The Call of God- 1 Sam 3
Our readings today are also marked by a theme of God’s call. God called little Samuel into the life of a prophet. And Jesus calls Philip and Nathaniel to Follow him.
The book of Judges is a book about the deterioration of God’s people. By the end of the book they are in a deep dark hole. This is what’s happening when we meet Samuel.
The spiritual state of the people probably has something to do with why it says,
“The word of the LORD was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.”
It could be that God wasn’t active in communicating, but I suspect it is more likely that the people had become unable to hear God, due to their spiritual state.
There are things we can do that will make it hard for us to hear God’s word to us. Sin will make it hard to hear God’s word to us. If we are unwilling to follow God’s directions, that will also make it harder for us to hear God. We might also lead a life of distracted hurry where we rarely take time to be quiet- that too will make it difficult to hear God.
It is during this dark time in the history of Israel that we meet little Samuel, who was placed into the care of the priest Eli by his parents. He has been growing up serving in the temple and being trained under the old priest Eli.
We read that the priest Eli was sleeping in his room near the Tabernacle, and Samuel was sleeping in the tabernacle near the Ark of the Covenant when Samuel hears a voice calling him.
This might be obvious, but it is worth pointing out that we have a God who communicates. Our Bible is full of descriptions of God communicating with people- God communicates with all kinds of people in all kinds of ways. Our God wants to communicate, but it’s more than that. God wants to have a relationship with His people.
At this moment of darkness and transition God chooses a young boy to be his prophet. I suspect this has to do with the humility Samuel represents. When asked who was the greatest in the kingdom of God, Jesus replied,
There are things we can do that will make it hard for us to hear God’s word to us. Sin will make it hard to hear God’s word to us. If we are unwilling to follow God’s directions, that will also make it harder for us to hear God. We might also lead a life of distracted hurry where we rarely take time to be quiet- that too will make it difficult to hear God.
It is during this dark time in the history of Israel that we meet little Samuel, who was placed into the care of the priest Eli by his parents. He has been growing up serving in the temple and being trained under the old priest Eli.
We read that the priest Eli was sleeping in his room near the Tabernacle, and Samuel was sleeping in the tabernacle near the Ark of the Covenant when Samuel hears a voice calling him.
This might be obvious, but it is worth pointing out that we have a God who communicates. Our Bible is full of descriptions of God communicating with people- God communicates with all kinds of people in all kinds of ways. Our God wants to communicate, but it’s more than that. God wants to have a relationship with His people.
At this moment of darkness and transition God chooses a young boy to be his prophet. I suspect this has to do with the humility Samuel represents. When asked who was the greatest in the kingdom of God, Jesus replied,
“Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 18:4).
It is also important that there is at least some willingness towards doing what God is asking. Those God communicates with are often full of hesitation, and that is usually connected to their humility. Moses thinks God should pick someone else because he isn’t a good communicator, for example (Exodus 3:11). When the prophet Jeremiah is first called, he responds to God saying,
“I do not know how to speak; I am too young” (Jer1:6).
And we see that kind of reaction over and over when God speaks to various people, but they eventually overcame their initial hesitation to do what God was asking them to do. An openness to do what God is asking them to do seems like an important part of this. If God knew that there was no chance of partnering with a person to do the task, then why would God communicate with that person.
So, humility and obedience to God’s will seem to be important elements for hearing God. Perhaps this is why Jesus chose fishermen rather than religion scholars when he was calling for his disciples. They were teachable, and they were people of action.
Little Samuel is sleeping when he hears a voice calling to him. Twice he thinks the old priest Eli is calling to him. To Samuel, the voice he heard seemed familiar. It was so familiar to him that he thought it was the voice of the man who was a father to him, so he ran to Eli.
God’s voice also called him by name. God didn’t call into the crowd saying, “can anyone hear me”, waiting for someone to respond. … God didn’t say, “you boy”. … God said, “Samuel”. No, God is personal. God knows us intimately. Our Psalm today speaks about how God knows us all intimately-
So, humility and obedience to God’s will seem to be important elements for hearing God. Perhaps this is why Jesus chose fishermen rather than religion scholars when he was calling for his disciples. They were teachable, and they were people of action.
Little Samuel is sleeping when he hears a voice calling to him. Twice he thinks the old priest Eli is calling to him. To Samuel, the voice he heard seemed familiar. It was so familiar to him that he thought it was the voice of the man who was a father to him, so he ran to Eli.
God’s voice also called him by name. God didn’t call into the crowd saying, “can anyone hear me”, waiting for someone to respond. … God didn’t say, “you boy”. … God said, “Samuel”. No, God is personal. God knows us intimately. Our Psalm today speaks about how God knows us all intimately-
“O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away” (Psalm 139:1-2).
God speaks as someone who knows you. Samuel didn’t seem frightened or disturbed by the voice, which to me says that there much have been a warmth to the voice.
There is also a persistence to God’s voice. God didn’t just call out once and then give up. God gave Samuel time to figure out what was going on, so he kept calling. … But notice how important Eli’s guidance is here. What if Eli told the boy that he was just dreaming and to go back to bed. The guidance of Eli is crucial for Samuel to hear God. … This required wisdom on Eli’s part. People do sometimes dream. And people can hear voices and have hallucinations. Eli had to use a discerning wisdom to help Samuel understand what was happening. … By the third time Samuel came to him he realized what was going on, and he gave him guidance,
There is also a persistence to God’s voice. God didn’t just call out once and then give up. God gave Samuel time to figure out what was going on, so he kept calling. … But notice how important Eli’s guidance is here. What if Eli told the boy that he was just dreaming and to go back to bed. The guidance of Eli is crucial for Samuel to hear God. … This required wisdom on Eli’s part. People do sometimes dream. And people can hear voices and have hallucinations. Eli had to use a discerning wisdom to help Samuel understand what was happening. … By the third time Samuel came to him he realized what was going on, and he gave him guidance,
“Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'”
Samuel follows Eli’s direction and hears a message from God. But it isn’t a pleasant message. Part of hearing God is being willing to do the difficult thing God is asking. God gave a message that Eli’s irreverent and hypocritical sons would be removed from service as priests. Understandably, Samuel doesn’t want to share what God Spoke to him, but Eli insists.
I think this is another aspect of the story we don’t want to miss. A prophet who has to share difficult news finds it painful to do so. Samuel wasn’t happy about this news. The prophet Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet. He loved his people, but he saw the terrible things that were going to happen to them as consequences of their choices. … True prophets were willing to speak the hard words of necessary correction- and they were hard words to speak, as well as being hard words to hear.
I think that Samuel was called to a very specific ministry as God’s prophet, and so he heard God in a very specific way. … I also believe that God speaks to people now.
Generally, God probably won’t make a point of communicating something to us that is plainly a part of the overall message of Scripture. I suspect God probably isn’t going to wake us up in the middle of the night to tell us not to murder. That is something that we should know generally from our study of the Scriptures. Generally, when we take Scripture as a whole, there are principles we can derive from it. And as Christians, that also means reading it through the person of Jesus. When we do that, we have a pretty good sense of God’s general direction for us as human beings. …
Knowing the Scriptures this way is also important for discerning God’s voice when He speaks to us in a more specific and individual way. God’s voice is going to be consistent with who Jesus is as the incarnate Word of God. … The general principles we can derive from the Scriptures aren’t going to tell us if we should get married, or which individual we should get married to. The general principles we find in Scripture won’t tell what job we should get, or what city we should live in. These are more specific issues that we can ask God about. I suspect that there are issues where God may just want us to choose. God will sometimes give us specific direction, and this can be very subtle. We might not always recognize that God has given us direction.
The main way we hear God personally is through an inner impression, or in our thoughts. An inner impression is something like the feeling of conscience. When you are about to do something that you know is wrong, and you have an inner discomfort, that’s what we call our conscience. Or, when you know you should do something to help someone, the inner pressure you feel is what we call our conscience. … Similarly, you will sometimes have thoughts enter your mind. God doesn’t have to use the vibration of air to stimulate our eardrums. God can insert thoughts directly into our minds. That doesn’t mean that every thought we have is from God. These are things that need to be discerned carefully, and I have to admit that it isn’t always easy to discern between my thoughts and God’s voice.
We should not be surprised that God communicates with us. That is the God we read about in Scripture. Jesus is God with us. Surely communication is a part of why God came to be with us as Jesus. We should expect that God wants to communicate with us. … We should also beware of saying things like, “who am I that God would speak to me?” because the people God speaks to in the Bible seem to have that same kind of reaction. … God spoke to a little boy, not the priest. Jesus didn’t call famous religion scholars when he called his disciples to follow him. … Maybe our not hearing him has to do with our ability to listen, not God’s desire to speak with us. AMEN
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