First Reading: 1 Samuel 3:1-20
1The boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. 2At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. 3The 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. 4Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” 5and 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. 6And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose 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.” 7Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” 11Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13And I declare to 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. 14Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.” 15Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 16But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” 17And Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” 18So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.” 19And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord.
Psalm 139:1-9
1Lord, you have searched me out and known me; you know my sitting down and my rising up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 2You trace my journeys and my resting places and are acquainted with all my ways. 3Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, but you, O Lord, know it altogether. 4You press upon me behind and before and lay your hand upon me. 5Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain to it. 6Where can I go then from your Spirit? where can I flee from your presence? 7If I climb up to heaven, you are there; if I make the grave my bed, you are there also. 8If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 9Even there your hand will lead me and your right hand hold me fast.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
12“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food” — and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Gospel: John 1:43-51
43The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
It’s Good to Know Who is Calling
Growing up, our family had the usual assortment of dogs, cats, hamsters, gerbils, and fish. We also had two or three parakeets. The dogs and cats we owned were mainly outside animals, seldom coming into the house. At one point we had a dog that was great, but wasn’t very bright. At the same time, we had a parakeet that really took a shine to my father. This particular parakeet learned to say a few words and the family swore, he sounded a lot like my dad. Moreover, he learned to whistle just like my father. This bird was so good, that unless you were paying attention, you’d think dad was whistling.
As a matter of fact, the bird got so good at whistling like dad, it had the dog convinced. The whole thing was rather funny. During the Spring and Fall seasons in Arizona, the weather is usually nice enough that, for a few weeks, we could open the doors and let the house air out. Our dog Butch, a foundling cockapoo, was a wonderful dog that knew to stay out unless called and would lay at the back door and sleep on the rug placed there.
I’m not sure how it started, but one day while dad was at work, that bird decided to start whistling. Sure enough, here comes Butch. My mom, not putting the two events together, scolded Butch and sent him back outside. Confused, the dog returned to his rug and went back to sleep. Before long, the bird whistled again, and again Butch comes running. Again, my mom scolded Butch and send him back out. According to mom, this must have happened two or three more times before she figured out what was going on. Mom said she finally had to move the bird into the utility room beside the back door before that dog was finally able to distinguish the bird’s whistle from my father’s. The point is, it’s important to know who it is that’s calling you. Otherwise, things could get confused.
Of course, this makes Caller ID a wonderful feature on our phones. With campaign season in full swing and all the ridiculous sales calls coming in these days, it’s great to see Terry’s number on the little screen. It’s good to know who it is that’s calling. Back before cell phones and Caller ID, we didn’t have the ability to screen calls. The only option we had, once they were invented, was to listen to the answering machine to screen a call. My maternal grandmother was one who never worried about any of that. If the phone rang, she would answer it. One day, grandpa was laughing and telling us about a call my grandmother got.
Grandpa said he had come home at his usual time for lunch and grandma was on the phone and lunch wasn’t ready. After several minutes, grandpa got tired of waiting and made himself a sandwich, something he rarely did. He finished eating and was about to return to work when grandma finally got off the phone. Inquiring about the call, grandma proceeded to say she had a wonderful chat with the person who called. When grandpa asked who the call was from, grandma said she Sheila. She said the person on the other end was asking for a recipe and she provided the information. Thinking hard and unable to recall the name, grandpa asked who Sheila was, grandma said “I don’t know.” Never talked to her before today. Simple phone calls aside, it’s good to know who’s calling.
With all the scammers out there, we really do need to know who we’re sharing information with. And for the Christian, this is even more important. Today, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Satan, like my parakeet, can mimic the sound of many things. In our world today we have a great many voices calling us. Some of these voices are innocuous, like the phone call my grandmother received, or they can be voices that can steal our identity and destroy our lives. The concern is that we get to the point where we can no longer distinguish God’s voice from that of the world. Today, in our First Reading, we encounter the boy Samuel as he apprentices under Eli.
For me, one of the saddest passages in the Bible is here in our Old Testament lesson: In those days, like today, “The word of the Lord was rare, and visions were not widespread” (1 Samuel 3:1). To further help in understanding what’s going on we need to back up, skipping the book of Ruth, to the closing verse of the book of Judges. In Judges 21:25 we read, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” I need to repeat this verse, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” I would be hard pressed to find a more applicable verse in the Bible to describe what’s going on in our world today.
In our ever-growing secular minded society, this last verse of Judges and the first verse from our reading today, “the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision” should concern every faithful Christian parent and grandparent today. With all the competing voices that call out to our families, these first few chapters of 1 Samuel should be read and reread. This passage is not only important as a lesson for learning to listen to the voice of God, but also of what the consequences of not doing so, and instead, listening instead to the voices of this world.
I titled this sermon, It’s Good to Know Who’s Calling”, but I could have just as easily titled it as, A Tale of Two Families”. Consider the situation, both parents, Elkanah and Hannah, parents of Samuel, and Eli the priest and his wife, the parents of Hophni and Phinehas were presumably religious people. We know the story of Samuel’s mom, Hannah. Hannah was getting up in years and was barren and after her fervent prayer to God for a child, God blessed her with a son. In response to God answering her prayer, she not only made a promise to dedicate Samuel to God, she followed through and took Samuel to the temple in Shiloh to be raised in fear of the Lord. Quite literally, Hannah ensured that Samuel was raised in church. Now contrast this with the evidence we have of Eli and his sons.
Obviously, Eli the priest lived in the temple. In addition, the sons, Hophni and Phinehas were also raised in or around the temple because they too were priests. However, the evidence, from our reading, is that the outcome of how they were raised was completely different. One could even say the results was polar opposites. In the case of Eli’s sons, even though they were priests as well, the Bible calls them evil for their behaviors. Not only were they abusing their office, “treating the LORD’s offering with contempt,” (1 Samuel 2:17), they also committed adulty, because “they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting (1 Samuel 2:22). So what was the difference between these children?
One could argue age; Samuel was young and hadn’t been influenced by the corruption that Eli’s sons had. One could argue for and against the parents; however, Eli the priest was in charge of the upbringing and education of all three. Add to this argument that Hannah would go up each year (1 Samuel 2:19) with new clothing for Samuel. She could have been a positive influence on Samuel. I think the best answer we can find in this debate is given in chapter 2 verse 12. The author records that “the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord.” Clearly, Eli had taught his sons the responsibilities of a temple priest, but they had never been taught who God is.
One lesson in our Old Testament reading is, we can know all the right things to say, we can go through all the right motions, we can have the Rites and Rituals down pat, but if we don’t know God, then we cannot fear and love God nor can we not understand the why of why we follow the practices that we do. Clearly the sons of Eli were not listening to the correct voice. The sons of Eli were listening to the worldly voices of selfishness, greed, gluttony, and power. Samuel’s situation was different. At a very young age, God calls out to Samuel to teach him who he was to listen to.
In our First Lesson we find Samuel in the temple, where he lays down to sleep. Since the duties of the day were complete, Eli, his mentor, does the same in another room. Then, scripture tells us, “The Lord called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Thinking, as most of us would, that Eli was calling from the other room, Samuel jumped up and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, what do you want?” Eli, awakened from his slumber, looks up and grumbles at him. “I didn’t call you. Go lay down again.” This same thing happens two more times with God calling, and Samuel thinking that it was Eli.
The third time this happened, it finally dawns on Eli that maybe someone special was trying to get in touch with Samuel. Think about this. Samuel was sleeping in the temple; the doors had been shut for the night, and the Sons of Eli had gone home for the evening. Samuel was sleeping near the Ark of the Covenant where God was believed to dwell among His people. If Eli didn’t call to Samuel, who do you think called to him in the Temple? But sadly, as we’re told in the first verse of our reading, “In those days,” like today, “The word of the Lord was rare, and visions were not widespread”. Initially Eli didn’t recognize who was calling to Samuel and clearly, he had not taught Samuel to listen or to recognize God’s voice.
Finally, on the third time of having his sleep interrupted, Eli begins to understand what was going on and tells Samuel to go back to bed and if he hears the voice again, to simply say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” The rest, as they say, is history. God comes and personally appears to young Samuel and gives him information about what will happen in the future. God announces that He’s going to do a new thing in Israel that will “make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle.” It really is important to know who’s calling.
How many of us can claim to have had such a visit by God? Scripture points out that the word of God was rare, and visions were few. Today’s reading compels us to ask, why was God’s voice rare and visions so scares. Could it be that perhaps God’s Word was present, and the ability to see visions was there, but people weren’t open to it? Could it be that God’s sacred Word always is in and around us, and we’re the ones who aren’t really listening? Are we the ones who have failed to teach each other who and what to listen for, instead we focus on teaching more about the voices of the world?
One might try to argue that God was the one at fault, that He had quit trying to communicate, reasoning instead that if no one is hearing God, how could God be speaking? If there are no visions, then how could God be stirring them up in people’s hearts? But we all know this argument wouldn’t hold much water. History has proven that God has always found a way, found an individual, to share His message through.
Another important thing we need to consider here comes in Eli’s instructions to Samuel, if you hear the voice calling again say, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” We must be open and willing to allow God to speak to us; we cannot hear if we’re not willing to listen. Think back, when was the last time you were so focused on what you were doing, or in a conversation that you were so engaged in that if someone walked up to you and possibly even said something and you couldn’t have heard them? This is something that happens more often than we think. Moreover, if the voice isn’t familiar to us, we might not even know to listen for it.
God, more often than not, comes to us in quiet, gentle ways and if we don’t know what to listen for, we’ll most likely not hear Him when He speaks. We must know who we’re listening for, we must be able to distinguish between the voices of this world and the voice of God, if we ever want to hear a word from God. Speak Lord, for your servant is listening. It’s important to know who’s calling. In fact, I’d say it’s a necessary part of the equation. And just as important, we must be willing to hear what God is saying. If we aren’t listening, we’ll never hear anything, and we’ll miss the chance to try and figure out who’s speaking.
We too live in times where it appears that the word of the Lord is rare. We too live in times where people who have visions are spurned and cast aside as fanatics, or who are just plain crazy. It does make one wonder, is God’s word and revelations really so rare, or is it that we simply don’t know what to listen or look for? I believe God is speaking as much as He has in the past. The problem is, we’re not teaching each other how or what to listen for. Statistics tell us that almost every home in America has at least one copy of the Bible somewhere. And if the family has a computer and internet, a person has nearly every resource I have at their fingertips as well. Yet, with all that availability, what is our Biblical literacy? Are we teaching each other who and what to listen for?
Are we taking the Baptismal vows we made when we baptized our children and grandchildren, to “faithfully bring them to the services of God’s house, and teach them the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments. And as they grow in years, to place in their hands the Holy Scriptures and provide for their instruction in the Christian faith, that, living in the covenant of their Baptism and in communion with the Church, they may lead a godly life until the day of Jesus Christ?” If God’s word and visions are so rare, then evidence points to us being the problem. God is still speaking, we’re the ones who aren’t listening. And worse yet, aren’t we the ones who are guilty of not teaching each other who and what to listen for?
Where in our lives does the voice of God come to us? Where, in our relationships, in our comings and goings, do we encounter the voice of God? And how, we’re led to ask, can we develop the ears for hearing? Let’s look at the way we live today. In the United States, the average worker works more hours per week than they did a generation ago. Ten-, twelve-, fourteen-hour days are commonplace for many workers. We offer the shortest vacation periods of any “industrialized nation.” The economy and our perceived needs have moved in such a way that most families require two incomes to survive. We fill our lives with stuff and extracurricular activities, and when not filled with those things, we numb ourselves with the passive delights of television.
Here’s a test, tell me if you agree. My sense is that we’re so busy today that we wouldn’t notice God if He stepped in front of us with a bullhorn. We’re so busy that our relationships with one another suffer. We’re so busy that families don’t eat together, couples don’t date, old friends don’t sit down simply to chew the fat. With all this going on, how can we possibly make time to receive God’s Word in our lives? Maybe, just maybe, if we’re to hear God, the first thing we need to do is obey the 3rd Commandment and “honor the Sabbath and keep it holy.” Sunday has become nothing more than an extension of the week that happens to have 2-ish hours cut out for church.
When church attendance and participation in church activities are something we simply “squeeze in”, are we really learning to listen for God’s voice, or does the voices of our schedules and of the world drown out God’s voice? Jesus was clear, when He said, “the Sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27). God knew we needed time to rest, to recuperate, and to spend time with God. When else do we take the time to teach each other who and what to listen for? It’s good to know who’s calling us, but I fear that our ears aren’t open to the one voice that matters.
Satan is doing everything he can to drown out God’s voice with all the voices of the world. Today we’re stretched and pulled by the demands and the cacophony of activities we get involved in. In this New Year, we need to make a reasoned, intentional effort to slow down, to honor the Sabbath, and to learn and teach each other the importance of who and what to listen for. In this New Year, let’s commit ourselves to the hearing and teaching process so that we can respond in joy to God’s loving call.
Amen.