Jan. 14 *I Samuel 3.1-20 “Fresh
Voice: New Job” Pastor Jacqueline Hines
Our scripture begins with
glaring words in verse 1. The boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli.
[ slide # 1 The boy Samuel….] Eli was the head priest and Samuel was a boy in
the service of the Lord. Samuel was serving, not for self, but for God.
This week I was asked to do a ten minute
devotion for the Board of Ministry of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and I
immediately felt like a heavy burden had been placed upon my shoulders.
Instead of continuing to feel overwhelmed, I
prayed and asked God to help me make the right decision. The first thought that
came to my mind was that I was being asked to serve and I should do just as I
was asked. There have been plenty of times when I believe God was asking me to
be still and say “no” and lighten my load and rest even when I wanted to serve,
but in this instance, I was feeling like God wanted me to say “yes.” And of
course, I felt God was rubbing it in because the next two devotionals I read that
morning were both about being a servant.
I had to decide whether those devotionals [slide # 2 Upper Room] were coincidence or confirmation that God wanted me to do
something that I felt was more than I wanted to handle. We all have such
decisions to make; that is a part of being a Christian, making decision after
decision after decision, knowing God will guide us and the Holy Spirit will
teach us and Jesus will walk beside us, not to make us perfect or act like
robots, but to strengthen, encourage, and comfort us, no matter where we go or
what comes our way.
Samuel was ministering to the Lord. That was
his job. He was being trained and educated by God’s priest, Eli.
You may recall learning about Samuel in your
Sunday school lessons. Samuel’s mother Hannah [ slide # 3
young woman/ red head covering] was a young woman who wanted to be like all the other women.
Everyone her age was beginning a family, but year after year, she produced no
“baby bump.” [slide # 4 pregnant
woman] No doubt people began to look at her as if she
had two heads.
It was strange in an era of few birth control
options for a real woman not to have a house full of children. Who would help
her with all the work that had to be done in the hill country? What would she
have to talk about in the women’s circles [slide # 5 women with clay pots] when all the other wives were talking about
their husbands and the mothers mentioning the special meals and cute outfits
that everyone else would be making for their little ones? And, oh those teenage
years….
Hannah was growing more and more uneasy with
this strange predicament God had allowed in her life. Still, she continued to
ask God to give her a baby, even though she must have wondered if God was
working against her. She was full of faith and no matter how miserable she
felt, and no matter how many times she felt God was doing her wrong, she still
bowed herself before God and asked for help. [slide # 6 Hannah praying] She must have believed God loved her and was
listening and would give her something good in the end. Finally, Samuel was
born. It was just what she wanted. And, whatever she wanted, her husband, whose
name was Elkanah, wanted too. [slide # 7 Hannah and family]
Hannah could not have been happier and
grateful to God. Now people would stop laughing at her and gossiping behind her
back. Those months of misery would finally come to an end and the neighborhood
would know that she was somebody special, that she was loved and important
enough for her prayers to be heard and answered.[slide # 8 Hannah near pillar]
Hannah was so grateful that she did what could
easily be done in her time. She gave Samuel away. She sent her little one to a monastery
or seminary of sorts to be trained to live a life only for God. [slide # 9 little Samuel] God
knows we can always use a hand in the service of the Lord.
Eli was the priest in charge. Eli had sons of
his own who were priests, but Eli wasn’t good at setting rules for his sons to
follow, so they wound up just serving selfishly and greedily. [slide # 10 Eli and two sons] It was a hot mess; little Samuel gave Eli a
second chance in using his fatherly skills. It is good to have a second chance.
Samuel was being trained to serve God and help
God’s people so they could grow to understand the ways of God and live a
righteous life. [Slide # 11 little Samuel and Eli] In order to help God’s people understand God,
Samuel had to get to know God.
One wonders how many people were having
conversations with God in Eli’s day because verse 1 says the word of the Lord
was rare; visions were not widespread. [slide # 12
word of the Lord was rare]
We so appreciate hearing from friends and staying
in touch with those we love and care about. We do not want our conversations to
be rare or to occur only every blue moon. We want regular conversation and
connection, don’t we?
I am from a family of five. The two youngest of
us always seem to require five calls and ten texts before we hear from them. A
word from them is rare. We cannot often envision what they are doing and how
they are doing. When we care, we are hungry to hear from those we love and care
about. Our hearts can break over the distance that may come between us.
During Annual Conference, when 800 people
gather, it is not unusual to hear someone say, “So and so walked right by me
and did not even speak.” It hurts to be dismissed, ignored, forgotten, and at
the very bottom of someone’s priority list.
The word of the Lord was rare in Samuel’s day.
Some must have wondered if God was ignoring them, not answering their prayers,
had something more important to do, or perhaps some understood it wasthe people
who were ignoring God.
Whatever the case, there was little
documentation of anyone’s connecting to God and enjoying the blessings of a
warm, rewarding spiritual relationship. It must have been rare for priests and disciples
to speak about the hopes and dreams that God had in mind for others. The record
shows a clear disconnect between God and the rest of the world.
At times our world may seem to be disconnected
and out of touch with regard to issues that are important and weighty in the
heart of God. In the last several months and years, things have changed in our
world. Many voices are being heard now that were not heard as loudly before,
such as the #me too and # times up movements. The voices of those who have survived
assaults are joined in with many others and a tide of changes are taking place,
some changes are, as Oprah would say, “on the horizon.” We are now, more than
ever, more conscious of the need to create and maintain an atmosphere of
equality and safety for all.
So Martin Luther King [slide # 13 Martin Luther
King] reminded us, “Injustice anywhere
is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of
mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects
all indirectly.”
The black lives matter movement and PARI – the
Phoenixville Area Refugee Initiative all join forces so that there will be one
ounce less of hatred and one pound more of compassion in this world where fear
and violence are having a heyday and where it has been “prophesied” on Janet
Parshall’s radio show that the gap between the haves and the nave nots will
widen in 2018.
The voices we hear today, were rarely heard
out loud in the past. Certain words were rare and visions of hope for justice
and decency were not very widespread. That is the way it was in Samuel’s time,
too.
It is good to always have a voice and a vision
for the good that God has for us to do. I spoke to a woman who felt alone and
isolated and had several temporary needs after her surgery. [slide # 14 every one
matters] Her family was on the other side of the
country, but when our compassionate care team and others get moving for as God
has guided, people are no longer alone. The Church matters! [slide # 15 church matters]
It is a new day, and like Samuel, we too have
been dedicated to God. The prayers, dedicated service, and sacrifices of our
mothers and fathers have been a force for generations, moving Heaven and earth
on our behalf. We too are being trained for an important job serving the Lord.
Samuel was sleeping in a room in the Temple;
that’s where he was being trained. He was young and he heard a voice calling
his name. He thought it was Eli. We do not know exactly what time it was, but
we have some indication from verse 3 that says “3the lamp of God had not
yet gone out,…” [slide # 16 lamp] Priests were instructed to keep a lamp lit from sundown to
sunrise, so we know it was before the sun came up. It may have been as early as
3 a.m. in the morning. That is a common time of morning when others have said
that God awakens them for a particular conversation. Three a.m. is known as the
hour of prayer in the bible and in several traditions.
Samuel thought Eli, the head priest, was
calling him so he got up and ran to Eli to be of service. Eli said, “No, I did
not call you. Go back to bed.” [slide # 17 Eli and Samuel out
of bed] It happened a second time. Samuel heard his
name being called. He thought it was Eli, so he got up again. By the time it
happened the third time, Eli was wise. Verse 8 [slide # 18 Eli perceived…] says, “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.’” Sure enough he
heard God call his name again and Samuel listened even though he was a boy. [slide # 19 Samuel listening
to God] Maybe he listened because he was a boy.
What Samuel heard in his conversation with God
was not pretty. It was a judgment call on Eli who had not held his two sons [slide # 20 Hophni and Phinehas] accountable for their ungodly treatment of
God’s people. [slide # 21
Eli’s two sons] Eli had sense enough to just accept the consequences from God
for his disobedience and lack of courage and faith. Sometimes it seems too hard
to do the right thing, and we do not always want to take the time or the energy
to change the way we should. We have to make a decision to accept or reject
God’s strength to fight any battles that come before us. Only God can make us
as strong as we need to be in any situation.
It takes a miracle to make an important change
in our life. Change is a supernatural phenomenon. We cannot change without
accepting the power of the Holy Spirit to help us.
If you have something that God is calling you
to change today, this is as good a day as any to whisper into God’s ear, “Send
your Holy Spirit to help me make the next step forward.” Listen quietly and
faithfully for God’s voice. Then you can get the job done at last. [slide # 22 spend time with
God…] Amen. [slide # 23 church matters]
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