God Does Speak
January 15th, 2012 1 Samuel 3:1-10
Let Us Pray: Loving God, we come today to hear your voice. We come from our lives of noisy silence that does not guide or comfort. Speak, Dear Lord, for your children want to hear. Amen
There are certain Bible stories that touch us in specific ways, in ways that we want to experience the exact same thing. For many, the story of Samuel’s calling, where he can clearly hear the voice of God calling his name can create in us such a want, such a need.
How simple would it then be for us….God calls our name out loud and with such clarity that we know without a doubt that it is God’s voice we hear. Then all we would have to do is listen to what God wants us to do, or become or create etc. After all here is a call that is both unmistakably clear and remarkably consistent.
With patient urgency God's voice repeats until Samuel at last understands and responds. When Samuel repeats the message God has given him, all those around him seem to accept unquestioningly the truth of his words and his new role as prophet (see verse 20).
Yet a closer look at this text reveals that even a straight-forward calling such as Samuel's involved ambiguous moments and required difficult choices. Through the story of Samuel's birth we know that his mother Hannah had dedicated him to the temple as a toddler. We also are told in verse 1 that "the word of the Lord was rare in those days." Thus Samuel's long apprenticeship had been served in a near vacuum of God's presence.
The prior rarity of God's revelations helps to explain the opening scenes of this dramatic calling - especially Samuel's apparent denseness at recognizing the voice calling him. In addition, verse 7 permits Samuel to get away with this slow-wittedness by reminding us that "the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him." Samuel is a mere novice.
A high school drama class was performing at a local theater. Somehow an accident occurred and a hole was cracked in the stage floor. Carefully the performers avoided the damaged area until little Joey, juggling bowling pins, accidentally stepped through the hole up to his knee. He apologized to the audience for his clumsiness, which caused a heckler to shout, "Don't worry, Joey . . . It's just a STAGE you're going through!"
We all go through stages, don't we? Can you remember that moment in your own life--when God became real? For some of us, it occurred as a child or as a young teen. It may have been in church or on a youth outing--around a campfire or on a mountaintop. But at some point God spoke to us, and we knew that God was real. Each of us has or have had a God-moment….that special moment when we knew….we heard God speak to us, to each of us personally. And God speaks to each in different ways….for some it is quite dramatic….a sudden revelation that wells us within us and it cannot be contained, filling us with an incredible joy. For others, it is a slow progression of events in our lives played out over the passage of years, events that shape us, guide us and finally we understand that throughout all the trials and tribulations we have been led by the voice of God, working though the Holy Spirit in our lives.
That is part one….we hear…..but it becomes meaningless within our lives if we do not answer. Like Samuel we run to others for the answers when all the time, we needed just to say, “Speak Lord, for your servant listens”.
I hope you came to this sacred place today with the intention that you might hear God speak to your life. Why DID you come here? Out of habit? Out of loyalty? Out of guilt? Well, I am thankful that you are here, whatever the motivation. But I hope that you came with an expectation that this could be a life-changing experience for you. That sometimes happens in worship. People who have been blind are made to see. People who are in darkness see a light. And people who have known nothing but defeat suddenly achieve a great victory. By God's grace they finally conquer themselves. It can happen. But there are things that must be present if we are to come to know God in the same way that Samuel did.
FIRST OF ALL, WE MUST HAVE A BELIEVING HEART. Theologians talk about a "leap of faith." Believing in God and trusting in His promises without qualification is not as easy as some people make it appear.
Certainly life can make us cynical. Jesus knew that it was easier for little children to experience the kingdom than for us shell-shocked adults. Our lives have become encrusted with layers of negative experiences, self-serving rationalizations, and unrealized expectations. So the boy Samuel was at a stage in life when he was more open to God's leading than perhaps he would be later. And that truth has a lot to say about the importance of our ministries to children and youth in our church. Still, none of us are too old to believe. Faith is simply a matter of letting go and letting God in.
Before we can hear God speak to our lives--before we can know him as our closest friend and dearest companion--before he can become real to us, as real as he was to young Samuel, we must open our minds and hearts.
A believing heart is the first step we must take if we would know God. HERE IS ANOTHER THING WE NEED--A LISTENING EAR.
If it is true, as the old saying goes, that the walls sometimes have ears, it is also true that sometimes the ears have walls. Eli advised young Samuel to lie down and listen.
It must be very frustrating to God to try and speak to some of us who simply will not listen. Since you got up this morning and made your way down to this house of worship, God has been trying to speak to you. Through the beauty of creation, through the love of family members, through the hymns we sing, the Scripture we read. In a hundred different ways, God is speaking. But only a few of us will really hear. We need a believing heart, and listening ears.
AND FINALLY, WE NEED OBEDIENT HANDS. "Speak, Lord, for thy servant hears." Please note those two words, "thy servant." I suppose that the reason many of us refuse to give in to the impulse of faith, the reason many of us fail to tune in to God's voice, is that such steps as those might lead to one more step--a commitment of our lives to God's service. And that's true. But what else in life is as meaningful or rewarding as a walk with the Master? What else in life can give us as much genuine happiness as serving him and the world for which Christ died?
I have never known a person to genuinely commit his or her life to God and ever be sorry. Samuel had a heart of faith. He had a listening ear, and he had obedient hands. And he became one of the greatest of the Old Testament prophets. He knew God in a way that few people will ever know him.
But the same option is open to us. We don't have to dangle helplessly three inches from the ground, because God is speaking to our lives. We can know him. Believe, listen, and obey. Those are the simple steps of faith that lead to a lifetime of partnership with God and listen, not just with your ears, but with your heart, your lives, your work of hands. God truly does speak. Just listen. Amen
top