1 Samuel 3:1-10, 18-20 – Samuel's Call Story
/Lectionary Readings for May 09, 2021 Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year B
Acts 10:44-48 The Holy Spirit Falls on the Gentiles
Psalm 98 v4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
1 John 5:1-6 v2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.
John 15:9-17 v12-13 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” ~Jesus
But this week we’re digging into 1 Samuel 3 – The Call of Samuel.
Peace through Leadership Quotes
“My child is going to learn her [values] from ME first. ... If she hears me talking badly about [something] I know she’s going to be saying the same things herself. ... I am going to try with all I have to say only kind things moving forward. If you catch me saying something unkind, please gently remind me that my little sponge of a baby is listening and learning from everything I say and do.” ~ Peggy Miller
Everyone around us is a sponge. Everyone watches what we do and listens to what we say. If we want to lead our families and communities into a more peaceful existence, our lives, our actions, and our words must reflect God’s love within us if we hope to create peace around us. Once we make such a commitment – which we do so through our baptism into the Christian faith – we must lovingly hold each other accountable to the goal of being people of peace, hope, and love.
Any time I preach or lead a group, regardless of age, I start the same way. I’m going to say three short sentences. Please repeat each sentence, with enthusiasm.
God made me. God loves me. God has plans for me.
Preface to Today’s Scripture Reading
We are now in our second of a six-week series looking at the call stories of several major people throughout the Bible. Last week we focused on 75-year-old Abram (before he was renamed to Abraham). This week we focus on 11-year-old Samuel.
Today’s story occurs in an area about 27 miles north of Jerusalem roughly 1,000 years before Jesus lived. At this point, Moses has led the Israelites out of Egypt and Abraham’s 12 sons (and their wives!) have birthed the 12 tribes of Israel. Instead of a king to govern all of them, God has appointed a dozen Judges as the leadership body for Israel – kind of like our church council, but for 1,000,000+ people.
According to the legend, an Israelite man named Elkanah, had two wives: Peninnah and Hannah. Peninnah had given birth to sons and daughters, whereas Hannah was childless and thus felt the cultural shame of having no children; she would have hated Mother’s Day. There was great friction between the two wives. Hannah poured out her heart to God in prayer asking for a child and thus proof that God loved her.
And yes, this sounds a LOT like the story of Abraham, Hagar, and Sarah.
In one of her prayers, Hannah promises God that if she has a son, she will dedicate his life to God and train him in the Nazirite tradition which means that he would never drink alcohol nor cut his hair. (Samson was another famous Biblical Nazirite – Judges 13:3-7.) Upon giving birth, Hannah names her son Samuel, meaning “God has heard or Name of God.” Hannah dedicated her son to God in multiple ways.
Somewhere around the age of five, Hannah takes Samuel to the temple in Shiloh and gives him to the elderly Eli – Eli is one of Israel’s judges, a high priest, and guard of the Ark of the Covenant. Eli thus becomes Samuel’s second dad and his exceptionally qualified spiritual mentor.
Let’s open our ears, minds, and hearts as we hear today’s readings.
Read 1 Samuel 3:1-10, 18-20.
When we say “God calls us” it means that God directly connects with us in one or more ways to show us what God wants us to do... in the moment OR over a long period of time. Just this past week, someone who is not a member of our church called me and explained, “I had this big concern weighing on my heart, and I felt like God was pushing me to come to your church to pray. When I got here, you weren’t here, but the people here prayed with me.” Thank God he followed that nudging, and thank God our members who were here at the time welcomed him and prayed with him. Thank God none of them said, “Well, let’s just wait and pray about this on Sunday.” This is just one of many moments when we, the church, the “body of Christ” are at our best; when we follow God’s leading, the Kingdom of God becomes present through us in tangible, meaningful ways.
There are actually two call stories in today’s reading. God audibly calling out to Samuel is the most obvious. But also notice that Hannah feels drawn... led... compelled... to dedicate her son, the answer to her greatest prayer, back to God.
Even though I’m not a parent, I can only imagine how emotionally difficult it must have been for Hannah to birth and rear her child for five or so years and then give him up – even to someone she trusted, as imperfect as Eli was. Even though she never heard God’s audible voice, Hannah’s unique call story creates the possibility for Samuel’s unique call story.
Today’s story is filled with humility. Hannah approaches God with a humble, heart-felt prayer, “Here’s what I desperately want Lord, and this is why it’s so important to me.” She must have prayed for years, if not decades. Can you imagine the mix of frustration and patience in her head and heart? “Here I am Lord; hear my heartbreak. Make me whole.”
Young Samuel has grown to respect Eli, so much so that he will leave his bed in the middle of the night – multiple times – to see what Eli wants. Samuel has learned to be a humble servant in the best sense of those words. The older I get, the more I’m convinced that we are able to serve God best when we seek to serve God with humility. “Here I am Lord, I’m listening. What can I do for You?”
Eli is wise enough to discern what is happening and humble enough to offer some direction... and then get out of the way. (Sometimes we’re called to get out of the way!) After all his years of faithful service to God, he utters no words of resentment that God would speak to the young boy and not directly to him. “Here I am Lord, it brings me joy to see You connecting with the next generation of leaders.”
From Hannah, we learn that God may respond to our prayers through the words and actions of people around us as Eli did for Hannah. And we learn to patiently await the fulfillment of answered prayers.
From Samuel, we learn to be active listeners, and we learn that neither our age nor our qualifications or accomplishments – OR lack thereof – prevent God from speaking to us directly. We also learn that “Living out our call sometimes requires us to deliver bad news or to engage in difficult or uncomfortable” conversations (Susan Robb, Called. Abingdon Press, p. 46).
From Eli, we learn the value of the wisdom we’ve acquired throughout our lives and the importance of nurturing younger generations despite our own failings. We are never Unqualified for God to use us.
Here are a few questions to ponder this week:
When have you had Hannah seasons in your life? When have you had to wait months, years, or decades for answered prayers?
When have you had Samuel moments in your life? When have you felt God’s mysterious presence made powerfully clear?
When have you been an Eli for someone else, helping them connect with God or discern God’s calling in their life?
However you have had any or all of those experiences, when we, the church, the “body of Christ” share our stories, we encourage each other. We need to share our stories with younger generations so that they know God’s Spirit is alive, active, and reaching out. This week, I encourage you to think about people who have shared stories of their faith journey with you. If you can contact them, call or write them; let them know how their story impacted you.
As we, individually and collectively, look to our future, let us all pray with Hannah’s deep passion, let us all listen with Samuel’s attentiveness, and let us all serve those around us with Eli’s nurturing wisdom. As much as we are able to explore and express our faith in these ways, we will continue to create moments where God’s love is able to irrupt in our homes and in our community.
Amen? Amen!