“Here I Am, For You Called Me”
Pastor Deb Troester, STHPC, January 14, 2024
When I was four or five years old, I love to watch Sea Hunt with Lloyd Bridges. It was an exciting deep-sea adventure TV program, full of dangerous encounters with sharks, squids, and sting rays. The problem was, it was a little too scary for me. One nigh after a particularly close encounter involving a giant manta ray, I couldn’t sleep. I kept seeing manta rays swimming in the air above my bed. I think I knew this wasn’t possible, but it scared me nonetheless. I called out for my Mom and Dad, and they came running. When I told them my fears of being attacked by a sting ray, they turned on the light to show me that there was nothing there and I could go back to sleep, which I eventually did.
I suspect the old priest, Eli, thought something similar was happening when the boy Samuel woke him up in the middle of the night. He probably thought Samuel had had a dream and needed to go back to sleep. But, dream or not, Samuel was convinced he had heard a voice calling to him.
The two stories we read today – one about the boy Samuel, and the other about the apostle Nathaniel - are quite different, yet they have their similarities. If you recall, Samuel was the prophet who anointed King Saul, and then, when that didn’t work out too well, King David. Samuel’s story takes place over a thousand years before the story of Nathanael, who became one of Jesus’ original twelve disciples. Yet both stories tell of a person who was called by God.
The Bible is full of stories of God calling someone to a special task or a special way of life. God calls Abraham and Sarah to leave their birthplace and travel to an unknown land, the Promised Land, to build a new life there, and become the “father and mother of many nations.” God calls Moses to lead the people of Israel out of slavery. God calls the prophets to speak His word to the people.
In modern times, we may think of people such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday we celebrate tomorrow. In the 50’s and 60’s he was called to lead a non-violent movement against racism and segregation.
Similarly, we could say that Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglas were called to speak out against slavery. Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu were called to lead the South African people out of apartheid. But what about ordinary people? Are we also called? If you have a sense that God is asking you to do something that will bring you closer to what God wants for your life, God is probably calling you. In the New Testament, it usually means deciding to follow Christ, to become his disciple, like Philip and Nathanael.
The story of Nathanael begins when his friend Philip tells him, “We have found the Messiah! It’s Jesus of Nazareth.” But Nathanael is skeptical. Nazareth is an obscure little village, not exactly the place where people thought the Messiah would come from. He retorts, “Nazareth? Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” He’s basically telling Philip, “You’re crazy. Don’t waste my time.” But Philip persists and says, “Come and see.”
Notice that Philip doesn’t harangue Nathanael, or argue with him about the scriptures. He just says, “Come and see.”
It’s a friendly invitation to find out more about Jesus. So, to Nathanael’s credit, he goes with Philip to find Jesus. John tells us, “When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, he said, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael, surprised that Jesus knows so much about him, since they have never met, asks skeptically, “Where did you get to know me?” Now the story gets even stranger. Jesus tells Nathanael, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Oddly this reply changes everything for Nathanael. He exclaims, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
What is going on here? We need some cultural background to help us understand. According to ancient Jewish tradition, rabbis and their students often studied the scriptures under a fig tree. It was also a traditional place of prayer. The spreading branches of the fig tree offered shade on a hot day, and would have been an ideal place for prayer. Apparently Nathanael was a religious man, who liked to pray and meditate on scripture under a fig tree. Perhaps that very day he had been doing so.
In the first century, Jewish rabbis taught that it was important to pray for the coming of the Messiah. In fact, one such teaching says, “he who, when he prays, does not pray for the coming of the Messiah, has not prayed at all.” Thus, if Nathanael had been praying under the fig tree, chances are he had prayed for the coming of the Messiah. So Nathanael put two and two together: If Jesus had mystically seen him in prayer beneath a fig tree, then Jesus must be God – how else could he have known what Nathanael had been doing? Maybe Nathanael thought of Psalm 139: “You discern my thoughts from far away.” From that moment on, Nathanael became a faithful follower of Christ.
Samuel’s experience is quite different, yet it has its similarities. This was one of my favorite stories as a child in Sunday School. I can still remember the pictures of little Samuel, lying on his mat in the temple at night. He hears someone call his name, “Samuel, Samuel.” Thinking it is the old priest Eli, he runs to his bedside and says, “Here I am, for you called me.” But Eli hadn’t called him, and he told Samuel to go back to bed.”
This happens again, and again Eli says, probably a bit exasperated at having his sleep disturbed, “Go back to bed, Samuel.” The third time, however, Eli realizes that something is going on. It’s not like Samuel to keep him awake all night with imagined voices. Somehow Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy, so he tells Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” And Samuel did just that. This was the beginning of Samuel’s prophetic ministry.
Neither Samuel nor Nathaniel knew where this calling would lead. They were simply obeying God in taking the next step. For Samuel, it meant telling his beloved mentor that God would judge his family on account of the blasphemy of Eli’s sons. Despite his fear, Samuel told Eli the message God had for him, and Eli accepted it. Nathaniel decided to follow Jesus and become his disciple. He had no idea where it would lead him, but he took that first step. For both Samuel and Nathanael, responding to God’s call was a commitment that would shape the rest of their lives in ways they could not imagine at that moment.
Samuel became a great prophet, and the de facto leader of Israel before he anointed Saul as Israel’s first king. According to legend, Nathaniel became a missionary and spread the gospel as far as India. He was later martyred in what is now Armenia or far eastern Turkey. The Armenian Church, one of the oldest in Christendom, may exist in part because of Nathanael’s faithfulness.
So what do these two stories have to say to us today? Does God still call people to special tasks? Yes. Does Jesus still call all of us today to follow him? Definitely. In some way, God is calling all of us. We may not be another Martin Luther King, Jr., a Sojourner Truth, or a Mother Theresa, but God calls each of us to follow Jesus, and perhaps to do something that only we can do. There may be people whose lives only we can touch. There may be situations where we are the only one who can do something that God needs to be done.
How do we know God is calling us? It isn’t always easy, but in these two stories we have some hints. First, both Samuel and Nathanael were in a place where they could hear the voice of God.
Samuel was alone in the Temple, in God’s presence, so to speak. He was in a place where God’s voice could be heard. And he was quiet, so he heard God speak. Sometimes we have to get by ourselves in a quiet place and listen in order to hear God’s voice, or sense what it is that God would have us do. Nathanael had probably been at prayer, under the fig tree before being called to become Christ’s disciple. Prayer and meditation are good places to start to find God’s will for our lives.
Also, both Samuel and Nathanael had help from people they trusted. Samuel was guided by the old priest, Eli. Nathanael’s friend, Philip, invited him to come and see Jesus. It’s good to listen to those around us whom we respect, and who care about us. Even though, like Nathanael, we may be tempted to refuse their advice, we need to listen. Despite his skepticism, Nathanael listened to Philip, and found Jesus - the Messiah he had been seeking. God often puts people in our lives who can advise us and help us to find our calling, but we need to listen to them.
Finally, we can learn from both Samuel’s and Nathanael’s responses to God’s call. Even though Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the message God had given him, he did it, and God was able to work through him. Nathanael was skeptical of Philip’s claim that Jesus is the Messiah, but he looked into it anyway, and found that it was true. We see examples of other people being called, who do not answer so positively. The rich young ruler comes to mind. When Jesus asked him to sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor, then follow Him, he turned away sadly. So despite our fears and our doubts, Samuel and Nathanael show us that it is possible to heed God’s call, rather than ignore it.
Throughout all of time God has been calling us. God called to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, “Where are you?” God called Noah, Joshua, Esther, Mary, and many others. In the last chapter of Revelation, God calls to the entire human race:
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.”
And let everyone who hears say, “Come.”
And let everyone who is thirsty come.
God may have a special calling for some of us, but God is calling all of us all the time to come to Him, to follow Him, to learn from Him, to be His disciples. If we hear God’s call, let us quickly answer, like Samuel, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” Amen.
©Deborah Troester 2024