God Calls Samuel

Alright, as we know, we’re going through a narrative arc of the Scriptures this year. We’re not hitting every story, but touching on many major points in the unfolding story of the people of Israel, the mission of Jesus, and the early church. We want to gain a sense of the scope AND look at how people’s understanding of God evolved through the generations, as faith was passed down through story and ritual.

Today, we get to the prophet/judge, Samuel. But let me first remind us how we got here, because we’re jumping from the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, with Moses, Aaron, and some manna, to an established temple setup in Palestine where the Israelites have come to dwell.

Between these stories, we have the giving of the 10 commandments at Mount Sinai, the entrance into the Promised Land, Palestine, by the next generation of pilgrims. Moses does not enter the land, but Joshua takes up his charge as leader of Israel. We have Joshua and Jericho and lots of battles for land. We have judges and leaders, like Gideon, Samson, Deborah, and the like. And all the while, the people look around at the other tribes and nations where they now live and see that there is power in having a King to rule over them. Or so they think.

Between Moses and Samuel, there is this rising desire from the people to have a King and God’s response is that they already have one Lord. But this isn’t a good enough answer.

It’s a pretty easy connection to say that there is a populist movement going through the people of Israel, where they’re fed up with God’s way and want a leader who “reflects the wills of the people.” But as we know, out of many populist movements, we find dictators and tyrants rise. To ask for a king is to flirt with tyranny and lordship by a human hand.

So God appoints Judges over Israel. Not so much kings as tribal leaders. Maybe wise men and women is a good analogy. The hope is that the judge would be able to discern the best direction for the people, help guide them in God’s law and righteousness, and spare them the threat of dictatorship and tyranny.

But now we’re at a shifting point. Samuel, whose story we are about to hear, is in a way one of the last judges of Israel and first prophets.

Today, there are a few key points I want us to get from this part of the story:

1. God calls us. If we can listen to the stillness and the silence, we may find God speaking to us about a new direction, a hope, or a way forward when we are in need.

2. When people demand a king, God offers alternative paths, but ultimately puts people into positions where they can offer a prophetic voice — a voice of critique and advice to the powerful.

3. And third, God punishes those who would misuse their power as religious leaders, priests, or kings.

1 Samuel 3:1–21 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.

A quick little bit of context — in the first chapter of 1 Samuel, we have Hannah, Samuel’s mother, praying at the temple, because she wants to conceive. Eli sees her muttering to herself and assumes she’s been drinking. He tries to correct her, but is struck by the reality that she is deep in prayer. Eli blesses her and she goes home to conceive a son with her husband, Elkanah. And this son, Samuel, is therefore dedicated to the service of the Lord, under Eli, at the temple at Shiloh.

1 Samuel 3:1–21 NRSV

At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; 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. Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” 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. The 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.” Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. The 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. Therefore 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. Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” Then 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. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. For 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.

Let’s pause again here really quick — Eli had a couple of sons. And they were, in family line, next to become priests at the temple of Shiloh, where the ark of the covenant was housed.

1 Samuel 2:12 says that the sons of Eli were scoundrels. And they end up messing around with the ritual meat sacrificed in the temple, ignoring the rules God had instructed them in. They blasphemed, living in direct opposition to the ways of God. They didn’t care. And so, Eli’s line was cursed.

1 Samuel 3:1–21 NRSV

Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.” Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” Eli 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.” So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.” As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

And Samuel goes on to be a great prophet of Israel. I’ve always felt an affinity and love for this story. I love the boy Samuel, eager to serve and listen. I love the confusion of Eli, who just seems like he can’t get it quite right, even though he wants to. I love the mysticism of Samuel’s vision and interaction with God.

And I love that this man becomes the one who would stand up and speak critique to Israel and its leaders.

Let’s take a look at a few ideas we can draw from this story.

First, as we mentioned earlier, this is a story that reminds of the patient attention we give to hear God’s voice. It can be so easy to think God is silent. Because God often is. But this story reminds us that in patience, repetition, and stillness, God does speak.

I honestly take this part of the story to heart these days. The last year or so, I’ve wondered a lot about what God is calling me to do, how God is calling me to grow, and what ways I can use my gifts in this role and in the world. If I’m truly honest, I have felt a lot of uncertainty about what I’m doing and who I am these days. We’ve got a lot going on, with Stacy’s cancer and the uncertainty it proposes. And so the simple reminder from Samuel’s refrain instructs me here: In the darkness of uncertainty, the best I can keep doing is saying, “Here I am, your servant is listening.” I don’t know what tomorrow will hold. I don’t know how God’s faithfulness will provide for us. But in all that I do not know, I can at least open myself to listening. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. And as we listen, and slow down, perhaps God will truly lead us, as we know God promises to do. I pray it is so. And I say, Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.

The second point here is focused on the weakness of kings and God’s alternatives. We know many stories of benevolent kings, kings who work for the good of the people. But overwhelmingly, when we think of leaders who amass total power, it typically does not go well. And through history, God has established others in such times to speak truth to the powerful. Prophets, sages, wise men. Political activists, writers, artists. Poets. Comedians. Prophetic voices that will tell the truth about how the king is hurting the people, how the emperor has no clothes, how the rich and powerful are choking off the poor.

God offers the people of Israel an alternative to the strong man leader. And from this point on, in the tradition of Samuel, there are prophets who speak truth and advisement to the monarchs and leaders of Israel. Nathan, Elijah, Elisha, all immediately following Samuel. Then the major and minor prophets we know of from the books they are named for, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the like. God’s truth speaks to power.

I have to make a brief aside here, because I can’t honestly talk about the story of the people of Israel without paying attention to the modern context of the Israeli state and the conflict with Hamas. As I’m sure you’ve heard, a peace agreement was reached this week and hostages are beginning to return home after this horrifying two-year conflict. We celebrate the hope of peace.

I believe it is the prophetic voices who have cried out about injustice in Gaza that have helped make a difference in this conflict and it’s hopeful end. We have not seen the established leaders, the kings of the day, offer much in terms of prophetic hope or wisdom in these times. Instead, the kings of today stoke violence, order missile strikes, and ignore the deaths of civilians.

In a very real way, we have to understand that the modern nation of Israel is not a direct descendent of the people of God featured in these stories. Yes, they are by lineage and ancestry. But just as the people of Israel demanded a king in ancient times, in opposition to God’s direction, so too has the modern Israeli state focused on securing its own power in the region, above the calls for justice and peace. It is much more a political entity than a chosen people.

To be a faithful Jew, Muslim, or Christian, in these times, is to be a prophetic voice for peace. Our three Abrahamic religions are faiths of peace. They are born of years of tribal conflict and sectarian violence. But the witness of the people of God shines like a light through all that darkness.

May I be very clear: God’s people, who we’ve following along with in these Scriptural stories, are first the people of ancient Israel. But that ancient people does not equate with the modern state. There are links, for sure, but we can’t look at the geopolitical history of that region of conflict and say it’s cut and dry simply their right to the land because of God’s promise. The ones who live as a light to the nations, the ones who follow in God’s way and do not blaspheme or abuse power, that is the faithful witness of God’s people. Jew, Muslim, or Christian.

Finally, and this flows from the previous point, God punishes those who blaspheme. Look at Eli’s sons — they had the promise of God before them. They were set up to be leaders in the temple. But they misused their position. They took advantage of the rituals of the temple. They disregarded God’s instructions. And therefore, they receive a punishment. No longer would Eli’s family serve in the temple. Rather, a new shoot is coming up from the tree of God’s people, a prophetic voice…Samuel. God is doing a new thing in Israel, preparing them for a king because they asked for it, but also preparing them to have a servant whose voice would offer prophetic witness to the people regarding the king and his actions.

Alright, so what do we take away from all of this?

Well, let’s recognize that God does call us, speak to us, in a myriad of ways, to direct us and guide our path. Our work is to listen, to be attentive, and to follow.

How is God calling you to serve and love today? What has God placed upon your heart as a calling, a direction, a hope?

Where have the ways of political leaders, kings, dictators, tyrants, departed from the faithfulness of God? Where are wars raging where the poor are harmed? Where have the rich taken more than their fill and left nothing for the least of these? These are places to be prophetic, to offer critique and resistance. God’s people speak truth against violence and power. Samuel will come to know this, as he advises King Saul and calls King David.

And where do we witness God’s punishment? Not because God is some picky dictator themselves, but where do we see the truth that power corrupts and defiles? Is this not the punishment of God, that those who follow wicked ways live in a sort of desperate freefall, never truly getting what they want, always hungering, but never sated? May we be warned about blaspheming God, speaking God’s name but acting in our own interest. May we be warned of assuming just because our parents or our ancestors were faithful that it will excuse our own unfaithfulness.

And may we come to know the Good News — that these prophetic stories point us to the great Prophet, Christ Jesus, who liberates the oppressed, tears down the powerful, and lifts up the lowly. God’s way is not that of power hoarding or war, but rather faithfulness and devotion.

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.