Here I Am, But Who Called Me?

Scripture Lessons: 1 Samuel 3: 1-10 and John 1: 43-51 Preached on January 17, 2021 Sermon Title: Here I Am, But Who Called Me? Getting to know people for the first time can be a tricky business. We are not like Jesus in that Jesus meets Nathaniel for the first time and gets him right. We meet people for the first time and time we know them, not because we’re divine but because we’re judgmental. Maybe it’s some more than others, but we all probably have a few disqualifying issues, observable traits or bad habits, that we don’t want anyone else to see us do for fear of what they might think of us or maybe, when we see it in another person just one thing can send them down the ladder in our estimation. For example: when I eat French Fries, I eat them the right way. I make a little well of ketchup and I dip my French fries, which is the right way to do it. And I just don’t know about people who just squirt ketchup all over their fries. Likewise, my grandmother didn’t think much of people who bought anything other than Duke’s mayonnaise. She couldn’t even understand why anyone would want to use anything else. But, there’s more. Dental hygiene, hair style, names that are hard to say or spell. We notice things and make judgments about people based on them. Additionally, we look ourselves in the mirror and make disqualifying judgements about ourselves. One thing that our two Scripture Lessons for this morning have in common is that they both point out how our assumptions can lead us to miss God’s invitation to new life. Let me tell you what I mean. A friend of mine went to school in New York State. His roommate asked him where he was from and after Will said Tennessee the new roommate asked him if he owned a pair of shoes. Now that’s a small thing, but it happens all the time. These two became friends but they almost didn’t because we think we know too much about people based on where they come from. So, the North looks down their nose at the South a little bit. But the South’s not innocent. I’ve been making jokes about people from Alabama my entire life, and as long as Snuffy Smith runs in the local paper, we know that there are some people it’s still socially acceptable to make fun of, only what can you really tell about a person based on where he comes from? We can get stuck in these assumptions and start thinking that nothing good can come out of certain places or from certain people, and so we say things like: Nazareth? Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Is that not the most incredible question you’ve ever heard? It sums up all these assumptions and proves them wrong in one fail swoop: “Yes, in fact the most good the world has ever seen comes out of Nazareth” so there. But what do we do with that? Well, I’ve heard some people call the desecration of our nation’s capital the Duck Dynasty Revolution but putting down a group of people because of how they look, or feel is not going to help put this nation back together. What’s become clear to me amidst all that broken glass is that we’ve now seen a very tangible sign that our nation is bitterly divided, and, regardless of which side you are standing on, do not forget to love the person on the other side. Why? Because Jesus always shows up where we least expect him to, and if we’re not ready to be surprised, we are likely to miss out all-together. What’s true about humankind is that when we are sure we’re right; we’re usually wrong. When we think we know; we’re announcing our ignorance. When we are completely certain, we leave no room for faith. Therefore, the posture of Christians must be one of persistent humility. Why? Because we must be prepared for God to defy our expectations. What did Nathanial expect? “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” is what Nathanial asked. Well, Nathanial, with that attitude, can anything good come out of you? That was Samuel’s struggle. He didn’t think anything good could come out of him. Samuel didn’t expect to be called by God. He just assumed it was old Eli calling. Why would he think that? Well, do you think he saw himself as someone who God might need to do the next big thing? Had he not taken in all the messages from the judgmental world? So often, those who sleep on the ground as Samuel did on the floor of the Temple, never expect to rise above it. Having been left there by his mother, he may have come to think of himself like so much else that we leave behind and don’t ever think about again. You surely know his story well enough. It’s a story like so many others. It’s like Harry Potter who can’t believe that he’s a wizard. It’s like James, who climbs into a Giant Peach. There are so many adventures which must begin with a child of God first believing that something wonderful could ever happen to the likes of them. We all must be ready for this kind of surprise or we might miss it, and Samuel nearly did. “Samuel, Samuel,” the Lord called, but the audacity here is that no one important ever called this boy by name. No one called him, not for dinner, but to clean up after dinner. No one called him because they wanted to see him, but because they wanted something done. Hardly anyone even took the time to know his name. Do you know what that’s like? I don’t know my garbage man’s name, but God does. Who is calling this boy? He can’t imagine, because it’s just too much. And that’s the point. How will those who have been pushed around by society ever believe that God would call them by name? Should the garbage man start to think that he’s garbage because the world treats him that way, God will break into his life to show him the truth, only he must have enough hope to imagine he’s worthy. “Samuel, Samuel,” the Lord called. He almost missed it for doubting, certain that nothing like this could happen to someone like him. Don’t be so certain. Like Nathaniel we ask, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” And will we be so defined by the events of this week and the one before that we give up on ourselves? Will we stop holding close the virtues which our nation was founded on? Will we be so shaken by this nightmare that we give up on the dream? Will we be convinced by the evidence around us that we are broken, divided, out of luck and up a creek, or will we listen now to this call from God, “You’re looking in all the wrong places and your listening to all the wrong voices. Listen to me as I call you to be fully who you were created to be!” Let us not be so narrow minded as to judge ourselves based on what’s broken. Let us never be so foolish as to think that the only power at work in our world is humanity’s vast capacity for evil. Our eyes have been open to a level or fragility and depravity. We’re pushing closer to the edge of incivility, and to make matters worse, this week I’ve had homework to keep up with too. That’s a small thing to mention, but I mention it for this reason. As I work on my doctorate, my professor has had me reading about the lives of black women like Ella Baker and Fanny Lou Hamer, who called this nation to her higher ideals, having never experienced much other than oppression, discrimination, and hunger. Fanny Lou Hamer was a sharecropper in Mississippi. She worked for most of her life in fields, then went home to rest in shacks without enough coal for the fire, clothes for the children, or food for the table, yet she preached and preached about a freedom that she’d never had herself but somehow knew was within reach. The Lord called out to Samuel, and do you know what the Lord did for him? Made him the great prophet who would bring order to a kingdom in chaos. I can imagine the boy hearing all this on that cold temple floor, and wanting to say, “That sounds fine, but I’d really just like a blanket and a warm meal. What about a new tunic?” The Lord provided him more than he ever could have dreamed of, and this is the requirement: he never would have done it had he been sure that he was unworthy. No one ever gets anywhere if they give up on themselves. And we will never get beyond this point we find ourselves in now if we stop fighting for a more perfect union, a city on a hill, the land of the free and the home of the brave, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Can anything good come out of Nazareth? More good than this world has ever seen before. Can anything good come out of Washington? Can anything good come out of me? We cannot allow one of the worst days in our nation’s history to determine our nation’s future, any more than we can allow one of our worst mistakes to determine our salvation. Only by the Grace of God go I. Only by the power of God did I walk into today with confidence. Only because of His magnificence can this ordinary me stand in this pulpit. It’s only because of forgiveness, grace, love, hope, and faith that we are here today. So, listen to the call of God my friends, and together, let us find out what will happen next. For I’m ready to follow this Jesus who has called me by name. He saw me under the fig tree and called me to follow. I believe he love me, and I believe he loves you, and I am absolutely convinced that he has not had it with this world that we are living in. In fact, I believe he holds this whole world in his hands. Amen.