Scripture Readings:

• 1 Sam. 3:1-10 (11-20)
• Ps. 139:1-6, 13-18
• 1 Cor. 6:12-20
• John 1:43-51

Samuel's call includes bearing tidings of confirmation to Eli of his own household's punishment as predicted in 2:27-36 by 'the unknown man of God.' The doors of the sanctuary will close upon the clan of priests in Eli's line, and the speech of God will rest with Samuel.

There are two very interesting political parallels in the stories of Samuel and David, relative unknowns (without a lineage / name / place) who come to the fore in lieu of Eli and Saul. The politics of usurpation are tricky, and in both cases, it is the Lord who has done it (according to our story-tellers). In Samuel's story, Eli concurs with the judgment of God (and Samuel's ascending star), knowing he will see his son's and his lineage eradicated while he lives. In the story of Saul, it is Jonathon who "justifies" David's ascendancy, attesting to his faithfulness (and Saul's madness). One period of history ends, another begins, and we (the readers / hearers) are given both the reasons and the testimonies for the change.

One is set to wondering by such stories, written and preserved, as they were, by the winners. What we're speaking of is "regime change." What we're being told is that "God willed it, initiated it, and accomplished it, "honoring those that honor me; despising those that despise me" (2:30). Even covenantal promises of God (apparently) can be overthrown, i.e., "I promised that your family andd the family of your ancestor should go in and out before me forever'; but now the Lord declares." (2:30).

There's a real faith shaker. Does God change God's mind or not? Are the gifts and calling of God without repentance or not? To those Christians (we all have encountered) who teach that the Church is the New Israel, and to whom we have responded, 'nonsense, else the day may come when the promise of Christ to the Church is rescinded as well,' what are we now to say? Things are not so cut and dried with the God with whom we have to do. As Eli has said, "It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him" (3:18). I think that is a wonderful show of faith / surrender. It reminds me of Job's "though he slay me, I will trust him." In Job's case, the only justification for God's action is that God is God. Would that suffice for us?

'The Inescapable God' is the caption (italicized) beneath Psalm 139 in my Harper Collins Bible (added, I believe, by some editorial staff). Yet, the content of the Psalm suggests something else - that the press of persecution has led the psalmist to pursue understanding of a God whose ways are beyond understanding (unlike the reverse, in which our ways are completely known before God). The pericope for this Sunday avoids the lament that begins in verse 19 and makes sense of all the rest. The Psalmist is seeking peace with God even in the face of chaos, as in, "though he slay me, I want to trust him." It is a declaration of faith when only that declaration attests to what faith wants, with all its heart, to believe, i.e., God has been intimately associated with my life, and will not abandon me now to my persecutors - even if they overtake me and I am confronted with absolute darkness, God will perceive (easily) my ways and be my help (even if I am slain).

According to the Harper Collins Bible Commentary, Ps. 139:18b, "When I awake, behold you are still with me," is interpreted in the Aramaic Targum as an allusion to the resurrection. (1) Indeed, we are seeing the layers of faith in saying "though he slay me, I shall trust him." How deep is ours?

The body as the temple of the Holy Spirit, purchased at the price of the Son of God, in which 'all things are lawful, but all things are not beneficial.' Is it presumed that all things are lawful because we have perished (in baptism) and are no longer subject to the law? Is it presumed that only the law of Christ (love) pertains to those raised from baptism into new life (the life of Christ)? Well and good, Paul says, than choose those things which remain cognizant of that relationship (our life in Christ) and don't draw God, Christ, or the Holy Spirit into arenas they would not go.

Live as if 'you are not your own.' Glorify God with all you are, for you have been 'bought with a price." I don't think this admonition should be heard as a list of rules. Paul tries to provide a practical application, but in reality, he is preaching a theological approach to all things. What in your life is beneficial to God, Christ, and Spirit? What is not? What glorifies God? What does not? Do not strive against the Spirit of God - yield your members instead as a living sacrifice, which is your reasonable worship (Romans 12).

I'm generally confounded by the lection committee's choices in cutting pericopes asunder, and today is no exception where vv. 35-51 are not taken in concert as the calling of Jesus' first disciples. I suppose, if I had to hazard a guess, we've used the calling of Peter before in some fashion that is supposed to set Peter apart from the rest. It might just as well be that the renaming of Peter in v. 42 demands so much attention, commentary, and explanation, that Philip and Nathanael were getting short shrift without an appropriate excision. Perhaps another reason might be that 'on the first day' John the Baptist points several disciples to follow Jesus, while on "the next day" Jesus himself is recruiting among John's disciples. Your guess is as good (or better) than mine.

We've now survived / celebrated yet another Advent / Christmas / Epiphany series of special seasons in the Church Calendar. We've witnessed (yet again) the Baptism of the Lord. Now, we're introduced (one more time) to the object of our wonder, awe, and affections as well as his invitations (Come and See; Follow Me).

We are entering "Ordinary Time." In eight short weeks, we will be seeing The Transfiguration of the Lord and the beginning of Lent. It doesn't seem quite fair, does it, to go from preparation for birth (Advent) to preparation for death (Lent) in two months. Well, no, it's not fair. It wasn't fair the way it happened then, and it's not fair the way it happens now. The real question is, given the short amount of time we have to spend, what will we do? Will we "come and see?" Will we "follow?" Or are we going to treat this Sunday and the next with complacency? Are we going to give ourselves to prayer and study and love as Jesus invites? Or are we going to keep giving ourselves to pretty much what we want to do unless Jesus rudely interrupts us in our comings and our goings?

There was a story in last week's Adult Sunday School material about a Zen Master who was approached (as he washed his clothes in a river) by a man who would be his student. At the question, "Teach me the true meaning of life," he grabbed the wanna-be student, plunged him under the water, and held him there thrashing for air for several long moments. He released him, helped him up, and said, "When you want the answer to that question as badly as you wanted air a moment ago, you can be my student."

What manner of faith do we have? What manner of hunger do we have? What manner of desire do we have to serve the Lord? Where do we stand on the scale of "though he slays me, I will trust him?" How will we treat the coming days of "Ordinary Time?" Will we come, see, and follow?

• Harper Collins Bible Commentary

(Comments to Michael at mphillip@epix.net.)

First Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Berwick, Pennsylvania (Susquehanna North Branch)