Receiving a Calling from God

Receiving a Calling from God

Introduction

For the past two weeks we talked through 7 habits for a new year of spiritual growth. Each of us has room to grow in our faith walk and each day is a new way to build upon these habits to help us grow closer to God and to look more like Christ each day. This week we are shifting gears a bit to talk about receiving a calling from God and responding. Today’s story is about a young boy named Samuel who received a calling from God that was confirmed by others and he became a great prophet for the people of God. Listen to the story found in 1 Samuel 3:1-20.

1 Samuel 3:1–20 NRSV

1 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. 2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; 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! 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 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.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8 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. 9 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. 10 Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 11 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. 12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 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. 14 Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.” 15 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. 16 But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” 17 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.” 18 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.” 19 As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord.

Trouble in the passage

For me this passage is a fascinating story of God using the unexpected people. For a long time, there was little interaction or hearing from God. The people had fallen away from following God and his commandments. When you read the book of Judges, the pattern seems to be, the people forget God and invaders made their life miserable. They remember God and cry out to God and God would send a judge through whom God would rescue them. Where we pick up in this story is the same problem. The people were fallen away from God so God had been silent for a while. They were fearful of other nations and were stuck in their typical rut of trying to get by

In the tabernacle where this story takes place, the same had been true of even the priests who were entrusted to take care of God’s people and the worship of God. Eli’s two sons were corrupt and breaking commandments and even treating the sacrifices to God irreverent. Greed and abuse of the people where common. The high priest, Eli, knew this and did nothing to correct the situation.

If the people were lost, and the priests were lost, who could cry out to God?

Trouble in the world

There are times today were I feel like not much has changed from this story and the people of God today. People are either half-hearted in following God or Christians are calling themselves Christians but chasing after idols instead. We have a church that is struggling to be a prophetic voice to the people when they are divided over Scripture meaning. You have a rising wave of people who use and abuse power over people to manipulate them in to harming others in so called righteous causes.

While there are righteous movements, and there are righteous causes to get behind, what I see regardless of where you fall on that issue is people manipulating other people to cast others as the ultimate evil in the world. I don’t care if you are liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican, I put the blame in all groups. There is corruption and abuse of the people coming from all sides.

If the people are struggling to find and follow God, and the church is struggling to be the house of God for the people, who can cry out to God?

Grace in the passage

“Who can cry out to God” or “Who will God listen to” was on a lot of people’s minds I can image in this passage. What is interesting is that if you read the chapter before this, you learn more about who Samuel was. Samuel was a miracle child. Hannah had been barren for years and teased by others for it. She vowed before God at the Tabernacle that if God removed her barren state she would give her child to God. This is exactly what happened.

Now that you know the miracle surrounding Samuel’s beginnings, notice how Samuel received his calling. God spoke to him directly. Nobody had heard from God for a long time, yet here was a young boy who God spoke to directly. Notice Samuel’s response, even though at first he thought it was Eli, he always responded to God’s calling by saying “Here I am.” Samuel always chose to answer with, here I am, ready and willing to serve you. Given that we don’t hear any excuses or dismissals by either Eli or Samuel, God’s grace was at work in him. Even though God’s message to him about Eli was bad news, he did not shirk from his duty. This is further evidence of being confident in God’s calling as well as grace that is empowering him to give difficult news.

God’s grace was also at work in Eli. Even Eli whose blind eye towards his corrupt sons was even touched by God’s grace. Eli recognized that it was God calling out to Samuel. Eli accepted the LORD’s message even though it was about his family’s downfall. Even when Eli was told his family would be judged and cast out of the priesthood, he still knew God was doing what was good for the people.

God still heard the cry of the people, though they may not have known it, it only took one person to make a difference in crying out to God that put into motion God delivering His people.

Grace in the world

It is hard to fathom somehow that one person’s prayer can put into motion events that will change the world isn’t it? Yet, we read in the bible over and over stories just like this. It is not the nation that turned to God but a leader that turned to God, a barren wife who turned to God, a shepherd who turned to God. Who in our time will be that person turning to God on behalf of the people?

Before you start dismissing your own prayers, remember that God wants to hear it from you. When God calls you, answer like Samuel, “Here I am” ... “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening” God uses the common and the imperfect person consistently.

I never considered myself smart or clever in sharing the gospel with others. Truthfully, it has taken a long time to be able to express my beliefs succinctly and coherently. More times than not, my beliefs felt like several disconnected statements that just got jumbled together when I shared them with others. I can remember a few times though where I made an impact in an unlikely place. I don’t know the rest of the story but remember what was said to me after the conversations that left me realizing maybe I did something right there.

The first story was when I got into a discussion with an atheist about faith and belief in God. We spent hours talking back and forth and answering questions and objections to have him respond to me at the end by saying maybe I just need to try and go to church and see.

The second story was less like a single conversation but was the result of a few years of conversations. This person, who never expressed any hint of his beliefs, told me one day. Of all the Christians I have known and interacted with, you are the only one that I can get along with. He said you are nice to me.

To say that God’s grace was in these interactions is an understatement. God’s grace had been at work in both me and these individuals long before any of our conversations or interactions. God took a person like me who is not clever or super smart and used me to pour kind words into these people’s lives.

What is God calling you to do? What is God speaking to you today? Today is the day to answer that calling the same way Samuel did. Perhaps even a non-Christian might even recognize God in you by that answering. Eli was not a godly leader, yet he recognized God’s calling Samuel. Don’t be surprised if you hear from the unlikely person or in the unlikeliest of places. The important part is to say yes to God.