January 17, 2021: To See and Be Seen

1 Samuel 3:1-20 & John 1:43-51
Rev. Rhonda Blevins

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.

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 for ever, 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 for ever.’

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.

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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?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said of him, ‘Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!’ Nathanael asked him, ‘Where did you come 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.’

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It’s time for me to go to the eye doctor. I have natural monovision: I use one eye to see at a distance and the other eye to see up close. I can see great at a distance. I can see great up close. But there’s a certain distance—somewhere between near and far (about where most people would view a computer screen)—that everything is blurry. I can’t see anything at that distance.

I feel like that’s where we are as a nation right now. We are in between the past that we can see clearly (ish) and not yet to the future that will become clear (ish). We are in the blurry zone. It’s opaque. We can’t see straight.

It’s like we’re living in the time of Samuel and Eli.

The setting of our Old Testament lesson, the scriptures tell us, is that “the word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.” In other words, the people couldn’t see. But, we’re told, “the lamp of God had not yet gone out.”

The word of the Lord was rare, but not nonexistent!

The lamp of the Lord was dim, but not extinguished!

But the word of the Lord was so rare, and the lamp of the Lord so dim, that when the Lord spoke to Samuel, he did not recognize God’s voice. Instead, he thought his mentor, Eli, was speaking to him.

It can be confusing in times when the word of the Lord is rare—when the lamp of God is dim.

Kind of like now: a time in between the past that we can see clearly (ish) and not yet to the future that will become clear (ish). We are in the blurry zone. It’s opaque. We can’t see straight.

It’s cyclical, it seems. Society goes from order to disorder to reorder back to order, and on and on it goes. Father Richard Rohr calls this cycle, “The Wisdom Pattern.” Order. Disorder. Reorder.

We are indeed “saved” by knowing and surrendering to this universal pattern of reality. Knowing the full pattern allows us to let go of our first order, trust the disorder, and, sometimes even hardest of all—to trust the new reorder. Three big leaps of faith for all of us, and each of a different character.[1]

It’s a universal pattern that “can be found in all societies and in fact in all of creation. We see it in the seasons of the year; the stories of Scripture; the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus; the rise and fall of civilizations; and even in our own lives.”

Rohr teaches that “understanding and embracing this pattern can give us hope in difficult times and the courage to push through messiness and even great chaos to find a new way of being in the world.”

That 30,000-foot view—recognizing this universal pattern—helps us rise above hopelessness and cynicism.

But it’s easy to become cynical, isn’t it? Just ask Nathanael.

Nathanael, like Samuel, was living in a time when the “word of the Lord was rare” and the lamp of the Lord was dim. So when his friend, Philip, approached him saying, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth,” Nathanael was skeptical. Jaded. Cynical. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” he quipped.

Nazareth, you see, was a nothing town. A hamlet, really. It wasn’t close to a major body of water. There were no trade routes running through it. It wasn’t mentioned as anything special by the prophets of old. Maybe 400 residents at the time of Jesus. It was a nothing town. A joke. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” was an honest, if cynical, question.

I’ve mention before how much I love Dolly Parton. Growing up as a kid in East Tennessee, I heard a lot about Dolly. Dolly grew up just over the hill in Sevier County (sneer). I knew several of Dolly’s songs. A remarkable songwriter, Dolly’s songs often tell a story. In one of her most famous songs, Dolly tells a story from her childhood. Dolly was one of twelve kids in her family. They were dirt poor; Dolly didn’t have a coat. Someone had given Dolly’s mother a box of rags, that her mother sewed into a patchwork coat for Dolly. She gave Dolly this “Coat of Many Colors,” telling her the Old Testament story about Joseph and his coat of many colors. Dolly was so proud of her beautiful new coat! And then she wore it to school. The children made fun of her. They laughed at her. But Dolly had talent. Lots of it. She had personality. Good looks. And a keen business sense. Dolly Parton is now worth about $600 million dollars. (Who’s laughing now?) She recently gave a one-million-dollar gift to help find a vaccine for COVID-19. And if any of you receive the Moderna vaccine, remember Dolly and her coat of many colors, the other children laughing at her. Can anything good come out of Sevier County (sneer)? Apparently so!

“Can anything good come out of Nazareth,” Nathanael quipped.

Can anything good come out of this season of disorder? Maybe it’s hard to answer that question in the affirmative, because we’re in the middle of it, and we can’t see clearly. We’re in the blurry zone, between the past and the future. The word of the Lord seems rare. The lamp of the Lord seems dim. It’s doubtful that anything good can come out of Nazareth.

So Nathanael makes his skepticism known to Philip. Philip doesn’t mind. Philip doesn’t rebuke Nathanael. Philip doesn’t disagree with Nathanael. Philip simply says to his cynical friend, “Come and see.” Nathanael takes Philip up on his invitation. Listen again to what happens next:

When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you come to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree.”

It doesn’t take much effort from Jesus to win Nathanael’s belief. All Jesus has to do is see Nathanael. But I don’t think this is some ordinary seeing. I believe that Jesus saw him deeply—enough to know him—enough to appreciate him. “I see you, Nathanael. You’re honest. You’re earnest. You’re sincere.” Nathanael came to see Jesus, and instead Jesus saw Nathanael.

In the middle of the madness, when the word of the Lord is rare and the lamp of the Lord is dim, the invitation is to “come and see.” You don’t have to believe, so long as you’re open to it. You don’t have to trust, so long as you’re open to it. You don’t have to be “all in” on this Jesus thing, so long as you’re open to it. 

God sees you—deeply. God knows you—deeply. God loves you, not despite your doubt, your cynicism, your skepticism, your disillusionment—but precisely because of it.

Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Can anything good come out of this current madness? I believe so. I invite you to join me—to come along—come and see for yourself.

Because, you see, the lamp of the Lord has not gone out. No sir! No ma’am! The lamp of the Lord has not gone out. Not on our watch. The lamp of the Lord has not gone out!

[1] Richard Rohr, The Wisdom Pattern, Franciscan Media: 2020.