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Scripture - 1 Samuel 17:32-49
The lectionary continues the story of David from last week - where we read about David’s anointing to be the next king over Israel. This week we read about another famous David story - the encounter between him and the Philistine Goliath. Saul is still king over Israel at this time, and overseeing this stalemate - Goliath, the Philistine’s champion, who was large and scary and armored to the max, demanded Israel to send their best warrior to fight him. Every day for 40 days he challenged the Israelites to a battle of champions...until one day, David overheard him and accepted. This is where the story picks up. Instead of hearing the text and then listening to a sermon preached on it, we’re going to experience the passage a bit differently together. We’ll hear the passage read a couple times - first to familiarize ourselves with what happens in the story and to take note of any particular part that draws our attention. The second, we’ll read more slowly, and I’ll pause every so often to ask a question for you to reflect personally on that may help you engage with this text with where you are in your life right now. I invite you to get into a comfortable position, note the position of your body, feel the pew carrying your weight, notice the pattern of your breathing, you may wish to have your hands resting on your legs with your palms up in a position of openness...you may wish to have your eyes open with a soft focus or your eyes closed...let’s take a few moments to breathe to prepare our hearts for the hearing of these words from 1 Samuel……. I invite you hear the story and take note of any particular part of the passage - a word or phrase or concept - that draws your attention. 1 Samuel 17:32-49 (The Message) 32 “Master,” said David, “don’t give up hope. I’m ready to go and fight this Philistine.” 33 Saul answered David, “You can’t go and fight this Philistine. You’re too young and inexperienced—and he’s been at this fighting business since before you were born.” 34-37 David said, “I’ve been a shepherd, tending sheep for my father. Whenever a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I’d go after it, knock it down, and rescue the lamb. If it turned on me, I’d grab it by the throat, wring its neck, and kill it. Lion or bear, it made no difference—I killed it. And I’ll do the same to this Philistine pig who is taunting the troops of God-Alive. God, who delivered me from the teeth of the lion and the claws of the bear, will deliver me from this Philistine.” Saul said, “Go. And God help you!” 38-39 Then Saul outfitted David as a soldier in armor. He put his bronze helmet on his head and belted his sword on him over the armor. David tried to walk but he could hardly budge. David told Saul, “I can’t even move with all this stuff on me. I’m not used to this.” And he took it all off. 40 Then David took his shepherd’s staff, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s pack, and with his sling in his hand approached Goliath. 41-42 As the Philistine paced back and forth, his shield bearer in front of him, he noticed David. He took one look down on him and sneered—a mere youngster, apple-cheeked and peach-fuzzed. 43 The Philistine ridiculed David. “Am I a dog that you come after me with a stick?” And he cursed him by his gods. 44 “Come on,” said the Philistine. “I’ll make roadkill of you for the buzzards. I’ll turn you into a tasty morsel for the field mice.” 45-47 David answered, “You come at me with sword and spear and battle-ax. I come at you in the name of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel’s troops, whom you curse and mock. This very day God is handing you over to me. I’m about to kill you, cut off your head, and serve up your body and the bodies of your Philistine buddies to the crows and coyotes. The whole earth will know that there’s an extraordinary God in Israel. And everyone gathered here will learn that God doesn’t save by means of sword or spear. The battle belongs to God—he’s handing you to us on a platter!” 48-49 That roused the Philistine, and he started toward David. David took off from the front line, running toward the Philistine. David reached into his pocket for a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine hard in the forehead, embedding the stone deeply. The Philistine crashed, facedown in the dirt. Ignatian Exercise We’ll hear the passage read again more slowly; pausing from time to time for opportunities for deeper reflection….and closing with prayer together. 32 “Master,” said David, “don’t give up hope. I’m ready to go and fight this Philistine.” 33 Saul answered David, “You can’t go and fight this Philistine. You’re too young and inexperienced—and he’s been at this fighting business since before you were born.” Imagine yourself in the Israelite war camp, the sounds of armor and metal, the buzz of conversation, the movement of the soldiers, the sights and the smells - what emotions do you sense around you as you observe the scene? What emotions are you feeling as you watch this conversation between David and Saul? [silence] 34-37 David said, “I’ve been a shepherd, tending sheep for my father. Whenever a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I’d go after it, knock it down, and rescue the lamb. If it turned on me, I’d grab it by the throat, wring its neck, and kill it. Lion or bear, it made no difference—I killed it. And I’ll do the same to this Philistine pig who is taunting the troops of God-Alive. God, who delivered me from the teeth of the lion and the claws of the bear, will deliver me from this Philistine.” Saul said, “Go. And God help you!” What do you resonate with in David’s response to Saul? His experience? Youthful exuberance? His confidence in God? In himself? Where have you felt similarly in your life? What comes to mind as you recall that moment? [silence] 38-39 Then Saul outfitted David as a soldier in armor. He put his bronze helmet on his head and belted his sword on him over the armor. David tried to walk but he could hardly budge. David told Saul, “I can’t even move with all this stuff on me. I’m not used to this.” And he took it all off. 40 Then David took his shepherd’s staff, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s pack, and with his sling in his hand approached Goliath. What are you feeling as David takes off the armor and approaches Goliath unprotected? What do you imagine is going on with the Israelites at this moment? With the Philistines? What do you see on their faces? Hear them say? 41-42 As the Philistine paced back and forth, his shield bearer in front of him, he noticed David. He took one look down on him and sneered—a mere youngster, apple-cheeked and peach-fuzzed. 43 The Philistine ridiculed David. “Am I a dog that you come after me with a stick?” And he cursed him by his gods. 44 “Come on,” said the Philistine. “I’ll make roadkill of you for the buzzards. I’ll turn you into a tasty morsel for the field mice.” 45-47 David answered, “You come at me with sword and spear and battle-ax. I come at you in the name of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel’s troops, whom you curse and mock. This very day God is handing you over to me. I’m about to kill you, cut off your head, and serve up your body and the bodies of your Philistine buddies to the crows and coyotes. The whole earth will know that there’s an extraordinary God in Israel. And everyone gathered here will learn that God doesn’t save by means of sword or spear. The battle belongs to God—he’s handing you to us on a platter!” As this exchange happens, What is happening around you? What do pay attention to more; Goliath’s taunts or David’s challenge? What stirs within you as you watch the conversation unfold? What do you imagine David might be feeling? 48-49 That roused the Philistine, and he started toward David. David took off from the front line, running toward the Philistine. David reached into his pocket for a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine hard in the forehead, embedding the stone deeply. The Philistine crashed, facedown in the dirt. What do you imagine is the reaction to this encounter? What does this say to you about God’s presence with David? With you? What giants are you facing right now in your life? Where does this give you confidence to face your own battles? It feels like madness to stand before the giant with nothing but faith and a few small stones. It seems insane to believe that anything but brute force can match the challenge of the powerful. But, in the stillness a different voice whispers, speaking of crosses and empty tombs, of justice and God’s concern for the weak; In the stillness fear and insecurity can be heard in the bellowing of the bullies; And in the stillness the temptation in each of us to cling to our power at all costs becomes clear and transparent. And so we find ourselves in prayer, Jesus, that the gentle persuasion of your love may change how we do power in our world; that the strong and wealthy may find life in sharing and empowering; and that we each, in our own small way, may remember that the giants we wrestle with only fall when we allow your authority to lead us, and your justice to teach us how to live. Amen. As we come out of the silence and the stillness with our reflections and our prayers -- what did you notice about the passage or about your own experience with reading the text in this way that you’d like to share with others here? [Get Feedback] Reading the text in this way engages ourselves with the story in a different way that allows us to experience new insights, different emotions - and perhaps make the story more concretely our own as we recognize more acutely the fear and insecurities of the characters and our own resonance with their emotions. Perhaps we connected with Saul’s reluctance and hesitation and saw the places where we aren’t ready to cede control or trust in what God might be doing. Perhaps we were able to identify the places where we need the confidence in God that David has as we face our own giants. In all these things, however, we know our God calls us forward - that God is present in our doubts and darkness, in our battles and struggles, and God continually invites us to place our trust in God’s promises of life and peace - that God can do the seemingly impossible, that God uses the weak to confound the strong, that God brings light to our darkness and songs to our soul. In all things, God is with us. As we stand to sing our next hymn, let what you heard and experienced in our time of reflection be a prayer, praising God for the strength to face giants, for love overcoming fear, for power made perfect in weakness. Let us stand and sing together our next hymn My Life Flows On - number 2212 in the black hymnals. *Hymn - My Life Flows On (FWS 2212)
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Scripture - 1 Samuel 15:34 - 16:13
1 Samuel 15:34 - 16:13 (NRSV) 34Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. 35Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel. 16The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.” 4Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” 5He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. 6When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.” 7But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 8Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” 11Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” 12He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” 13Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah. Sermon Well, I read this passage one way a couple weeks ago when I was looking ahead to see the lectionary texts appointed for this Sunday - and by the time I sat down to craft this message for today the world looked different, with global summits and peace talks, primary elections and continued family separation at the US-Mexico border, now with biblical justification. The complex web of our political reality intersects our moral sensibilities as people of faith, and I don’t know about you, but this past week I have felt overwhelmed by the weight of the news, wondering where is God in the midst of everything that’s happening in our world right now - not just in the stories that get filtered onto our television screens and Facebook feeds, but also in the private struggles and griefs that it’s so easy to lose sight of in the midst of the bigger political picture. But what we have in our text this morning is a bigger political picture. King Saul’s reign, while it started out peaceably, did not go well. You can read a bit more about the specifics in earlier chapters of 1 Samuel, but things really started going downhill when King Saul started disobeying God and lying to Samuel about it. It’s a pretty brutal story - but in essence, King Saul continually edited God’s commands for his own purposes and as a result, we read that God was sorry that God had made Saul king over Israel and sets out with Samuel to anoint a new king over Israel. Such an anointing, however, has to be done under the radar, for fear of King Saul. So a plan is laid by which Jesse of Bethlehem is invited to a sacrifice, and God tells Samuel that one of the sons of Jesse will be the next king. Jesse presumably knows what’s going on as he makes seven of his sons pass before Samuel, for each time one goes by, Samuel says “The Lord has not chosen this one.” I’ve always imagined this passage being where the boys are lined up one by one by age and height and brawn, and there’s a growing look of confusion on Jesse’s face as each one is passed over for kingship. God’s standards, however, aren’t based on appearance or height any outward display of power -- God does not see as morals see; God looks on the heart. When they get to the end of the line, Samuel asks - “are these all your sons?” to which Jesse acknowledges, “well...there is the youngest...out with the sheep…” as if it didn’t even occur to Jesse that the littlest one might actually be The One. When David is brought out before Samuel, it is noted that he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome -- which was always a bit ironic to me, that there had been a point made about not looking at the outward appearance and instead seeing the heart and the first thing we know about David is how he looks. But this is the one - God gives the word, Samuel anoints him, and the spirit of the Lord comes upon David, though he would not be king in actuality for many years yet. We have in this text a collision of private lives and public events - a twisting turn where Jesse and his family are swept up in the unfolding narrative of divine leadership over Israel. God’s anointing of one leader and rejection of another, the people wondering what place they may find themselves (after all, when Samuel comes to Bethlehem, he isn’t greeted with sounds of rejoicing, they were trembling, wondering if Samuel came in peace or not). With all this uncertainty - what is Samuel here to do, what will change with David as king, what is God doing among us - two things stand out - God is surely present and God’s spirit is at work. God’s presence and active knowledge of the hearts of the people led God to move in new directions, opening up opportunities from the least likely of places - a small shepherd boy whose own father didn’t even think was worthy for consideration for kingship. As I think about our world today, and consider the ways that our political landscape has created fear and division among people and how our collective moral compass has strayed, and as I read this text about shifting power from the outwardly strong to the one who is the the least, I believe God is at work. I’m not suggesting that God is appointing world leaders and moving people about as if on some divine chess-board, but consistently - throughout scripture - we find God’s presence in the poor, the weak, the underdog, the lonely, the least, and forgotten - and we find God choosing people in those places as agents of God’s greater work of redemption and restoration of our entire world. If we read further on in the story, we know even David wasn’t the best of kings when it came to personal and family relationships and the impact that had on others - that even he was vulnerable to corrupt uses of his power and didn’t always make wise choices...and yet scripture remembers King David as a man after God’s own heart. God chose Moses - an escaped fugitive and stutterer to be the one to lead the Hebrew people out of slavery in Egypt. God chose Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute, to be the one to offer shelter as the Israelites were scouting out the promised land - and she even gets a mention in the Gospel of Matthew’s lineage of Jesus. God chose Jeremiah, a young boy, to be a prophet - speaking God’s truth to power - in the midst of a tumultuous period in the history of Israel and Judah, including the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile to Babylon. God chose Mary, a young girl from the backwater town of Nazareth in a minor province of a people oppressed by the Roman Empire, to be the one to bring God’s own son Jesus into the world. And Jesus chose 12 unlikely men - fishermen and tax collectors - those who weren’t considered important or worthy - and some who were even despised - to be the ones closest to him, loving them, discipling them, and entrusting them to be vessels of the Holy Spirit in carrying out the good news of God’s Kingdom. And God also chooses us. Our text reminds us, God looks beyond the outward appearance - and looks on the heart. And on seeing our hearts, invites us to participate in the work of building God’s kingdom - a kingdom of peace, of justice, of compassion and forgiveness, of mercy and love, of hope and healing and wholeness - a kingdom that we pray is established here on earth as it is in heaven. While we’re far from it, and while events in the world around us or even events in our own communities and relationships can cause us to feel disheartened about the gap that exists between where we are and where God yearns for us to be, the invitation is always there for us to be the ones to together step into that gap and live as kingdom people, creating that peace and hope and healing for those around us. But it takes an open and receptive heart, a willingness to surrender to Jesus and God’s deep love for us, and a commitment to building the practices of peace, hospitality, forgiveness, compassion, and love that are at the foundation of life in God’s kingdom. God is present with us in this day and age and God’s spirit is still at work, in the places where people have stepped up to protect the world’s most vulnerable populations, in the places where people have loving conversations with those with whom we disagree, in the places where people engage with those who are different than they are, in the places where voices are raised to offer a different way forward, and in the places where people choose to live a life rooted in the Gospel. God sees our hearts - and God chooses each of us to bear that message of hope and peace, to weave it into the fabric of our daily lives, to offer it as light when the world around us gets dark. It is our calling as followers of Jesus - as those who are trying to live God’s love for the world - to do so in all areas of our life -- and to join with others who are trying to do the same. This is something we do together - we cannot do this alone - and so in closing I would invite us to turn in our black hymnals to page 2242 - Walk With Me - this call join together to build the land that God has planned where love shines through. I invite us to stand and sing as a way of committing ourselves once again to living as God’s people, bound together, to be a living sign of that message of hope and new life. Let us sing together. *Hymn - Walk With Me (FWS 2242) Scripture - 1 Samuel 8:4-20
1 Samuel 8:4-20 (The Message) 4-5 Fed up, all the elders of Israel got together and confronted Samuel at Ramah. They presented their case: “Look, you’re an old man, and your sons aren’t following in your footsteps. Here’s what we want you to do: Appoint a king to rule us, just like everybody else.” 6 When Samuel heard their demand—“Give us a king to rule us!”—he was crushed. How awful! Samuel prayed to God. 7-9 God answered Samuel, “Go ahead and do what they’re asking. They are not rejecting you. They’ve rejected me as their King. From the day I brought them out of Egypt until this very day they’ve been behaving like this, leaving me for other gods. And now they’re doing it to you. So let them have their own way. But warn them of what they’re in for. Tell them the way kings operate, just what they’re likely to get from a king.” 10-18 So Samuel told them, delivered God’s warning to the people who were asking him to give them a king. He said, “This is the way the kind of king you’re talking about operates. He’ll take your sons and make soldiers of them—chariotry, cavalry, infantry, regimented in battalions and squadrons. He’ll put some to forced labor on his farms, plowing and harvesting, and others to making either weapons of war or chariots in which he can ride in luxury. He’ll put your daughters to work as beauticians and waitresses and cooks. He’ll conscript your best fields, vineyards, and orchards and hand them over to his special friends. He’ll tax your harvests and vintage to support his extensive bureaucracy. Your prize workers and best animals he’ll take for his own use. He’ll lay a tax on your flocks and you’ll end up no better than slaves. The day will come when you will cry in desperation because of this king you so much want for yourselves. But don’t expect God to answer.” 19-20 But the people wouldn’t listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We will have a king to rule us! Then we’ll be just like all the other nations. Our king will rule us and lead us and fight our battles.” Sermon I’m going to show you a couple of different television commercials, and I want you to tell me what they are trying to sell. [Insurance Ad] - Peace of mind [Phone Ad] - This phone will make you creative, your everyday life will be exciting. On one level, they’re selling us a product or service, but on another level, they are speaking to a deep place within our souls, touching that place that makes us think, “oh yeah, if I buy into that exercise program, I’ll get the happiness that I want.” Or, “Oh yeah, if I go with those financial planners, I’ll have the security I need.” Or “Right, if I drink that kind of beer, I’ll suddenly have all the friends and community I want.” These are rarely conscious thoughts that we have, but they are enmeshed with our desires to seek fulfillment and happiness in external things, in outside validation. They’re not just selling us a product, they’re selling us stories about who we are and who we should want to be. We’re surrounded by these stories everyday on our TVs, Facebook feeds, magazines - everywhere you look, from the seemingly innocuous ad for a cleaning product to larger items like computers and cars - and there’s a cumulative effect when these stories begin to take shape in our spirits and we begin to attach ourselves - our identity, our security, our happiness, our values, our beliefs - to this narrative - and we begin to realize that we don’t measure up to what we’re being sold. To quote a former mentor of mine, “There’s a whole cottage industry out there, friends, that’s designed to tell you that you’re not good enough – and so, you need to buy their product, or their service, or their program so that you can find that elusive happiness that they have you convinced, you so desperately need.” However, seeking our security or happiness or identity in external things is not purely a modern problem. Take, for instance, our scripture reading from 1 Samuel this morning. The elders of Israel came to Samuel because they wanted to be like other nations and have a king. It wasn’t enough for them to have God as their sovereign, they wanted a human king just like everybody else. When I read that passage for the first time years ago, that idea is what jumped out at me, and it continues to be the part of this story that strikes me the most. The people of Israel - from the time they had entered and settled the Promised Land and received the laws dictating how they were to live together in that land - from that time to when this story takes place, about 300 - 400 years - they had been ruled by divinely appointed judges; individuals chosen by God to bring the people back into faithfulness with God, some of whom also led great military campaigns against Israel’s enemies. Samuel functioned as both prophet and judge for the people of Israel - so when Samuel heard the people’s desire for a king, God had to remind him that it wasn’t Samuel they were rejecting...but God. Israel chose to seek their safety and security - and their identity as a people - in having a king instead of relying upon God for their provision. They coveted the system of government held by their neighbors, wanted to adopt their way of thinking and being, they wanted to be like them and thought that a king would solve all their problems for them - be able to fight their battles, make wise decisions, rule them and lead them. What God had given to them in the judges and in their elders and priests wasn’t good enough for them. They chose to believe the story that being like all the other nations would make everything right in their world, and a king was their ticket to success. Instead of living differently, they wanted to blend in - they wanted to seek validation and happiness in externals in being just like everybody else. And God, instead of forcing the issue, instead of making the people see reason - lets them make that choice, reminding them, though, that there will be consequences to that choice - and Samuel proceeds to list exactly what those will be, with slave labor on farms, conscripts into the military, taxes on harvests, imminent domain over the choicest fields and vineyards, just to name a few. Last of all is the reminder that when all this happens, when they cry out because of these dire circumstances, that God will not answer them in their distress. Harsh words - but words that are ignored and we see later in the story that Samuel anoints Saul king over Israel and the people rejoice. All this because the Israelites believed it would be better to be like the other nations around them, they believed the story that they’d be better off buying into the king program as it was advertised, and that doing so would be better for them instead of what God had offered them in how they were to live together as God’s people. There continues to be a strong temptation to buy into the stories the world tells us; the stories rooted in individualism and consumerism, the stories that our identity comes from those things that are outside of us. Perhaps we’re not setting up kings and queens to rule us, but we do set up a way of thinking and being that rules our lives that runs antithetical to God’s unconditional love for us and for the world. We see this in the drive for happiness and success being associated with what I own or consume. We see this in the drive to make something of ourselves, that our whole self-image is based on what we do and whether people like us or not. We see this in the idea that the world is all about me and my own story and my own satisfaction - and that everyone else is there to play a supporting role, everyone else is there as stepping stones or obstacles to the achievement of whatever it is I want to be. All external realities that motivate us to buy in, to want more, that prey upon our insecurities around not being good enough, attempt to discredit the true reality of our identity and security -- that we are beloved children of God and nothing that we could ever do or not do can change that. It’s a daily choice to hold fast to that truth, to let the story of God’s grace and love reign in our hearts instead of looking for salvation in governments and fashions and technology and diets, in self-help programs or the self-improvement plans. It’s a choice that requires community to strengthen and reinforce it - with corporate worship and prayer, with study around scripture together, journeying with others who are also looking to ground themselves in God’s great story with humankind as opposed to the temptation to fit in with the world around us. It’s a choice that requires confession and honesty...and an awareness of the ways the world still has claim on us...and the ability to yet again turn our souls toward God’s fresh, transforming spirit. It is a collective choice, as well, to be God’s people - not conformed to the values of this world but shaped and formed by the life of Christ and the way he lived and loved and pointed the way to God’s kingdom. In our daily living this week, be mindful of the stories you are surrounded with - are they ones full of God’s love and grace, or are they ones that lead you to seek happiness in external things? Do they point to life in God’s kingdom, or do they point to playing by the world’s rules? Be mindful of the opportunities to steep yourself again and again in the story of grace and mercy, of the hope and promise that Jesus brings, of the spirit’s movement opening our hearts to that love once more. May we continue to learn to ground our spirits in God’s great love for us and for the world, that we may hold true that we are all children of God. Amen. Scripture - 1 Samuel 3:1-20
1 Samuel 3:1-20 (NRSV) Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. 2At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; 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! 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. 6The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up 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. 8The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up 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 is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 11Then the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. 12On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13For I have told 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 expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.” 15Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 16But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” 17Eli 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. Then he said, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.” 19As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord. Responsive Psalm Reading - Psalm 139:1-6; 13-18 (UMH 854) Sermon I have immense sympathy for Samuel in this passage - and I suspect that anyone who is a caregiver for a small child or, perhaps, an elderly parent, can relate a bit to the middle of the night wake-up calls. Just replace the words “Samuel, Samuel” with cries of “Mommy, Mommy!” and you have a pretty good picture of how my last night went...except Michael wasn’t nearly so accommodating in sending me back to bed, as Eli did in this passage from 1 Samuel. No, Michael’s cries in the middle of the night demand a response - and so I roll out of bed, generally sleepily, sometimes begrudgingly, to soothe Michael back to sleep after he’s had a bad dream, or after he’s woken up feeling uncomfortable, or just because he doesn’t have the skills to put himself back to sleep all the time. Samuel, in our story, mistakes these midnight messages as being from Eli, and we see his readiness to respond to these calls, be they from his mentor or from God. To understand why that might be the case, we need to know a bit about how Samuel came to be serving the Lord, a bit about Eli and his family, and this moment in Israel’s history. You can find all of this in your Bibles in the first two chapters of 1 Samuel, but here’s the snapshot version. Samuel was a boy who had been dedicated to the Lord’s service since before he had even been conceived. Hannah, his mother, was desperate for a child, and so on her yearly pilgrimage to worship God at Shiloh - the place where the ark of the covenant lay, which symbolized God’s presence with the people of Israel, she prayed for God to bless her with a son and in return, she promised to give the child back to God in service. Eli, the priest who attended the Lord with his two sons, saw her, thought was drunk because of the manner of her prayer, confronted her but softened when she explained that she had been pouring out her soul to God in prayer. Eli blessed her and assured her that God would grant her petition. Sure enough, she found herself with child and one he was weaned, presented him to Eli for service to God and left him there. Each year thereafter, she brought him a little robe for him to wear as he went about his duties. Samuel came into God’s service as a three year-old boy in the midst of corruption. For while Eli had been attending to his spiritual duties, he had clearly neglected his parental ones. His two sons, both of whom were also priests at Shiloh, cared little for others or for the obligations of their position. They dealt unfairly with those who came to worship, disrespected the offerings, took advantage of the women who came to serve at the tent of meeting. Eli’s reprimands to his sons had no effect; in fact, the story tells us that God gave a prophetic message to Eli outlining the Lord’s plans regarding his family; both his sons would be killed on the same day and the whole family would be rendered penniless. If we read on in the story, we discover Israel at war with the Philistines, the ark of the covenant captured, and people serving foreign gods. Samuel is born into this world of war, corruption, and turmoil. God’s voice had rarely been heard, visions and revelations from God were rare, and Samuel - despite having served God under Eli for most of his life - had not yet known the Lord, God had not yet been revealed to him. But Samuel had also been born being known by God, dedicated to God’s service….and it’s at this moment when he hears this voice calling his name in the middle of the night that we see Samuel step into the full mantle of that calling. Three times he thinks it’s Eli and it isn’t until that third time that Eli realized that it was God who was seeking out the boy Samuel. When God’s voice calls out for a fourth time, Samuel presents himself as being ready to listen, and God entrusts to him this message of judgement against his mentor Eli, a weighty word for a boy to carry. In all this, we read that as the boy Samuel grew, the Lord was with him and that everyone knew that he was a trustworthy prophet of God. God’s presence surrounded Samuel - the Lord sought him out - and walked with him in the midst of a troubled world to be the bearer of God’s messages and a witness to God’s hope and desire for Israel’s faithfulness. We certainly live in no less troubled times - with the complexity of our family relationships, the uncovering of systems of racism and prejudice, the dismantling of abuses of power with the #metoo movement, the threat of violence in our schools and the fragility of relations between nations, the harm being done to our environment with plastics and chemicals - and it is so easy to wonder where God is in the midst of it all. It can feel like, perhaps like Samuel, we, too, live in a time where the voice of God is rarely heard, where visions and revelations are rare, with this kind of apocalyptic uncovering of reality happening all around us. Yet it is into these moments that God most desperately seeks us out, when God most fervently calls our names, when God reaches toward us to turn our attention back to our God - the one who seeks us and knows us, who - as Psalm 139 beautifully describes it - who forms us and shapes our inward being, the God whose presence surrounds us even before we are aware of it. This is the God who yearns for us to pay attention, to notice the movement of God’s spirit in the world - who calls our name in hopes that we might be ready to respond “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” This is the God who wants so desperately to be in relationship with us that Jesus came into the world so that we may be signs of God’s living presence in the world, messengers of God’s hope and healing, to be the people willing to sit in the dark and hurting places of our world to be salt and light and emblems of God’s love. Samuel heard God calling in the middle of the night, literally hearing a voice speak his name - but God calls out to us in so many ways; in the news story you hear that breaks your heart, in that rare moment of peace in the morning before the day has started, in the midst of a difficult loss or pain, or in watching children at play...in moments that cause us to react, with joy or sorrow or anger -- moments that, if we stop and listen, if pay attention and seek to learn more and gain greater clarity, we discover God’s presence waiting with us...waiting to draw us to the place where we can put ourselves at God’s disposal so that God’s love can flow in us….and through us….and bring us all into a greater awareness of God’s kingdom at work among us. Sometimes what we discover isn’t an easy truth - it wasn’t for Samuel, who was charged with reminding his mentor Eli with the reality of God’s prophetic word against his family. Sometimes, God asks us to face difficult realities, to love difficult people, to forgive unforgivable people, to speak up when we’d rather be silent, to kneel when we’d rather stand. But God’s promise is to be with us, God knows our strengths and weaknesses, and God equips us in the places where we can’t do it on our own. God knows our hearts, knows our hopes and dreams, knows the places we feel we don’t measure up, knows our rough edges and our thoughts - and because of these things - not in spite of them - God calls out to us, waiting for our response, to be signs of God’s redeeming work in the world. This week, when you hear God calling out to you - what will your response be? I pray that for each of us, we - along with Samuel - might say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Amen. |
AuthorPastor Melissa Yosua-Davis has been serving the community of Chebeague and its church since July 2015. She currently lives on the island with her husband and five year old son and 2 year old daughter, along with their yellow lab. Read here recent sermon excerpts, thoughts on life and faith, and current announcements for the church community. She also blogs at Going on to Perfection. Archives
December 2022
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