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SERMON - January 15, 2012

Rev. Kevin E. Johnston

"Like Sam and the Other Guys"

1 Samuel 3:1-11; John 1:43-51

A story from the book of First Samuel:

The boy Samuel was serving under Eli's direction. This was at a time when the revelation of God was rarely heard or seen. One night Eli was sound asleep. It was well before dawn; the sanctuary lamp was still burning. Samuel was still in bed in the Temple, where the Chest of God rested.

Then a voice called out, "Samuel, Samuel!"

Samuel answered, "Yes? I'm here." Then he ran to Eli saying, "I heard you call. Here I am."

Eli said, "I didn't call you. Go back to bed." And so he did.

The voice called again, "Samuel, Samuel!"

Samuel got up and went to Eli, "I heard you call. Here I am."

Again Eli said, "Son, I didn't call you. Go back to bed." This all happened before Samuel knew God. It was before the God’s revelation had been given to him personally.

The voice called again, "Samuel!"—the third time! Yet again Samuel got up and went to Eli, "Yes? I heard you call me. Here I am."

That's when it dawned on Eli that God was calling the boy. So Eli directed Samuel, "Go back and lie down. If the voice calls again, say, 'Speak, God. I'm your servant, ready to listen.'" Samuel returned to his bed.

The God came and stood before him exactly as before, calling out, "Samuel! Samuel!"

Samuel answered, "Speak. I'm your servant, ready to listen."

God said, "Listen carefully. I'm getting ready to do something in Israel that is going to shake everyone up and get their attention. The time has come for me to bring down on Eli's family everything I warned him of, every last word of it. I'm letting him know that the time's up. I'm bringing judgment on his family for good. He knew what was going on, that his sons were desecrating my name and my place, and he did nothing to stop them. This is my sentence on the family of Eli.”

 

A story from John’s account of Jesus’ life:

Jesus decided to go to Galilee. When he got there, he ran across Philip and said, "Come, follow me." Philip's hometown was Bethsaida, the same as Andrew and Peter.

Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, "We've found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It's Jesus, Joseph's son, the one from Nazareth!"

Nathanael exclaimed, "Nazareth? You've got to be kidding! What good can come out of Nazareth?”

Philip replied, "Come, see for yourself."

When Jesus saw Nathanael coming he said, "There's a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body."

Nathanael inquired, "Where did you get that idea? You don't know me."

Jesus replied, "One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you day-dreaming under the fig tree."

Nathanael cried out, "Teacher! You are sent from God!"

Jesus said to him, "You've become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven't seen anything yet! Before this is over you're going to see heaven open and angels descending to the Human One, and ascending again."

 

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.

May it be so.

 

The Message

Way back in 1978, a group known as The Cooper Brothers sang over the airwaves:

The dream never dies, just the dreamer
The dream never dies if it's strong
The song never dies, just the singer
So come on, everybody, sing along
Some…dream of fame, and some of fortune;
Some…dream about time gone by.
All…dream of someone they'd like to become,
cause without dreams inside us…how would we all get by
Some…dream of Heaven, and some of the Lord above;
Some…dream about pie in the sky.
All…dream of happiness, and some…dream of love,
cause without dreams to guide us…how would we all get by
The dream never dies. The dream never dies
So, come on, everybody, dream along¹

What do you dream – for yourself, your family, your friends and community, for FAM?  

This coming Friday, our neighbours to the south will celebrate a national holiday in honour of the late African-American Baptist Preacher, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. You may remember his 1963 March on Washington, and the famous speech he delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28th of that year.

Martin had a dream. His dream was “that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood...  I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character”.²

And in some ways, his dream has come true to an extent. Yet, we all know it has a long way to go.

Dreaming also inspired another African-American eight years before. A seamstress, by the name of Rosa Parks, refused to give up her bus seat to a white man one December day, triggering a 381-day African-American boycott of the bus system, and ignited the civil-rights movement led by King.

The stories Jean shared are about other dreamers too. Albeit, their tales were a few hundred years before.

The people of Israel were living in a time of crisis. It was a crucial period in their history. Having left behind their tribal origins, they were being fashioned into a nation-state, complete with a centralized government. Having lived under a series of judges for much of their past, it was time for a new leader to come onto the scene in order to take the citizens to a new level, in a new directions. And as we heard, “the revelation of God was rarely heard or seen.”

Even Eli, the priest, seemed unable to discern what the ‘voice’ was his young assistant Sam heard one night as he was sleeping. At least, at first he wasn’t. It took three times for Sam to go running into his mentor’s room before Eli tuned into what was going on, suggesting Sam respond, “Speak. I'm your servant, ready to listen.'"

Perhaps, in many ways, the situation then was not that different from ours today. We don’t have to look far to discover that most people – if not all – are in a drought of sorts. The world is in crisis mode, with the global economic situation – the “god of this world” as I’ve often said – at the fore of everyone’s mind. Situations of war and conflict continue to reign between neighbouring nations and factions in many areas around the globe. Health care and other social support systems and networks are increasingly becoming user-UNfriendly, while corporations and companies are being forced to either cut back employs, or close shop altogether. Employment opportunities, once considered somewhat stable, are more and more on the chopping block. More and more people are finding themselves dependant on social service assistance that barely provides the basic necessities of life, let alone room for any “extras”. And investments are nothing near what we at-one-time hoped they might be – if they’re not lost completely. There seems to be little hope any more. So what can one do? What does one do?

And all this makes me wonder – is “the revelation of God…rarely heard or seen” in our time and place too? Or are we, perhaps, like Eli, and Sam, in that Spirit has to come knocking and calling more than once for us to “clue in” to what’s going on. Even if we do eventually hear a “voice” calling to us, do we act like Sam did – running here and there in an attempt to figure out where, or from whom, it is coming? Are we willing to, once we discern that it is the voice of God, respond, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” And if it is the latter, are we not only hearing, but really listening for what might invite, or even dare, us to do?

At this past Wednesday’s Bible study, we talked about our two stories, we wondered if perhaps Sam is a metaphor for “the little people”, the “nobodies” of our world. Could “Eli” be the establishment – the status quo, whether cultural or religious. Maybe the Sam figures have a message for the Eli ones that the Dream has been attempting to connect with, but the Eli folks have been too wrapped up in ‘what’s right’, in ‘the way it’s always been’, and haven’t been able to hear the Dream. Hence, Sam is chosen to somehow pass that on. We also talked about the recent Occupy Movement and the affect and impact it has had on many sectors of society. One of our wonderings was that perhaps it represents Jesus in our time, again attempting to connect with those who are, or may be, like Andrew, Simon, Nathanael and Philip. But to what avail. Seems as if “the powers that be” who finally found a way to get rid of that Jesus guy haven’t changed much, have they? Food for thought if nothing else.

And I have to say, embarrassingly, that it all depends on what it is I’m being invited and dared to do as to how I respond or react. Sometimes “the dream” is totally disconnected from my reality-at-the time, and it’s not something I’m remotely interested in participating in, thank you very much. And I wonder if perhaps I’m not the only one in that boat.

Sam was a Nazarite – one “set apart”, whose role was to be different from everyone else, to be a visible reminder to the rest of the people of their special calling to be faithful to Yahweh. Sam’s calling was to ratify the new monarchy – the new reign or rule in his world. His integrity as a person, called by the voice, gave Sam credibility, as he was the one to anoint Israel’s first king, Saul, many years later.

And what connects Sam to you and me is that we, too, are part of an ancient, yet ongoing, story of people set apart and different. They are part of the background looming motionless in the distance, yet connected to our fast-moving presence and future. For in a sense, we, too, are “Nazarites” – in the tradition of our faith forbears.

Prior to our other tale, one called John, having baptized Jesus just two days prior, dreamt Jesus to be “the one who comes after me ranks ahead of me…the Only Begotten of God”³ and pointed “two of his disciples” to that One. “They followed”, and when he “saw them following…said to them, “What are you looking for?” To which they asked him, “where are you staying?” … “Come and see.” He invited, “and they came and saw where He was staying and…remained with him.” “One of the two,[….]Andrew”,…invited – even dared – his brother Simon to discover for himself the one whom Andrew had found. And Simon not only responded, but also found himself with a new identity – a new name. We all know how the “new” Peter’s life played out, don’t we?

The writer notes that after inviting Andrew and Simon, “Jesus….found Philip[, who]…was from their hometown, “and said to him, “Follow me.” Philip is a Greek name, so it’s quite possible that he was not an Israelite, a Jew. Philip may have been an “outsider” – “other” – before that when day Jesus found him, daring him to make a new start. We’re not told whether or not he had been following anyone else before Jesus invited him to join up. But Philip, so excited to be invited and dared by Jesus to “Come and see”, “found [his friend] Nathanael”, inviting him also to become part of the greatest life changing and life-challenging adventure ever.

Nathanael, however, was not completely sold on the idea at first. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”, he sneered. Nazareth wasn’t even on the map as far as all the prophecies about the Messiah – the Anointed One – were concerned. According to Micah, the “one who is to govern…Israel” was to come from “Bethlehem”. ⁴ Nazareth is not even mentioned in the Old Testament – the Hebrew Scriptures that Nathanael was possibly studying, or dreaming, about “under the fig tree” where Jesus noticed him. You see, the fig tree was not only a source of respite and shade. It was also a place where “the religious” would often be found meditating on the Torah – their Scriptures. Perhaps Nathanael was one of those people, from what Jesus said “of him, “There’s a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body!””

A neighbourhood church, well established, had been around for at least 40 years. Then a new congregation of the same denomination started about five kilometres away, in another suburb. Within five years, the new congregation had grown larger than the 40-year established congregation, and had completed a building program, which they expanded just a few years later.

A major difference between the two was that the new one was a ‘progressive’ community, always pushing theological boundaries, and looking for the new and different things they could do as a congregation. The older congregation, called an ‘established’ or ‘traditional’ church tended to look to the past and the good things they had done ‘back then’ as a congregation. And in her Report to the Synod Office the Intentional Interim minister observed about the traditional church: It is hard to move them into the future when their ‘dreaming’ is always looking backwards.

Some day when nobody expects it,
when the world is busy doing worldly things
and not really watching the edges of creation,
on some wonder day shall love be born again.
And on that Beautiful Day
the promise shall be fulfilled,
that now haunts the minds of dreamers.

wrote Bill Comeau in his poem, A Blast From My Past.

On that day the promise shall be fulfilled, that now haunts the minds of dreamers. On that day when the ‘counter-imagination’ of Jesus, Rosa, Martin, and countless others – shall be fulfilled,. When love, inclusiveness, community, are born again on the edges. Is that not what haunts all dreamers?

What about us?  Do we also dare to say when the ‘counter-imagination’ of our congregation shall be fulfilled? If not, why not?  Perhaps the time is ripe for our pondering and dreaming too.

And so, I wonder if there are perhaps any dreamers in our midst this morning. Are you a Rosa or a Martin, whose dreams still have a long way to go to becoming reality. Some things are better, yes. But our culture, our world, isn’t “there” just yet.

Maybe you’re a Sam, having heard a “voice” calling out to you and you’ve not been able to discern from where it’s is coming. Have you been running all over in an attempt to figure it out? Maybe someone else has come to you, hoping that you, an Eli, might be able to point him or her in the direction from where his or her invitation has been coming. You’ve been “in the church” all your life, know the stories, and have even spent time studying and meditating on our Scriptures, and reckon that you know it all – like Nathanael that day.

Or are you an Andrew – following “another” – whatever that might be. And you’ve only just now heard a “voice” that has been, or is, inviting and daring you to “Come and see.” Maybe, like Peter, there’s a new name, a new identity just waiting for you to discover, claim, and act upon. Or could it be possible that, as a Philip you’ve never been asked, or invited, let alone dared, to “Follow Me.”

One thing that stands out to me within John’s story is that Jesus did require or demand that any of those he called needed to be baptized and join the church in order to “Come and see”, and “Follow Me”. Neither did he require that they be “saved” in order to be part of his band. And I find this very interesting. Perhaps all communities founded “in his name” would profit revisiting what being a child of God – a Nazarite – an “anointed one” – is according to Jesus.

Remember what the voice said to Sam? “I’m getting ready to do something….that is going to shake everyone up and get their attention.” I wonder if the same can be said to, and of, us today? I wonder just what it is that Spirit is getting ready to blow our minds with, to shake us up and get our attention here at Fifth Avenue Memorial United in Medicine Hat.

The invitation – the dare, if you may – goes out to all of us, no matter who or what we are, regardless of what our history or background is – despite what “place” we, or others, think we hold in life and our community. Do you hear the “voice”? Will you “Come and see”? Will you “Follow Me”?

Contemporary poet, J.F. Peterson, perhaps reflecting on someone who was a hero in his life, mused:

It’s a comfort to know there are heroes among us – regular people, just like you –
willing to do what they can to make the world a better place.
Heroes give instead of take. They act instead of talk.
They step forward and do the hard and unseen jobs, to give the best of themselves –
measuring their own success not by wealth or comfort,
but by the lives they touch along the way.
That’s what heroes do – and you are one of those people.
Maybe you don’t think of yourself that way – but that’s what you are.
And I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am to know you
and to know that there are heroes like you in the world.⁵

Again I ask… What do you dream – for yourself, your family, your friends and community, for FAM?  

I wonder – if we were to listen closely – really closely – to Spirit’s – to Dream’s message that comes to us, are we willing to respond as Sam was advised and did? Would the course of our own lives find new meaning, new direction, a new identity? If we allowed our dreams to become reality, would we be a hero as well? In the end, I guess it’s up to us – every one of us. What do you think? What is – what will be – our response to the invitation, the dream, or the dare that comes to us as it did to Martin and Rosa? How can you, and I, and we as the community of FAM make a difference in our community and our world, like it did in and through Sam and the other guys?

May it be so.