1 Samuel 3:1-10, (11-20)
Psalm 139:1-6,13-18
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
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."

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I WONDER IF ANY OF YOU HAVE HAD THE EXPERIENCE OF HEARING VOICES IN THE NIGHT. THESE DAYS I RARELY SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT. OF COURSE THE FACT THAT MY CAT, CUTHBERT, WHO IS OUTSIDE CRUISING IN THE EVENING, USUALLY COMES IN AROUND 3 AM AND WAKES ME FOR SOME KIND WORDS AND A PAT MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS. BUT, HE SETTLES DOWN QUICKLY BEHIND MY BENT KNEES, AND I AM AWAKE. IT IS AT THAT POINT THAT I HEAR VOICES, ALMOST INAUDIBLE, BUT STRONG ENOUGH TO BREAK THROUGH THE SILENCE. THEY ARE VOICES THAT TELL ME TO REMEMBER TO SEND IN MY INCOME TAX, VOICES THAT REMIND ME TO CALL SOMEONE WHO IS SICK, VOICES THAT OFTEN POINT ME IN A NEW DIRECTION, A WAY THAT I HADN’T CONSIDERED BEFORE.

ADDED TO THESE ARE THE VOICES OF OUR TROUBLED WORLD; VOICES FROM IRAQI CHILDREN WHOSE LIVES MAY BE DISRUPTED OR WIPED OUT IF WE HAVE A WAR, VOICES FROM THE STARVING IN NORTH KOREA WHOSE LEADERS HAVE DISREGARDED THEM, AND MANY MORE. PERIODICALLY THE VOICE OF SELF-DOUBT CREEPS IN WHICH JOINS THE CHORUS REMINDING ME OF MY MISTAKES, MY INSECURITIES. AND THEN SOMETIMES I HEAR WORDS OF ASSURANCE. “STOP TRYING TO BE PERFECT.” AND I REALIZE HOW GRATEFUL I AM TO BE WHERE I AM AT THIS TIME AND THAT PERFECTION ISN’T WHAT GOD DESIRES. MY GREAT QUESTION IS “WHERE IS THE VOICE OF GOD?” IS GOD SPEAKING IN THE MIDST OF ALL THESE OTHER VOICES, AND HOW WILL I RECOGNIZE IT WHEN I HEAR IT?

SOMETIMES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT I TURN ON THE TV IN AN ATTEMPT TO SILENCE THESE VOICES, CNN, THE WEATHER STATION, ANYTHING TO CAPTURE MY ATTENTION AND DROWN OUT THE VOICES. IT WORKS UP TO A POINT, BUT NOT ALWAYS. AND THEN I WONDER IF THE LORD IS CALLING ME TO SOMETHING NEW, INSISTING THAT I LISTEN.

VOICES IN THE NIGHT. I LOVE THE STORY OF SAMUEL LYING IN THE TEMPLE WHERE THE ARK OF GOD HAS BEEN PLACED. IT WAS HIS JOB TO MINISTER TO THE ELDERLY ELI WHOSE EYES WERE DIM. ON THAT NIGHT THE LORD CALLED, “SAMUEL, SAMUEL,” AND SAMUEL ANSWERED THINKING IT WAS ELI AND RAN TO HIM SAYING “HERE I AM. HERE I AM FOR YOU CALLED ME.” AND ELI SAID, “I DID NOT CALL YOU MY SON. LIE DOWN AGAIN.” THAT HAPPENED A SECOND AND A THIRD TIME, AND THEN ELI, REALIZING THAT IT THE SOURCE OF HIS MIDNIGHT INTERRUPTION IS NOT A SLEEPLESS ADOLESCENT, BUT WAS NONE OTHER THAN THE LORD WHO WAS CALLING SAMUEL. AND HE SAID TO SAMUEL, “RESPOND TO THE VOICE WITH ‘SPEAK LORD FOR YOUR SERVANT IS LISTENING.’” WHEN THE CALL CAME AGAIN SAMUEL RESPONDED IN THAT WAY, AND THE LORD WENT ON TO TELL HIM WHAT HE HAD ON HIS MIND.

VOICES IN THE NIGHT. AND WHAT DO WE MAKE OF JESUS CALLING THAT ODD, ASSORTED GROUP OF MEN TO BE HIS DISCIPLES. IT IS MY SENSE THAT JOHN THE BAPTIST SPENT MANY NIGHTS OUT IN THE WILDERNESS, AWAY FROM PEOPLE, LISTENING TO VOICES IN THE NIGHT, HEARING GOD’S PLAN FOR HIM. IT WAS JOHN WHO INTRODUCED JESUS AS THE MESSIAH, THE LAMB OF GOD, TO THE PEOPLE. IT WAS HE WHO TOLD ANDREW AND PETER ABOUT JESUS, LEADING THEM TO DISCIPLESHIP. AND THEN WE PICK UP, IN TODAY’S GOSPEL, THE TIME WHEN JESUS CALLS PHILIP. “FOLLOW ME” HE SAID, AND PHILIP DID. NO QUESTIONS. PHILIP THEN GOES TO HIS FRIEND NATHANEAL. WHAT AN ENTHUSIASTIC INVITATION HE OFFERS; “WE HAVE FOUND HIM ABOUT WHOM MOSES IN THE LAW AND ALSO THE PROPHETS WROTE, JESUS, SON OF JOSEPH FROM NAZARETH.”

NATHANEAL WAS BLINDSIDED BY THIS PROCLAMATION. HE DOUBTED HIS FRIEND’S VOICE, AND HIS SCORN FOR THE INSIGNIFICANT BACKWATER VILLAGE OF NAZARETH WAS EVIDENT. “CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME OUT OF NAZARETH?” HE SAID. AGAIN PHILIP EXTENDED THE INVITATION, “COME AND SEE.” IT WAS THEN THAT NATHANEAL DECIDED TO TAKE THE RISK AND EXPLORE THE SITUATION.

A VOICE IN THE NIGHT CALLING US TO TAKE A RISK, TO COME AND EXPERIENCE DISCIPLESHIP OURSELVES. HOW WILL WE EVER DISCERN WHETHER IT IS THE VOICE OF GOD CALLING, UNLESS WE TAKE THE RISK, THE RISK TO BELIEVE THAT GOD HAS SPOKEN OUR NAME, THE RISK THAT WE MIGHT BE CALLED TO SOMETHING NEW? HOW ELSE BUT TO TRUST.

TOMORROW WE ARE CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF SOMEONE WHO HEARD A VOICE. THE VOICE ASKED HIM TO TRUST THAT OUR COUNTRY COULD BECOME A PLACE THAT IS FREE OF RACISM, FREE OF ITS PREJUDICES, FREE OF ITS NEED TO OPPRESS OTHERS. MARTIN LUTHER KING WAS ASKED TO IGNORE THE CALLS TO VIOLENCE BY SOME OF THE VERY PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN OPPRESSED, AS WELL AS THOSE WHO TRULY BELIEVED THAT THE ONLY WAY TO JUSTICE WAS THROUGH NONVIOLENCE. PEOPLE CONDEMNED HIS DREAM, AND CAST DOUBT ON HIS INTEGRITY. BUT HE TRUSTED HIS VOICE AS A CALL FROM THE LORD. HE DARED TO GET UP AND SAY, “SPEAK LORD FOR YOUR SERVANT IS LISTENING,” AND THEN TO ACT. OUR NATION WILL NEVER BE THE SAME. IF THE STATISTICS IN FRIDAYS J/C ARE CORRECT, WE STILL HAVE MILES TO GO, BUT MARTIN WAS A SURELY A KEY TO THE GAINS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE.

IS THERE HOPE THAT WE MIGHT DO THE SAME, TRUST AND ACT ON A CALL? CAN I HOPE THAT I WILL BE ABLE TO DISCERN GOD’S VOICE IN THE MIDST OF ALL THE NOISE THAT BOMBARDS US DAILY AND IN THE NIGHT? I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE AT THIS POINT HOW MUCH WE NEED OUR “ELIS.” MARTIN HAD HIS PARTNERS AND WE ALL NEED SOMEONE WHO IS MATURE IN FAITH, WITH WHOM WE CAN BE CLOSE AND VULNERABLE TO HELP US THINK THROUGH WHAT THAT VOICE IS SAYING. WE MUST FIGURE OUT IF IT IS TRULY THE WORD OF THE LORD, OR IS IT SOME NEED WE HAVE, OR JUDGEMENT WE EXPERIENCE THAT IS DIRECTING US? AND CAN WE GIVE THAT SAME SUPPORT TO OTHERS AND CAN WE WAIT PATIENTLY FOR GOD’S WAY TO BE SHOWN TO US?

GOD HAS MANY CALLS TO MANY KINDS OF PEOPLE. WE HEARD SAMUEL RESPONDING TO GOD’S CALL, ULTIMATELY BECOMING A LEADER OF HIS PEOPLE. NATHANEAL, AN EARNEST, BIBLE READING ISRAELITE, IMMEDIATELY DISCERNED THE UNIQUENESS OF THE RABBI WHO HAD CALLED HIM, ONCE THEY ENTERED INTO CONVERSATION. WITHOUT HESITATION HE BECAME A DISCIPLE. WHAT DO YOU HEAR? WHAT DO I HEAR?

ONE OF THE VOICES I HEAR SPEAKING TO ME, IS THE CALL TO TO BE AN EVANGELIST. IT STRIKES A RESISTANT NOTE IN MY HEART PERHAPS BECAUSE, AS AN EPISCOPALIAN, I AM LOATH TO RESPOND IN THE WAY I HEAR THE TV EVANGELISTS, AND THE FUNDAMENTALISTS RESPOND. I DON’T WANT TO BE OUT TO CONVERT PEOPLE. I HAVE BEEN SUBJECTED TO THAT KIND OF MANIPULATION IN AN EARLIER RELATIONSHIP, AND IT ALMOST DROVE ME AWAY FROM CHRIST. BUT I REALIZE THAT ONLY GOD CONVERTS PEOPLE. WE DON’T. AND WHEN I GRASP THAT, I BELIEVE THAT THAT VOICE IN THE NIGHT IS CALLING ME TO POINT PEOPLE TO CHRIST, TO TELL THEM HIS STORY, AND THEN HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE CHRIST HIMSELF WHO FINALLY MEETS PEOPLE. I KNOW I MUST TRUST MY FAITH AND ACT, ACT BY BEING IN RELATIONSHIP, BY SHARING THE WAY JESUS HAS BEEN INFLUENTIAL IN MY LIFE.

I HAVE LEARNED FROM THE ENCOUNTERS WHICH SAMUEL AND NATHANEAL AND PHILIP HAVE HAD WITH GOD. NONE OF THEM KNEW GOD BEFORE THESE ENCOUNTERS, BUT THEY LISTENED AND TRUSTED, AND WITNESSED. AND THEY RESPONDED BY SAYING, “SPEAK LORD, FOR YOUR SERVANT IS LISTENING.”

The Rev. Ruth T. Healy - Priest Associate

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