The Second Sunday after the Epiphany – January 18, 2015

Last updated on: January 6, 2015 at 2:35 pm by Bruce Epperly

The Second Sunday after the Epiphany – January 18, 2015 2015-01-06T14:35:39-05:00 Bruce Epperly

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Second Sunday after the Epiphany
Samuel 3:1-10
Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18

I Corinthians 6:12-20
John 1:43-51

There is a joke among members of my denomination, the United Church of Christ. When we announce “God is still speaking,” usually someone responds, “But is anyone listening.” Today’s scriptures are about listening for the voice of God and God’s movements within our lives. God is constantly speaking in our lives through insights, encounters, hunches, dreams, bursts of energy, and inspirational thoughts. Our calling is to listen and then follow, shaping our encounters with God in our own unique ways.

Young Samuel hears a voice in the night. He assumes that it’s the voice of his mentor, the priest Eli. Eli, however, tells him to listen for another’s voice, the voice of the Holy One of Israel. The next time the voice whispering in the night, Samuel responds, “Speak, God, your servant is listening.” Samuel’s response serves as a model for our own spiritual formation. Our daily prayers should include a plea that we listen God’s whisperings in our lives. This prayer is completed by our willingness to pause and be still to heighten our awareness of divine wisdom.

Divine listening is profoundly concrete. God’s awareness of us is related to God’s creativity in our lives. This is central to the reading from Psalm 139. “Search me and know me.” We are known completely by God. Everything we do matters to God. God’s knowledge is grounded in love, like a good parent or grandparent and her or his child. God’s awareness and God’s creativity are one graceful movement. God has moved through our lives at the cellular and spiritual levels form the moment of conception. Nothing is too small or large for divine awareness and activity.

The words of I Corinthians 6 combine ethics, anthropology, and theology. Our bodies are the temple of God’s spirit. They are a shrine of divine creative wisdom. Accordingly, our embodiment has moral implications. The body is inspired, and the spirit embodied. Indeed, our bodies are heavenly, and should be treated with honor and respect. The bodies of others matter, too. Fornication objectifies others as well as us. Sexual immorality fails to see the spiritual wholeness of each person, including us.

Today, the ethical implications of the body as God’s temple go beyond sexuality; they include economics and the justice system. We cannot separate cells and souls. Do we care for the bodies of others by insuring that they have sufficient food, shelter, and safety to fully incarnate the divine image? Do we care for our own bodies by healthy eating, Sabbath keeping, centering meditation, and appropriate exercise? As T.S. Eliot counsels in “For the Time Being,” we are to love God in the world of the flesh, our own flesh and the flesh of others.

Do we care for the bodies, the whole persons, of others by welcoming immigrant children, practicing restraint in police responses to black youth, insuring that homeless children find homes and good food, and elders’ bodies are touched lovingly? Do we care for the bodies of others by providing safe working conditions and living wages?
“Come and see,” Philip invites Nathaniel. Sharing good news is about inviting others to share in the joys we have experienced. Philip does not disguise his joy at encountering Jesus; he lets his light shine. His invitation is welcoming, not coercive. He shares experience, not doctrinal orthodoxy. He wants his friend to experience the life-changing truth he has encountered. Nathaniel’s affirmation of faith emerges in his encounter with Jesus. Good news is embodied in the person of Jesus – his words, deeds, and presence. Good news is embodied in us – our words, deeds, and presence. Our hospitality is the greatest testimony to the love of God and the welcoming spirit of our congregation.

God is constantly speaking, and occasionally in words. The church is challenged to be a place of listening, sharing, and supporting, fully committed to a whole person mission.

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Epiphany Sunday - January 4, 2014

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