Preparing for Worship - January 14, 2024

This is the Second Sunday after the Epiphany. The readings this week have to do with people being called by the Lord to serve Him. In the Old Testament lesson, 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20), Samuel was already serving the elderly priest, Eli, when the Lord called him to be His prophet. Samuel did not realize it was the Lord calling until Eli explained it to him. Eli and his family were to be replaced because of sinfulness. The Lord would now reveal His Word to Samuel, and it was his job to bring that Word to all of Israel.

In the psalm, Psalm 139:1-10, David also knows that he has been called to be King among his people. He knows that he cannot run away anywhere from the Lord and His Spirit, “holding” him and “leading” him in His ways. The Lord knows everything about him. To David this “knowledge” is “wonderful,” for even on the darkest of days there is still Light from the Lord.

In the Gospel lesson, John 1:43-51, Jesus is calling disciples to “follow” Him, including Philip. Philip tells Nathaniel that Jesus is the One of whom Moses and the prophets wrote. Nathaniel is skeptical, but Philip says, “Come and see.” Nathaniel comes and is quickly amazed at the “knowledge” Jesus has of him and calls Him "the Son of God” and “the King of Israel.” Jesus tells him he will know much more, and using an Old Testament story about Jacob (Genesis 28:12-17), Jesus says that He Himself, “the Son of Man,” is the ladder, the Way to heaven.

In the Epistle lesson, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, Paul reminds the Christians in Corinth that they, too, have a calling. They have been “bought with a price” - a great price, the sacrifice of Christ for them on the cross. “They and their “bodies” are not their own,” but they are “members of Christ” and their bodies are to be a “temple of the Holy Spirit,” who lives “within them.” Their bodies will one day be raised and changed for eternal life, even as Jesus was raised. They, and we, are called to use our bodies in “helpful” ways that please our Lord and not with “sexual immorality” or whatever we want to do. We can “glorify God even in our bodies,” as individuals and as a church, the body of Christ.