Church of the Holy City

Come and See

Come and See!
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
January 13, 2013

1 Samuel 3:1-10 John 1:43-51 Psalm 139

In our Old Testament reading and in our New Testament reading, we have human responses to God’s call. In our reading from Samuel, the prophet Samuel is called by God. Samuel’s response is to say the words his master Eli told him, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” This encounter with God happens after Samuel has already been dedicated to God’s service by his mother, Hannah. To show her profound thanks to God for giving her a son, Hannah gave her child to God as a servant under the priest Eli at Shiloh. So Samuel was already serving under the priest Eli, at the tabernacle in Shiloh, when God called him to be a prophet. There is a difference between priests and prophets in the Old Testament. Priests were a hereditary position. So all who were born of the tribe of Levi, for instance, were priests. Likewise, the sons of Aaron were priests, often in conflict with the Levites. And specifically, in this story, Eli’s children were to follow their father in the priestly office at Shiloh. Priests performed the rituals at the temple–they performed the sacrifices and burnt offerings to Yahweh in the temple.
But the role of prophet was different. The role of the prophet was to interpret God’s laws as they applied to the historical situation in which the people of Israel found themselves. So the Bible tells us that God, “revealed himself to Samuel through his word. And Samuel’s word came to all Israel” (1 Samuel 3:21). The role of the prophet arose due to the rise of kingship in ancient Israel. For with the king came the ever-present threat of absolute power. Without someone to check his desires, the king could transgress the Law and appropriate land, wealth, and other goods, destroying the communal structure of Israelite society. But the king, as well as common Israelites, were all subject to God’s laws. They were called together as a people of Yahweh, and Yahweh was at the center of all their political life. And it was the role of the prophet to keep the king–his actions and policies–in line with Yahweh’s laws.
This was the role that Samuel was called to by God. He began as a priest’s understudy, and was called from that post to become a prophet. He was recognized as one of Israel’s greatest prophets, along with Moses and Elijah. In fact, the very first king of Israel was Saul, and it was under Samuel’s tenure that Saul was crowned king. Saul wasn’t recognized as king until Samuel the prophet anointed him. And after Saul came King David, perhaps one of Israel’s greatest kings. David, too, was recognized as king only by Samuel anointing him. These two great kings are in a book named not the book of kings, but the books of Samuel. Samuel is remembered because of his close bond with God’s Word, and his way of bringing God’s Word fearlessly to the Israelites.
We come here on Sundays to worship, which is like Hanna visiting the tabernacle at Shiloh. This is our priestly experience of worship. But there is also a prophetic aspect to spirituality. And the prophetic aspect of spirituality is when we experience God’s call personally, and when we encounter God in His Word and in our hearts and minds.
In our New testament reading, we heard about Jesus calling to Philip and Nathanael. Philip tells Nathanael that Jesus is the One whom the prophets and Moses had foretold. But when Nathanael hears that Jesus is from Nazareth, he is filled with distain. He says, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” In response, Philip utters words that are deeply meaningful for us, and for Nathanael. Philip says, “Come and see.”
God calls each one of us to follow Him, as did Jesus in ancient days past. But unlike Samuel, who heard God’s call audibly, and unlike Philip and Nathanael, who actually saw Jesus and his power and miracles, for most of us, God’s call is much more subtle. For most of us, we don’t actually hear God audibly. And for most of us, we don’t actually see God.
I think that God calls us in two ways. First, God comes to us when we read the Bible, through the stories and laws in it. The Bible is God’s Word, and reading it is like having a prophet interpreting God’s Law to us in our lives. Second, God comes to us personally through what Swedenborg calls “influx.” Influx means literally, “flowing in.” and by influx we understand God coming to us through intuitive ideas, and through conscience, and through a feeling of presence and holy feelings. This is like Philip and Nathanael meeting Jesus personally.
But without a positive attitude, we won’t see God in either of these ways. The Bible, for instance, is a very difficult book to read. There are passages of unparalleled beauty that we can’t find in any other book of Western literature. There are clear and reasonable laws for our mental, emotional, and behavioral well-being. There are teachings that orient us in the world.
But there are also passages of violence and seeming cruelty. There are laws that make sense to us no more, such as all the rituals for correct sacrifice. Without a positive attitude, we will exaggerate these passages and come to the conclusion that the Bible is not spiritual, not a good guide for personal and societal life, and not God’s Holy Word.
And since God is invisible, one can easily ignore or deny God’s call to us. And in denying God, one can shut out the influx one needs to find God and to experience God’s presence.
Today I am all about Nathanael. Nathanael begins with no small degree of skepticism. He begins with prejudice against Jesus. “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” “Come and see,” Philip says. And what I credit Nathanael for is that he is open minded enough to come and see. He makes the effort to at least meet Jesus. His open-mindedness is rewarded by Jesus’ display of omniscience. Jesus tells Nathanael about him without having previously met him. Nathanael is overwhelmed by his encounter with Jesus. He exclaims, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God.” It is miracles like that we, too, can experience if we keep an open mind to God, and like Nathanael, come and see.
Swedenborg describes these two ways of approaching the question of belief. He calls them the negative and the affirmative principle. Of them he writes,
There are two principles therefore; one which leads to all folly and insanity, and another which leads to all intelligence and wisdom. The former principle is to deny all things, or to say in one’s heart that he cannot believe them before he is convinced by things he can apprehend, or perceive by the senses: this is the principle that leads to all folly and insanity, and it is to be called the negative principle. The other principle is to affirm the things which are of doctrine from the Word, or to think and believe in one’s self that they are true because the Lord has said them: this is the principle that leads to all intelligence and wisdom, and is to be called the affirmative principle (AC 2568).
If we approach the Bible as God’s Word, and if we try to find what is useful for our spiritual welfare, then passages will shine out in front of our eyes, and we will find teachings for our regeneration. We will see God in His Word. And if we begin with the assumption that there is a God, we will hear His call. At first, perhaps, like a still small voice. But as we invite God more and more into our lives, by reading His Word and by living according to Godly principles, that still, small voice will become as a companion to us, as a friend to us, and we will walk with Jesus in all aspects of our lives.
Samuel, Philip and Nathanael, and all the Apostles left their worldly lives behind to follow God. But this church teaches that such a dramatic act isn’t required of us in order to answer God’s call. There is a Calvinistic doctrine Swedenborg adopted that teaches that each one of us is called into a vocation that suits him or herself best. And by performing one’s vocation according to just principles, one is following God’s call to spirituality. We often hear of ministers being called to ministry. But we don’t usually hear of auto mechanics, or accountants, or construction workers, or politicians, or garbage collectors being called to their vocations. But they are. Where would society be if there were no garbage collectors? How could this church run without expertise in bookkeeping and accounting? How could society function without someone making decisions about laws and justice, as our politicians are supposed to do?
Swedenborg calls this the doctrine of use. And any way we can be useful to the world around us is a response to God’s call. It doesn’t have to be even a vocation. As I remarked last Sunday, anything done for the least of God’s children is done to God Himself. The conclusion to Coleridge’s “Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner” goes,
He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.
But we won’t be moved to spiritual love without God’s Spirit in our hearts. We need to open the door which God is continually knocking on. We need to open our ears to God’s call. We need to be like Nathanael who was willing to come and see Jesus, even though he had his doubts about someone from the outlands of Nazareth. If we keep an open mind to God, we, too, will see great things. The wonders of earth and heaven will be revealed to us. More and more of God’s infinity will be revealed. And He will lead us in the pathway on high.

PRAYER

Lord, you call to us continually. You knock on the door and bid us open it. You ask that we follow you, as did the Apostles in olden times. We pray that you would open our ears so that we can hear your call. We pray that you would show us the way to follow you. We would open the door and let you into our hearts. We know that you are always with us. Help us to see you, help us to feel you, help us to know you. For the world can blind us at times to the reality of Spirit, and our daily lives obscure the wonders of eternity. We pray this morning, and every morning, and always, for you to make yourself known to us, and to make known to us your will. May we always seek only your will for us and the power to carry that out.