1 Samuel 3:1-10(11-20), 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, John 1:43-51
“The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.” We heard these words today in 1 Samuel. So, all the more striking, since the word was rare in those days, all the more striking that God is calling out to the child Samuel. And twice God calls Samuel, and twice Samuel assumes the voice is that of Eli, his guardian. And, finally, the third time God calls out, Eli realizes that the voice is God’s. Eli explains to Samuel, and Samuel says to God, “Your servant is listening” – a dramatic portrayal of being in relationship with God.
In our Gospel lesson today, we hear another vision story. Philip tells Nathanael about Jesus, and brings Nathanael to see Jesus. When Philip and Nathanael approach Jesus, Jesus acknowledges Nathanael indicating that he already knows Nathanael, though he has never met him before. “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael exclaims that truly Jesus must be the Son of God to have had this vision, to know him before he has ever met him. Again, a dramatic portrayal – this story is a dramatic portrayal of God knowing us individually.
The New Testament is full of amazing stories, of visions, and healings, and miracles. Jesus heals the blind, the deaf, the crippled, and the possessed. Jesus turns water into wine at the wedding at Cana in Galilee. He feeds five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish. He stills the storm. He walks on water. He fills Peter’s empty nets with fish to the point of breaking. And, in a most magnificent vision, Peter sees Jesus as the Messiah. “Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’” (Matt 17:1-5) The Transfiguration is an amazing vision – a dramatic portrayal of Jesus’ authority, of Jesus’ divinity.
But, did it happen? Do you ever wonder whether the healings, and the miracles, and the visions actually happened? At our Wednesday morning Alpha program this past week, our Rector, Ned, talked a bit about historical accuracy in the Bible. Ned told us about Solomon, the powerful king who lived 1,000 years before Christ. The Bible tells us that Solomon fortified the important cities of Israel. Archaeological excavations in Israel in the 1940’s and 50’s revealed the tripling of outer gates in the cities of Megiddo and Hazor and Shechem pointing towards historical accuracy in the Bible. But, is everything in the Bible historically accurate? No. People make a living out of determining what in the Bible is historically accurate and what is not. In fact, there are some significant discrepancies in the Bible. Is it all historically accurate? No. Is it all true? Yes. The truth lies in what the story is teaching us. The authors are trying to help us understand. They are trying to put into words that which can not be put into words. So, they express themselves in the fullest way they know how – through witness, through story, through metaphor, through praise, even through sorrow – to express the wonder, the magnificence, the immanence of God who loves us unconditionally, fully and completely. God is here, with us, loving us, each and every one of us.
Do miracles happen today? Webster’s Dictionary defines a miracle as “an event or action that apparently contradicts known scientific laws and is hence thought to be due to supernatural causes, especially to an act of God.” In the first week of January alone, I found five articles in the Chicago Tribune on miracles. Aaron Mays is thrilled with his new one-bedroom condominium near Lake Michigan in the North Kenwood-Oakland neighborhood. He received a $10,000 grant for a down payment from an organization that is “transforming public housing developments into thriving neighborhoods.” This young man tells the Tribune, “‘For me to be 23 and have my own place when people are losing their jobs and losing their homes, it’s a shock but it’s a miracle.’” (January 2, 2009) Sean Miller suffered from depression for four years, so severe he considered ending his life. “Then doctors in Toronto implanted electrodes in his brain and switched on an electrical current and everything changed. Within a month, hope began to flicker. Within six months, Miller felt normal again. ‘It’s a miracle,’ said Miller, 41.” (January 6, 2009) A six-year old boy in Virginia missed his bus to school one morning and decided to drive himself. He took his mother’s keys while she was sleeping and drove six miles towards school passing drivers, making 90-degree turns and veering off the road several times before hitting a utility pole. “‘This really is a story of miracles,’ [the County Sheriff] said. ‘The Lord was with him, along with everybody else on the highway.’” (January 7, 2009) In Lake Villa, the roof of a stable caved in under a foot of snow. 50 horses escaped injury. “‘It’s such a miracle that no horses got hurt,’” said one of the horse’s owner. Sderot is a town outside of Gaza that has been receiving rocket fire for years. The people know the drill well – with the warning of incoming rocket fire, they hurry into a safe room. Albert el-Harrat has lived in Sderot for 47 years. He “doesn’t have a safe room at his house: ‘I live on miracles,’ he shrugs.” (January 7, 2009) Housing, medicine, adolescence, weather, war – are these miracles?
Tomorrow is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We remember the life of this great Civil Rights leader. On Tuesday, we will witness the inauguration of the first black President of the United States. Forty-five years ago, Martin Luther King offered these words in his I Have A Dream speech: “Fivescore years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation…But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free; one hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination…So I say to you, my friends, that even though we must face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed – we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…And when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children – black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Catholics and Protestants – will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, free at last; thank God Almighty, we are free at last.’” Regardless of our political views, we must recognize the historical significance of Tuesday’s Inauguration. Many of the people attending the Inauguration never dreamed they would see this day. I believe many of the people attending deem this Inauguration a miracle.
We might wonder if miracles happen today. We might wonder whether an event is or isn’t a miracle. But, truly, does it really matter? Does it matter whether or not an event is defined as a miracle? Isn’t the reason we share these stories with one another, just as stories are shared with us through the Bible, that we might believe in the magnificence of life, that we might believe in the greatness beyond ourselves. God exists with or without miracles and healings and visions. God is not the miracle. Knowing God is the miracle.
And, so I share one last vision story. A friend of mine’s grandparents were married for 76 years. Her grandmother lived to be 99 years old and her grandfather 100. Near the end of their lives, her grandmother was in the hospital with a virus. At home, her grandfather fell and was brought to stay in the same hospital room with her grandmother. My friend recounts that when her grandfather was brought into the hospital room, her grandmother exclaimed, “Hello boyfriend!” Her grandfather had some broken bones in the fall, but he was misdiagnosed. By the time the diagnosis was corrected, his body was not able to heal. The couple was holding hands at her grandfather’s death. Her grandmother’s health deteriorated and a decision was made to take her off her medications. She became less and less conscious. My friend was sitting with her grandmother during this time. She recalls a cherished moment in which her grandmother stretched her arms upward with a look of utter joy on her face. She died shortly later.
This is God’s Creation. God loves us, and God lives with us. Share the stories and believe. Amen.
