Come and See
“Come and See”
Readings: 1 Samuel 3.1-20; John 1.43-51
January 15th, 2012 – Second Sunday in Epiphany
Rev. J. Manny Santiago
“Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’
Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’”
John 1.46
Introduction
“The word of God was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.” This is how the writer of the first book of Samuel describes the times in which young Samuel was called. Samuel’s story is not that different from other hero’s stories in the Bible. His father, Elkanah, was married to two women. One of the women had children, but the other, Hannah, did not have any children. Hannah then prayed to God, asking God to give her a child, a boy, since males were more desirable than women. Hannah promises God that, if she had a son, she would give this son back to God by dedicating him to the service of God in the Temple. The Scripture tells us that “God opened Hannah’s womb and she conceived and bore a child.”
Those days, when Hannah conceived, God listened and spoke. But those days were over… The word of God was rare after Samuel was born.
There are always days when we cannot hear God’s voice. There are always days when God seems to be silent. That is what we think, when in reality, what happens is that God is speaking, loudly, and we have failed to identify God’s voice. Perhaps we are so caught up in other businesses that we fail to hear the voice of God.
The Calling
The story tells us that Samuel heard a voice calling him: “Samuel. Samuel.” He ran to the priest, Eli, and his three times if he was calling. Samuel was so caught up in the mentality of the time, that he thought it would be impossible for God to speak to him; it must have been Eli. For a moment, Eli did not know what was happening. It was not until the third time that he realized that Samuel was, perhaps, being called by God. So he tells the young man to go back to sleep and if he heard the voice again, to answer: “here I am, God.”
Samuel goes on to be one of the great prophets of Israel. He is the voice of the Holy One among his people. He becomes one of the instruments that God uses to bring redemption and transformation to the people of Israel. God’s voice is once more heard. People start to think, once again, that it is possible to identify God’s voice even when they think that God might not be speaking.
Samuel and MLK
I do not know the circumstances of Martin Luther King’s birth. Somehow, I doubt that he was conceived by miraculous circumstances. However, there are parallels between his calling and Samuel’s calling.
When Martin Luther King was growing up he had few chances of success. The world in which he grew up was one in which you were judged by the color of your skin, and not by the content of your character. The world in which he grew up was one divided by color and class and a myriad other divisions that we humans have created. The world in which he grew up was one in which he and those like him had to conform to the standards of the racial majority that controlled the power… The voice of God was seldom heard those days. Visions were not widespread…
However, it was not that God’s voice was not heard; rather, it was that God’s voice was being ignored! Everywhere you went you could hear God claiming for justice. An old black lady had to move to the back of the bus when she came back home from making the beds of her white masters. A young black man had to look for the back entrance of the restaurant where he served meals to white patrons. Segregation, subjugation, oppression, lynching, fear… those where the times when God spoke loud and clear but few would pay attention to God’s voice.
And then, something happened… those who had been oppressed started to listen o God’s voice. “Why? Why do we have to suffer this? Why do we have to conform to the norm of the white majority?” The voice of God was speaking and suddenly, everyone started to hear it. Those who had suffered the pain of slavery and were now under the yoke of servitude started to pay attention to this voice.
There were many others along with Martin Luther King. Rosa Parks, Jessie Jackson, Malcolm X, Bayard Rustin… these are just the names that we know. But there were others whose names had been forgotten or never mentioned. The millions of children, women and men who marched. The millions of children, women and men who raised their voices and demanded a more just society for themselves and those whom they loved. The millions of children, women and men who faced discrimination and were willing to stand up for their rights even if that meant to lose everything. Martin Luther King was one among many. An important one, but not the only one.
The Domestication of MLK
Martin Luther King was martyred. He gave the civil rights movement a martyred hero; a symbol of the oppression which black Americans and other minorities had to live under in a white society. His cause was then domesticated…
It is true that his fight for social justice was somehow rewarded. There were laws passed to end segregation. There were laws passed to allow black and other minorities to vote. There were laws terminating forced labor. Yes, these are great accomplishments. But then his cause was domesticated.
Under the guise of “recognition,” many people in power had taken the figure of Martin Luther King to continue the oppression. It is assumed that, since we have a national holiday celebrating this civil rights leader, we do not need to look at our current actions of oppression. The line of thought goes, “we already have a black President. We do not need to do anything else.”
Here is where the invitation comes: Come and See!
No, things have not changed that much. Yes, much progress has been done, but not enough. We, those of us who are not white, still have to conform to your ways in order to fit in. I can only speak for myself. Even since I came to Seattle, I had experienced the segregation of the city first hand. The supposed liberalism of the city is more about what people believe that how we actually act. People have the theoretical knowledge of the ills of racism and discrimination, but the actions speak louder than words – although, every now and then words are also used.
Move this way. Preach this way. Wear these clothes. Pronounce words this way. Behave like this. Don’t move your hands so much. Lead in this way. Speak like this… Everywhere you go, you find people who are willing to give you advice that, although well-intentioned, they fail to see as anglo-centric. Or, do you think that I would hide behind a pulpit, reading from a script in a Hispanic church? Of course not! But the truth is that, no matter how hard Martin Luther King fought and worked, we are still marred by the ills of racism and white-ethnocentrism. “We have a black president” the argument goes… “what else can we do?”
Let me tell you what else we can do: we can come and see. We can listen to the voice of God calling us to engage in real, life changing experiences that allow us to experience firsthand what it means to be the other.
The reason for having a day to commemorate the life and work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King is not to enshrine him and to forget about the ills of the world. On the contrary, the reason is for us to have a time to have deep, meaningful, and honest conversations about what are the ills of society that still affect us and do not let us share power with others and accept and welcome and celebrate others as the others are. The reason for this day is to always keep in mind that the only way in which we can actually change the world is by joining in… come and see, and you will find that something good can come out of Nazareth. Come and see, and you will find that a transformative journey is all what it takes to change the world. We need no more martyrs, we need more fellow sojourners. Amen.
