Sunday's Sermon

“Lord, Speak to Me”

January 15, 2012

Scripture: 1 Samuel 3:1–20

Exploring the Scripture:

The opening scene of 1 Samuel 3 reveals an old priest and a young boy in the roles of mentor and apprentice. In earlier passages we find that the young boy, Samuel, has been dedicated by his mother to the Lord when she handed over her son to the care and tutelage of the old priest Eli. We also discover in the preceding chapter that Eli’s sons, also priests, have disgraced the office of priest and the family name. Because of their sinful ways the Lord is preparing to punish the entire house of Eli. As Eli’s house falls from power, the apprentice, assisted by the mentor, will be called to assume their roles of leadership and power. Samuel’s leadership will change the course of history for the Israelites.

Today’s verses are 1–10; however, it is important to be familiar with verses 11–20. Verses 1–10 alone depict a nice story involving a little boy, a grandfatherly figure, and God’s gentle call of the boy. However, in verses 11–20 this nice story becomes one which will denounce the current religious leadership structure and challenge Eli and Samuel.

Samuel is sleeping next to the Ark of the Covenant, most likely because Eli’s health would not permit him to do so. The priest may have slept next to the Ark to tend to the lamp nearby. It is also suggested that the priest was to be near the Ark to hear when the Lord spoke. The writer states, “The lamp of God had not yet gone out.” This may simply be an indication that it was near dawn and the lamp was not yet extinguished after burning all night. But more importantly, the writer may be signaling that there is still hope of the Lord speaking.

In verse 1 we read that it was rare for God to speak in those days. It is assumed that the behavior of the house of Eli was a major reason God was not being heard. When the writer says, “The lamp of God had not yet gone out,” it is intended to plant a seed of hope. Hope was not yet lost; there was hope that the Lord would soon speak a new thing. That is a primary thread of this story: a God of hope speaking and doing something new.

During the night on three occasions the Lord calls Samuel, but Samuel believes it is the voice of Eli. Only after three calls does Eli realize it is the voice of the Lord. Eli then instructs Samuel how to respond if the Lord calls again. Ironically, the message Eli helps Samuel receive from the Lord is a message of condemnation toward the house of Eli, but within the message there is new hope and new possibilities for the Israelites.

Samuel is being called into this role not because of family lineage or because he is of the “right” political stripe. Samuel is being called because God does not always call the expected ones. There are many stories of God doing a new thing, bringing new hope and calling those who are not expecting to help usher in that new hope.

There was no doubt a desire to hold to the old ways, particularly for those who had been taking advantage of others through the now-corrupted priestly system. To bring about a new hope in that environment required courage on the part of Samuel; it took great courage to relay God’s message to his tutor.
We have been called to courageously challenge systems and cultures of our day to bring about new hope and God’s peace.

But as we learn from our story, it was not God’s refusal to speak that kept them from hearing God’s voice, it was the people’s refusal to listen. If we are listening, God speaks new things to us in the midst of struggle and uncertainty.

How do we know when it is God speaking—that is the first question.

I will never forget the sermon Seventy Harry Black preached at one of our reunions years ago. It impressed me with its message. He told of a conversation he had with his then teenaged daughter. He was concerned that she might be led astray and become involved with drugs and/or illicit sex. He cautioned her to listen for God’s voice as God attempted to lead her into the best paths for her well being. He warned her that there were many voices in the world today that might be confused with God’s still small voice. There was the voice of alcohol, drugs and illicit sex, that sometimes lead to a person’s eventual destruction,. Those louder voices can sometimes lead us in the wrong direction as they are able to drown out God’s still small voice.

So how do we know? The voice of God could be our imagination. The first requirement then is to check it out. The writer of First John advises us to, "…test the spirits to see whether they be of God." (I John 4:1). The first test is truth. God is the God of truth—all kinds of truth.

Whenever we experience a sense of calling from God, we generally receive that experience with a degree of ambiguity. There are some markers that we look for in the process we call "discernment."

The primary marker is the presence of peace. Do we sense the presence of deep peace, even if there is conflict or threat overshadowing the circumstances?

Whenever we are trying to discern the will of God, we should quietly sense the quality of our deepest being. Wait patiently. Sense whether there is peace or confusion, consolation or desolation. Then we should do our best and just trust God.

The central focus of our faith is the belief that God has entered into conversation with us. The challenge is to be open to what God is trying to say to us. That is not always easy because we are bombarded with messages from many sources. Is it the voice of tradition or the culture around us that often tires to say that anything is o.k. if it feels good, rather than an authentic word from God?

Determining that requires us to develop a stronger sense of spirituality. The deeper we go on our own spiritual search, the easier it is to hear the message. This search involves a lifetime commitment. The joy of the journey into the awareness of the presence of God is that more and more we discover what God wants us to do with our lives. We are being addressed. God is waiting for our response.

Another way to check things out is to listen to the voice of conscience. There is within each of us a sense of moral responsibility. One way of judging right from wrong is to ask the question, "How would I feel if every person in the world practiced the same code of ethics that I do?" That’s sometime scary.

Perhaps the most important check on whether God is speaking is the Law of Compassion. Jesus gave us the supreme demand, "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful." (Luke 6:36) Whenever we are confronted with a human being in need, for instance, we can be sure that the call of God is there for us to do whatever we can to help. As individuals, and as a congregation, I see us trying our best to meet legitimate need.

In our Christian faith, we believe that Jesus set for us the pattern of a life lived in devotion to God and in dedication to ministering to human need whenever it confronts us. As we search for truth and open ourselves to God's presence in prayer and meditation, we will discover more completely what God is trying to say to us.

Last year, as I was struggling to recover from my loss of Bob and as I was praying for light, something new came into my consciousness. It suddenly occurred to me how tenuous life really is and how much older I was getting to be. How much longer, I asked myself, am I going to be as healthy as I now am?

I had to wonder where on earth God was going with this. I just put it out of my mind.

Then at reunion that year, Karin Tillery asked me if I was getting tired of the responsibility of being pastor. I told her I had very good health but just recently been troubled by the awareness of my age and mortality. She asked me if I had considered someone to take my place as pastor. She made a couple of suggestions. But those she suggested had awesome responsibilities already.

Then one night as I was pondering this quandary and praying for light, I suddenly was made aware of Melissa’s call to priest. Melissa had just lost her mother and was also building her medical practice so I wasn’t sure the timing was right and I pushed it out of my mind. But time and again, this call came to me and finally I realized I had not recognized the voice of God in it. I was depending on my own intellect and powers of reasoning. I was not listening for God’s voice. When I finally realized what I was doing and decided to act on what God was leading me to do, I felt a tremendous sense of peace, relief and certainty.

Our congregation needs to be mentoring new leaders and I was ignoring God’s still small voice telling me that. I sent in the paperwork for Melissa’s call and had a long telephone conversation with headquarters about it. It was approved and finally, I called Melissa and asked her to have lunch with me. Over lunch, I told her of the call. She was not at all surprised.

Next Sunday we are about to consummate that call with an ordination.

I am asking Leslie to mentor Melissa. Not only are they long time neighbors and friends, but also Leslie has been a priest in the past and can be helpful to be a mentor to Melissa as she assumes more responsibility as a priest.

Another blessing to the congregation was the transfer of membership of Johnna. Johnna has been a real blessing to the congregation. She is our only teacher. A teacher needs to be a trustworthy confidant. I am positive Johnna has those qualities. We are blessed with many workers in our congregation. Now we do have younger people coming up that can step into leadership roles. God is aware of our needs and will always try to speak to us to help us meet those needs.

But that does not only happen to lead groups or congregations. As we found in our scripture story and my own experience, it also is helpful in leading confused individuals into the right paths for their lives.

God loves each of us. And God wants the very best for each of us. As we continue on our individual journeys in life, let us always be prepared to listen for God’s still small voice.