We Are Not Our Own

Yeah, I admit it: I stole this title from Jean Calvin. This is somewhat of a surprise, since Calvin and I rarely agree on anything. But the lessons to be read this weekend all have to do with relationships–God and us, and US and us. Those sitting in the pews are met with God speaking to us, choosing us, and counting on us to announce a Holy Presence through words and actions. During this Season of “AHA” we’ll be confronted several times with a word that can be difficult to perceive.

You probably remember the story of the lad Samuel who served in the Temple, assisting the elderly Eli (I SAMUEL 3:1-18). God comes by night to awaken sleeping Samuel with the news that a wide-awake God is about to do a New Thing! The Old and the Young are hereby privy to hear what God is now doing, even though “the Word of the Lord was rare in those days”. We too hear God’s voice and do a divine response, even if we don’t quite understand it. Is this really God who wakes us from our troubled sleep?

How in the world do we preach what Paul has to say to the CORINTHIANS (6:12-20)? He speaks against “fornication”, which is casual sex without involvement with the partner. It’s a relationship thing, again: we’re not to profane the wonders that God has created. ”Activities that do not glorify God skew life.” (Douglas F.Ottati, in FEASTING on the WORD, B 1:256) Our ethics are contingent upon a greater thing than Legality. This seems in sync with the bulk of this letter, all of which exhorts the cosmopolitan Corinthians to plan their lives having seen God.

JOHN 1:43-51 tells about the calling of Nathaniel by Jesus. Nathaniel was quite impressed that Jesus saw him “under the fig tree”, and immediately ascribed the Holy Presence as having found him. God is here taking “an Israelite without guile” (deceit; what you see is what you get) and refining him into a Disciple! God honors ordinary people and places with what may seem to be an unexpected entrance. Is Nathaniel–and even Nazareth–a symbol of this New Thing of Samuel’s nighttime visitation? Where have you been sought out by the God who has walked in our midst?

This God whom we proclaim during this Season of Epiphany is constantly prodding us to reflect what we not long ago saw in the Manger. Contrary to what some will tell us, it’s not obedience to a set of rules (don’t drink, smoke or play cards) but rather a meaningful reaction to what we’ve heard, what we’ve experienced. We are not our own.

In the process of unfolding,   Horace Brown King

Please join us every Tuesday to pursue the scriptural portions being presented at worship during the upcoming weekend; also note that this blog can now be assessed ONLY through my site, horacebrownking.com