You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet! 1 Samuel 3:1-20, Psalm 63:1-8, 1 Corinthians 6:11b-20, John 1:43-51 January 15, 2006, Year B, 2nd Sunday after Epiphany The Rev. William V. Livingston, Rector Church of the Resurrection, Starkville, Mississippi I assume it’s the same today as when I was growing up: that is children(especially boys) impress one another by certain acts and each preceded with, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!” Meaning something spectacular is about to happen, perhaps with good results or not so good results. Let’s say as hypothetical examples: a Boy Scout camp-out at which a group of scout see how large they can make the group camp fire and one of them, on a dare and preceded with “You ain’t seen nothing yet!” places an unopened Coke can in the campfire and the resulting explosion sets the tent of the sleeping Scout leaders on fire or when a group of boys are using New Year’s fireworks for various forms of demolition and a neighbor’s window is shattered by the shrapnel from an M - 80 ignited in her flower pot. It always is a progression of one act exceeding the impressiveness of the one that had preceded it. That’s almost what Jesus seems to say to Nathanael in today’s Gospel passage. Nathanael has just been surprised that Jesus recognized him at all. “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?” Jesus asks and in a manner of speaking says, “You think that’s amazing? You ain’t seen nothing yet! You will see greater things than these. . . . Truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” For us, Jesus’ image of ascending and descending angels might elicit images of chubby cheeked cherubs ascending and descending a ladder between heaven and earth. But it probably at once meant something deeper to Nathanael. He’d know well the Old Testament story of Jacob’s dream, where Jacob saw a ladder reaching to heaven with angels going up and down. Nathanael might also have noticed the difference in the image Jesus used. Jesus said the angels were going up and down not on a ladder, but on the Son of Man – a subtle, but very important, difference. In both instances, the image of angelic traffic points to the connection between heaven and earth, the connection between God and God’s creatures. But in the image Jesus used, that connection between God and us resides in the person of Jesus. This is good news – this connection – because Jesus’ challenge to Nathanael comes in the midst of Jesus’ gathering his disciples, and Nathanael is welcome to join the group. Today we might say it was his call to ministry. Nathanael, “an Israelite in whom there is no deceit,” has evidently been a faithful Jew, one who probably studied the Torah with seriousness. But Jesus is saying, “There’s more.” Nathanael can go even deeper into an understanding of what Torah calls him to; he can learn even more about God. Jesus’ mission is to show God’s people who God is. This is very good news – this connection between heaven and earth, this connection between God and God’s people, but it’s not a new connection. Jesus offered it in a new way but it didn’t begin with the coming of Jesus. God has always sought to connect. Today’s Old Testament passage offers another call-to-ministry story: the call of Samuel. Almost all of us have those voices that sometimes interrupt our sleep. Sometimes it takes a wise Eli to realize that voice may be God’s. Eli tells Samuel if the voice comes again to respond, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening,” and we can imagine Eli thinking, “and be ready because you ain’s seen nothing yet!” And indeed, Samuel was given a difficult job for a young boy – the job of speaking God’s truth to Eli. From the beginning, God has called people by name and has said, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!” Hearing God call our name in the dark of night, seeing heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending means we must constantly be open to “new-ness” – to being re-newed, to hearing the voice of God, to seeing anew every day the needs of God’s people around us, to being open to the new directions our spiritual lives may go if we dare to answer the call. Can we even go there? God calling us! Who me? The life of a disciple always begins with a call from God and a call by name. There is more than symbolism involved in Holy Baptism when the celebrant says the person’s name as water is poured over him or her in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If we accept the teachings of St. Augustine and early church founders, each step we take toward God, each time we gather for the Eucharist, it is only because God has first called us by name. Yes, God is still speaking! But are we listening? Are we open to trusting the One who is calling and to hearing a new word of truth amid doubt and obscurity, when we're not sure which way to go? We're open to being moved by God in the presence of love and beauty and all we commonly consider blessing. But what about when in our own lives, the church, or the world around us, we find little that speaks of God? Are we still listening then? Can we understand that "blessing" is more than beautiful sunsets and happy moments? When an unknown voice calls our name in the darkness of night, do we seek the guidance of one who can name the voice? Do we risk responding to that voice with, “Speak, for your servant is listening?” Do we accept the invitation to come and see? Who are the Nathanaels in our lives? Who are the people we know who are waiting for an invitation? Not to a movie or a restaurant, but to "come and see!" In the church we have too often limited the use of the words "vocation" and “calling” to ordained ministry. For many of us, the notion of a calling is completely foreign. However, in its purest sense, each of us has been called; each of us given a vocation. Whether our careers are thriving and we’re on fast tracks, or we’re simply getting by; whether we’re excited about what we’re doing, or life is being drained out of us by the drudgery of our jobs, God calls us – every one of us. God has created each of us with gifts, talents and abilities that we are expected to use to be co-creators with God in bringing about God’s kingdom. “Who me? A co-creator with God? There’s no way God’s calling me!” we say. However, consider from the very beginning of his ministry, Jesus invited and surrounded himself with the most ordinary people. People like Philip, with no standing in the community, no prominence, no wealth or particularly strong religious orientation. They were people with jobs; they were making a living. Jesus called them. And most of them struggled terribly to figure out what was happening to them—they denied it, some ignored it, and most took their sweet-old time to do something about it. But they eventually did answer. It would be easy if God only called a select few and left the rest of us alone. But it’s not that way. Oh, we can pretend we’re not being called. We can ignore God, we can demand proof, we can bargain with God – “Give me a break God, I’ve got some other things I’ve got to get done; can’t I just wait for a while?” Does God always call at the perfect time? Is there confusion sometimes when God calls in your life? Do we always recognize God’s call right away? Remember, it took Samuel three times to get it right. Do we always get it right? Nathanael probably wasn’t always perfect in his ministry as one of Jesus’ disciples. Samuel probably wasn’t always perfect in his ministry as one of God’s prophets. We won’t always be perfect in our own vocations. Some days we may wonder if we really heard God call our name, but those are the days we must remember that Jesus’ mission was to show us who God is and how much God loves us. In love, God offers us reconciliation. In love, God offers us a chance to right ourselves and continue in our work of building up the kingdom. In other words, our lives are to become increasingly an epiphany of God. And God says, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”