Year B: Second Sunday After Epiphany
In Constant Communion
This is the special grace of Epiphany. In view of his divine dignity and power, the Son of God gathers into himself the entire human family past, present and future. The moment that the Eternal Word is uttered outside the bosom of the Trinity and steps forth into the human condition, the Word gives himself to all creatures. - Thomas Keating1
Over the next few weeks, we will be contemplating the revelation of Jesus to several groups of people: the apostles, those afflicted with demons, and many who were sick and in need of a Savior. As we celebrate the Epiphany of Jesus to these blessed few, may Jesus appear in our lives in new ways and with a new intensity.
Year B, Second Sunday After Epiphany, January 14, 2024
First Reading: 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)
Psalm:Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Gospel: John 1:43-51
Sermon - In Constant Communion
From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. John 1:16–18
Jesus is close to the Father’s heart. This constant communion with the Father enables Jesus to make the Father known like never before. As the opening verses of Hebrews say, the Christ is the exact imprint of God’s very being.
As Jesus called his disciples, they got the sense that there was more to Jesus than simply being a carpenter’s son from Nazareth, as if anything good could come from there. No, they realized there was at least some sense in which the Divine was present within this humble rabbi.
To set the stage for the gospel reading, there is an interesting passage in the Psalms that talks about God’s careful watch over us. Throughout my childhood and young adult churchgoing, we would sing a song by J. M. Henson with the line “There’s an all-seeing Eye watching you.” The gist of the song is that…well… “you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I’m telling you why…He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows when you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!”
But as you read this psalm, compare the meaning of it to the hymn I just cited. Notice the difference in perspective. I’ll cite the entire reading and include the excluded verses:
O LORD, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, O LORD, you know it completely. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it. Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and night wraps itself around me,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Psalm 139:1–17
When I read this psalm, I get the sense of a constant companion, of a life lived in the Divine presence. Notice that this constant presence is meant for David’s protection— “even there your hand shall hold me fast.” I think this is what Paul had in mind when he wrote of being known by God (1 Corinthians 8:1-3).
This Divine attribute of knowing the unknowable comes out in our story from John 1.
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” John 1:43–46
What a good brother Philip must have been! I wish that all brothers and sisters would fetch their siblings and call them to follow the Messiah. Philip, though, isn’t armed with tracts and advanced arguments. He isn’t interested in debate or showing off his lengthy memorizations of proof texts that seem to support his position.
Instead, he challenges his brother, “Come and see.”
In fact, Philip isn’t even fully aware of who Jesus is, as if any of us are. But he calls Jesus the “son of Joseph from Nazareth” which prompts Nathanael to doubt the possibility of this Jesus being the Messiah. But the invitation to come and see is too much for Nathanael. After all, this could be the beginning of Israel’s redemption!
When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” John 1:47–51
Why did Jesus’s special knowledge of Nathanael convince him that he wasn’t just the son of Joseph from Nazareth but was the Son of God and the King of Israel? I think it’s because Jesus knew what nobody else could know. Jesus knew Nathanael’s path. He knew where he lied down and rose up. Nathanael’s response is basically, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.”
Then Jesus tells Nathanael something he probably already knew, being an honest man. Referring back to the story of Jacob’s ladder, though with no ladder to block the way, Jesus told Nathanael he would come to see just how close to the Father’s heart Jesus is. Jesus and the Father, it turns out, are in constant communion.
If you told your friends to “come and see,” what would they see? Would they see angels ascending and descending in your life? Would they see the fruit of the Divine presence, of the Sprit within you? Would they look at our community of faith and know that we are close to the Father’s heart?
There are stories about various mystics and spiritual individuals who have encountered each other over the years. Upon meeting, they instantly knew that the other dwelled in the fullness of the presence of the Divine. There was a Divine spark or perhaps a flicker of the image of God that called out to them. Like John the Baptist in the womb, they leapt for joy at their encounter. I pray that as we grow in the love of Christ together that the beauty of Jesus can be seen in us.
First Reading - The Call of God
In 1 Samuel 3, God called out to Samuel three times, but Samuel, who was just a boy and an apprentice of Eli, did not recognize the voice. In fact, as the text reports, the word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread (1 Samuel 3:1). When God’s people become too dependent upon their own ways and material possessions, visions are seldom seen because visions appear to be seldom needed, but once their actions begin to manifest themselves in storehouses of rotten fruit, the Voice comes once again.
“Samuel! Samuel!” The voice cried a third time, and Eli knew it must be the Lord. He instructed Samuel to listen for the voice once more and to answer, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” What Samuel heard next wasn’t pretty.
God would soon bring judgment on the house of Eli for all of the wickedness which his sons did and which the father did nothing about. Eli accepted his house’s fate and continued to mentor Samuel who grew into a powerful leader in Israel, one who everyone could trust.
How often do we neglect to answer, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” because we do not perceive that the Lord is talking? Having spiritual friendships is one way we can better learn to listen to the Lord’s voice. Like Eli, a spiritual friend can be honest with us about the direction of our life or answer questions we might have about our calling. Having another voice to encourage, affirm, and even correct us is helpful for Christians at every level of maturity. Jesus sent out his disciples two by two, and we need friends in our lives who stick closer than brothers. This means that we must also learn to be spiritual friends. We must be honest, bold, and patient. Together, we can hear the voice of God and walk in the ways God has directed for us.
Reflections
This past week I’ve had COVID and have been snowed in, so I don’t have any reflections this week.
Thanks so much for keeping up with this blog. If you have any suggestions, recommendations, or critiques, you can always comment here or reach out through my website: https://danielr.net.
Keating, Thomas. The Mystery of Christ: The Liturgy as Spiritual Experience. New York: Continuum, 2008. Print.