from the desk of... Rande Wayne Smith D.Min., Th.M., M.Div. JESUS IS CALLING

Transcription

1 from the desk of... Rande Wayne Smith D.Min., Th.M., M.Div. #741 5 February 2017 JESUS IS CALLING 1 Samuel 3:1-20 I ve talked about Dr. Peter Marshall on several occasions. He was the Pastor of the famed New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington D.C., (which is where our peace candle came from. Kathy & I brought it after we worshiped there a # of years ago). Peter Marshall also served as the Chaplain of the U.S. Senate. Well, in her book (X) A Man Called Peter Catherine Marshall wrote of how her late preacher/husband felt a sense of destiny, a sense of call, in his life. As a young man Peter had been working in a limestone quarry near the English village of Bamburgh, about 16 miles from the Scottish border. One dark, starless night, Peter was walking back to the village after working a long day at the quarry. He was tired, & it was getting late, so he thought he d take a shortcut across the Scottish moors. Suddenly someone called Peter! There was great urgency in the voice.

2 2 He stopped. Yes, who is it? What do you want? For a brief moment he listened but there was no response, only the sound of the wind. Thinking he must have been mistaken, he walked a few more steps. Then he heard it again, even more urgently Peter! He stopped dead still, trying to look into the darkness & then suddenly he stumbled & fell to his knees. Putting out his hands to catch himself he found nothing there. Feeling around he discovered that he was on the very edge of an abandoned stone quarry. Just one more step would have sent him falling to his death. For Peter, there was never any doubt in his mind about the Source of that voice. And it set in motion for him, a lifetime of listening to God. And that s what I want us to think about today listening to God s voice. I honestly believe that our Lord desires to communicate with each one of us. He s not a silent God. He s not like other gods who cannot speak. (The Psalms 115:5) Ponder that as we read today s Scripture. Listen now to Good News as recorded in 1 Samuel, to you who have gathered here for worship at Community Church. Within your hearing comes the Word of the Lord

3 In those days, when the boy Samuel was serving the LORD under the direction of Eli, there were very few messages from the LORD, and visions from him were quite rare. One night Eli, who was now almost blind, was sleeping in his own room; Samuel was sleeping in the sanctuary, where the sacred Covenant Box was. Before dawn, while the lamp was still burning, the LORD called Samuel. He answered, Yes, sir! and ran to Eli and said, You called me, and here I am. But Eli answered, I didn t call you; go back to bed. So Samuel went back to bed. 3 The LORD called Samuel again. The boy did not know that it was the LORD, because the LORD had never spoken to him before. So he got up, went to Eli, and said, You called me, and here I am. But Eli answered, My son, I didn t call you; go back to bed. The LORD called Samuel a third time; he got up, went to Eli, and said, You called me, and here I am. Then Eli realized that it was the LORD who was calling the boy, so he said to him, Go back to bed; and if he calls you again, say, Speak, LORD, your servant is listening. So Samuel went back to bed. The LORD came and stood there, and called as he had before, Samuel! Samuel!

4 4 Samuel answered, Speak; your servant is listening. The LORD said to him, Some day I am going to do something to the people of Israel that is so terrible that everyone who hears about it will be stunned. On that day I will carry out all my threats against Eli s family, from beginning to end. I have already told him that I am going to punish his family forever because his sons have spoken evil things against me. Eli knew they were doing this, but he did not stop them. So I solemnly declare to the family of Eli that no sacrifice or offering will ever be able to remove the consequences of this terrible sin. Samuel stayed in bed until morning; then he got up and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli about the vision. Eli called him, Samuel, my boy! Yes, sir, answered Samuel. What did the LORD tell you? Eli asked. Don t keep anything from me. God will punish you severely if you don t tell me everything he said. So Samuel told him everything; he did not keep anything back. Eli said, He is the LORD; he will do whatever seems best to him. As Samuel grew up, the LORD was with him and made come true everything that Samuel said. So all the people of Israel, from one end of the country to the other, knew that Samuel was indeed a prophet of the LORD.

5 5 May the Lord grant that we may engage in contemplating the mysteries of His Heavenly wisdom with really increasing devotion, to His glory and to our edification. Amen I want you to imagine that you re sharing a home with someone. Nighttime comes & you go to bed. And before long you re in a deep sleep. And then, all of a sudden that person bursts into your room, wakes you up, & asks What do you want? Hopefully your kind response would be Nothing. You must have been dreaming. Go back to bed. Now imagine that happening a 2 nd time. And after reassuring your roommate that you didn t call them & sending them back to their room you try to recall what they must have eaten for supper. But then they come back a 3 rd time. At this point you must be beginning to wonder what in the world is going on. Someone must really be calling them. That s how it was for Eli, the priest, when Samuel heard the voice of God. Samuel was simply a child when God called to him. It s a funny & kind of an ironic story. The boy Samuel lives with Eli. One evening, Eli is sleeping in his room, & Samuel is asleep in the Church & a voice calls to him Samuel! Samuel!

6 6 Now, being that Samuel was a child & stayed with Eli, I m sure it wasn t all that unusual for him to hear the priest s voice calling throughout the Church at various times. (Eli at this point was an elderly man, who was almost blind.) (1 Samuel 4:18) So, Samuel jumps up & runs to him (X) Here I am. What do you need? Eli s startled response is I didn t call you. Go back to bed. 3 times this happens. The Lord calls, & Samuel runs to Eli saying Here I am. Well, Eli finally figures it out. If he isn t calling Samuel s name, then it must be God. God is the one calling out to Samuel. So he tells Samuel what to say the next time the Lord calls to him Speak; your servant is listening. Now, this is where the story really gets interesting. Now that God has Samuel s full attention, here s the message He has for him. Tell your boss that he s fired. His days as priest are numbered. And the reason for his termination is because of the corruption going on in the Church. And the main issue is with Eli s sons. The sons of Eli were scoundrels. They paid no attention to the LORD or what the priests could demand from the people. (1 Samuel 2:12-13)

7 7 Hophni & Phinehas were stealing from the offerings. They had been taking the best parts of the animal sacrifices offered to God, & eating them themselves. And when they weren t doing that they were sleeping with the women who worked at the Church. (1 Samuel 2:22) They were sinning against the Lord, putting their desires & needs above those of the people they were serving. And since they weren t paying any attention to Him, God called young Samuel, who didn t even know the Lord at this point did you catch that? God called young Samuel, who didn t even know Him yet, to be the one to confront the sin & disrespect of Eli & his sons. This is one of the 1 st stories I can remember hearing as a boy. My Mom would read me Bible stories every night at bedtime. And I especially liked this one... probably because it was about a young boy. But as I got older I began to appreciate the bigger message of the story. When we hear the phrase Called By God, I suspect that most of us think of people who work in some kind of Church related ministry Pastors or Missionaries. The Lord especially called them. They ve been set apart & as a result, should be treated differently.

8 8 It s a conversation that I ve had over & over throughout the years. When people find out that I used to work for a newspaper, & that I was part owner of a restaurant, they ll ask Rande, what made you go into the ministry? And I almost hesitate to say that God called me because that sounds like I think I have some kind of unique connection which in turn makes some people think of me as the holiness police, or the moral barometer in the room. I ve had people apologize for swearing around me when I m quite confident they wouldn t have apologized around anyone else. People will try to act more holy around me or will just start telling me about how much they believe in God & pray each day. Complete strangers will do this! But the worst, the absolute worst, or I should say the saddest, is when someone belittles the work they do after discovering what I do. Someone will say, with a tone of guilt, Well, um that s a really good thing you re doing. Me, I, uh, well, I m just an office worker, or factory employee, or salesclerk, or food service, or whatever apologizing, as if their occupation didn t amount to anything.

9 9 The assumption always seems to be that I, a Pastor, have a special calling & they do not. That God & I work together, & they work alone. That I m somehow closer to God & more holy & more moral than they are. That God has a special purpose for me but they re out there on their own. Now, to some extent, I can t really blame anyone for feeling that way. The Church over the years has kind of implied that idea, to some degree. When I was ordained, there was a whole special ceremony for it. The Church was packed. There were choirs, special music, speakers who were flown in for the occasion. There was all kinds of pomp & circumstance. When I was installed here as your Pastor, there was a whole special service devoted to it. All the area Pastors were involved. A robe was placed on me; a stole was draped over my shoulders. Okay, think about when you began your occupation. Rodney, when you started as a teacher, did you have an installation service? Did all the other teachers gather around you & lay on hands setting you apart? Instead of a stole, did they ceremoniously hand you a dictionary or something? How about you Heidi, when you joined a medical practice here?

10 Was there a special program where everyone was invited, & all the area physicians came & laid hands on you, & draped a stethoscope around your neck? So yes, there s an element in which the Church & society have created this idea that a Pastor has a higher calling. But let me be clear about something, whether you work in the Church, or the school system, or as a truck driver, or in finance, or as a receptionist, or a homemaker there is no higher calling. Everyone has been uniquely created by God. (Isaiah 43:7) God calls each & every one of us into a particular place & role in His earthly kingdom. Maybe we should really make a theological statement out of this, & call it the Doctrine Of Vocation. 10 The doctrine of vocation states that God has called each & every one of us into our specific work in the world. Whether you re a farmer, a student, a daycare worker, a machinist, a grandparent, a spouse, a waitress, a repair person, a salesperson, a computer geek, a nurse God calls us into these vocations. I ve always appreciated Martin Luther s comment God will milk the cows through the person whose vocation it is to milk cows.

11 Now as I was considering this whole concept during the week, something jumped out at me 11 God at times uses other people to help us hear His call. Samuel could hear the voice of God; but he kept thinking it was Eli. And so God used Eli, someone who He was actually angry with, to help Samuel recognize His voice calling to him. And as I was pondering that thought during the week I realized that God has spoken to me many times through the voices of others, who have guided me throughout my life. What I m saying is that God speaks to us, & speaks through us, as He guides us in our life & vocations. Another thing we learn from Samuel is that sometimes God calls us into difficult tasks. It had to have been frightening for young Samuel to bring a word of judgment to the priest Eli concerning his sons. But he faithfully did it. Let s not be afraid to speak a word from God when the opportunity comes to do that. (Matthew 10:19-20) This is a good thing for all of us to ponder for a moment. I want you to consider yourself, like Samuel, as called by God into a certain task. Think for a moment about what you ll be doing tomorrow around 10:00 a.m.

12 Whether it s job related, or family related, or community related, or whatever consider what God might be asking of you in that moment. Let s, each one of us, go into this coming week, recognizing that God is calling us into the many experiences that we have, & wondering how understanding that, changes the way in which we do our tasks, & interact with people, & live out our life. A couple of final thoughts about this story where was Samuel when God 1 st called his name? He was sleeping in the sanctuary where the Covenant Box, (X) the Ark of the Covenant, was. 12 Let me just remind you, in case you don t know exactly what this was. This gold covered, wooden chest contained a gold jar with manna in it, Aaron s stick that had sprouted leaves, & the 2 stone tablets with the commandments written on them. (Hebrews 9:4) It was the Hebrews most prized possession. They believed that God was present with it. (Exodus 25:22) Now, with that in mind, I believe that every word of Scripture is in here for a reason. (2 Timothy 3:16) For example, God could simply have said Samuel was sleeping. But He went into detail. God s saying I want you to know where Samuel was sleeping.

13 Why would God give us these details? It was because He wanted us to see that, when Samuel heard God s voice he was sleeping in the sanctuary, where the sacred Covenant Box was. 13 In other words proximity was critical. If you re gonna hear you ve gotta be near. Come near to God, & he will come near to you. (James 4:8) I confess that there are times when Kathy & I are sitting at the dining room table after dinner, & she ll be sharing something she feels is important. And I m kind of listening, but I m also thinking about what I need to get done. So I begin to multitask. I get up & take the dishes to the sink. I start to clean them & put them in the dishwasher. Then I remember that there s something downstairs in the family room I need to get &, off I go & she s still talking. And at that point she gets a little irked go figure! Now, why does my wife get frustrated? Because she knows if I m not in the same room I m probably not listening to her anymore. The same point can be made spiritually. Jesus said Where 2 or 3 come together in my name, I am there with them. (Matthew 18:20)

14 If we re going to hear God s voice, if we re going to know His will for our life we ve got to be in the same room as He is. 14 Now certainly this includes spending time in prayer & reading Scripture. But praying & reading without coming to Church won t get it done. Jesus expects us in Church. One of the reasons He came & died on the cross was to establish His Church. (Matthew 16:18) So He expects us to be an active vibrant part of it. It s not a suggestion, it s not an option it s an invitation to be with Him to be in the same room. So, proximity is critical. If we re gonna hear from Him we ve gotta be near to Him. The 2 nd thing we need to do, if we want to hear God s voice is work on our priorities. What I mean by that is that there will be times when listening to God will be inconvenient. Now I really like listening to God from 9:00 to 5:00 during the week & on Monday & Tuesday evenings & certainly on Sunday mornings. But the Lord called to Samuel in the middle of the night. To be honest, according to my schedule, that s kind of inconvenient. But that s when He had Samuel s complete attention.

15 God will often call us to things that: don t fit our schedule don t fit our agenda don t fit our ideas of what should be done 15 So, if we want to know God s will for our life 1 st, proximity is critical we can t hear if we re not near. 2 nd, priorities are vital who s will are we truly wanting in our life? Ours or His? (Luke 22:42) Lastly, in order to hear Him, I have to give God permission to speak to me. Hmmmm Listen to Eli s advice to Samuel Go back to bed; & if he calls you again, say, Speak, LORD, your servant is listening. The story is told about Thomas Edison. When he was a boy he applied for a job as a Morse code operator. Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the office address that was listed. When he arrived, he entered a large, busy room filled with noise & clatter, including the sound of the telegraph in the background. A sign on the receptionist s counter instructed job applicants to fill out a form & wait until they were summoned to the inner office. Tom filled out his form & sat down with 7 other applicants in the waiting area.

16 After a few moments, he stood up, crossed the room, & walked right into the inner office. The other applicants looked around, wondering what was going on. Within a few minutes, the employer escorted Tom out of his office, & said to the other applicants Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has just been filled. 16 The other applicants began grumbling Wait a minute, we don t understand. He was the last to come in, & we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That s not fair! The employer said, I m sorry, but all the time you were sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the message in Morse code: If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours. None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did. We live in a world full of busyness & clatter. It s easy to be distracted & unable to hear the soft whisper of God. (1 Kings 19:11-12) What about you? Softly & tenderly Jesus is calling, Calling for you & for me. See, on the portals He s waiting & watching, Watching for you & for me. MARANA THA