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Online sermon – January 17, 2021
Today is the Second Sunday after Epiphany, January 17, 2021. It finds us still in throes of a pandemic, and living with threats of domestic strife and terrorism in our land. But there is bright hope on the horizon as vaccines are rolling out and protective measures are put in place. And above all, our hope in God who is still speaking and active in our midst.
We open our hearts to the Presence of God and worship together.
Call to Worship:
*Praise to our God of all creation. *
The voice of God resounds over the mighty waters.
The voice of God whispers in the still of the evening.
God calls us each by name.
Our God comes to us and we make our way to God.
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The Spirit of our God fills us and knows us.
God sees us as we make our way in our land.
The Holy One inspires us to take in goodness that surrounds us.
The Holy One inspires us to share the goodness we know.
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How amazing is our God, the Sovereign of all Creation.
Angels visit at God's beckoning. Songs from above come to our heart.
God touches and heals. God speaks and feeds.
We open ourselves to the splendor of our God, and celebrate together.
*Praise to our God of all creation. *
Opening Prayer:
Holy and Gracious God, you spoke to the prophets of old and led them to make their way through times of trouble. You arrived in the flesh, to teach and to bless, to heal and to mend, and to open the way of salvation for all. You reside as the Spirit of peace among us and continue to enlighten your people to your holy ways. We thank you for the nearness of your Spirit and praise you for the loving touch you have long extended to us all.
We have come together, listening God, because you have spoken your word of summons and welcomed us. We are drawn to the promise of your presence and by the persistence of your voice. Speak to your servants here in ways we can understand. We want to hear the message you intend for us. We want to listen, not because someone else needs to have it told to them, but because we ourselves need your healing Word. We bow before you, eager for the heavens to be opened with the epiphany of your blessings. It is in Jesus' name that we gather and we pray. Amen.
Hymn: “Lord You Have Come to the Lakeshore”
Lord You Have Come to the Lakeshore w/Lyrics - YouTube
Readings: 1 Samuel 3:1-10; Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; John 1:43-51
Reflection:
This Sunday comes to us on a holiday weekend, as the nation is poised again to consider the legacy of Martin Luther King. This Sunday comes to us at the start of the week that will see the inauguration of a new President. This Sunday comes to us amid threats of violence, noise of division and rancor, and desperate cries for help for the many who continue to confront the challenges of our days, the shortages and wont, the illness and imbalance.
Voices that beckon for our attention fill our days. We all hear voices, and even of those we have never met and cannot see. These days even when pumping gas there are voices coming out at us. What voices do we listen to? It's the dilemma that has faced many in our nation as election results were challenged. Voices: they inform and challenge, they unite or divide, they lead us forward in God's ways or into deep trouble.
According to researchers, over 40% of those who suffer from paranoid schizophrenia hear voices. In some cases, the voices have led the hearers to do harm to others. We know them to be delusional, mentally ill, dangerous. Yet our Bible is filled with accounts of the people like you and me who hear the voices of angels and of our God. We're taught to listen well for God is still speaking. The litmus test seems to be not in the hearing but in the content.
I love the account from Samuel and have long related to it. It took me a long while to figure out that it God was actually calling me to ministry. I didn't have an Eli in my life at that time, but I did have dear friends, others not so unlike me, who had a similar experience and had already been to seminary. They told me to listen well. It always begins with the gentle lesson from the first reading: Speak for your servant is listening.
In today's world, the words of Paul in 1st Corinthians with regard to sexual ethics continue to be heard. Sex continues to confound and divide people of faith, particularly when it results to unwanted pregnancy. Paul responds to the situation of his time, as many of the Corinthians were known to be a licentious group. He, too, boils down the complex into a simple rule: All things are lawful, not all things are beneficial.
But prejudice, political positioning and personal bias can easily get in our way from hearing the voices we need to hear. Nathaniel's response to Phillip in our Gospel lesson illustrates this. "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Martin Luther King, of course, also had to combat such prejudice.
As we continue to sort out the voices and the prejudice in our midst, we do well to remember the voice of God that has come to those men and women of faith who have led us well and who continue to lead us in ways of peace, wholeness and justice.
“The Christian gospel is a two-way road," King said. "On the one hand it seeks to change the souls of men [and women] and thereby unite them with God; on the other hand, it seeks to change the environmental conditions of men so the soul will have a chance once it's saved.”
When the Rev. Martin Luther King held to the voice of God which had come to him, he began to be an active force for change, for progress, for inclusivity and respect. Yet the FBI Chief of his time, J. Edgar Hoover, called King "the most notorious liar in the country." But in spite of being arrested several times and of being branded a radical and troublemaker, King was named Time magazine's man of the year (1964) and was awarded the Nobel peace prize. In his acceptance speech, Dr. King said:
“I believe that even amid today's motor bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men.
"I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive goodwill will proclaim the rule of the land.
"‘And the lion and the lamb shall lie down together and every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid.’
“I still believe that we shall overcome.”
Such was the voice of God to Dr. King, and even to us. The way of God, the voice of God, leads to greater understanding, respect, cooperation, and peace for God's people. The way of God, the voice of God, leads to compassionate giving and teaching, to dialogue and not violence, to healing and reparation and not to hate-speech and destruction.
We are not Kings in our land (or queens), not renown prophets or apostles, but we are all called as servants to God and asked to listen attentively to voice of God that continues to call us. Pay attention to the respected voices of our age, the proven and trusted sources, yet make room for the newness that God is bringing, even through the One of Nazareth. Give what you can, of yourself in word and deed, and strive to echo the voice of God that builds one another up in love and brings healing to a nation in need.
Speak, for your servant is listening. May we all listen well. Be blessed by God. Amen.
Hymn: “Here I Am Lord”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Prayers of the People:
Holy One of all ages and all people, we give you thanks for your call to many faithful followers. We are grateful that you have proven to be an active agent in the lives of prophets and saints, and in the hearts and lives of people like us. We thank you for your still-speaking voice, and the open opportunity we have to come to you for instruction and guidance. Law-giver and God of the prophets, whose all-seeing eye has sought us out and whose voice has called us into the community of saints, illumine us to eternal and relevant truth. As we continue to make our way in the world, guide the discernment of our mission and our choice of words to all.
Loving God, you know the condition of your people. The pandemic continues to ravage your children throughout the world. Those who love you suffer in illness and in grief. Come and comfort, come and heal. Help us all to figure out patterns of inoculation that work, and speak well to those who can serve you as they help others. Bless and strengthen all the health care workers and researchers, the reviewers and approvers, the transporters and the administrators. Equip your people with wartime stamina and resolve to conquer the disease that holds us captive.
Loving God, you know the condition of our nation. Our capitol and great cities of our country prepare for battle as those among us who have turned to violent means threaten us all. Speak loudly and act fervently to quell the hearts of all who would bring harm to others. Let the wisdom of your peace be the rule of our days. Bless and protect those who protect us. Be with all who strive to make our nation a true democracy of respect, compassion and understanding.
Loving God, you know the condition of our very selves. Bless us. Help us. Heal us. Move within us and among us so that the inertia of our being is overcome by the power of your love. Grace us with the sight and hearing we need to discern ways that we can bring comfort and hope to our world.
Gracious God, embrace our families and friends, those in our church and beyond. Comfort, heal, protect and lead them all. Enable us to be your ambassadors of genuine helpful, serving and generous means.
We pray, dear God, for the many on our prayer list... Bless us all, O God, and grant us your saving presence in our midst. We ask these things in Jesus' Name who taught us to pray saying, "Our Father who art in heaven...."
Benediction:
May our God bless us with ears to hear the voice of God who call us. May our God bless with eyes to see the vision of the tomorrow that God is bringing. May our God bless us with hearts and hands and voices that build one another up and brings holy healing and love. Be blessed by God. Amen and amen.
