I Samuel 3: 1-14
This is the second week in October and the theme for
preaching in October is vocation.
We explored it last week with the story of Moses being called by God
through the burning bush. We are
now moving on to another story from the Hebrew Bible from the 1 Book of
Samuel. But first a little
background.
The Period of the Judges is likened to the Wild West where
shoot outs and ‘soil dove’ women took center stage. The Hebrews – all 12 tribes - had banded together as the
tribal confederacy in a defense effort against the Canaanites and Philistines
becoming loosely known as Israel.
So it was a time of warfare for the tribal confederacy, but this effort
eventually deteriorated to intratribal warfare.
If you read the book of Judges, it was not pretty. Tens of
thousands of warriors are stricken one day. Blood, guts, gore, and yes, S E X. I always said that if kids really knew what was in the Bible
they would be staying up in to the wee hours of the night with their
flashlights reading the Bible. What kept these 12 tribes loosely bound together
in the end was that Yahweh-God had made with them a covenant.
But it got pretty dicey and their lament echoed over and
over again, “In those days there was not a king in Israel; all the people did
what was right in their own eyes.”
And what was in their ‘own eyes’ was not right. The twelve tribes of Israel had fallen
apart by the end of the book of Judges.
They were convinced that a king would solve all of their problems.
Enters Hannah.
Barren Hannah. She goes to
the temple and prays fervently for God to grant her a child. Eli, the priest sees her, chides her
for her prayers which liken her more to a drunkard rather than a desperate
woman who so very badly wanted a child.
You see Eli and his sons were not quite on the up and up. Well Eli was a good man but his sons
were scoundrels and he did nothing to discipline them. But Hannah continues and makes promises
to bring her child before the Lord if the Lord would only help her to conceive.
And God hears her prayers, she conceives and Samuel was
born. Now Hannah was an honorable
women and brings him to the temple to minister alongside of Eli just like she
had promised.
Our reading from the first Book of Samuel…….
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of
the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.
At
that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see,
was lying down in his room; the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and
Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.
Then
the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to
Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call;
lie down again.” So he went and lay down.
The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and
said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie
down again.” Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the
Lord had not yet been revealed to him. The Lord called Samuel again, a
third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called
me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie
down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is
listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
Now
the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel
said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” Then the Lord said to
Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of
anyone who hears of it tingle.
On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning
his house, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I am about to
punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were
blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them.
Therefore
I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be
expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.”
Little Samuel.
Called Samuel. Samuel who
says, “Here I am Lord” when God calls his name. He is such an unlikely one to be a prophetic voice between
the period of the Judges and the coming monarchy. Samuel is called to tell Eli of his families demise and he
is also called later on to anoint Saul as the first king of Israel and then the
great King David. All from a
little boy who was given over at birth by his mother. All that from the adolescent who said, “Here I am!”
This is a classic ‘call narrative’. Like so many other call narratives in
the Hebrew Bible, a very special person is born to a once barren women and is
called by God to do or say certain things in order to accomplish what it is
that God wants done. What also
these people have in common is that they really are somewhat of a ‘rag-tag’ and
ordinary group of individuals.
Moses was slow of speech, Abram was just a plain old geezer,
Jeremiah just a kid, so was Samuel.
All of them had something going against them. Unlike political candidates of all persuasions who can’t say
enough good about themselves, the candidates that God calls are quick to point
out all of their faults and argue with God about their qualifications.
But guess who wins?
Not us! God of course
wins. It was once said that, ‘the
task does not depend on the leaders ability, but on the leader depending upon
God.’ No matter how inadequate one
might feel about him or herself, with trust and faith in God, a lot can be
accomplished.
Which is true in all of these narratives, what God wanted
was someone who would rely on God for strength, to depend on God with all their
heart that what they were being asked to do was within God’s realm of glory and
intention, and that they would be able to handle it or at least stick with
it. God wanted someone who trusted
that their life was going to be used to the benefit of others. It didn’t matter their ability. That was secondary. What mattered was their faith.
To be called is a term that is used a lot in the field of
ministry. You trot off to seminary
and are asked to articulate how you were called by God to this ministry. And believe me there are some pretty UNbelievable
stories, one that told of God appearing in their computer screen and speaking
with them and another told of St. Michael appearing to them on their front
windshield on a stormy and blustery night. Who am I to dispute their claims? But they were people of faith. The point is that we each have our own call story if
we awaken ourselves to God’s still speaking voice.
God calls us and then prepares us for the task at hand; it
is where your gifts meet the needs of this world. That is where God is calling you. Just like the rag-tag group of Biblical folks who were
called by God, so too each one of you is called. And just like those of old who bickered with God about their
call, who felt inadequate and insignificant and not up to the task, they
finally answered God’s call in full faith that God would have their back.
That’s what you need to do too.
It was Howard Thurmann who said, “Don’t ask what the world
needs, ask what makes you come alive and go do that, because what the world
needs is people who have come alive.” That is attentiveness to God’s call.
And as the beautiful hymn from the Iona community says, ‘Take O take me as I am, summon out
what I shall be’. That is, take me
just exactly as I am today and call forth from me what you need and that is
what I will become. Gifts aren’t
always grandiose, but each one is important and fills a need.
You know being called by God doesn’t necessarily mean a life
to ministry. But it does mean
awakening others to God’s love by the life you lead.
Brother Roger of the Taize community in France asks, “Will
you, for your part, be one of those who open up the ways of the Risen
Christ? Or will you hesitate and
say, “Why do you ask me to prepare ways of the Gospel for others? Can’t you see that I am quite helpless,
like a child?” He later says, “You
awaken others to Christ above all by the life you lead…..You communicate the
life of the Risen Christ through a profound personal unselfishness, by
forgetting about yourself.”[i]
I do believe that if we are to call ourselves Christians it
means that all of us are called to exemplify God’s love and forgiveness,
Christ’s unquenchable thirst for justice, and the Holy Spirit’s energy in our
every day world and each day that we live out. We are called to be.
And we are called to do.
Will you, through your actions, tell the Gospel that you
have been called to tell? Words
are not necessary, just an open ear, like Samuel who heard God calling in the
night.
Amen.
[i] Brother
Roger of Taize, “The Sources of Taize”. GIA Publications, Chicago, 2000. P. 30.
Pastoral Prayer
God bids us to pray unceasingly and so we lay before God the
names of those individuals that we lift up today for prayer.
READ NAMES
SILENCE
God of heaven and earth we come into your presence now in
heartfelt prayer. You are the one
who knows the intimate details of our lives and you are the one who can comfort
and sustain us. You lift us up and
rejoice in our wellbeing always loving us for our true selves. Help us not to
run but to reach out and live confidently into your call for us. Fill us with your grace and in doing so
may you grant to us forbearance, hope and abundant living. So much resides within us today so we
entreat you to hear us now.
For a healing balm for those who are ill in body, mind or
spirit we pray (mental illness, addiction, recovery, hiv/aids, cancer)
Comfort those who mourn the loss of a loved one or friend
and console those who grieve this day.
For our country and the men and women who serve in the armed
forces we pray strength, we lift up Kristin, Michael, Eugene, Nicholas, Gabe,
Jason, William, Joshua, Zachery, Justin, Ryan, Brandon, and Colin and all who
serve our country in military duty may their homecoming be sooner rather than
later.
For Orange Congregational Church, the United Church of
Christ and the larger we pray for guidance and discernment in these unusual and
stress filled times. Help us to be
a beacon of light for all who are in need of tender care.
For new life around us, for the joy and energy of our
children we thank you.
God in community, Holy in One Amen.
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