January 15th, 2024

A long time ago:
In a time where visions were rare, and unexpected:
In a time where people thought that the word of the Lord was rare and
unexpected:
God called out, and spoke to a small child named Samuel.

Samuel did not ask God to speak to him.
Samuel did not request a sign, a vision, or a word.
God just spoke:
Calling out Samuel’s name—in the darkness of the night.

Samuel—a young child--
Did not yet know God.
The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

Yet that didn’t matter:
Because God knew Samuel:
And called his name.

A long time ago:
The Psalmist wrote Psalm 139:
A beautiful poem about God’s knowledge:

God’s INTIMATE knowledge of each individual.

The Psalmist rejoices: “Lord, you have searched me out and know me”
“Indeed, there is not a word on my lips:
But you O Lord, know it altogether.”

God knows so Intimately:
So completely:
That God knows us:
Before anyone else:
In ways that no one else can ever know:

The Psalmist says:
“While I was being made in secret and woven in the depths of the earth:
Your eyes beheld my limbs, yet unfinished in the womb;
All of them were written in your book:
They were fashioned day by day.”

And a long time ago:
When Jesus was calling some of his first disciples:
He knew them before they could ever imagine who he really was.

One disciple, was named Nathanael--
Nathaniel was unconvinced that Jesus was the messiah--

Nathaniel didn’t know at first who Jesus was.
But it didn’t matter:
Because Jesus knew Nathanael.

And Nathaniel became suddenly astonished at Jesus’ knowledge--
Jesus’ call--
And Nathaniel asks: “WHERE DID YOU GET TO KNOW ME?”

The truth is that
God knows us.
Each of us.
From the very beginning in our mothers wombs.

Before Samuel knew God:
God knew him: and called his name.

Before the Psalmist’s mother even felt a fluttering kick:
God knew every limb, and every future breath.

Before Nathaniel believed:
God knew his worth:
God knew who he was:
That he would be a disciple of Christ.

And it’s true for us too:
Before we can know:
Before we can even begin to understand:
God knows us:
God speaks:
God calls our names, and invites us to “Come and see.”
To come and see that God knows us deeply--
Intimately--
And holds the entirety of our lives and our beings.

Paul speaks of this knowledge too:
Of God knowing us more intimately than anyone else.

In a pretty scary passage to the Corinthians:
Paul speaks against fornication and prostitution.
A quite uncomfortable passage to hear and read in church…

(Trust me: I very much wanted to ignore this today…
To skip over it, and pretend that it’s not there….)

But because it's so scary and uncomfortable:
It needs to be addressed.

And there’s no need to get anxious

There’s no need to get hung up on all the ranting about sexuality…
Because it’s not about that.
It’s about God knowing us:
In the most loving and intimate way.

Its about God urging us to live lives of mutual love:
To live our lives beyond our physical bodies--
As we begin to understand and know the one who knows us.

The passage is about God speaking our names:
And calling us to be members of Christ:

Members of Christ:
In which God’s intimate knowledge of us transcends any other encounter or
knowledge.
Members of Christ:
In which we belong to God and each other in a way that moves beyond
physicality:

Members of Christ:
In which we recognize that each of us--
All of us—and all others
—are marvelously made--
Marvelously made in our bodies, our minds, and our spirits--
Every part of us:

Both physical, and spiritual--
Marvelously made and known by God.
Whether we’re young or old--
New Christians, or life long Christians--
Whether we know God intimately--
Or are just beginning to know and discover him--

Whether we’re living in Corinth--
In Galilee--
Or New London--
God knows us.
And God calls us.

But can we listen?
Will we hear?
Will we accept the invitation to “come and see?”

Samuel:
Hearing God call his name--
Not even knowing who God is--
Replies to God: “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

And God is speaking to us too.
Urging us to listen:

To listen to God,
To one another,
And to our neighbors.

And again and again,
We learn how to listen:
Listen to the one that knows us.
The one who calls us:
The one who invites us to come and see.

And in order to hear:
We might just need to expect that God WILL speak to us:
That the word of God WILL come to us.

In order to hear:
We might begin to believe that God already knows us--
At our deepest being.

In order to hear:
We must have faith that the word of the Lord is NOT rare--
Instead: God’s presence is WIDESPREAD--
Among us, around us, and within us--
The one who knows us--
Urging us to know him--

To see God more clearly--
As Samuel begins to see and discover God for the first time.

Love God more dearly--
As the psalmist rejoices in God through loving wonder, and joyful astonishment.

And follow God more nearly--
As Nathaniel accepts the invitation to follow—and to see.

Amen.

Announcements: Annual Meeting on 1/28.  Prayerfully ponder individually and in small groups what God desires for St. John's in 2024.  Hearty snack to be provided.