SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY

SUNDAY 14th JANUARY 2024

1 Samuel 3:10 And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. | King James Version (KJV) | Download

OPENING SENTENCE OF SCRIPTURE

“I love to do your will O God !”

HYMN

GREETING

Grace and peace to you from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

COLLECT FOR PURITY

Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

SUMMARY OF THE LAW

Our Lord Jesus Christ said: The first commandment is this:

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.”

The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these. Amen. Lord, have mercy.

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CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

God is love and we are God’s children. There is no room for fear in love. We love because God loved us first.

Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.

SILENCE

God our Father, we confess to you
and to our fellow members in the Body of Christ
that we have sinned in thought, word and deed,
and in what we have failed to do.
We are truly sorry.
Forgive us our sins,
and deliver us from the power of evil,
for the sake of your Son who died for us, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

ABSOLUTION

God, who is both power and love,
forgive you and free you from your sins,
heal and strengthen you by the Holy Spirit,
and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.

GLORIA
sung by Dougie Byers

COLLECT

Almighty and eternal God,
ruler of heaven and earth;
mercifully hear the prayers of your people,
and grant your peace to our times;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end. Amen

PROCLAIMING & RECEIVING GOD’S WORD

FIRST READING:
1 Samuel 3: 1-20
read by Simon Lidwell

Samuel’s Calling and Prophetic Activity

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.

At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; 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. Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” 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. 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.” Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 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. 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.

1 Samuel 3:9 – He Knows My Name - Wellspring Christian Ministries

Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” Then the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. On that day I will fulfil against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.”

Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.”

As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

SILENCE

SECOND READING
1 CORINTHIANS 6:12-20
read by Peter Boreham

Glorify God in Body and Spirit

“All things are permitted for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are permitted for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for sexual immorality but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - Bible verse - DailyVerses.net

Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.” But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun sexual immorality! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against the body itself. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body.

GRADUAL HYMN

GOSPEL READING
John 1: 43-51
read by Rev Steven Ballard

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St John chapter 1 beginning at verse 43

Glory to Christ our Saviour

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

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?”

Introducing Jesus (John 1:43-51) | St John's Lutheran Church, Tea Tree Gully

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.”

Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious Gospel

Praise to Christ our Lord.

SERMON

Robert Louis Stevenson was a novelist who grew up in Scotland in the 19th Century. In those days, streetlights did not just come on automatically; people were hired to light each one individually. One evening, as the lamplighters did their work, climbing their ladders, lifting the glass lid, lighting the torch, shutting the lid, climbing down, and moving onto the next lamp, young Stevenson was enthralled. As dusk settled into night, one light would be kindled, then another, and another. He turned to his parents and said, ‘Look, they are punching holes in the darkness.”

Punching Holes in the Dark || Punching Holes in the Darkness of Despair — Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church

Punching holes in the darkness is a good description of what God is doing amongst his people in the days of Samuel and of Jesus. Jesus chose people to punch holes in the darkness. In the gospel we see Jesus choosing Philip and personally inviting him to follow Jesus. Philip seems to accept the invitation without any qualms or fears. I suspect this was not the first encounter that Philip has had with Jesus. From previous encounters something has stood out about the person of Jesus that has attracted and appealed to Philip and drawn Philip into Jesus’ team.

Confronted by Jesus, what to do? – Fearless Living

Philip immediately plays his part in the team- we see no hesitation there. There is no hint of him holding back, rather his commitment shines through. He goes and finds Nathanael and tells him we have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” There is a contagious enthusiasm in Philip- he has discovered something so precious and significant he can’t keep it to himself. It is for sharing. Philip is totally committed to the service of Jesus. He immediately starts to punch light into the darkness by approaching Nathanael, often regarded as Barthlomew in Scripture. Philip has been chosen and he now chooses to impart light through the gospel to others. He is an inspiration in his commitment.

Commitment is key in our faith journey. Luciano Pavarotti offers some wisdom on commitment. He said that when he was a boy, his father, a baker, introduced him to the wonders of song. He urged him to work hard to develop his voice. Arrigo Pola, a professional tenor in his hometown of Modena, Italy, took him as a pupil. Pavarotti also enrolled in a teachers’ college. On graduating, he asked his father, “Shall I be a teacher or a singer?” “Luciano,” his father replied, “if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair.” Pavarotti, later in life wrote: “I chose one. It took seven years of study and frustration before I made my first professional appearance. It took another seven to reach the Metropolitan Opera. And now I think whether it’s laying bricks, writing a book, whatever we choose we should give ourselves to it. Commitment, that’s the key. Choose one chair.” 

Philip chose the chair of following Jesus and encouraged others to do so. He brings his contagious enthusiasm to Nathanael. You might think he could have chosen an easier person to start with. For Nathanael is a right sceptic- somewhat narrow-minded in his thinking. Can anything good come out of Nazareth?

John 1:46 And Nathanael said to him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see.

Some tribal town rivalry is going on here.. apparent prejudice against a neighbouring town. No amount of arguments of theological, social or political are going to change Nathanael’s mind and here we see the wisdom of Philip when he simply says – “come and see.” Sometimes what folks need to hear from us is not huge arguments and debates but simply an invitation to come to our worship service- come and see! Philip manages to get Nathanael to come. Jesus says: here is a true Israelite in whom there is nothing false.

Jesus tells Nathanael that he “saw him under the fig tree”; and that this was enough for Nathanael to declare, “Teacher you are the Son of God!” What did Jesus mean when he said he saw Nathanael under the fig tree? What was it that so changed Nathanael’s point of view that he stopped being sceptical about Jesus and became a believer in Jesus as the Saviour of Israel, the Messiah.

Obviously from Nathanael’s reaction, Jesus’ observation was surprising and supernatural. He wasn’t simply saying that he had noticed Nathanael under the fig tree earlier in the day, for example. The writer’s use of a fig tree in this passage is quite deliberate. The fig tree was a well-known symbol of the nation of Israel. Jesus, in his meeting with Nathanael, is revealed as the saviour of Israel – he is the fulfilment of the dream that Jacob had of a ladder stretching from earth to heaven: “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man”.

Jesus bridges the gap between the earthly and the heavenly Israel. Jesus is the ladder between heaven and earth. We are reminded, here, of the thin place between heaven and earth and Jesus is the one who reaches out and makes the connection with us. The picture in the Sistine chapel of Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam” where the image of two hands reaching out for each other symbolises God’s unity, connection, partnership, support, and solidarity with us. This image represents the coming together- emphasising the thin place and the closeness of God, who as Nathanael and Philip discovered is ever reaching out to us.

Jesus reached out to Nathanael, and this encounter with Jesus had a profound effect on Nathanael – it leads him from scepticism to an immediate confession of faith: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” The experience changed Nathanael’s whole mode of perception. His outlook on himself and the whole world was changed for good. He was suddenly able to see through the confusing pattern of this world to a deeper and greater reality.

This greater and deeper reality was revealed also to Samuel. Samuel was under the tutelage of Eli. Eli represents Israel and the path that she has taken in allowing the things of God to grow dim. Eli represents the old ways Israel had been following for 200 years, paths that have led to spiritual blindness and deafness to God. yet there is a glimmer of hope here. We are told that the lamp of God had not yet gone out and Samuel was lying down in the temple where the ark of God was. It was no accident that this story takes place at night. The darkness represents the same thing that Eli’s blindness represents: the lack of spiritual vision and the failure to be God’s people.

It is interesting that the word of God was rare in those days, yet the boy Samuel heard it even although he did not recognise what he heard. He went and asked Eli if he had called. Eli told him to go back to bed. Twice more this happened. Finally, the third time Eli began to understand what was happening. He explained what Samuel should do and how he should respond. The fourth time Samuel responded to God’s call, and was given the prophetic message from God.

It was a message about change, about the ending of the old ways of doing things in Israel. The message was that God would not allow Eli’s sons to lead Israel. Eli’s priestly family would be removed and replaced. God did not tell Samuel at this point what newness would come, only about the changes that would sweep away the old ways. Samuel was afraid to tell Eli about God’s message. Finally, almost under threat, he told Eli the sad news. We might have expected Eli to be angry, which is probably why Samuel was afraid to tell him. Or we might have expected a cynical or hurt reaction. But Eli’s response is unexpected, probably because we have misjudged Eli. He simply said, “It is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him.” Perhaps it had been so long since he had heard from God that he was shocked. Or perhaps he was still enough of a man of faith to recognize God’s work in the world. Even as the old ways are passing away, they convey truth to us.

Agnes Repplier Quote: “A world of vested interests is not a world which welcomes the disruptive

In theological terms, Eli represents the vested interests of those who are used to having their way, and who expect that the place that they have occupied in this present generation will continue indefinitely, even into the lives of their children, world without end. Such are typically depicted in scripture as being far from the heart of Yahweh, of seeking their own ends, rather than seeking the interests of God or the people whom they serve. By contrast, Samuel represents those to whom no one ever listens, the people who are regularly dismissed as unimportant, peripheral, or out of touch with “the real world.” It is such people, that the Lord delights in and uses as conduits for bringing the Word to the people.

January Virtue of the Month is Prayer - Challenge

As we ponder these passages, we might ask ourselves what message is God communicating to me? Whose vested interests am I serving- the world’s or God’s? If our vested interests are God’s then who will we share the gospel with, in both word and in action this month. God call us all be like Philip, Nathanael, and Samuel who had a true heart for God- they are people of prayer. Is God saying something to us about prayer? What if we all prayed for one month for spiritual and numerical growth in St John’s – I believe with all my heart if we all did that faithfully for one month we would see a difference…let’s consider this challenge together, so that the lamp will burn out in St John’s but will continue to punch holes in the darkness of the world around us. Amen.

THE CREED

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one substance with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son,
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Prayer Requests – Baildon Methodist Church

PRAYERS

Lord Jesus, your call to Philip inspired him
and encouraged him to be a passionate disciple.
His commitment was wholehearted
and he wasted no time in sharing the good news with Nathanael.
As your church seeks to follow you,
Grant us the passion, vision and missionary heart of Philip
that we might too follow his example
in inviting people to worship,
to “come and see”