1 Samuel 3:1-18, Call of Samuel: The Light Calls Us

This is the sermon for January 18, 2009; 1 Samuel 3:1-20, “The Call of Samuel: The Light Calls Us; Trinity Church of the Nazarene.”

I must give thanks to Rev. Donna Lawson Carlile (Pastor in North Florida, Church of the Nazarene) and Rev. Kaza Henson Fraley (Pastor at Mulvane Church of the Nazarene). The three of us talked out this passage until God pointed each of us on where we should go for our congregations. Their brilliant ideas inspired this sermon.

The picture is from scripturepics.org (a resource I highly recommend).

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Do you remember what it was like as a kid (or if you still are a kid, perhaps you can enlighten us)… when you were in your room at night… and it was completely dark.

You could not see anything when those lights first went out. You can’t see the closet. You can’t see the dresser. It is completely dark.

Or… what about when you go camping or are walking around in nature at night?
When it is so dark you cannot even see your hand in front of your face.


This is what it was like for Israel in 1 Samuel.
It was dark, dark times.

Eli, the priest—had sons who were abusing their power as priests.
These priests were sexually immoral.
They were doing horrible things.

And Israel itself was being threatened by a super-power, the Philistines.

These were dark, dark times for the people of Israel.
Dark times—and a dark abuse of power.

The people had lived in dark so long- their eyes began to adjust to the darkness.


If you remember this Old Testament story—

Hannah really wanted a baby. Her husband was married to another woman too who had several babies… and she just wanted one baby.

So Hannah begged God for a child-- and promised if she had a son, she would give him to the priest, Eli.

Our passage for today starts when Hannah drops off her son Samuel at the temple to serve under the priest, Eli.

We will live in 1 Samuel chapter 3:1-18

So basically this is the story—

Samuel is a young boy living with the old priest, Eli, in the temple.

Late one night—while Samuel is staring up at the ceiling in the darkness—he hears someone calling for him.

And being the fantastic child scholar he deduced and reasoned with all logic available that if someone is calling for a young boy, it is probably someone IN the house.
So Samuel assumes it is Eli calling for him.

Samuel goes to Eli.

The old man opens up his little old eyes and squints saying—“How can I help you?”

Samuel says- “You called me, what do you want?”

And Eli replies- “I didn’t call you my son, go to bed.”

This happens 3 times. Yes? Go to bed. Yes? Go to bed.

Finally Eli wises up and realizes it is Yahweh God calling the young boy. And he says to Samuel—next time the Lord speaks to you say these words, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

In other words Eli tells the young boy to speak for his heart is open- speak for he is ready to listen. Speak for he is ready to hear.

Samuel goes back to bed and when he hears the Lord call for him, he does as Eli instructed… and God says something horrible to the young boy.

God tells Samuel the sons of Eli did horrible things. They slept with women in the synagogue. They stole from the offerings. And they will be killed in battle.

That is a horrible message for a little boy to receive.

Somehow this young boy finds a way to make it through the night. Maybe he sleeps. Maybe he does not. Maybe he stares up at the ceiling all night—hoping he will not have to tell Eli the message.

The next morning comes and Eli hobbles over to Samuel’s bed to ask him what the Lord said.

Samuel is anguished over delivering this message.

But Eli is persistent and gently urges the young boy to share the message from the Lord.

Samuel hangs his head and starts to whisper.

I can see Eli saying, “Louder my boy, I can’t see or hear. I’m an old man.”

I can also see Samuel raising up his little head and uttering the horrible words to the old man. “Sir, the Lord says your boys have committed enormous sins and are going to be killed.”

And with that, Eli nods and claims he understands. And says—Well, the Lord knows what the Lord is doing—so, that is okay Samuel.

What a story!


There are several things going on in this passage. Several fascinating things I would like for us to focus on today during this sermon.

First, there is the exciting play on power in this particular portion of scripture.

There is a complete reversal of power, actually.

Eli’s sons abuse their power as priests. They have the power of a priest, have the power of a person of the cloth… and they abuse it.

Instead of using their power as priests to heal, bring hope, and offer love to the hurting—they use their power to bring women in the temple. They do horrible things.
They choose what they want over delivering the message of God.

Therefore, God will raise up another who will not abuse power. God will call someone to be a prophet and priest who will not exploit their God-given power and authority.

Power is fascinating in this story.

The same power that is abused will be taken away and given to someone else.
Power is reversed.

Those who deserve the power—the sons of the good priest… get the power taken away.

And God gives the power to a little boy who was randomly dropped off at the temple. Just some little kid; a nobody.

The weakest person, a little boy with no legacy—with no great heritage to his lineage… is called by God to receive the power.

Samuel is not a prophet or a priest. Samuel is a regular little kid who was dropped off one day… to whom God gave enormous power.

Second, it is fascinating to see the play between God’s initiative and human response.

God calls Samuel, the little boy.

And Samuel responds in the midst of a struggle with that calling.

First, Samuel struggles because he does not know the voice of God.
He goes to Eli 3 times because he does not recognize the voice of God.

Second, he struggles because he does not want to share the message he receives from God. It is a horrible message he does not want to share.

But God calls Samuel anyway—and Samuel responds anyway.

God gives initiative, calling the human—and the human responds, even in the midst of difficulty.

It is a fascinating story in scripture of God’s call and a human’s response to that call.



And so—to spin those two things back on us. The play on power and God’s initiative and human response…


First, What is our power?
CEOs? Dollar bills? Check books? Credit Cards? Jobs? A House? Mortgage? Position? Titles?
What gives us power?

What does it look like for God to speak to us when we have power?

For the people in this story—the sons of Eli had the power—and they did not hear God. They had dark times.

But what does it look like for God to speak to us when we have power?

Can we hear God? Or does our power block the voice of God?
DOES IT BLIND US? Does it make everything dark?

Does power make everything seem like you’re in the wilderness and you cannot even see your hand before your face?


Abused power, like that of the sons of Eli, makes it hard to hear God.
But true and beautiful power… magnifies the voice of the Lord.


So the question becomes: Have we heard the voice of the Lord recently?
If not, what is blocking the voice of the Lord?
What power in your life, what darkness in your life is blocking the voice of the Lord?

And… If we have heard the voice of the Lord, what is God saying?


Second—
In the same way God called Samuel and he responded—God still calls humans today.

Is our response like Samuel?
Will we respond like Samuel… embracing the truth of God’s message?
Even when it scares us?
Even when it is a horrible message we do not want to share?

Will we answer, “Yes Lord, your Servant is listening”—when God calls us?
Will we respond to God’s call in the same way we saw Samuel respond?

Will we respond to God’s call with hearts open?
Will we respond to God’s call ready to listen and ready to hear?


And almost more fascinating than Samuel’s response… is the response of Eli.

Will our response be like Eli?
Remember Eli’s response—to the message of the Lord is… “He is the Lord. Let him do what he thinks is best.”

In other words—even though that means MY SONS die, He is the Lord.
How powerful of a response is that?!
How crazy of a human response to God’s initiative is that?

To respond to God’s action… when it means your sons will die… “He is the Lord, He will do what is best?”

That is crazy!

There was a man in the church I grew up in, Hagerstown Maryland.
His name was Robert Brown.

He was on the church board year after year, after year, after year. One of those pillars of the Church.

One day the church decided they wanted to take out the pews and put in chairs.

Robert Brown did not like that idea.

He was saved in those pews.
He knelt down and prayed at those pews.
His tears left stains on those pews.
His kids were married in those pews.
His kid’s kids were dedicated in those pews.
He did not want to let go of those pews.

When the church board voted, he spoke his mind. He voted no.
He did not want to get rid of those pews.

But it passed anyway.

And Robert responded JUST LIKE ELI.
He might as well have uttered the words, “He is the Lord. Let him do what he thinks is best” because his actions spoke louder than any words could.
Because when it came time to pull out his beloved pews… Robert Brown was the first one there with his tool belt on, ready to help the rest of the church.
His son was there, with his tool belt, ready to pull out the pews with everyone else.

Robert Brown, responded like Eli.

And that is why we remember him EVEN today. Even though he has been buried in the ground for almost 10 years…. We remember him… because he responded to God’s call like Eli.
Even when it hurt.

Robert Brown said, “He is the Lord. Let him do what he thinks is best”—even if it means I need to sacrifice a little.”
“He is the Lord. Let him do what he thinks is best—even it if means I need to let go of something I love and hold dear.”
“He is the Lord. Let him do what he thinks is best—even if it requires I let go of something precious and sacred to me.”


What a human response to God’s action.
What a legacy.
What a memory.


So what about you?
What will people say about you?

Will they say—they had entirely way too much power like Eli’s sons—and never even heard the voice of the Lord?

Will they say—they found true power in the Lord—and heard the voice of God because their power was pure and holy?

Will they say—they were called by God?
Will they say—when God called they had an amazing human response?
Like Samuel, “Speak, your servant is listening.”
Like Eli, “He is the Lord, Let it be as he wants.”
Or even like Robert Brown, “I do not like it, but God is God—and I choose God’s plans over my desires.”

What will people say about you?


Let’s pray.

Father God—we want to have a pure response to your calling. We want to respond like Samuel and like Eli.

When you call us, whatever it is… we want to say yes.

When you speak, give us the ears to hear it. Help us to hear what you really want, over our own power—over our own desires—over our own dependency on things.

Use the upcoming season of Lent (just before Easter) to help us learn something about our dependency. Use the upcoming season of Lent to show us the correlation between the things we do and the behaviors and listening habits we have with you.

Begin to use these moments now… to help us learn about you.
God, use the upcoming season of Lent. Use us.

Help us to learn how to hear you. Help us to know how to open our hearts to you, ready to listen.

Help us to learn how to have a beautiful response that leaves a legacy for those who come behind us.

Make us into more than we could ever make ourselves.

Help us to say “Yes, Lord, Yes. To your will and to your way” even when it means some pain for us. Even when it means some suffering for us. Even if it means some sacrifice for us.

We love you, Lord. We love you more than what we want.

Amen.