Pete's Reviews and Sermons: God is calling

Introduction

This morning we have two readings which describe God’s call to a few individuals. The method used in each of the cases is as different as the people who are being called. So, we can safely generalise and say that God’s call is unique, customised for each person.

Recognising God’s Call

Each of us will have experienced God’s call somehow. It may come to you very directly, like it did for Philip, a simple “Follow me”.

It may come as a revelation, some small event of someone saying something, like it did for Nathanael – for whom it just clicked as Jesus was speaking to him.

More likely, though, is a fairly long process of things happening, contacts from church members, whether they are friends already, or newly introduced. Perhaps you were invited to attend church or an evangelistic event. Perhaps you just got involved with doing something and the Christianity around you rubbed-off on you.

Some will not have a conversion moment, if you were brought up in a Christian family, you may just have inherited the belief, but even for you there will be a time when you have to take those beliefs on for yourself and be prepared to stand up and publicly confess them.

Memories

I hope that has sparked some memories for you. As we look at the readings we had from this morning, keep those in mind – we’ll come back to them later.

Hannah

At the start of the first book of Samuel, we meet Hannah and are told about her desire for a son. When she was praying she was accused of drunkenness by Eli the priest. She told him she was not drunk, but deeply troubled, and was pouring out her heart to the Lord. In her prayer, she had promised, “I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”

Her prayer had been answered, and she had handed the boy over to Eli when he was old enough to be separated from his mother. She didn’t lose touch with him, though, and continued to provide for him, and he grew up under Eli’s guidance.

Samuel

When Samuel was old enough, the Lord called him. We have no idea what Samuel thought, whether he was a believer or a sceptic, but we know he was obedient to Eli. We are told that “the word of the Lord was rare”, so Samuel’s call would be unexpected – especially by Eli. Nevertheless, late one evening, before the lamp of the God had gone out, Samuel was called.

The lamp of God was a seven pronged oil lamp, which was lit at dusk, and gave light into the evening. Then God called Samuel, but because this sort of thing was very unusual, Samuel thought it was Eli. It took Eli a while to realise what was happening. On the fourth call, Samuel was ready and instead of going to Eli, he said ‘Speak, your servant is listening’. The message was a difficult one for a young boy to deal with, you can read the rest of the story in the remainder of chapter 3. Now, Samuel had met God, and his life has changed. He is God’s prophet for the rest of his life. His word became synonymous with God’s word.

NT Reading

In our New Testament reading, Jesus has just started His ministry and is calling His disciples. Two joined from John’s followers, one of those was Andrew, and he introduced his brother Simon. On the second day, Jesus went out looking for disciples in Galilee. It is not clear whether Jesus went to Galilee specifically to call Philip, or whether He was just looking for Galilean followers. Philip, though, was from the same place as Andrew and Peter, so my guess is that Jesus went to find Philip.

Philip

Philip’s call is simple ‘Follow me’ and there is no discussion, Philip simply obeys. He then goes and finds Nathanael, and the discussion that follows requires some careful attention.

Philip & Nathanael

Let’s look first at the conversation between Philip and Nathanael.

Philip starts with:

“We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote —Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

Not surprisingly Nathanael is a bit confused by this, after all the prophecy say that the messiah will come from … Bethlehem. It’s there in the prophet Micah (5:2):

‘But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.’

Nazareth

Also, Nazareth has a bit of a reputation among the Galileans. Although it’s quite close to trade routes, it’s fairly inaccessible from the rest of the region, so it is looked down on.

We know that good can come from anywhere, but Nathanael is not so sure.

Come and see

Philip’s response is not an argument, instead he gives an invitation – ‘Come and see’, come and judge for yourself. This is the classic response. Alway offer a person the chance to make up their own mind instead of trying to convince them yourself. Even the Psalmist makes the same invitation (34:8)

Taste and see that the Lord is good;

So, off they go.

Conversation with Jesus

Then we have this conversation with Jesus that is a little perplexing when you first read it. Let me read those verses again:

⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.”

⁴⁸ “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

⁴⁹ Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”

⁵⁰ Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.”

⁵¹ He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Explanation

What a strange way to greet someone, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” Already judging his character. Why would Jesus do that?

The clue we need is in verse 50 and 51. In verse 50 Jesus is talking to Nathanael – the ‘you’ is singular, and in 51 he is talking to everyone around him, the ‘you’ is plural. But that sentence is aimed at Nathanael. Jesus is talking about Jacob’s ladder. That featured in a dream that Jacob had, where the ladder allowed the angels to climb from heaven to earth and back. The story is in Genesis 28.

Jacob

Jacob was a ‘real piece of work’. He lied and cheated his way through life, even cheating his older twin brother, Esau, out of his inheritance. Now, I’m assuming that you all understood the phrase I used - ‘real piece of work’. In my head at least it means disreputable and to be avoided where ever possible.

Under the fig tree

Well, there is a similar type of phrase in verses 48 & 50 – ‘under the fig tree’. It apparently means that the person it refers to is meditating on the word of God. At the point where he meets Jesus, Nathanael has been meditating on the word we now know as Genesis 28. So he is greeted by Jesus effectively saying “Here is a true Israelite, nothing like Jacob at all.”

That’s why the greeting gets such a reaction from Nathanael. It’s his light bulb moment (there’s another phrase, that I hope we all understand). He doesn’t need any more convincing, if the person he’s being introduced to as the messiah, can tell him his own thoughts, then he must be the Messiah.

Miraculous Call

So, Nathanael’s call is one where he is on the receiving end of a very personal miracle.

Jesus call’s the Woman at the well to belief in a similar way – by telling her ‘everything she ever did’ (John 4:29). That was Jacob’s well, an interesting link, but not for today.

Other call’s to belief

As I’ve said, everyone’s call from God is different. Here are a couple of others just to illustrate how different they can be.

C. S. Lewis

After a long struggle to remain an atheist, C. S. Lewis reports that he said this to his friend:

"You must picture me alone in that room at Magdalen (pronounced Maudlin), night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England"

J Hudson Taylor

James Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission, denounced the faith of his parents as a very young man. At 16, after reading an evangelistic tract pamphlet entitled "Poor Richard", he professed faith in Christ.

Reluctant convert

Both these men had an enormous impact on Christianity, yet both were reluctant converts and the way they were called to faith was very different.

Different Call

My story, and yours will be very different, but each of us was chosen and called to faith by God. Our response to that call has changed our lives. There may have been lots of steps, both forward and backward on the way, but the actual call is always “Follow me”, just as it was to Philip. And just as it was for Philip, we were sought out. You, like me and a lot of others, may not have realised at the time that the messiah was calling you.

Who’s next?

He is still calling, both to us, to come closer, but also to others to ‘Follow Him’.

You may well know people who you think God might be calling, I expect you know people who He is calling. They may not be the same people. One day, maybe soon, they will hear the call and take that final step into the Christian faith. It might come through a conversation, a pamphlet, a visit to church, through watching a live stream, or even something you, or I say or do – but it will come.

I’m just happy to have the opportunity to play some small part in that process for anyone that I can.