Sermon - John 1:43-51

<p>I am still shaken over what happened at our nation’s capitol on January 6^th.  My heart grieves because of the deep brokenness in our culture.  In fact, I have been feeling for some time that our present context could be described by the words we find in 1 Samuel this morning where we read, “The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.”  Too frequently, the loudest religious voices in present culture have been voices of Christian nationalism which is <strong>not</strong> Christianity.  What we saw on January 6 was the result of the fusion of fundamentalist Christian nationalism, racism, conspiracy theories, populism, white supremacist ideology, and extremism.  And, as insurgents stormed the capitol, many described themselves as participants in a kind of <em>holy war</em>.  It was hateful, violent, appalling, and it was <strong><u>wrong</u></strong>! This is NOT Christianity! This is NOT how Christians are <strong>called</strong> to live. These actions do <strong>not</strong> display the <strong>call</strong> to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and love your <strong>neighbor</strong> as yourself!</p> <p>So, it is fitting that in today’s readings, we hear <strong>call</strong> stories. <strong> Call</strong> stories tell us about the response of people of faith to God’s <strong>call</strong> in their lives, and they help to inform <strong>us</strong> of the way <strong>we</strong> are <strong>called</strong> to live. We hear about the call of Samuel, a little boy who grew up to become one of the great prophets of the Old Testament.  In our New Testament reading, we hear Paul telling us <strong>we</strong> are <strong>called</strong> to live our lives as <strong>faithful</strong> Christians, thinking of our very bodies as temples, bodies <strong>worthy</strong> of bearing the Holy Spirit in this world.  And our gospel reading tells us of the call of Philip and Nathanael, two of Jesus’ first disciples.</p> <p>In this go