Second Sunday in Epiphany 1/15/12 Text: 1 Samuel 3:1-10 Title: God’s Call During Advent and Christmas seasons we spent time digging more deeply into what God tells us in his Holy Scripture about himself and his plan for us. We saw that because of sin God’s human creation whom he designed to walk in fellowship with him sought after other gods that would make them happy. It was then and still is today a search that always ends in disaster no matter how happy those gods we chase after make us in the short term, for no other god or gods can take God’s place. Instead of walking away from his human creation God came to be one of us, so that we can be restored to the relationship he designed us to be in, in the first place. Angels couldn’t do it and there was no human who could restore the relationship, for all have sinned and thus deserve God’s wrath. God had to come himself, to perfectly fulfill, as a human being, the laws of God that we cannot fulfill. Jesus, God Incarnate did what we cannot do and then willingly took the punishment of God for us, so that those who accept his forgiveness are declared innocent. We have seen in the past seven weeks Jesus, as a helpless homeless baby. We saw the first shedding of his blood for us in his circumcision, as he kept the law as an eight day old baby. We saw him, God Incarnate, enter the temple where God had been absent for over 600 years permanently replacing the Ark of the Covenant. We saw him standing in our place in his baptism where we heard God declare from the heavens that Jesus is his beloved Son. Those are all things learned about Jesus in God’s Holy Word. As I studied the Gospel reading for this morning it dawned on me that just like Jesus called each one of his disciples by name he called each one of us by name to be his disciples also. This is what I mean. First of all, it is Jesus, God Incarnate that calls us to be his. We did not choose him. He chooses each one of us to be his just like God choose each one of the people of the Old Testament to be his. God chooses and when God chooses someone they respond, unless the person he is calling does not pay attention to him because he does not know of the Triune God, as Samuel did not know that it was God speaking to him, for as we are told Samuel did not yet know the Word of God. It is important to know what it means to be called by God. The English word called comes from the Greek word kaleo and means to command or request to be present, to come. For example, someone is called to testify in court. It can also mean to speak of or address by a specified name, or to give a name to someone, for a specific purpose which God did in the Old Testament when he renamed people that he called to rescue and lead his people Israel. Jesus calls ordinary people today who are just like those he called to be disciples when he was walking the earth. His disciples were not highly educated, or wealthy, or famous, or powerful. They were, as we would say today simple folk, fishermen of which there were many near the Sea of Galilee, plain ordinary people trying to scrape out a living, so they could support their families just like we do. They were just like us, as we do our best to provide for our families, except it is hard to believe they worked harder than we did, for most working people in Jesus’ day had to work from sunup to sundown just to survive. As I was thinking of how God can use the most unlikely people to do his will I thought of a move that I watched a long time ago. It was called, “The Left Hand of God”. It was about a renegade pilot who was shot down over China during World War II and is captured by a local robber baron. Eventually, he escapes and flees to a small Chinese village where he assumes the identity of a dead priest who was supposed to go to the village, but died before getting there. As time goes by the most amazing thing happens. This man of war, really an outlaw himself, no longer plays the role of the priest. He becomes the priest as he ministers to the people of the village. As the move unfolds it struck me that God can use anyone, right where they are, to accomplish his purposes just as he did when he called those ordinary fishermen of his day. Jesus calls each one of us by name. Most of us he called us by name in our baptism when the pastor using water and God’s Word said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Others he called in different ways. Names are important, for they are distinctive; the direct opposite of something or someone that is nameless, anonymous, or indistinguishable from anything else. To know and use the given name of a person is the ultimate sign of respect. Saint John uses names throughout his Gospel, as the other Gospel writers do. John sees Jesus and refers to him as the Lamb of God. When Jesus sees the disciples following him and asks them what they are looking for, they address him as "Rabbi". Then Andrew finds his brother Simon and tells him that he has found the Messiah. Finally, our Lord speaks to Simon and calls him Peter. None of these people are addressed impersonally as "hey, you". No, they are people with a distinct identity. God does not address us impersonally either. He calls us each by name. Jesus calls each one of you name, as he speaks to you individually in your heart. I read a funny email this past week that illustrates that point. A four-year old girl was at the pediatrician's office for a check-up. As the doctor looked into her ears with a scope, he asked her "Do you think that I'll find Big Bird in here?" The little girl remained silent. Next, the doctor took a tongue depressor and looked down her throat. He asked her "Do you think I'll find the Cookie Monster down here?" Again, the girl did not answer him. Finally, the doctor put a stethoscope to her chest. As he listened to her heartbeat, he asked "Do you think I'll hear Barney in here?" At that, the little girl looked up with her eyes wide and said "Oh, no. Jesus is in my heart; Barney's on my underpants. God has chosen to not speak to those he chooses to be his like he spoke to the Old Testament prophets. He now speaks to us in our heart and mind as we read and hear the inspired words given to the prophets and apostles. Jesus does the calling, but recognizing the call of God is quite another story. It is not that God is not powerful enough to call us the problem is with us, in our being able to recognize his voice. It is not a new problem for ever since Adam and Eve sinned humans have had a problem listening to God. We see that in our Old Testament reading for today when God called Samuel four times before Samuel knew it was God that was calling him. And even then he had to be told by Eli that God was speaking to him. Why didn’t Samuel know God’s voice? We are told it was because he did not yet know the Word of God. He had not read the Word of God. So many Christians today have that same problem. I wonder how many blessings are missed because someone who does not know the Word of God does not recognize God’s voice calling him or her. I hope that each one of you, if you are not doing so already will start to read and meditate on the Word of God, so that when God speaks to you, you will hear his voice, for his mercies are new every morning. Amen.