Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Jan. 17, 2021
First Reading: 1 Samuel 3:1-10
Sunday’s Lectionary readings prompt us to think about listening for God’s voice in the world … and about taking care to discern just what we hear.
Samuel Relating to Eli the Judgements of God upon Eli’s House (1780), oil painting on canvas by John Singleton Copley (1738-1815). Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut. (Click image to enlarge.)
In the first reading, the boy Samuel – who will grow up to be a prophet when Israel becomes a kingdom under Saul – hears a mysterious voice calling him in the night. He thinks that it his guardian Eli, the high priest and judge (which was the title of the Israelites’ leader in the days before kings). But Eli, who was sleeping, eventually realizes that Samuel is hearing the voice of God. Eli advises the boy to respond, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” After Samuel reports what he has heard from God, Eli accepts it, even though it is bad news for Eli and his blasphemous sons who had corrupted the priesthood.
Psalm: Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17
It may be difficult for us to discern what God asks of us, the Psalmist sings, but we can rely on God’s full and complete knowledge of our every thought. God knows us, God knows when we move forward and when we sit down; God knows every word that we speak and every word that we think. Chanting, “How deep I find your thoughts, O God! How great is the sum of them,” the Psalmist assures us that, although we can never know all that God wills for us, there is joy and hope in listening for God’s voice.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
On a casual reading, this passage from 1 Corinthians might make us groan,“Oh, no, Paul is ranting about sexuality again.” If we check the context of these verses that seem to address immorality and sleeping around, though, we find – as we often do in Paul’s letters – he is addressing pastoral advice to a loving, but sometimes troublesome, church community. The Christinas of Corinth have been arguing. They’re split into factions. Some haven’t been behaving well. Some even believe that their baptism makes it okay for them to behave immorally! Paul’s direction is simple: Listen for God’s voice through the Holy Spirit. Remember that our bodies are parts of Christ and temples of the Holy Spirit, and honor God by doing the right thing.
Gospel: John 1:43-51
After his brief encounter with John at the Jordan, Jesus begins calling his apostles one and two at a time, according to the account in John’s Gospel. Andrew and Simon Peter first heard Jesus’s call. Then he called Philip, who in turn wants to get his friend Nathanael into the growing band. But Nathanael is wary at first. This Jesus comes from Nazareth? That’s not where the Messiah is supposed to come from! But when Jesus speaks to Nathanael in words that seem to echo the Psalm’s phrases such as “My body was not hidden from you.” Nathanael – who is named as an apostle only by John – hears Jesus’ call and delightedly accepts him as the Son of God and King of Israel.