Epiphany: Hearing God
1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)
Free Community Church
21 January 2024
Will you join me in a word of prayer?
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable to you, God, Earth-maker, Pain-Bearer, Life-Giver who calls us into life, love, and service as we listen carefully to your voice guiding us. Amen.
As Miak introduced last week, we are in the season of Epiphany, which means a sudden revelation, realization or insight, especially relating to the divine. And he invited us to go on this pilgrimage of revelation and insight as we begin this new year.
On life’s pilgrimage, one very important thing we need to realize is that there may be times God is speaking to us and we need to learn to hear God. It is learning to hear God’s voice but even more than that, it is learning to hear God’s heartbeat. And why is this important? It’s because hearing God will enable us to better participate and co-inspire in God’s Shalom plan for us and all creation.
But how? How can we hear God better? In our lectionary readings this week, we have a wonderful story to help us ponder and learn from.
1 Samuel 3:1-10 (NRSVue)
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.
Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!”[a] 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 God 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.”
So as we begin, I want to give you the background story to this passage of Scripture. As First Samuel opens, things could not be worse for Israel. Judges, the previous book leading up to First Samuel, ended with the community in chaos. In fact, Judges is probably one of those books you do not want to read to your children as a bedtime story.
*Trigger warning
In Judges 17, we see that a man named Micah establishes an alternative worship system. Then the tribe of Dan take over a peaceful town, steal Micah’s gods and priest, and adopt his religion for themselves (Judges 18). The all-night gang rape and abuse of one woman by some men from the tribe of Benjamin leads to her death and to civil war that nearly wipes out the whole tribe of Benjamin (Judges 19-20).
The community preserves the tribe of Benjamin by abducting and raping two communities of women, six hundred in all (Judges 21). Things could not get any worse.
The nation of Israel was falling apart. The system of judgeships had failed miserably. With all of the chaos, how could the community possibly continue? Would it cease to exist before it began? Would the promise God made to Abraham go unfulfilled? Who would God send to deal with this mess? That is where we meet Samuel, Israel’s last judge and first prophet since Moses.
Samuel was born at a pivotal point in Israel’s history. He represents Israel’s transition from a loose system of judges to a unified monarchy. The writer introduces the reader to Samuel by first introducing his mother, Hannah.
Biblical scholar and theologian, Alfie Wines, says that Hannah’s story is the perfect segue for this transition because her story is diametrically opposed to stories of abuse and sexual objectification of women in Judges.
“Since the Bible seldom tells women’s stories, it is noteworthy that 1 Samuel opens with Hannah’s story. With two chapters (1 Samuel 1:1– 2:10) devoted to her story, even before the narrator explains it, the reader instinctively knows that she and her son are significant characters in Israel’s story.”
So we hear that Hannah is barren. Yet, she is the beloved favorite wife of her husband, Elkanah. “Hannah handles her barrenness with integrity. Even when taunted by Peninnah, Elkanah’s other wife who bears many children, Hannah does not resort to the practice of using surrogate mothers to bear children for her.
Sarah, Rachel, and Leah chose that route, and creating much trouble in their families. She would not follow their lead. No, instead, Hannah takes her broken heart, her longing for a child to God. Samuel is God’s answer to her prayer. Once she weans him, in a show of gratitude to God, she leaves him with Eli the priest. Eli will help Samuel discern God’s call for his life.”
Quite early on in this story, we see that Eli is a terrible leader. He mistakes Hannah’s silent prayer of deep devotion for drunkenness (1 Samuel 1:13). Nowhere in Scripture is Eli, the leading priestly and prophetic figure of his time, said to hear from God. Rather, we are reminded continually that Eli’s senses have grown dull (1 Samuel 3:2).
“The worst crime of Eli was that he did not control his sons, who were also his assistant priests. Hophni and Phinehas stole the best portions of sacrifices from God for themselves (2:12-17). And if that was not enough, they also raped the women who were serving/guarding the entrance to the tent of meeting (1 Samuel 2:22).
Instead of controlling his sons and protecting the people of Israel from their abuse, Eli seems to have spent much of his time sitting on a throne (1 Samuel 4:13, 16). For Eli’s ineffective parenting and failure to effectively judge even his own priestly sons, God had already pronounced judgment on the house of Eli—through an unnamed man of God, rather than speaking to Eli directly (1 Samuel 2:27-36).
Samuel’s call is rather fascinating. Unlike Moses who resisted God’s call, Samuel readily embraces God’s call and his new responsibility. Perhaps living in the house of the Lord since he was three years old made him more receptive to God’s call. Perhaps it’s because he was young and had less baggage.
God’s call to Samuel came as a voice in the middle of the night. Three times Samuel mistook God’s voice for Eli’s voice. It also took Eli some time but he finally helped Samuel realize God was calling and wisely advised him to answer God’s call. Samuel doesn’t object. He doesn’t resist. He simply returns to his resting place in God’s house.
As Samuel lay by the ark of the covenant, he heard God’s voice calling out his name. His response immediately was “hineni” which the NRSV translates as “here I am.” “Here I am” (hineni) is a phrase used also by Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, and Ananias. This phrase usually reflects a willingness to respond with action.
After Abraham said hineni in Genesis 22:1, God called him to the mountaintop with Isaac. When Jacob said hineni in Genesis 31:11, God called him to return home to face Esau. Moses said hineni in Exodus 3:4 and God called him back to Egypt. Isaiah said hineni and God called him to prophesy judgement in Isaiah 6:8.
Ananias said hineni (or the equivalent in in Greek) in Acts 9:10 before God commanded him to heal Saul, the arch-persecutor of the Church. When one says hineni to God in Scripture, one is usually about to be called to a journey of challenging service.
Even when he thought it was just Eli calling him, Samuel was ready for service. Eventually Samuel and Eli both realized that God was speaking to Samuel. And Samuel does not just tell God, “Speak,” but declares “your servant is listening.”
So even as Samuel answers God’s call, the very first prophetic task that God conveys to him is a challenging one. In fact, it’s not just challenging but it is a negative message for Eli and his household. Imagine being a young child, mentored by someone since your mother weaned you, and you must now speak against his abusive power and leadership. It was definitely very challenging for young Samuel.
Samuel fulfilled many roles not only as prophet, but also judge, military leader, and priest. The record shows Samuel did his job well. Much like the pastors, staff, leaders, and volunteers who held churches together during the pandemic, Samuel held Israel together during its transition. And it all began with hearing God and responding with hineni, “here I am.”
Question 1 (Open)
Have you ever heard God in some way, perhaps through prayer or people around you? What was it like?
Like Samuel, God is calling us too. Perhaps not to something as big and dramatic as Samuel’s role but God is calling us too. God equips each one of us with gifts and graces, interests and talents to be used to bless one another and the world.
In Phillippians 2:13, Paul explains: For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases God. No matter what desires, dreams, and visions we have, they all come from God.
The question is: what will you do with those desires, dreams, and visions? What will we do with those gifts and graces, interests and talents that God has given us? Will we make excuses, do nothing about them, and then complain that our lives are unfulfilled? Or will we use what God has given us and participate in God’s Shalom plan?
The Main Point:
On life’s pilgrimage, there may be times God is speaking to us and we need to learn to listen to God’s voice and heartbeat, so that we can better participate and co-inspire in God’s Shalom plan for us and all creation.
So how can we learn to listen to God’s voice and heartbeat? One way we can do so:
Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the Lord, and God will give you the desires of your heart.
On this pilgrimage, it’s about learning to hear God’s voice. But even more than that, it is learning to hear God’s heartbeat. And one way you can do that is to delight yourself in God. This includes God’s character and attributes. God is love, and we see the many dimensions of love expressed through compassion, kindness, patience, perseverance, etc.
So “delighting yourself in the Lord” means to delight yourself in love, compassion, kindness, patience, perseverance….and God will give you the desires of your heart. When we are working towards that, there is an alignment between God’s heart and our hearts, and it will bring joy to us.
Question 2 (Open)
What spiritual practices have helped you hear God’s voice or heartbeat better?
For me, one is reading the Bible and developing a deeper understanding of the meta-narrative (the big story). The other thing that has helped me is having selah moments at various points during a day so I can pause, breathe, and just be still, and see if God’s Spirit may be speaking to me or stirring something within me.
Sometimes it’s paying attention to the small things – the nature around me, the people that I get to meet and interact with, the conversations that I get to listen to, as well as those where I get to articulate what’s on my heart. When I pay attention to these small things, I may sense God’s Spirit saying something to me.
For example, a few weeks ago, I was feeling a little discouraged at some situations that were going on in church. While I was praying for the various ones, I felt a strong prompting that I should share and articulate how I was feeling with a few trusted people.
So without giving the details of the situations or people involved, I just shared with Pastor CJ and my PRC that my heart was feeling sad and discouraged, and I asked them to pray for me. Their prayers and words of care and encouragement were very timely and they really helped lift my heart. Although I didn’t hear God’s voice speaking directly to me, I know God was speaking through them. And I was very grateful.
Sometimes, it’s about paying attention to the “small things.” And learning about God’s heart more and more. We need to have regular quiet time to still our spirits and our minds, and spend time praying (meaning both listening and speaking to God), as well as reading the Bible to better understand the heart of God.
Epiphany is a season of light and revelation, a season of insight and discovery. God is often speaking to us but are you ready to listen and respond with action, saying, “Here I am, God. Your servant is listening.”
We bade farewell to Molly this past weekend and it was heartwarming to see the outpouring of love from FCC members and friends. Many of us have had our lives touched by Molly in some way, and her love and care for the FCC community will always stay in my heart.
Molly was many things — the one who made the most delicious coffee for us on Sundays, the one who showed care to old and new members, the one with a heart for mission, especially for the children at orphanages, and the one who prayed unceasingly for this church and for many of us.
One of the last few times I visited her at the hospice, I held her hand, prayed for her and reminded her how much she was loved. Before I left, I saw her lifting up her hands in a prayer pose even as she was drifting in and out of consciousness. I smiled because more than anything else, Molly was a prayer warrior and it was her natural instinct to pray even when she might not be fully conscious.
At her funeral service, I said not only does her memory and spirit live on, her prayers live on in each one of us. She prayed fervently for our church to rise up to who God is calling us to be. She prayed for each one of us to passionately love God and all that God loves. And those prayers continue to live on in us as we trust the Spirit of God to bring all things to fruition in God’s time.
Are you ready to hear God’s call? Are you ready to hear God’s voice and heartbeat?
Hearing God and answering God’s call leads to living our best life, a life that fulfills Jesus’ commandment to love God, others, and ourselves. Hearing God’s voice and heartbeat is important because this enables us to better participate and co-inspire in God’s Shalom plan for us and all creation.
What is God’s Spirit urging you to do today? Is it to commit to a regular spiritual practice that will help you hear God’s voice and heartbeat more clearly? Is it to take the commitment of your life more seriously by choosing to commit your talents, your gifts, your resources of time, money, and energy into growing the kin-dom of God?
The question is: “What will you do, what will I do, what will we do, individually and collectively, to answer God’s call in our lives? Are we ready to hear God’s voice and heartbeat, and respond with hineni (Here I am)?”
