Is It Working?

Have you ever been a part of a youth mission trip? As a youth, maybe an adult volunteer or maybe just as a parent? Well if you haven't, let me tell you it is the best experience ever, maybe I’m telling the truth or maybe I'm omitting a few details, but I’ll just leave that there.

Planning and preparing for our Habitat for Humanity trip is a different experience than being in the gang for 7 days. Because no matter how well prepared you are there are so many unknown factors that will arise and take over. Will all the youth show up, will there be hot water in the kitchen, which student will I have to keep an extra eye on all week? So you begin to question, what have I done to myself? Why would I willingly volunteer for this? Are the youth even having a good time? You might even ask Jesus to take the wheel at some point in the week. If we are here, how is God working on this trip? Is the Spirit going to be my guide or just leave me hanging?

When we say yes, we can rest assured that God is still working and even though it seems mundane, the Spirit is there. We will come back to this later.

This is the summer of the Old Testament. While Rev. Garry is away we will continue to explore a few of my favorite pieces of scripture in the Old Testament. Today we will look at the book of 1 Samuel, looking at how God is actively working in the lives of many and recognize our own limitations when we perceive God as simply the one who sent Jesus Christ. We will look at the way the paths cross when God is working. Because not only is God working but we are also responding. In some instances, it works out for good and in other instances we see what happens when we’ve lost sight of who is our God. 

Our Scripture this morning comes from 1 Samuel 3:1-10.

3 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.”

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Samuel’s story begins with Hannah, his mother. Hannah is every woman. Every woman who is struggling with societal and cultural norms. Whether that is to have children or not have children, to be a wife or stay single the list goes on and on. But she is a barren married woman. And for Hannah we know that being a barren woman would bring shame to her and her family. Hannah longed to be a mother and have her own children. Elkanah, her husband, is content with the children he has with his other wife and even says to her “why are you crying? ... Aren’t I worth more to you than ten sons?”

What was always true about Hannah is that she was faithful. She knew that the only thing she could do is ask God to do this for her. She prayed with all that she had that she would have a child.  She was so deeply committed to her prayer life that even the priest thought that she was drunk in the midst of her crying and praying. God sees and responds to Hannah.

Hannah responds to God. While asking for her deepest desire, she also gives back to God what will be given to her. Her son Samuel. She dedicated him to God and fulfilled that promise by taking him to live in the Temple with the Priest Eli.

In our scripture today, this mysterious voice is calling out. I know for me if I heard my name being called, but no one I recognized called me, I would stop paying attention, but that’s just me.

“Samuel! Samuel!” God is calling by name. Calling where only he can hear. Hearing that God called someone is not unheard of for us, but at that time it was rare. It was so rare that Samuel misses it the first, second, even the third time. Samuel’s life was ordered before he was born as Hannah dedicated him to God. He was brought to Eli when he was a small child, and he was learning what life as a priest looked like from Eli. Samuel heard his name and responded to the person closest to him. Not where the sound came from.

Sometimes it takes someone else, a parent, a friend, a mentor, to help us hear God calling in our lives. It was certainly that way for Samuel. God was audibly calling out to the boy, and he didn't recognize who was speaking to him until the old priest Eli caught on. It even took Eli three times to realize what was happening in Samuel’s life. “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening,” Eli told Samuel to respond.

Samuel was already listening and responding to Eli. He was attentive to those around him, eagerly responding to what he thought was Eli’s call. Had he not been, both He and Eli, who would have missed what God was doing in their lives.

God's voice can be hard to discern and even harder to answer. But there are Eli’s and Hannah’s for each of our Samuels out here, listening with us and helping us to hear. The Hannah’s in our lives are praying for God to move on our behalf and giving us back to the one who is calling us. The Eli’s in our lives are teaching us life, without looking to be repaid for what they give. They are listening for God in community, and we discern together the ways God is moving in our midst.

Back to Habitat. By the middle of the week of Habitat you are on the fence about whether or not this is worth it this trip. The youth are bonding, inside jokes are forming, but you still haven’t slept well on the air mattress, there’s one person that you have just been watching every day and the temperature outside continues to climb. There’s a little community forming and as leaders we love to see it happen.

But is God working here? Am I even making a difference? In the words of a wise friend, the days seem long but time is still moving forward. God is working even when you haven’t slept in two days. God is working even when you’ve been to Walmart 12 times in 4 days. God is working especially where you least expect it.

I know that our scripture reading listed is only verses 1-10, but I am going to continue reading with the verses that follow. So listen now to 1 Samuel 3:11-20:

 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.

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God

Then God says to Samuel, I’m about to shake things up, in the NRSV it says “I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle.” As if it wasn’t already strange to be having this conversation, he tells him that it’s going to get crazier. When God calls its not to that comfortable place you enjoy going, its usually to do something that challenges you, but you were made for. Then God gives instructions. These instructions made Samuel very nervous.

Eli, the Priest. God showed him grace and yet he didn’t respond.

Eli comes from a family line of Priests and caretakers of the temple. The expectation would be that one of his sons would become the next priest and his family would continue to take care of the temple. Instead, they decided to take advantage of the people and disrespect the customs and laws.

The hard truth is that we are human and flawed. So even when God is doing good things, we can at times lose sight of God. God responds to Eli’s sons’ defiant behavior. After he has warned him multiple times. Eli takes responsibility for his actions. Why would I include this bad news in our reading today? It’s important to take the good and the bad, recognizing that sometimes what’s good for you comes with a different kind of change for someone else. Life was changing for Samuel and work was ending for Eli at the same time. Eli was committed to his work as a priest, but let things slip with his sons. Samuel is left to deliver the bad news to him. Samuel is afraid because he knows that this is difficult.

Where is God working in this story? God works through the lives of multiple people to help one person make the greatest impact. Samuel will go on to play a crucial role in the rise of the Israelite monarchy. Where do you see God? Where do you hear God? God is working and waiting for us to respond appropriately. God calls Samuel. Yes, he was dedicated to God by his mother, but he still needed to hear God on his own. He heard God but it took multiple times for him to respond appropriately. Who does he become? Samuel, the prophet. Samuel becomes the mediator between the people and God. God calling Samuel leads the Israelites down a path to rebuild after many years of oppression. All because he answered the call.

It is a challenge for us to perceive God working among us in our present day lives, because we want to see the tangible benefits of what God is doing, rather than opening our eyes to the grace and love already shown to us. What you see in the world is not the same as what God sees in the world. What we see as silence is actually God and the spirit moving on our behalf.

At the end of the week of Habitat, I always hope that everyone can see the fruits of their labor. Not just on the worksite, but also in the community that they have created. God has been working all week to reignite passion in some and start a new fire for service in others. Reshaping friendships, creating new and lasting bonds, also giving students the true sense of what it means to serve others. God has been working in conversations, through building wall after wall and even working in the shared disdain for air mattresses with a slow leak.

When God is working around you, God is calling you, responding to you, seeing you, leading you, saving you and even uniting you with those around you. And after all that God is still patient enough to wait for you to respond. Patient enough to let you experience the joy, the defeat and the gratitude. Patient enough to wait until you are ready for what’s next.