The Call of the Lord - 1 Sam 3: 1-20

When was the last time that someone asked you to do something for them? Perhaps it was to run an errand for them, or watch their children. Maybe it an invitation to simply spend time with them, or something else entirely. What was your response - did you do what that person asked you to do? What was your process behind deciding how to respond? And how quickly did you respond?

A lot of us feel that Christianity is expressed by doing things for others, both when they ask and when the do not. And to a certain extent this is true, when it is coupled with a discerning spirit. But today’s scripture passage reminds us that the true mark of our faith is how we respond to what God asks us to do.

One of my favorite events that the annual conference holds is called God’s Call. There are two events held every year, one for teens and another for adults, but both with the purpose to help people discern what God is calling them to. While the original aim may have been to help people who are called into ordained ministry, as the event has evolved over the years, so has the understanding that God calls us in a variety of ways to different ministries in and beyond the walls of the church. Through this event, and others like it, I have been blessed to hear hundreds of people’s call stories - their personal narratives about God calling them and pursuing them relentlessly. While each story is unique, almost all have one thing in common, resistance. As relentlessly as God pursued a person for a specific task, with that same passion did people resist God, creating excuses or trying to ignore the call on their life. One gentleman told me that he knew that he was being called for over twenty years, but was too sacred to respond, so he just ignored God.

If the story of the call on Samuel’s life teaches us anything, it is God will not be ignored. Samuel was a young boy whom his mother had hoped and prayed for during her years of infertility. While crying out to God, she promised that if he would only give her a child that she would commit the boy back to the service of the Lord. And that is what she did. When Samuel was old enough she took him to live at the temple with the priest Eli. But even with all of those years of living at the temple, Samuel did not recognize the voice of the Lord.

Samuel heard a voice call out to him after he had went to his mat to sleep for the night. “Samuel, Samuel!” And like an eager servant, he ran to the one he thought was calling him, the priest he served, Eli. I imagine that Eli was not as eager as Samuel to have his sleep interrupted. I can picture him rolling on to his other side, waving his hand, as he said, “I did not call you; lie down again.” Then it happened a second time. Samuel, might have thought that the old man was testing him, or had forgotten that he had called him, so he rushed in a second time, declaring that he had heard Eli calling his name. Again Eli dismissed him. Finally, the third time, even through his sleepy haze, Eli was able to discern who was truly calling out the boy’s name, God. He told Samuel to stay where he was next time the voice called, knowing that there certainly would be a next time, and tell the Lord to speak, for his servant was listening.

Time and time again I’ve had people tell me that they wish God would speak to them in an audible voice. Call out their name and give them instructions. But when God speaks to you, do you know that it is God, or do you mistake it for someone else? Do you respond to the voice of God by saying that you, God’s servant, are listening, or do you ignore the voice of God?

Last week during the Covenant renewal service, we affirmed the following statement together, “Christ has many services to be done. Some are more easy and honorable, others are more difficult and disgraceful. Some are suitable to our inclinations and interests, others are contrary to both. In some we may please Christ and please ourselves. But then there are other works where we cannot please Christ except by denying ourselves. It is necessary, therefore, that we consider what it means to be a servant of Christ.”The truth is, often God calls us to do thing that we would rather not do, because we our task to be easy and covenant, and God does not settle for the simple plans or the easy way out. No, God’s dreams for the Kingdom of God and our role in it, are much larger then what is easy. But they are the best.

Samuel was only a young boy, but God gave him a difficult task - Samuel was to deliver the news to his mentor, Eli, that God was doing something new and he and his house were not part of the plan. In fact, Samuel had to tell the one whom we loved like a father that his family would be perished forever for their sins against the Divine. Samuel couldn’t fall back asleep after God spoke to him, because he was so troubled by the words. So he lay there until morning, fearing what he had to tell Eli. But even through Samuel would rather have not heard the message and rather not have relayed it Eli, he did so. Samuel responded to his hard task with the grace of a servant. Are we willing to do the same? Or do we hide from the message of God, fearing what it will cost us more then we fear God?

We have much to learn from this story. Calls are not simple. They often ask us to set ourselves aside as we seek to serve God in the way we are called. While the story of Samuel was about one call in particular, the book of 1 Samuel reminds us that he was called upon by the Lord time and time again. We, too, rarely have only one call from God. Instead, we have a series of calls, or calls within calls, that emerge. I wish I could say that it gets easier to respond to calls as time goes on, but I’m not sure that it does. Even when we trust God, we often resist the call of the Lord when we are asked to do something that we would rather not do. But perhaps that is the true mark of a servant of Christ, the ability to do what we may not want to, trusting that it is for the glory of the Kingdom of God.

God is the God of calls. We have seen time and time again that God has called his people to step outside of their comfort zone - Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Jesus, the Disciples, Paul, the list goes on and on. Sometimes we have an experience like Paul on the road to Damasuc where it is impossible to ignore the voice of God. Other times we have calls like Samuels, which can cause delayed recognition that God is calling us and speaking to us by name. But no matter what the call, there will be two components. First, a nudge by God. This may come in the form of a direct task, “Go and do this in-particular” other times it will simply be a leading, where we cannot see the next step until we take the first one. But no matter what the nudge feels like or it says, it will be able to be tested by scripture and other faithful Christians. Secondly, God’s call for us will involve our name. What our call is, is not for anyone else to do. Our call is specific to us, because God cares for us as individuals and knows us intimately enough to give us a personalized task or mission.

A lot of my friends have told me stories about growing up and being able to discern how much trouble they were in for something. If their parents called them by their name or nickname and asked them to do something, they should do it. But if their parents had to tell them to do something again, and had to call them by their whole name, boy were they in trouble. Does God have to call you by your full name in order for you to pay attention? Or do you respect and love God enough to do what you are called to do the first time?

There are going to be times when we do not know how to respond to God’s call in our life. Just as Samuel needed Eli to tell hi that the voice calling him was in fact the Lord’s, as well as instructions on how he should respond, so do we need Christian companions at times to help us discern the voice and call of God. We are called to hold each other accountable, which at times means we need to ask each other the hard questions about how we are responding to the call of God in our own lives and rebuking each other when we turn away from our call by taking the easy way out.

God is the God of continual new beginnings and unrelenting calls in our lives. But God will not be ignored, brothers and sisters, and we should not sit by the side if those in our midst are ignoring God’s call or struggling to live into it. We are community because we support each other, especially in times that are challenging, which most times of calling are. We gather together to help each other test our calls and live them out. We hold each other accountable as a sign of love. And we remind each other that while God’s calls are not always easy, they are indeed our calls, not to be lived out by anyone else, for the glory of the Kingdom.

What has God been calling you to do? How have you been responding to God? Has your answer been yes, but you haven’t taken any action to fulfill your call? Have you been seeking to live into your call but need support? Or have you simply been ignoring God, hoping that the call would go away, or thinking that God mis-spoke and what God has called you to do is really a task for someone else? And how have you been supporting each other in your calls as the body of Christ? Have you been holding others accountable, or do you shy away, knowing that if you hold someone else accountable that they will hold you accountable in return?

The apostle Paul reminded the communities in Corinth and Ephesus that all are called to do something in the body of Christ - some teachers, some apostles, others pastors. Some prophets, some who work miracles, and others who have the gift of healing. Some who work on administration others who are evangelists. We are all called, but we must be discerning enough to hear God’s voice and bold enough in our love for the Lord to respond to God’s call on our lives, in the hope that God is doing a new and powerful thing through us. How will you respond?