Listen for the Lord

Last week we began a new sermon series focusing on what it means to be holy. We looked at how one way we show that we are closer to God is through giving credit where credit is due. Today we are turning our focus towards being willing to listen to the Lord.

Our scripture comes from 1 Samuel 3:1-10. The words will be on the screen.

3 Now the 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.

2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. 3 The 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.

4 Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” 5 and 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.

6 And 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.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

8 And 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 Lordwas calling the boy. 9 Therefore 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.

10 And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”

Please pray with me…

We often speak of the importance of being willing to listen for God. How it is through listening that we are better able to understand what God is desiring for us to do and at times who he would like us to help and how he would like us to help.

A willingness to believe that through listening to God we can become closer to God and are better able to serve God becomes an important aspect of what it means to be holy, to strive towards becoming more like God.

(Transition)

Our scripture today focuses on a young man named Samuel. He has been given to the Temple by his mom to serve the chief priest. She had promised God that if she was able to give birth to a child, she would give that child back to him to serve God.

Eli is the chief priest. He is someone that we discover has sons that were blaspheming God and he was aware of what they were doing. Therefore, God is going to punish his household for their misdeeds.

Not surprisingly with what is going on, our scripture points out that “the word of the Lord was rare in those days.” Eli has proven unwilling to stick up for the God that he is serving. He is undeserving to hear from God. We have God becoming silent due to his lack of willingness to follow him.

Part of listening to God is a willingness to follow the ways of God. It is true that we will sin, but we can choose to do our best to stay away from sin. We cannot easily do this on our own. We need God’s help in order to do our best at follow his ways.

Being able to hear from God will often mean a willingness to be obedient to God. The farther we are away from God often means the more difficult it will be for us to hear from him. God desires for us to be in a close relationship with him. We should desire to follow his ways and have him help us.

We can do this best when we desire to be what are first reading calls “servants for Jesus’ sake.” A willingness to view Jesus as our Lord. A desireto be the person that God desires for us to be. We should want to serve our God.

It is when we choose to live this way that we “let light shine out of darkness.” We make the decision that we are going to focus more on the ways of God and less on the ways of the world. It is through this connection to God that we can have the troubles of the world have less of an impact on our lives.

It is through a reliance on God that life’s afflictions do not keep us down or as the scripture states “crush us.” We are able to find hope even in the most troublesome of circumstances. We make the decision that we are going to turn to God and focus on him instead of the troubles we are facing.

The first reading goes on to say that we may be perplexed by our circumstances, but we should be clear in our trust in the Lord. We may even ask ourselves how we ever got into this mess. In these circumstances we should choose to cry out to God.

We need to have the faith to be willing to say OK God however I ended up here, I need you to help me find a way out. I need you to lead me, to guide me in the direction I need to get out of these dire circumstances.

Crying out to God should lead us to listening to God. We have to take the time to give God the chance to answer. We need to let God give us the information that we need in order to help us in our times of troubles.

The first reading continues on by pointing out that there may be times that we even believe that we are being persecuted. We are being mistreated by someone or a group of people. We are being cast out when we have done nothing wrong. This may lead us to believe we are alone.

The scripture tells us otherwise, we are not forsaken. We have not been forgotten. God is with us through the good times, and he does not leave our sides during our times of struggle. He is there for us to cry out too and to lean on.

Many times, it is us giving up on God during these times. We feel alone. We feel abandoned. We make the decision to not cry out to God. We decide that we are going to fix our situation on our own.

Part of crying out to God and listening to God is trusting in God. We will take a closer look later in this series on what that means. We need to keep the faith. We have to keep crying out to God. We have to believe that God knows best.

(Transition)

Jesus was willing to trust God all the way to the cross. He cries out to his father and asks for a different way. He doesn’t want to face the pain and humiliation of dying on the cross. He ends his prayer to his Father by saying “not my will but your will.”

He is turning his mistreatment and persecution over to God. He knows he doesn’t deserve it, but he trusts that his father will use what is happening to him for good. We have to believe the same. We need to trust in God.

Our lives are not going to be perfect. We will have family members and friends pass away. We may lose that friendship or job. We may discover that we have a health issue that is not going away.

No matter what we are facing we have to keep the faith. Scripture tells us that faith produces perseverance. As I was thinking about this in preparation for today, I also believe that we could also say that perseverance shows we have faith.

A willingness to not let the troubles of life move you away from God shows that you have the faith to believe that God is with you even as you are facing life’s struggles. Persevering in your faith shows you are becoming more holy. A willingness to believe in God even when life is throwing you a curve ball.

(Transition)

The last aspect of our first reading speaks of being struck down but not destroyed. The worst of circumstances can bring the worst of reactions by us. It is through being willing to listen for God and to believe that God is with you that can help you even during the worst of times.

None of these scenarios are easy. There seems to be two reactions that often occur when tragedy strikes. Some people run towards God while some runaway. We need to decide to not run away while also being there for those that make the decision to run away from God.

We need to pray to God and ask for God to intervene. We have to give time to those that are struggling so that they can get to a place that they can consider the possibility of God being with them.

Community is important. It is through community that we can be there for those around us during their times of struggle. It is through community that we can serve with each other and be the hands, and feet, and voice of Jesus to those around us.

We also discover another important aspect of community in today’s scripture. We have Samuel asleep when he hears a voice. He assumes that the voice is the voice of Eli the high priest. Therefore,Samuel gets up and goes to Eli.

We have this occur three times. It was the third time when he went to Eli that Eli was able to ascertain what was happening. He realized that God was speaking to Samuel, and he told Samuel how to respond to God if he spoke again.

This should point out to us that there was a time when God and Eli were communicating with each other. This should remind us that we should never waver from speaking and listening to God. Forgetting about being in communication with God can lead to separation from God.

The scripture tells us that Samuel didn’t know God. Samuel had never heard from God. It is through someone knowing of God and that God does attempt to speak to us that led Samuel to have a conversation with God.

Samuel hears the voice again and this time he says for God to speak because his servant is listening. It is through Eli that Samuel is able to hear from God. It is because of community that Samuel will end up continuing to hear from God and help those around him in their relationship with God.

Our first reading ends with Jesus being manifested with us. This would be pointing out that being a believer in Jesus should lead to us attempting to become more like Jesus each and every day. This occurs best in community.

An example of how this can work can be found in 1stThessalonians. The people of Thesalonica are told by Paul that they have become an example. They saw how Paul lived and spoke. They imitated him. They attempted to follow God as he followed God. This led to others watching them, which led to them becoming an example to the people of Macedonia.

But Paul points out that the example of the Thessalonians didn’t stop there. The scripture continues that their example has become the example everywhere. One group of people being willing to follow the example of one man led to many people following God.

It is through us listening and following the ways of God in community that can lead those around us to begin following God in their own way. They pass on what they have learned, and they help lead others into a close personal relationship with God.

(God speaking to me yesterday) Not an actual voice-Fixed Appointments-We have become comfortable-A new pastor will offer new insights and new ways for you to reach out to your communities.

It all starts by figuring out how to hear from God and being willing to take the time to listen to the Lord. I believe Samuel’s case is rare. God needed him and went right to him and spoke directly to him with Samuel having no previous knowledge of God.

It would be easier if this would happen more often but usually, it is through you becoming closer to God and spending time with God that will lead to you being able to hear from God. We also need to be willing to follow through with what we hear.

That is the rest of the story of today’s scripture. Samuel is given a prophetic message from God that is not a positive message concerning Eli and his family. Eli asks if Samuel heard from God, and he tells him yes.

Eli than asks what God said. It is at this point that Samuel has a choice he can speak up and ruin the chief priest’s day or keep quiet. He chooses to pass on what God has said to him. There may be times we can find ourselves in similar circumstances.

We don’t like the message. We may not want to do what God wants us to do. We need to be willing to follow the examples that we have in scripture of those times they listened to God and responded.

Let us decide that we are going to not only listen to God, but we will respond to that message and serve God. We are servants of the Lord sent out to show the world the love of God through our words and our actions.

Please pray with me…