A sermon on 1 Samuel 3.
I can't blame Samuel for initially failing to recognize God's call. Afterall, his duties included caring for an elderly blind man. Samuel made the obvious assumption that Eli was calling him. Secondly, it was the middle of the night. I don't know how y'all are when you get woken up in the dead of the night, but I am not at my best. I shouldn't drive a car. Unless you are a first responder or something you are probably pretty confused when woken the night. As I tried to imagine this scripture I thought of a sleep addled Samuel waking up a now very confused Eli. No wonder it took them three times before it occurred to Eli that it might be God calling.
What do you think God's voice sounds like? Would you recognize it if you heard it? On the first try? On the fourth?
I told the kids earlier that one way I like to understand scripture is by imagining myself inside that scripture. Developmentally, that sort of imaginative interaction is particularly appropriate for children, but I have found it helpful for me as an adult as well. It helps me get past just the words to deeper layers. Another thing I like to do to get inside scripture is reading it over and over.
Sometimes, I like to read it with different moods or reactions and notice which ones seem right as they come out of my mouth, and which ones seem off. You might have noticed that I asked the kids to be proud and excited as they imitated Samuel. Of course, we can only guess what Samuel might have felt, but I thought that was a good choice for the children.
Often our reading of scripture is all flat and emotionless, "I am reading HOLY WORDS." That's reverent, certainly, and scripture is holy. Idk if y'all noticed, but crazy stuff happens in the bible. Bushes catch on fire and talk, but don't burn up. Demons come out of people, and possess pigs, and run of cliffs. The Son of Man turns gallons of water into wine. (kalos ‘oinos) Into good wine. A prophet disobeys God and ends up jumping into a raging sea, and God is like, oh no, you're doing what I said, and sends a big ole fish to scoop him up and vomit him on the shore.
What does God’s voice sound like? In these scriptures I think it’s reasonable to imagine that God and people used emotion. Perhaps a commanding voice boomed from the bush and a reverent Moses replied. Perhaps Jesus’ voice coursed with power and cracked as he commanded a legion of demons into swine, but was soft in relaxed disinterest as he conjured beverages. And maybe, God, like me, used a sassy voice with Jonah.
As much as an appropriate tone for the reading can enlighten us in experiencing scripture, so to can an odd juxtaposition of words and intent. Imagine reading something like the SoM all angry and loud. It just feels so off, "Blessed are the peacemakers!" It's just so wrong; it cracks me up.
When we wonder about God’s voice in the scripture, we speak to motivations and to consequences. The word of the Lord no longer lies flat upon the page. In a three dimensional story, God’s presence becomes more real.
What does God’s voice sound like?
Samuel’s calling is easy to reimagine with emotions because have the words of both God and Samuel. What is Samuel thinking?! It says right here in the scripture that visions and talking to God was not common. Did he think he was going crazy? Did he think it was a weird dream? Was Samuel some steely, confident young man? "I hear you God." Was God starting to get impatient? "Samuel, I've been calling you all night, buddy. Clue in." Was God still angry about Eli’s sins, or sad and resigned that a long-faithful servant was no longer faithful.
So I want to invite into experiencing the scripture with me. Let's take a minute to immerse ourselves in the word of God in this different way, as we think about what God's voice might sound like. I'm going to put up a slide and I want us to expressively read it together congregationally. I'll read the light print; you read the dark print.
God: very old man
Samuel: little boy
God: Angry
Samuel: scared
God: hopeful
Samuel: proud and excited
God: mighty and powerful
Samuel: brave
Ok, I think that's fun. We now know more about the emotional charge of the story and so can be experientially changed by the story.
But, it brings up the point that we aren't sure what God's voice sounds like. We can make some reasonable interpretations, but we don't KNOW. This uncertainty lead us to miss God’s voice when God calls, and allows other voices to creep in. In the night, how do we know that God is calling us, that it is not Eli?
And what if that call we hear in the night IS Eli, not God? It gets confusing when you are sleepy.
This discernment, the question of, "How do we know it is God's voice we are hearing?" Is one that youth have often asked me. "When I am praying, how do I know it is God answering and not just my own head?" Good question, youth. Moreover, how do we know we are following God's voice and not the voice of culture, consumerism, violence, things like that?
If only there was something that really, laid it out for us. Like a case study…
Good news everybody! This scripture provides a handy template for examining if we are hearing God's voice.
God's voice is going to be persistent. God calls Samuel repeatedly; it's not until the 4th time that Samuel actually answers God. If you just keep hearing the same still, small voice---or you know maybe booming angry voice--- that persistence might be a clue that you are hearing The Divine. Is there something that has been calling to you recently, over and over?
God's voice will be affirmed by people you trust. Eli, Samuel's mentor, opened him to the possibility that it was the Lord calling to him. In order for this to work for us, we have to be sharing our spiritual lives with other people. That way they have a baseline. Then when we hear a call that might be God's call we can check in with them. Some people have Spiritual Directors or Spiritual Friends, you might have a mentor, or like, you know, a pastor or youth pastor, or a spouse, or a friend. The people that you journey with spiritually can help you to discern when a voice is God's voice. It’s critical that we are in relationship with each other. Who do you trust? Who do you share your heart with?
God's voice might come in the night. It did here for Samuel. It did when Jacob wrestled the Holy Being. I have been woken by the voice of God in the night. God’s voice may be easier to hear at night because we are quiet, and still, and not distracted by all the work of the day, so we can actually HEAR. I think it's also because we are often more vulnerable in the night, so God can more easily penetrate the shells of resistance we build up around ourselves. Do you let your guard down so that the Lord may speak to you, or do you keep yourself wrapped in a security blanket of a closed heart?
This vulnerability is key in Samuel's response. After stumbling around the temple half of the night, he thinks that he might be hearing the Lord. So Samuel invites the Lord to speak to him. The Lord responds. When we are vulnerable, when we invite the Lord to speak to us, it can confirm or overturn whether the voice we have been hearing is God's or our own
God's voice might tell you something that you really don't want to hear and ask you to do something you really don't want to do. I would guess that Samuel founding it pretty shocking that God was going to destroy Eli's family because of his sons' wickedness. It's a safe bet he didn't want to hear that. It's also pretty safe to think he wouldn't have wanted to announce this to Eli, but God called him to. In my experience, if a voice is calling you to something easy that you really want to do... that's probably your own voice. God is much more likely to call us to hard things that we may not be prepared for. What difficulties is God calling you to live? And which desires are purely your own?
God's voice empowers us. God empowered Samuel to a difficult task here, for anyone, let alone a child. God's voice calls us to something, to truth, to service, or righteousness. If the voice you hear inside of you tears you down or tells you aren't good enough that might be depression or anxiety or fear. God's voice call us to righteous; it doesn't strangle us. Where is God’s voice empowering you to serve?
God's voice demands response. Samuel responded to God's call, here and repeatedly. Samuel goes on to be a priest, prophet, judge, king-maker and king-breaker. We didn't read it today, but back in chapter 2 the Lord comes to Eli and makes quite clear what will happen to him and his whole family because of the sins of his sons, but Eli does not respond. Will you?
What do think God's voice sounds like?
Samuel at first missed that God was calling to him because he wasn't listening for it. We need to be listening for it, aware, thinking of the different ways God’s voice might sound. One way we can hear God's voice, as we have done today, is through the voice of scripture if we let it speak to us. But scripture certainly isn't the only way.
There’s Jesus. Jesus is the most perfect revelation of God. Jesus is The Word. God's word incarnate. All things that have come into being have come to be through the voice of The Word. Studying, imitating, loving the Divine God-man Jesus, yeah, that's a great way to hear God's voice.
And our Anabaptist brothers and sisters back in the 1520's, so I guess more like our great-great-great Ana-grandparents, were always talking about the Inner Word. For them scripture was the outer word, and the work of the Holy Spirit inside of us was the Inner Word. It was not uncommon for these early Anabaptists to stress the Inner Word over the outer word. Prophesy was big. A lot of what we know about the earliest Anabaptists comes from records of their prophecies. Early Anabaptists looked to the Inner Word to hear God's voice.
So when we are listening for God's voice we have all sorts of places we might hear it. At least scripture, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Prophesy, our friends, music and art…
If we hear and recognize God’s voice, we are left with a final question. Will we listen?
When we do hear God's voice are we going to head it? Are we going to be obedient to God's call or disobedient to God's call? Are we going to react like Samuel, or are we going to react like Eli. In our faithfulness, will we be advisors to God's chosen regents, or in our faithlessness will our families be destroyed? When we near the ends of our days will we have lived lives that when God calls in the night it's a comfort, or is it a terror?
What does God's voice sound like? Will you recognize it the first time? Or the fourth? Will you say, "Here I am Lord?"
I can't blame Samuel for initially failing to recognize God's call. Afterall, his duties included caring for an elderly blind man. Samuel made the obvious assumption that Eli was calling him. Secondly, it was the middle of the night. I don't know how y'all are when you get woken up in the dead of the night, but I am not at my best. I shouldn't drive a car. Unless you are a first responder or something you are probably pretty confused when woken the night. As I tried to imagine this scripture I thought of a sleep addled Samuel waking up a now very confused Eli. No wonder it took them three times before it occurred to Eli that it might be God calling.
What do you think God's voice sounds like? Would you recognize it if you heard it? On the first try? On the fourth?
I told the kids earlier that one way I like to understand scripture is by imagining myself inside that scripture. Developmentally, that sort of imaginative interaction is particularly appropriate for children, but I have found it helpful for me as an adult as well. It helps me get past just the words to deeper layers. Another thing I like to do to get inside scripture is reading it over and over.
Sometimes, I like to read it with different moods or reactions and notice which ones seem right as they come out of my mouth, and which ones seem off. You might have noticed that I asked the kids to be proud and excited as they imitated Samuel. Of course, we can only guess what Samuel might have felt, but I thought that was a good choice for the children.
Often our reading of scripture is all flat and emotionless, "I am reading HOLY WORDS." That's reverent, certainly, and scripture is holy. Idk if y'all noticed, but crazy stuff happens in the bible. Bushes catch on fire and talk, but don't burn up. Demons come out of people, and possess pigs, and run of cliffs. The Son of Man turns gallons of water into wine. (kalos ‘oinos) Into good wine. A prophet disobeys God and ends up jumping into a raging sea, and God is like, oh no, you're doing what I said, and sends a big ole fish to scoop him up and vomit him on the shore.
What does God’s voice sound like? In these scriptures I think it’s reasonable to imagine that God and people used emotion. Perhaps a commanding voice boomed from the bush and a reverent Moses replied. Perhaps Jesus’ voice coursed with power and cracked as he commanded a legion of demons into swine, but was soft in relaxed disinterest as he conjured beverages. And maybe, God, like me, used a sassy voice with Jonah.
As much as an appropriate tone for the reading can enlighten us in experiencing scripture, so to can an odd juxtaposition of words and intent. Imagine reading something like the SoM all angry and loud. It just feels so off, "Blessed are the peacemakers!" It's just so wrong; it cracks me up.
When we wonder about God’s voice in the scripture, we speak to motivations and to consequences. The word of the Lord no longer lies flat upon the page. In a three dimensional story, God’s presence becomes more real.
What does God’s voice sound like?
Samuel’s calling is easy to reimagine with emotions because have the words of both God and Samuel. What is Samuel thinking?! It says right here in the scripture that visions and talking to God was not common. Did he think he was going crazy? Did he think it was a weird dream? Was Samuel some steely, confident young man? "I hear you God." Was God starting to get impatient? "Samuel, I've been calling you all night, buddy. Clue in." Was God still angry about Eli’s sins, or sad and resigned that a long-faithful servant was no longer faithful.
So I want to invite into experiencing the scripture with me. Let's take a minute to immerse ourselves in the word of God in this different way, as we think about what God's voice might sound like. I'm going to put up a slide and I want us to expressively read it together congregationally. I'll read the light print; you read the dark print.
God: very old man
Samuel: little boy
God: Angry
Samuel: scared
God: hopeful
Samuel: proud and excited
God: mighty and powerful
Samuel: brave
Ok, I think that's fun. We now know more about the emotional charge of the story and so can be experientially changed by the story.
But, it brings up the point that we aren't sure what God's voice sounds like. We can make some reasonable interpretations, but we don't KNOW. This uncertainty lead us to miss God’s voice when God calls, and allows other voices to creep in. In the night, how do we know that God is calling us, that it is not Eli?
And what if that call we hear in the night IS Eli, not God? It gets confusing when you are sleepy.
This discernment, the question of, "How do we know it is God's voice we are hearing?" Is one that youth have often asked me. "When I am praying, how do I know it is God answering and not just my own head?" Good question, youth. Moreover, how do we know we are following God's voice and not the voice of culture, consumerism, violence, things like that?
If only there was something that really, laid it out for us. Like a case study…
Good news everybody! This scripture provides a handy template for examining if we are hearing God's voice.
God's voice is going to be persistent. God calls Samuel repeatedly; it's not until the 4th time that Samuel actually answers God. If you just keep hearing the same still, small voice---or you know maybe booming angry voice--- that persistence might be a clue that you are hearing The Divine. Is there something that has been calling to you recently, over and over?
God's voice will be affirmed by people you trust. Eli, Samuel's mentor, opened him to the possibility that it was the Lord calling to him. In order for this to work for us, we have to be sharing our spiritual lives with other people. That way they have a baseline. Then when we hear a call that might be God's call we can check in with them. Some people have Spiritual Directors or Spiritual Friends, you might have a mentor, or like, you know, a pastor or youth pastor, or a spouse, or a friend. The people that you journey with spiritually can help you to discern when a voice is God's voice. It’s critical that we are in relationship with each other. Who do you trust? Who do you share your heart with?
God's voice might come in the night. It did here for Samuel. It did when Jacob wrestled the Holy Being. I have been woken by the voice of God in the night. God’s voice may be easier to hear at night because we are quiet, and still, and not distracted by all the work of the day, so we can actually HEAR. I think it's also because we are often more vulnerable in the night, so God can more easily penetrate the shells of resistance we build up around ourselves. Do you let your guard down so that the Lord may speak to you, or do you keep yourself wrapped in a security blanket of a closed heart?
This vulnerability is key in Samuel's response. After stumbling around the temple half of the night, he thinks that he might be hearing the Lord. So Samuel invites the Lord to speak to him. The Lord responds. When we are vulnerable, when we invite the Lord to speak to us, it can confirm or overturn whether the voice we have been hearing is God's or our own
God's voice might tell you something that you really don't want to hear and ask you to do something you really don't want to do. I would guess that Samuel founding it pretty shocking that God was going to destroy Eli's family because of his sons' wickedness. It's a safe bet he didn't want to hear that. It's also pretty safe to think he wouldn't have wanted to announce this to Eli, but God called him to. In my experience, if a voice is calling you to something easy that you really want to do... that's probably your own voice. God is much more likely to call us to hard things that we may not be prepared for. What difficulties is God calling you to live? And which desires are purely your own?
God's voice empowers us. God empowered Samuel to a difficult task here, for anyone, let alone a child. God's voice calls us to something, to truth, to service, or righteousness. If the voice you hear inside of you tears you down or tells you aren't good enough that might be depression or anxiety or fear. God's voice call us to righteous; it doesn't strangle us. Where is God’s voice empowering you to serve?
God's voice demands response. Samuel responded to God's call, here and repeatedly. Samuel goes on to be a priest, prophet, judge, king-maker and king-breaker. We didn't read it today, but back in chapter 2 the Lord comes to Eli and makes quite clear what will happen to him and his whole family because of the sins of his sons, but Eli does not respond. Will you?
What do think God's voice sounds like?
Samuel at first missed that God was calling to him because he wasn't listening for it. We need to be listening for it, aware, thinking of the different ways God’s voice might sound. One way we can hear God's voice, as we have done today, is through the voice of scripture if we let it speak to us. But scripture certainly isn't the only way.
There’s Jesus. Jesus is the most perfect revelation of God. Jesus is The Word. God's word incarnate. All things that have come into being have come to be through the voice of The Word. Studying, imitating, loving the Divine God-man Jesus, yeah, that's a great way to hear God's voice.
And our Anabaptist brothers and sisters back in the 1520's, so I guess more like our great-great-great Ana-grandparents, were always talking about the Inner Word. For them scripture was the outer word, and the work of the Holy Spirit inside of us was the Inner Word. It was not uncommon for these early Anabaptists to stress the Inner Word over the outer word. Prophesy was big. A lot of what we know about the earliest Anabaptists comes from records of their prophecies. Early Anabaptists looked to the Inner Word to hear God's voice.
So when we are listening for God's voice we have all sorts of places we might hear it. At least scripture, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Prophesy, our friends, music and art…
If we hear and recognize God’s voice, we are left with a final question. Will we listen?
When we do hear God's voice are we going to head it? Are we going to be obedient to God's call or disobedient to God's call? Are we going to react like Samuel, or are we going to react like Eli. In our faithfulness, will we be advisors to God's chosen regents, or in our faithlessness will our families be destroyed? When we near the ends of our days will we have lived lives that when God calls in the night it's a comfort, or is it a terror?
What does God's voice sound like? Will you recognize it the first time? Or the fourth? Will you say, "Here I am Lord?"
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