Grace
and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen
The text for this
meditation is written in Chapter 3 of the Old Testament Book of 1 Samuel:
Verses 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. 2 At
that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see,
was lying down in his room; 3 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. 4 Then the Lord called, “Samuel!
Samuel!”[a] and he said,
“Here I am!” 5 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. 6 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.” 7 Now
Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been
revealed to him. 8 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. 9 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.
10 Now the Lord came and stood
there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your
servant is listening.” 11 Then 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. 12 On that day I
will fulfil against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from
beginning to end. 13 For 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. 14 Therefore
I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be
expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.”
AND
The first chapter of the Gospel according to St John: Verses
43 – 51:
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to
him, “Follow me.” 44 Now
Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 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.” 46 Nathanael
said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him,
“Come and see.” 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming
toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom
there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael
asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the
Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus
answered, “Do you believe because I told you
that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” 51 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.”
This is one of those
Sundays when the chosen reading from the Old Testament goes along very well
with the reading from the Gospel. In
both cases the Lord is calling men into the ministry.
The reading from the
Old Testament informs us that the Lord
came and stood, calling Samuel. This
would be an epiphany of the
Son of God appearing to Samuel many centuries before He took on flesh and blood
in the womb of the Virgin. We often
refer to such epiphanies as appearances of the pre-incarnate Son of
God. Although He exists from eternity as
spirit, the Son of God would, from time-to-time, reveal Himself in physical
form to select people at special times. Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, and Moses would
be a few examples of other people who saw an epiphany of the Son of God before
He was born of Mary.
The reading we
recently heard from the Gospel according to John informs us that [Jesus] found Philip and said to him,
“Follow me.” Obviously, this would
be the Son of God calling Philip, after He took on human flesh and was born of
Mary. This is generally the way that He
called all the men who would later become His apostles.
Notice that it is
always God who comes and calls. Samuel
didn’t suddenly decide to be a prophet on his own, nor did Philip decide on his
own to become an apostle. It is God who
called them. In turn, God worked through
Samuel to call Eli and his sons back to Him, and He worked through Philip to
call Nathaniel. Whether God calls
directly as with Samuel and Philip or indirectly as with Eli and Nathaniel, it
is always God who calls people to Himself.
It is God who calls us.
The message that God
gave to Samuel was frightening. Eli and
his sons were priests at the tabernacle.
Eli was the high priest and his sons served under him. The problem was that Eli’s sons were very
corrupt. The Bible describes Eli’s sons
as worthless men. They were adulterers
and they abused the office of priest for their own gain and pleasure (1 Samuel 2:12–25). God’s patience had run out and He was about
to destroy Eli and his sons. The Lord said to Samuel, “… I am about to
punish [Eli’s] house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons
were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the
iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering
forever.” What a sad and terrifying
thing it must have been for Samuel to proclaim this message to the man who was
his mentor … the man who trained him in the ways of the tabernacle … a man that
he probably loved and respected.
In spite of this
terrible message of judgment, Eli did not repent, nor did he discipline his
sons. He became an accomplice with them
because he did not punish them. Eli’s
sons died in battle. When Eli heard the
news, he fell and broke his neck. When
Eli’s daughter-in-law heard, she went into labour and died in childbirth. The baby survived and they named him ‘Ichabod’ which means, “the glory has departed.”
Eli and his sons were
a terrible tragedy. They all worked in
the tabernacle. They had access to the
writings of Moses. They participated in
the sacrificial system. They had every
reason to fear God’s wrath and trust His promises. Regardless of this, they ignored God’s
written word and they ignored the word of God from the mouth of Samuel. God wanted to give them life and they chose
death.
One of the many
things that the call of Samuel teaches is that God calls people into the
ministry in order to proclaim a message of judgment. Judgment always has to come first. It does no good to learn that Jesus forgives
sins if a person doesn’t think they have any sins. What good is a saviour if you don’t think you
need saving? Jesus Himself said, [Mark 2:17] “Those who are well
have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners.” People who insist that they are righteous in themselves may not realise it, but
they are also insisting that they do not
need Jesus. That is why God calls people
to proclaim judgment and repentance. Eli
and his sons would have been much better off if they had listened to Samuel and
repented.
That is why it is so
important for us to meditate on our confession during the worship service: In
essence, regardless of our specific words, we are confessing “I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess to You
all my sins and iniquities with which I have offended You and justly deserved
Your worldly and eternal punishment.”
If you just mouth these words and don’t really mean them, you are
telling Jesus that you don’t need Him.
Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. What we
should all understand about our Priests is that it gives them no joy, in the
proclamation of the Gospel, to have to tell us about our sin. For one thing, they are fond of us and care
about us and don’t enjoy hurting your feelings.
That being said, it is, in fact, an act of love for them to tell us
about our sins. For only those who know
their sins also know their need for Jesus.
Just as it gives a doctor no great pleasure to tell people about their
cancer, it gives a priest no great joy to tell people about sin. At the same time, it is necessary for the
doctor to inform us of our disease so that we will understand our need for the
treatment. In the same way, it is
necessary to inform us of our sin so that we will understand our need for the
treatment, Jesus Christ.
In contrast to the
terrifying message that God gave to Samuel, Jesus gave Philip a proclamation of
joy. Philip
found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law
and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Both Philip and Nathaniel were ready for
Jesus. Notice how Philip assumed that
Nathaniel knew about Moses and the prophets.
This meant that they knew about their sins and they also knew about
God’s promise of a saviour from those sins.
All Philip had to do was tell Nathaniel that Jesus of Nazareth is the saviour
of promise. This is great news. This is news of salvation.
Nathaniel did have
one problem. He had preconceived notions
about the saviour. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” When Nathaniel asked that question, he was
telling Philip that Nazareth is no way for God to come to man. Regardless of this, Jesus is the God who took
on human flesh in the womb of a simple peasant girl … a virgin. He was laid in a manger at His birth, and He
grew up in the town of Nazareth. Some of
Nathaniel’s human expectations had to diminish in the face of Jesus’ truth.
Philip’s response was
simple. He said, “Come and see.” This is the
part of being a priest that brings them true joy … pointing to Jesus. Come and see your saviour.
Jesus already knew
Nathaniel. “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw
you.” This is when Nathanael learned
that Jesus saw him before Philip even invited him to come and see. Jesus looked
like an ordinary construction worker, but He said that He saw Nathaniel even
before Philip invited him to see Jesus … and, yes, He was from Nazareth of all
places.
Nazareth is not the
strangest thing that Nathaniel will learn about this saviour. He will learn that this man who looks like an
ordinary labourer is God in human flesh.
He will witness as this Jesus lived under the law and kept it
perfectly. He would run away in terror
with the other disciples when the soldiers arrested Jesus in Gethsemane. He would hide in fear while this Jesus hung
on the cross and died. He would stare in
wonder as he reached out and touched the wounds in the hands, feet, and side of
his risen saviour. This man is not just
Jesus of Nazareth, but He is Jesus of the cross. He is Jesus of the empty tomb. He is Jesus who comes to us in Word and
Sacrament.
Jesus is the way by
which God dwells with mankind in peace.
As Jesus taught Nathaniel, He portrayed Himself as the fulfilment of
Jacob’s vision of heaven with the ladder extending down from heaven with angels
ascending and descending on it and God promising, [Genesis 28:15] “Behold, I am with you and will keep you
wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you
until I have done what I have promised you.” Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels
of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” This is a promise of the same vision that
Jacob saw … with Jesus as the ladder that allows God to come and dwell with mankind
without the punishment of sin. For if
God were to come to mankind without Jesus, then there would only be judgment
and punishment, but with Jesus there is forgiveness, peace, and joy.
God calls people of
every culture to proclaim His message … the message of repentance and the
forgiveness of sins. The message of
repentance is always similar to the message that God gave to Samuel that
terrifies us of our sin. The message of
forgiveness is always similar to the message that God gave to Philip that
always points to Jesus. Come and see
your saviour … Jesus of Nazareth … Jesus of the cross … Jesus of the empty
tomb. This is the same Jesus who comes
to us in Word and Sacrament. This is
Jesus our saviour. Amen
The love and peace of
our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen
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