Homily For Epiphany 2 Year B 2009

Epiphany 2 Year B
Eucharist – 18.i.2009
(1 Samuel 3.1-10; Revelation 5.1-10; John 1.43-51)
As well as it being the 2nd Sunday of the Epiphany season, today is also the
first day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. I‟m sorry that nothing at
all has been arranged by our local churches to mark this Unity Week - that‟s
a statement in itself, I‟m afraid to say. So by way of an apology - and
perhaps to cheer you up - here are some light bulb jokes with an ecumenical
flavour:
How many Charismatics does it take to change a light bulb?

One, since his/her hands are in the air anyway.
How many Baptists does it take to change a light bulb?

The whole congregation needs to vote on it!
How many Anglo-Catholics does it take to change a light bulb?

None. They always use candles instead.
How many conservative Anglicans does it take to change a light bulb?

Three. One to change it and two to storm out in protest if the person changing
it is a woman.
How many Brethren does it take to change a light bulb?

Change?????
How many Evangelicals does it take to change a light bulb?

Evangelicals do not change light bulbs. They simply read out the instructions
and hope the light bulb will decide to change itself.
How many Atheists does it take to change a light bulb?

You can ask them to change it as often as you like, but they'll still remain in
darkness.
Perhaps if we‟re to be really serious about Unity, we simply need to be less

serious about ourselves. I‟m afraid that our local Churches Together group
1
simply hasn‟t met for over a year, and when it does meet it never seems to
be able to organise much that will actually register on the calendars of the
individual churches of our area. It‟s difficult even to get the clergy together.
When we do meet the gathering can be convivial enough, but once we start
to talk business we seem to be more aware of the problems than the
solutions - a bit like changing light bulbs. So at our last meeting we
considered the opinion that not as many people as we would wish come to
united services - and the end result is that we haven‟t organised any. Perhaps
we will do a bit better with meetings in Lent? Watch this space…
What does Jesus do? He simply goes up to people - as he does in today‟s

Gospel reading - and says “Follow me.” What‟s more he does it in such a
way that the people he speaks to go off and tell others. First Jesus invites
Andrew and a friend of his to find out what he‟s doing. It‟s a simple
invitation: “Come and see.” Simple - but it‟s enough for Andrew to go off
and tell his brother, Simon Peter, and that‟s how the band of Twelve
Disciples gets started. Now Jesus calls to Philip: “Follow me.” And the word
really starts to get around. Philip goes off and tells Nathanael: “Jesus is the
one we‟ve been looking for. Come and see.”
It‟s at this point that the Gospel message is re-buffed for the first time.
Nathanael can‟t get enthusiastic about Philip‟s invitation. He only sees the
reason not to do things. How can Jesus have anything to say? He‟s just from
that backwater town of Nazareth. “Can anything good come out of
Nazareth?” Philip can only tell him, “Come and see.”
And fortunately he does. It‟s when Nathanael meets Jesus, that he realises
2
who this man really is. It‟s the personal encounter that makes the difference.
And that‟s how it is for us. If you want you can raise all the arguments you
like about why you shouldn‟t take the Christian faith seriously. Some people
just like to argue. Most - rather like Nathanael who‟s quite comfortable
sitting where he is - just can‟t be bothered to get up and find out. But the
Christian faith is not something for arguing over. It‟s faith in God - and we
find God in Jesus. It‟s when Nathanael stops arguing and gets up and meets
Jesus that the penny drops.
From the same source as the light bulb jokes, here‟s a story that may shed
some light on our Old Testament reading:
A vicar in a small country church was looking forward to an important visit

from his bishop, which would involve the bishop staying overnight at the
vicarage after the service. His young son became very excited, as he had
never spoken to a bishop before.
The vicar decided that his young son should be allowed to knock the bishop’s
door in the morning, and bring him in his morning tea. His father gave him
instructions: “First, knock on the door of the bishop’s room and then say loud
and clear: "It's the boy, my Lord, it's time to get up."
The young son was very excited and rehearsed his lines, repeating them over
and over. Finally the bishop came and spent the night.
Next morning day came and the young lad went to the door and knocked. He
cried loudly: "It's the Lord, my boy, and your time is up!"
And so it is… The story of the boy Samuel in the Temple is one of the
earliest that I can remember. How do you know when God is speaking to
you? Samuel hears a voice - he hears his name - and he gets up to find what
is asked of him. Three times he hears the call, “Samuel, Samuel,” and three
times he gets up and goes to the old priest Eli in the next room. It takes
those three occasions for Eli himself to realise what is going on. Stay where
3
you are, he tells Samuel, and ask God to speak to you where you are - and
then listen…
Now the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, „Samuel!
Samuel!‟ And Samuel said, „Speak, for your servant is listening.‟
Or put it a different way: “It‟s the Lord… and your time is up…” Will we be
ready to listen? Can we imagine that God comes to us, just as we are and
where we are? Are we ready to make our response?
“Follow me,” Jesus says to the first disciples. “Come and see,” is the
invitation he makes to them. It‟s the same for us. We need to take the
opportunities for prayer and growth in understanding so that we can really
follow Jesus - a bit of effort on our part, but already he has made the first
move. And here, Sunday by Sunday - other days too - Christ comes to us as
we take bread and wine and he offers us his Body and his Blood. “Eat
this…” “Drink this…” It‟s as simple as that. We can argue about all the
problems about saying “Yes.” Or we can say that we‟re quite comfortable
where we are. But Jesus will keep coming back to us:
“Come and see.”
“Follow me.”

Homily For Epiphany 2 Year B 2009

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Homily For Epiphany 2 Year B 2009

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Homily For Epiphany 2 Year B 2009

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Epiphany 2 Year B

How many Charismatics does it take to change a light bulb?

How many Baptists does it take to change a light bulb?

How many Anglo-Catholics does it take to change a light bulb?

How many conservative Anglicans does it take to change a light bulb?

How many Brethren does it take to change a light bulb?

How many Evangelicals does it take to change a light bulb?

How many Atheists does it take to change a light bulb?

Perhaps if we‟re to be really serious about Unity, we simply need to be less

What does Jesus do? He simply goes up to people - as he does in today‟s

A vicar in a small country church was looking forward to an important visit

“Come and see.”

You might also like