The Reverend Ronald J. Kolanowski
January 18, 2009
The Second Sunday after Epiphany, Year B

1 Samuel 3:1-20
John 1:43-51

The readings today are about being called, responding to the call and taking a risk to be a prophet.  In Hebrew scriptures we hear the call of Samuel, who did not identify the call when he first heard it.  In the gospel we hear of the call of Philip and Nathaniel.  Ordinary people who took a risk to follow Jesus and give up their former lives.

I think there are three things that are common elements to any prophetic call.  First, being open to being called.  Throughout scripture we hear that God is continually calling people.  But in order to hear a call a person needs to be in a posture of listening.  The characters in today’s readings made a conscious decision to be open to a new message.  It wasn’t just dumb luck or an accident; it was an intentional act.

The second characteristic of a prophet is taking the risk to respond.  It’s all fine and good to be open to a new message.  Everyone is invited, and many even hear a call or a message, but not everyone takes the risk to follow the call.

The third element that I believe is part of a call is not to control the call.  This is often the hardest part.  What’s essential is letting go of control.  Not knowing how the call will turn out.  Risking NOT having all the answers, but remaining with unanswered questions.

Following a call is risky business… it takes one into unknown territory.  It’s not safe or familiar.  It is often unpopular and against what the world describes as common sense.  And this is when one can get scared and try to control the outcome of the call. 

If its’ true that God is continually sending out these message of call, then it’s not surprising that prophets come in all shapes and sizes and from the strangest places.  Prophets come to us even today in guises that we would not recognize or expect.

I’m going to tell a story of when a prophet came to me from a very unexpected source.  It was exactly 12 years ago today and these very same readings were being read in my church in Washington, DC.  It was the weekend of the second inauguration of Bill Clinton.  My brother and sister-in-law joined me in Washington to attend the inauguration and the ball.

It just so happened that that Sunday was also the Sunday our associate rector of ten years was leaving the parish.  At the time our church was in a search for a new rector.  I was co-chairing the first part of the process – the parish profile in which we discerned what we wanted in our next rector.  Our associate rector had indicated in a letter to the parish that she wanted the job.  The Diocese of Washington requires an open search  process for a new rector.  So, if our associate wanted the job she had to leave during the search process.  The parish was divided … half wanted to hire her and half wanted her to leave.  It was painful for her to leave, and I was one of the leaders in the parish blamed for her having to leave.  So, it was a time of personal pain for me as well.

That Sunday she preached on the gospel we heard today.  She quoted the part of the gospel where Jesus saw Nathaniel sitting under the fig tree.  She said that the fig tree was as symbol of prosperity for the Jewish people.  It was used in scripture as a symbol of wisdom, a place of safety and surety.  By calling Nathaniel out from under the fig tree Jesus was calling Nathaniel into the unknown.  Nathaniel left the safety and security of being under the fig tree to go into a place that was unknown to him.  The image of leaving the shade of the fig tree had great meaning.

Our associate said that leaving our parish was God calling her out into the unknown.  She said that our parish was her fig tree; it was her place of safety.

I listened to that message and found myself in my seat that Sunday morning crying uncontrollably.  I was unable to stop the tears that flowed.  I think my brother and his wife thought I’d cracked up or something.

But what happened to me at that moment is that I realized that for years I’d been hiding under my own fig tree.  I had been unwilling to do the things necessary when God calls.  First, I wasn’t willing to be open to listen for God’s call.  I was afraid to respond.  I was in a good job that paid well.  I had a solid position and didn’t want to respond to a call to ministry.  And, I wanted to control and know the outcome of any plans that had to do with my future.

The prophet came to me that Sunday from an unexpected source.  Our associate was someone who was angry with me and who had frustrated my plans in our search process.  However, on that inaugural weekend she was a prophetic voice that delivered a message I needed to hear.  She carried a message about leaving a place of safety, trusting God and moving into the unknown.  It was the Sunday I finally broke down.  I finally heard a message and knew I needed to respond.

Well, 12 years later we are reading this same passage, and I’m standing before you, to be with you on our common journey into the unknown.

Prophets come from the strangest places.  They are ordinary people.  Who are the prophets in our midst?  I submit to you they are sitting at your right and your left.

In the gospel Nathaniel says of Jesus “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”  He knew the place...it was the next town up the road.  How can someone so great come from such a backwater town as Nazareth?

God calls people from the oddest places.  Samuel was just a boy; Philip and Nathaniel were from small towns in Galilee.  This Monday we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.  He came from the red clay hills of Georgia.  Many of us come from small towns, and humble beginnings.  Like Nathaniel, who asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”, we can ask ourselves, “Can anything good come out of Hartford?”

Just look to your right and your left.  Think of ways prophets come into your life each and every day.  And, we need to ask if we are leaving ourselves open to God’s call.  Are we responding to that call?  Are we giving up control about the outcome and willing to be used in expected ways to be prophet to those around us?

Like Nathaniel, who asked “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” we must ask what good can come out of you and me.  Like Nathaniel we must take the risk to let go of that fig tree.  We must consider what things in our lives are holding us back under that tree of safety.  Do we have the courage to leave the shade of the fig trees of our own life and step out into the brilliant sun of the unknown and respond as Samuel did?  Are we ready to hear our call and say “Here I Am Lord.  Speak, for thy servant is listening”?  Amen.

© Copyright 2009 by the Reverend Ronald J. Kolanowski