair and unbelief. Maybe you and I can relate to such a time, a time when doubt seems stronger than faith, a time when darkness seems stronger than light, when hate seems stronger than love, a time when God seems to be silent, with no clear future for his people.

The story of Samuel has its backdrop those who are left in charge of running the unruly tribes of Israel, the Priest Eli and his sons. And to be honest, they’re a pretty terrible bunch. Eli the priest is ancient, he is cruel, he has forgotten God’s laws, he’s closed off to what is going on around him, he seems to mostly enjoy sitting on a throne he’s made for himself. Not only that, but he’s also turned a blind eye to his sons the Bible calls “worthless,” who he’s made corrupt assistant priests, who not only have their hands in the offering plate but who have also assaulted women who’ve come to pray. This dysfunctional, out-of-touch, and sinful bunch that God will judge, and judge harshly, does not seem to be a great place for a new start, or for a new hope. All there is in this low point in Israel’s history is a little child: Samuel, Samuel who was prayed for by his faithful mother Hannah. Hannah had waited so long for a child, and made a vow that if the Lord gave her one she would give him back to God, and when Samuel was born she kept her promise. And so around the age of 5 or 6 Samuel was brought by his mother to live in Israel’s tent of meeting, as an intern, a candle-lighter, an acolyte, a word that literally means one who hears and follows.

And then the moment happens that we all know and love—one night little Samuel is falling asleep before the Ark of the Covenant, that old relic of God’s mercy and power, when he hears a voice: “Samuel, Samuel,” and dutifully responds, in Hebrew, “Hineni,” which is the reply a servant ready to respond to his Master with action, “Look, Master, here I am, I’m ready to go”: “Here I am, for you called me,” it’s translated today, and so Samuel dutifully runs in to see what his boss Eli wants.  Again and again, the voice: “Samuel, Samuel,” again and again, “Hineni, Here I am, I’m ready to go” waking up the grouchy Eli over and over – any parent can relate – and Eli sends him back over and over: “No, it’s just the wind, it’s just the house creaking, it’s just your imagination, go back to bed, go to sleep, don’t come in here and bother me again!” Finally Eli, in his life’s last moment of clarity, realizes it’s not just the wind, but it’s the Lord God calling, not with heavenly trumpets, not with thunder and flashes of lightning, but in the night, in the quiet, in a voice only a little child can hear. “Go back and lie down, Samuel,” he says, “and if he calls you again, say, ‘Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.’” And so one last time, “Samuel, Samuel,” and then the response of a child, the response of faith, the response of every Christian when we are addressed by the Word of the Lord: “Hineni. Here I am, Master, ready to go. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

I think one reason we love this story so much is that we’re kind of jealous of Samuel! We long for that voice, for that intimate whisper, we too wish we were known and could hear our name spoken in the night. Well, our Gospel lesson today gives us that chance to hear and follow, to hear our name called with love and purpose, but now called as plain as day, no more whispers in the night, for today we hear today that Jesus found the first disciple Philip and said to him: “Follow me.” See, Christ’s command to us, to you and me today is clear and simple, “Follow me,” follow me through your fear and anxiety, follow me through your doubts and sorrows, follow me through the chaos and the unknowns, follow me out of your sins and your being trapped in yourself – through your life and through your death, follow Me. Christ’s Word to us always has this directness, this effectiveness, and this promise to it. For God is still calling, God is in fact calling you again this morning. We can hear him as he says today, “Follow me,” just as we hear him as he says, “You are baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” just as we hear him as he says, “Your sins are forgiven,” just as we hear him as he says, “This is my body, given for you.” Christ is still speaking, still calling you, you may not hear him in the night, but you have heard him here, you are called, he knows your name and he is not afraid to use it! I remember once seeing a sign on the side of a bus, it said, “If you’re looking for a sign from God, this is it!” Well if you’re waiting to be called, this is it, you have been called this morning, God is calling you, he searches for you, has found you, his eye is on you, your name is on his lips, you are in his heart, on his mind, and he calls you to follow his beloved Son again this morning, to follow him, stay close to him in faith, in trust; to follow him in loving service, using your life for those around you; to follow him into his death on the Cross, and so to follow him into his Easter glory. God is calling you today, calling you and me right now – and what more can we say, but “Hineni, Here I am, Lord, ready to go.”

For when we are called, then we begin to call others; when we are found, then we begin to find others; when we have seen the light, then we want others to see the light too! After Philip is called he finds Nathanael today, the start of a chain reaction of friends calling one to the other and all following, and Philip says today, “Nathanael, I’ve been called, I’ve been found, you too, come and see!” This is the best invitation we as Christians have – not let me tell you all the answers, not let me fix all your problems, not poor old you, but just this: “Come and see!” Nathanael is understandably skeptical at first, “Jesus of Nazareth? Can anything good come of Nazareth?” he asks. But Jesus saw Nathanael already, he knew him already, just as he sees and knows you, and he calls the real you with all your objections and all your wonderings, he called Nathanael through the voice of another, even as he sees and knows you and calls you now through my little voice, whoever’s voice God has to use to get to you, he will, “Follow me, come and see!”

I remember as a teenager on Good Friday in my home Church, one of the lectors was sick, and so at the last minute someone gave me one of readings, about the death of Christ. There was no preparation, no advance warning, it was not something I had ever done before, I nervously walked up to the front to meet my fate. I still remember the church was all dark, except for the lights of the candles on the altar, I read the lesson, and afterwards in the dark someone whispered to me, I still don’t know who, “Wow, you read that really well. Did you ever think about becoming a pastor?” I never had, and didn’t for over a decade after that, but God calls us, through a thousand ways, each to our own ministry; think of those voices in your life that God’s call has worked through, God finds us so that we might serve him in our own way, and find and invite others to come and see; God shines the light for us so that others may come see the light, so that amidst all the chaos and confusion of this world we all might come to see with brightness and clarity God’s great love for us in Jesus Christ our Lord, and how we can serve him, by loving and serving our neighbors.

For Listen, God is calling! He calls you by name, again, even now: saying, “Follow me.” So what can we say, except: “Hineni. Here I am, Lord, ready to go.” And we follow.

And the Peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, Amen.

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The Rev. Dr. Ryan Mills

New Haven, Connecticut

Pastor@TrinityLutheranNH.org