Second Sunday of Epiphany
Psalm 63
I Sam 3:1-20
I Cor 6:9-20
John 1:43-51
Some of you know that I am a photographer. I love to document life with my camera. But as my ordination drew near, I wondered who was going to document this milestone day for me? I decided to ask my dad.
My favorite photo of his from that day captured the young acolytes in a moment of confusion during the recessional. There were two crucifers. One was supposed to lead us out and the other should have slipped in front of the bishop. She did not wait for the bishop and – in this photo – the first crucifer is looking back in uncertainty. The two young acolytes were dressed in white albs just their size, wearing red cinctures and large pectoral crosses. They fit right in with the adult clergy following behind them.
These acolytes help us imagine the opening of 1 Samuel 3. Samuel is still a boy as he ministers to the LORD under the supervision of Eli the high priest. In the previous chapter, we learn that Samuel wore little priestly vestments made yearly by his mom. He was dressed just like a Levitical priest in miniature.
Samuel is born in the time of the Judges. He will become the last of the Judges of Israel and will rule the nation until Saul is made king. What is the refrain in Judges? “Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” There was lawlessness in Israel during Samuel’s youth.
Consequently, hearing from God was rare and infrequent. In the book of Judges, we see that Israel was caught in a cycle of sin and idolatry that resulted in oppression by enemies. Then the people would cry to God for help (sometimes with repentance) and God would send a judge to fight off the enemy.
There is no national cry for help or repentance recorded before Samuel’s story begins. Instead, we get the story of Samuel the miracle baby of Hannah and Elkhanan. Hannah was barren and cried out to the LORD for a child. When a baby came, she offered him back to God. That’s how Samuel same to serve as a boy priest in the Tabernacle.
Now we come to what has been a favorite story of mine since I was a child.
It’s bedtime, and Samuel was laying down in the “temple” of the LORD where the ark was. Eli and Samuel served in the Tabernacle, in the tent, but it is thought that by this time a more permanent room had been raised under the tent for the holy place and the Holy of Holies. It is unlikely that Samuel was sleeping directly in the Holy of Holies, but that is what the text seems to say, and what I imagined as a child. It sounds as if he’s sleeping in the Holy of Holies!
Then God showed up! The LORD called Samuel three times. But Samuel does not yet know the voice of the LORD.
Neither does Eli recognize the voice of the LORD at first. The text is direct in telling us that Eli is losing his sight. He’s not just going physically blind, but he is going spiritually blind, too.
Finally, Eli catches on and instructs Samuel: “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.’ ”
And the LORD came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
And Samuel replied, “Speak, for your servant hears.”
Notice what God doesn’t say next. He doesn’t say, “I just wanted to chat.” He doesn’t say, “Why didn’t you know it was me?” He doesn’t say, “You’re Israel’s next judge.” God initiates Samuel’s ministry as prophet, not by saying, “You’re a prophet now!” but by giving Samuel a word to deliver.
God says he is about to do a thing in Israel and that on that day, all that God has said about Eli and his family will happen. What had God said about Eli and his family?
In chapter 2, we learn that the sons of Eli were “worthless men.” Hophni and Phineas also served as priests, but they were bad priests. They took from worshipers the best sacrifice meat for themselves. Not only that, they demanded their priestly portion before the LORD got his portion. As if that weren’t enough, they also had sex with the women who served at the entrance of the Tabernacle.
What did Eli do about it? Eli knew his sons were sinning in a way to curse themselves, but he did not correct them. He didn’t confront their sin directly. He did tell them that there are dire consequences for sinning against God, but they weren’t bothered. They kept indulging themselves with ill-gotten food and illicit sex. Eli also seemed to go along with eating the stolen food.
Also in chapter 2, God sent a prophet to warn Eli of coming judgment. The prophet says that Hophni and Phineas would die on the same day. But Eli still didn’t rebuke his sons. He still didn’t repent for his part in the sin.
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WOW! No forgiveness? No atonement? Why? Because, there was no repentance, not even from Eli. In Leviticus, an atoning sacrifice has no effect if the worshipper is not repentant. So it’s not that God is judging Eli and his sons differently. He is saying, “I see no repentance, so no sacrifice can atone for their sin.”
In the morning, Eli compels Samuel to tell him everything. The boy priest-in-training tells his mentor that God will judge his family.
Eli replies: “It is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him.”
What a terrible answer from a leader of the people. Through the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, God is ever coaxing his people to repentance. He’s patient and waits. He sends prophets to remind the people that he’s saved them from their enemies and that they have been told how to show their gratitude. He waits some more. He wishes none to perish. But when patience and reminding do not work, God declares his judgment, hoping it will spurn us to repent. When we repent, he relents.
Eli does not repent. “It is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him.” This is a servant of God jaded, his heart hardened by his sin.
What happens to Eli and his sons? They die on the day of a terrible military defeat. The Philistines were attacking Israel. Israel decided they’d take the Ark of the Covenant out of the Tabernacle into battle, and Eli’s sons go with the ark. Israel loses; the sons die, and the Philistines capture the ark. And when Eli receives word that the ark had been captured, he falls backward in his chair and breaks his neck.
In the time of the Judges, everyone did what was right in their own eyes.
We live in similar times. We’re in the middle of a pandemic, but for some, it seems right to not wear a mask in public spaces. We live in contentious political times. For some, it seems right to attack our national legislature. Some of those who breached the Capitol on January 6 had murder in their hearts. This is not some personal assessment of mine. These rioters photographed and videoed themselves and readily admitted on message boards and social media posts that they were prepared to maim and kill. Their words are corroborated by the weaponry they carried – Molotov cocktails, firearms, knives, and bats –- and by the weapons they used, a flag pole with an American flag used to beat a police officer while others sang the Star Spangled Banner!
Why do I bring this up in church? Because this is humanity! This is human sin on full display, recorded and posted to social media! We live in community. We live in community in our families, in this church, in this state, and in this country. When we were kids, many of us were told by our parents that how we behaved reflected on the whole family. Well, the American family is dysfunctional and it is sinful! Those attackers revealed many of the sins that usually sit hidden in our hearts: pride, hatred, rebellion, and even murder.
Don’t think that because we’re sitting here in church the Christian community has not sinned. As Deacon Andrew mentioned last week, some of the rebellious mob held signs with the name of our beloved Savior! They marched with Christian flags. They carried crosses…. To a rebellion! The cross is what Jesus bore because he wouldn’t rebel against Rome, because he refused Satan’s offer of political power. But here some have carried what is to be a symbol of our suffering with Jesus Messiah as a standard to an insurrection. It’s not unlike what Hophni and Phineus did, priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant into battle. The Israelites who had the bright idea to carry the ark into battle thought it would “save us from the power of our enemies” (1 Sam 4:3) like a talisman, a lucky charm.
This syncretism of Christianity with militant ideology isn’t a novel phenomenon. A professor from Baylor University recently sketched the history of violent Christian extremism in the United States. There’s the murder of abortionists since the 1990s and the bombing of the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. And he doesn’t even mention the burning crosses of the Klu Klux Klan!
The good news is that there is an antidote for the evil inside OUR sinful hearts. There is a cure for what ails our broken souls.
In 1 Samuel 2:35, when the prophet delivers the first word of judgment to Eli, there’s a hopeful promise built-in: “And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever.”
God has himself provided the ever-faithful priest, the miracle baby of Mary, the King-Priest in the order of Melchizedek, Jesus of Nazareth. He is the atoning sacrifice and the high priest interceding for us before the Throne of God.
And he is calling us to himself, calling us to serve him. How?
He is calling us to repent. He is calling us to search our hearts for pride and hatred. Our nation is in a precarious moment. And we the Church are called to bring healing, to declare the Good News of Jesus Christ. But we cannot serve until we have been cleansed of our own sin. We don’t repent once, because all of us will wrestle with our sin until we die. Jesus calls us to a lifestyle of repentance until he returns and makes all things new.
He calls us to minister to him, as priests. This week Pope Francis changed a piece of canon law – and I won’t go into that tangent – but this change acknowledges the “baptismal priesthood” to which all believers are called. Priests first and foremost minister to God. We who are part of the kingdom of priests are called to worship him, to praise him, to glorify his Name with our words and our living.
And sometimes that ministry is to mourn with God. I’ve been contemplating the biblical practice of putting on sackcloth and ashes as a physical action of mourning. Sometimes our worship is to lament. It’s more than OK to lament the state of our nation, to lament our national sins. It’s biblically mandated. It is a way we tap into the heart of God. He mourns when we sin. We should mourn with him and intercede for those around us.
We are called to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God. We are sojourners. We are passing through this country. We have heavenly citizenship that outranks our earthly national alliances. We should be more concerned about proclaiming Jesus is King of Kings rather than whether our candidate won or lost. Our passage in 1 Samuel 3 ends: “Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.” That those words would describe us as we proclaim the Gospel to those around us!
We serve the creator God whose character is always to have mercy. So let us with humble hearts repent and be washed clean so we can invite others to experience God’s mercy.
Let us pray.
We thank you, Father, that you are the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that your character is always to have mercy. Soften our hearts so that we may always hear the Holy Spirit’s call to repentance and so receive healing for our sin-sick hearts. In the name of Jesus the crucified Messiah. Amen.