We start the journey with Jesus which leads from his baptism in the wilds of the Jordan Valley to Jerusalem and his death and everything that follows from that. We hear how he started by gathering a small group of followers. Our attention is pointed towards the call to listen to God, not just in Jesus’ time, but from the earliest times with God’s call to Samuel. We are similarly called to follow.
As I read these passages I’m drawn to consider not so much the situation of those disciples newly exposed to the power of Jesus, or of Samuel who had no idea what was happening – but rather the supporting characters: Eli the priest, and John the last prophet. These are not major characters in the story of salvation. Yes, John the Baptist gets his 15 minutes of fame, but probably more because of Salome than anything else. Eli – barely 5 minutes, I’d say.
But these people are important, because they enable others to understand who it is who is speaking to them, and to move forward. They enable their followers to move on from their old relationships and into new, more powerful, positions. In doing that they are inevitable left behind. We don’t hear anything more of Eli – he did his job and Samuel moved on to become the first great prophet. Did he feel lonely in his blindness as he got older without his young companion? John continued baptizing but he knew he had been overtaken by events. “He (Jesus) must increase; I must decrease” he said before he was imprisoned and then killed.
I somehow think that Eli and John were both fine with the situation in which they found themselves. They understood God’s ways sufficiently that they knew and accepted their supporting roles, and were content once they were accomplished.
We are of course called to follow, as were the disciples and Samuel and the other prophets. But sometimes maybe it’s more important to consider our role in encouraging others, in showing them the way into their relationship with the living God – even if we lose something in the process.