Two Rivers Pastoral Charge
August 31, 2022
Scripture: 1 Samuel 3:1-10
Have you ever heard God calling your name in the middle of the night the way that Samuel did?
I know that it is possible – I know that there are people who, like Samuel, have a direct call from God, and who are able to answer back, “Here I am, Lord.” But while I have experienced the overwhelming love of the Divine embracing me, I have never heard with my ears God speaking my name.
But just because I have never heard God speaking my name doesn’t mean that God hasn’t called me – God is able to call us in so many more ways than just words. God is able to call us through planting a thought or a feeling in us that we can’t shake – a thought that we can test by running it past other people to make sure that it truly does come from God. God is able to call us through the words of other people – maybe someone has tapped you on the shoulder (literally or figuratively) and said to you, I think that you would be a good person to serve in this ministry of the church. God is able to call us through words that we read, or a song that we hear, or a picture that we see, or through the glory of God’s creation.
I think that there are maybe as many different ways for God to call us, as there are people who are called.
Today we heard Samuel’s call story. Samuel was the much longed for, first-born child of Hannah. Hannah had prayed night and day for a child, and had promised God that when her child was born, she would dedicate this child to God. And so it was that Samuel was born, and when he was still a young child, Samuel was sent off to live with Eli, the priest, in order to learn how to serve God.
Jewish tradition has it that Samuel was 12 years old when God called him in the middle of the night. Three times, God called out, “Samuel, Samuel!” and three times Samuel thought that it was Eli, the priest calling him. Three times Samuel went running to Eli, crying out, “Here I am!” Finally Eli clued in to what was happening, and told Samuel – it isn’t me who is calling to you, it is God.
And so the fourth time he heard his name being called, Samuel stayed in his room and said to God, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
This story of Samuel’s call is only the beginning of his story. Samuel would go on to be a leader of the people, as well as a king-maker, anointing Saul as the first king of Israel and Judah, while warning the people that they didn’t want a king with absolute power, and there should be some checks and balances in place to make sure that God was above even the king.
All of us are called in different ways, and all of us are called to different tasks. Not all of us are called to be prophets and king-makers the way Samuel was called… thank goodness! But God needs all of us, each with our own individual calling, each with our own little piece of God’s overall work, so that the whole work of loving the world can be done.
This week’s hymn, “Here I Am, Lord,” was written in 1979 when Dan Schutte was asked to compose, on very short notice, a song for the ordination service of a deacon. It can be a divisive song – some people really don’t like it, while others find it deeply meaningful – but this spring when I did the favourite hymn survey here at Two Rivers, it came out on top as the clear number one favourite around our churches!
It is a hymn with an interesting structure. In each of the three verses, we are singing from God’s perspective – that is one of the things that makes some people very uncomfortable singing this hymn, for who are we, as mere human beings, to sing for God? But then each time the chorus comes in, we are singing our human response to God. It is almost a call-and-response structure – God is calling us in the verses, and we respond in the chorus.
The words in the verses, the promises of God – they are beautiful to read. God promises to hear us; God promises to shine a light into all of the shadows of our lives; God promises to be with us in our pain, helping us to carry our pain and sorrows; God promises to feed all people; God promises healing.
And God is able to do this because each one of us answers “Here I Am” when God calls us. God calls each of us to do a small part of God’s overall work; and with each one of us doing our small part, all of the promises that God makes to us can be fulfilled.
We are all called. We are all called to be part of the body of Christ – the literal hands and feet of Christ – and then we share in the work of Christ – the work of reflecting light into the shadows; the work of accompanying others through their pain and sorrows; the work of feeding the world; the work of healing.
When we hear God calling our name, in whatever way God calls you, and when we say, “Here I Am, Lord,” then we join Samuel, and all of the other people God has called across time and across distance, to be the hands and feet of God in our world.
And so the question I leave you to ponder this week is – what part of the work is God calling you to? Where have you heard God’s voice calling in the night or in the daytime? And where in God’s world are you being sent to serve?
And may the Holy Spirit open the ears of your heart to hear your call, accompany you, and equip you for this work always! Amen.
“The Call to Samuel” – Frank Wesley
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