The Rev. Dr. Hilary B. Smith
Go and
listen, Come and See
The
author of first Samuel states that the word of the LORD was rare and visions
were not wide-spread in the days that Samuel served God under the direction of
Eli. So much so that a person might not know what to do when God did come
calling. Even wise old Eli did not get it at first. But the third time, Eli
realized that God was calling the boy. Eli’s eyesight had begun to grow dim so
that he could not see—yet he does see—he sees what is most important when it
comes to guiding Samuel in the ways of faith. Eli advises him to be ready for
God’s call and then to listen to what God is saying to him.
Go
and listen, Eli says. Go and listen. Being available to God and listening is
such a major part of growing in faith. How do you make yourself available to
God? How do you listen for God’s word to you? Who are the people in your life
who help you listen?
This
account of Samuel’s call brings up some interesting points about God’s
relationship with individuals and how God communicates with us. The times we
live in seem to have some things in common with Samuel’s time when it comes to
people’s perception of God at work in the world and in their lives.
The
word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. People
were not experiencing dramatic, miraculous encounters with God. There aren’t
many burning bushes these days or are there? Part of the issue is what we think
about what we see. When I saw that plane
in the Hudson and the people standing on the wings, and as we learned that no
one died and there were few injures, that seemed miraculous to me.
They
looked like they were walking on the water when they were standing on the
wings, and seemed like that moment was a God moment.
Are
visions rare? Actually there are more visions than anyone of us knows about
because most people don’t bring up their most intense personal experiences of
God in causal conversation.This is of course one reason why a faith community
is so important—to have a place, to have a group of people who can relate to your
experiences of God and help you discern God’s call to you.
The
call of Samuel and the encounter Nathaniel had with Jesus, both of these
accounts, encourage us and all to be open to the possibilities. Eli tells
Samuel to go and listen. Philip invites Nathaniel to come and see—to come and
see for himself who this Jesus is.
You
have come here today to listen and to see. This what we have to offer others
who are not so sure about church or God or Jesus. Come and see what faith in
God looks like in action. Come and see what this church does, how we act, and
how we seek to serve God and others. Faith is not a spectator sport. You cannot
hear about it from someone else—sure that can be a start, but we all need to
see for ourselves, and God wants to show us the way. God calls you to the way
that is meant for you.
But
for many, they look around and say that it is not rational toto believe that
God is directly involved in our lives. Those who call themselves Deists affirm
that God exists but that God is like a watchmaker who made the watch—after all
our world is complex they say and there had to have been a Creator. But then
the deist claims that like the watchmaker, once the creation was complete, God
set the world to run and went away, and that God does not become involved
directly or personally anyperson or situation.
Now
this view of God is very different than what we believe as Christians. Sadly
some have become deists without even realizing it. Our Judeo-Christian
tradition, while of course naming times when God seemed absent—those dark
nights of the soul—is clear that God cares and that God is involved with us in
the same way that God acted by calling Samuel and that Jesus invited people to
follow him. Are visions rare or is it how we make sense of what we see? Thinking
and praying about how God sees us, how God sees you, can also be a way into the
heart of God.
The
author of psalm 139 gives words to bring to prayer. These words speak of that
sense that God is close, always has been and always will be. Nothing could be
farther from Deism.
1 LORD, you have searched me out and known me; *
you know my sitting down and my rising up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
2 You trace my journeys and my resting-places *
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Try
praying about your life—your journeys and your resting places—where were the
glimpses of God? Imagine God with you in those moments. Imagine our caring,
loving God who goes to the greatest lengths possible to be with you.
We
react to such knowledge, which is, as the psalmist says, toowonderful for me
by wanting to give ourselves to God – we want to know God better, we want to
serve God.
The
words of our closing hymn today say it all,
Here I am Lord,
is it I Lord,
I have heard you calling in
the night.
I will go Lord, if you lead
me,
I will hold your people in
my heart.
We
respond with an awareness of God in our lives by wanting to live our lives for
God and for others.
It
can be easy to say that God is not involved if one chooses not to be involved
with God.
God
has already invited everyone to follow. Jesus asks, “Will you follow me?” The
more we seek to follow, the more we live into our faith, the more we grow in
our knowledge and love God.
And
as wonderful as it can be to commune with God alone, we grow the most in
community. Unless of course you go off to be a religious hermit in the woods—cut
off from everything, alone with just you and God. But that is for a few brave
souls, most of us live in the world and in order to keep the things of the
world in perspective, we need each other; we need the church. It is here that
we support each other. It is here that we are strengthened by the sacraments to
follow God and to serve as we are called to do. We grow together.
Two
years ago the Episcopal church developed an new slogan: “Come and grow.” Those
words contain truth about religion and spirituality as generally understood in
our tradition.
If
you go the come and grow website www.comeandgrow.org,
you will see that the Episcopal Church invites you to come and grow in
understanding, in gratitude, in service and in peace.
We
say, come and experience what we talk about, what you think we believe, and see
for yourself. And then grow—know that faith is always developing; our
understanding of God’s action in our lives develops and often changes during
our lives. Don’t come to hear the final word about your relationship with God
from someone else, but come and grow in your faith. And the final part of the
phrase, “Come and grow in a congregation near you.”
The
welcome we offer to people is part of how God works in them, in us. We hold as
a central belief that faith develops best in community. We learn together, we
may challenge each other, we always support each other. Of course faith is not
just what we believe, but how we live into our beliefs. It is in community that
we have the support and encouragement to take the risks and face the challenges
of living an authentic Christian life – a life open to the possibilities and to
God’s call. Amen.