I slept in today. A rare thing. Not because I don’t want to, but because there is always something for me to get up and do. I am not a morning person. I have trouble falling asleep at night, I’m often up into the small hours of the morning. So, getting up isn’t something that I really want to do. But I do it. When I have to. And I have to most of the time, it seems. I do it. I don’t look forward to it. But I do it.
And don’t ask me to have a kind word for the wake up call that comes before I’m ready. But then by definition a wake up call can’t come when you are ready. If you were ready you would be awake, wouldn’t you? Then you wouldn’t need a wake up call, right?
I don’t know. I know that for some folks a wake up call is a good thing. It causes them to rethink things that otherwise might have gone unnoticed. It sometimes causes us to change behaviors, or attitudes. So, it can be a good thing, even if it is painful when it comes. Our first scripture lesson seems to be all about a wake up call. Take a look:
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. 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!" 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."
Once again the lectionary stops before we find out what is really going on. So, we only have half a story here. A great half, to be sure. Lots of lessons tucked away in this half a story. The most stark is signaled by the very first verse: "The word of the Lord was rare in those days..." Why is that? Did God not have anything to say? Or did the people forget how to listen? Was the weight of the world simply too much to bear and no one was lifting their eyes to heaven? Was the darkness so deep that no one remembered the light? We don’t know. All we know is that the word of the Lord was rare in those days.
Yet God spoke. That’s our first wake up call, I suppose. In a time when the Word of the Lord was rare, God spoke. Maybe that helps explain the situation a little bit. Not that we need to find who’s to blame, not that we need to know who is at fault, but God still spoke when visions were not widespread. How easy it is to give up on God. To decide that we are on our own and God has abandoned us, because we don’t have a clear vision, the Word is rare in our days. We feel cut off, we feel alone, as though no one understands what we are going through, as though no one cares that we are struggling, we are hurting. So, we develop that layer of cynicism, a sarcastic streak that keeps the world at arms length to protect ourselves. And we hear even less of a word of hope because that is what we have come to expect.
That’s the attitude that seems to be reflected in one of Jesus’ disciples. Well, before he became a disciple anyway. The Gospel reading for this week comes from John, the end of the first chapter and the calling of Nathaniel. Nathaniel only appears here in the Gospel of John. Some scholars think that the Bartholomew mentioned in the other three gospels is Nathaniel. William Barclay even argues that Bartholomew is a last name, translated as "son of Tholmai." So, his name might have been Nathaniel Bartholomew. Hmm. I don’t know. Others argue that Nathaniel wasn’t even a real person, but rather a representative of a human trait of pride and prejudice and the need to listen for the call. I don’t know about that either, but it is obvious that there is something of significance going on here.
John 1:43-51 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."
"Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" The word of the Lord was rare in those days. We don’t know why Nathaniel said what he said. Maybe he just wanted to be left alone, didn’t want to be bothered by Philip and his new best friend. Maybe he really thought anyone from a hick town like Nazareth wouldn’t have anything of significance to say to him. Maybe he had given up the search that Philip was still on, decided he didn’t need a Messiah after all. Was doing all right on his own.
But was he? Are we doing all right on our own? Most of the time we think so. Most of the time we are content with the world as it is, with our lot in it. Most of the time we are grateful that things aren’t any worse than they are. And the Word of the Lord is rare most days.
Every now and then we ache to hear that Word. When we let down our guard, in our heart we long to know and to be known. We want so much more of life than we settle for most of the time. We want our relationships to be deep and satisfying, want those we love to trust in that love, we want to live the fullness of that love. We want someone to know us, all of our weaknesses and strengths, all our beauty and ugliness; to know us and love us still.
Almost sounds like fantasy, doesn’t it? Such knowledge, such love is not possible in this world, a world where the Word of the Lord is rare. So, we bury such thoughts, such quiet desperation behind the facade of being all right, of not needing anyone or anything. Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Or anywhere for that matter?
Well, yes, it can. Out of Nazareth can come the one who knows and who loves still. Out of the darkness of the night can come the voice that calls us by name. Out of your church filled with hypocrites and sinners can come a sense of family and community that remakes us. Out of your house can come a trust and openness that gives us that sense of home we were created for. From surprising people can come unconditional love that builds us up and makes us whole.
We all need a wake up call from time to time, to keep from sleeping through our own lives. It is a call to hope. Speak, Lord, your servants are listening.
Shalom,
Derek
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