Epiphany 2B – Thoughts and Themes
The texts are 1 Samuel 3:1-10(11-20), Psalm 139:1-6,13-18, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, and John 1:43-51. The common theme that stuck in my mind was on receiving God’s word.
We frequently focus on how God gives his word, how reliable it is, how reliable God is, and how we must trust what God says. But how often do we discuss the way in which we receive the word, understand it, apply it, and indeed obey it? (I’m probably biased in favor of this topic as I’ve written a book on it, When People Speak for God.)
In fact, the lectionary texts in some cases slip over the hard parts, especially if you don’t include the parenthesized texts. The first 10 verses of 1 Samuel 3, for example, talk about the wonderful experience of Samuel when he is first introduced to hearing God’s voice. If you read just that, your view may be unbalanced. It’s not all joy and peace when one is close to God, particularly if one is also close to people. Verses 11-20 tell about the unpleasant message Samuel is given for Eli.
One theme I would bring up here, though I won’t expand on it, is Eli’s reception of the word. He takes it in stride, but do you notice that he makes no effort to act on it. I think I could build a sermon comparing and contrasting this story with that of Nineveh in the book of Jonah. Both receive dire messages. Neither message appears to offer any hope. Nineveh, however, repents, and even though hope was not offered in the message, it is fulfilled in God’s compassion. Eli accepts the message but takes no noticeable action, or at least the text gives us no such indication.
Psalm 139 as quoted is a good passage for looking at the difference between God’s understanding and ours. God knows us through and through, but we don’t necessarily know ourselves all that well. God is always accessible, but do we always access him and his message for us? In addition, I would again note that the Psalm is cut off just before one of those “hard-to-explain” parts. Verse 19 starts “O that you would kill the wicked, O God” and continues on the path of vengeance.
I think that if we were more honest, we would pray such prayers more often. There is a time for forgiveness, but I think we will normally have to struggle with God in prayer before we can get there. Before we forgive, we must acknowledge the hurt and the very human desire for vengeance. It is only God’s grace that truly permits forgiveness. For some, a Christ-like, forgiving attitude means pretending not to be hurt in the first place, but this certainly was not the attitude of the Psalmist! In many cases we have no indication that forgiveness is coming at all!
You may think that the epistle, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, doesn’t deal with the same subject, but it does. It is dealing with God’s presence with us. What people ought we to be, what thoughts ought we to think, what plans to make, if God is living with us, if we, ourselves become the seat of God’s presence in the world. You are a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), which means that your body is a place where the Holy Spirit shows up. That’s what temples are–a place for gods to show up. Are you ready?
Finally we have people meeting Jesus in John 1:43-51, and responding to his call. We often think that if we had Jesus here in person, we would surely listen. But in his own lifetime, that wasn’t the case.
Here is a list of themes:
- The voice of invitation – how do you recognize when God is calling to you?
- God’s presence with us, focusing especially on Psalm 139 and John 1, but also note the rarity of God’s word reflected in 1 Samuel 3. What makes it seem that God is absent and that his word is hard to come by?
- God’s judgment, as reflected in 1 Samuel 3:11-20, but also implied in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20. Is there a difference in God’s presence today in the church and in the time of Eli?
- The reliability of God’s judgment, reflected in Psalm 139. The one who truly and objectively knows is the one who will judge.
- Living conscious of God’s presence, with the main text of 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
What a rich selection of texts!