2nd Sunday after Epiphany 1/15/06 Text: 1 Samue 3:1-10 Title: Can You Hear Me Now?
2nd Sunday after Epiphany
1/15/06
Text: I Samuel 3:1-10
Title: Can You Hear Me Now?
I am sure that all of you have seen the Verizon commercial where the guy is traveling across the country with a phone up to his ear, asking, “Can you hear me now? Can you hear me know?” as he moves from place to place. It’s kind of a goofy ad, but it does get its point across. Use Verizon as your mobile phone carrier and you will always be able to hear the person calling you.
It is kind of weird, but that ad reminded me of our Old Testament reading for today. But before I explain what I mean by that, I need to give you a little background information on our text, so that you will know why God is calling Samuel instead of Eli the priest.
Eli had two sons, both of them priests. They were very wicked and because of what they were publicly doing they were bringing dishonor on God.
We don’t know why Eli did not discipline his sons. Maybe it was because he was just a weak father. Maybe he never trained them in the Word of God. Maybe he was afraid of any confrontation with his sons. Or just maybe, he loved them so much that he couldn’t bring himself to correct them.
We don’t know the reason, but we do know that because of what he was not doing, God was not talking to him anymore.
God just did not give on Eli, for he sent a man-of-God to tell Eli that there were going to be consequences to pay. Eli’s sons are going to die, on the same day, as punishment for living evil lives and bringing dishonor on God.
Now you would think, that after hearing his sons would both die on the same day because of their wickedness, that Eli would have made sure they stopped living their lives of wickedness. But he didn’t, so God needed to rise up another priest to speak for him, to warn Eli once more, and that is where our Old Testament text for today starts.
Samuel is a young boy who Eli is mentoring. It appears by the text that Eli might not have done a very good job teaching Samuel, for we are told in verse seven that Samuel did not yet know the Lord, for the Word of God had not been revealed to him.
As we follow the text we see that it took Eli some time before he finally realizes that God is calling Samuel. He tells Samuel that the next time God calls he is to answer with, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Samuel does that and our text ends.
It ends there and we are left hanging, not knowing what God told Samuel. It is a good story, but what is it that God wants us to learn from this account of Samuel being called by God. Well let’s see. Verse one reads, “In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visitations.” It is certainly not any different today, for so many people have shut their ears to God by centering their lives around self, or science and its ability to do all things, so much so, that God’s Word has become a distant second or third?
A little further we read that Samuel thinks that it is Eli calling him and not God. Aren’t we pretty much like Samuel? We quite often rely on the obvious. Alexander Pope, who is recognized as one of the greatest poets of the 18th Century, once made a rather brilliant observation, “Some of us never learn anything because we understand too soon.”
Boy, that is the truth, for it takes some of us a long time to catch on to what is happening. We think we know it all, so we often speak without regard for the consequences. We make decisions without thinking, and hear without listening.
How many times does God have to speak to you before you hear him? Does God have to go like the Verizon guy, “Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now?” as he tries to get your attention?
If you can’t hear him, maybe it is because you are too concerned with yourself. Or, maybe you can’t hear because of an unforgiving spirit, or a life that is too concerned with what the world offers. It could be all or any one of those things that are keeping you from hearing the call of God, none of them good.
If you are having a hard time hearing God, it doesn’t have to be that way. If you so choose to do so you can become more receptive to God’s call. I sense that there might be a little doubt out there. Maybe the question of, “How do I know when and if God is calling me?” is bothering you. If that is the problem, I have the solution. It consists of two questions that you can ask and then answer, to see if it is really God who is calling you to serve your neighbor.
First of all you need to know that God speaks to people today, just like has since the beginning of time. He speaks to you through his Word and Sacraments, for that is where you see God and find his will for you. He speaks to you through pastors, teachers, parents, grandparents, relatives, friends, and anyone else that speaks the truth of God’s Words to you, whether it is the law with its sting of condemnation, or the Gospel with its salve of comfort.
Why, he might even call you, as Larry Hannaman found out, though a six year old boy in Panama, that walks 4 ½ miles each way to church and Sunday School so that he can hear about Jesus. You never know who God speaks through, and where his call will lead you.
The second question that needs to be asked and then answered, “Is what I am being told prohibited in God’s Word?” That sounds like an almost silly question to ask, doesn’t it? But it really isn’t, for I can’t even begin to tell you the number of times that I have heard and read things that warped and twisted God’s Word. Remember, God will not entice you to sin, or to commit adultery, or to steal, or to say things that will hurt your brothers and sisters in Christ, or do anything else other than show God’s love to your neighbor.
The third question that needs to be asked and then answered is, “How can I better put myself in the position of hearing God’s call?” There use to be a very popular song by Marc Almond, and recorded by numerous artists, that is called, “Looking For Love In All the Wrong Places.” If you are looking for God in some book, magazine, tape, or preacher that does not base their teaching on God’s true Word as it is found in the Holy Scriptures, you are looking for God in all the wrong places.
So where is the best place to start so that you can better hear God’s call? You can start by reading verse one of our Old Testament text for today. See where Samuel is sleeping. He is in the temple, next to the Ark, where God resides. What that means is that you need to be near God at all times, so that you can hear him when he calls.
A good place to be near him is right here as you worship and take part in the Lord’s Supper each week. Another good place to be near him is in Bible class, for that is when you are near the ark, God’s Holy Word.
If you have convinced yourself that you are the most unlikely person in the world that God would ever call to do something for him, just look through the Bible and tell me if you find anybody listed there that deserved to be called by God to be his hands, feet, or mouth. I will save you the time, there is no one, absolutely no one, that deserved to be called by God. It is not any different today. God calls who he wants to call. That excuse just won’t fly anymore.
I would like to close my sermon this morning by asking you a question. Now it might seem like what I am going to say has nothing to do with God’s calling you, but it has everything to do with it, for if you believe in Jesus as your Savior you have been called by God to tell others of his love and forgiveness.
How many people can you introduce Jesus to this year, five, four, three, two, one, none? None, because you don’t know what to say and its scary. Let me show you something that you might never have noticed before.
Please open up your service folder or your Bible, and take a look at our New Testament reading for today, particularly verse 46, where Nathanael is asking Philip if anything good can come out of Nazareth.
Pay close attention to Philip’s response. “Come and see.” Pretty simple statement and this is coming from a person that had just been called by Jesus to follow him. Phillip didn’t have any convincing arguments. He had just met Jesus. He really did not know anything about Jesus. He just wanted Nathaniel to “Come and see.”
“Come and See”, such simple words, yet so powerful. That is something that we all can say over and over again. “Come and see”, and then let God’s Word take over from there.
What is your response going to be when God calls and asks, “Can you hear me now?” Amen.
1/15/06
Text: I Samuel 3:1-10
Title: Can You Hear Me Now?
I am sure that all of you have seen the Verizon commercial where the guy is traveling across the country with a phone up to his ear, asking, “Can you hear me now? Can you hear me know?” as he moves from place to place. It’s kind of a goofy ad, but it does get its point across. Use Verizon as your mobile phone carrier and you will always be able to hear the person calling you.
It is kind of weird, but that ad reminded me of our Old Testament reading for today. But before I explain what I mean by that, I need to give you a little background information on our text, so that you will know why God is calling Samuel instead of Eli the priest.
Eli had two sons, both of them priests. They were very wicked and because of what they were publicly doing they were bringing dishonor on God.
We don’t know why Eli did not discipline his sons. Maybe it was because he was just a weak father. Maybe he never trained them in the Word of God. Maybe he was afraid of any confrontation with his sons. Or just maybe, he loved them so much that he couldn’t bring himself to correct them.
We don’t know the reason, but we do know that because of what he was not doing, God was not talking to him anymore.
God just did not give on Eli, for he sent a man-of-God to tell Eli that there were going to be consequences to pay. Eli’s sons are going to die, on the same day, as punishment for living evil lives and bringing dishonor on God.
Now you would think, that after hearing his sons would both die on the same day because of their wickedness, that Eli would have made sure they stopped living their lives of wickedness. But he didn’t, so God needed to rise up another priest to speak for him, to warn Eli once more, and that is where our Old Testament text for today starts.
Samuel is a young boy who Eli is mentoring. It appears by the text that Eli might not have done a very good job teaching Samuel, for we are told in verse seven that Samuel did not yet know the Lord, for the Word of God had not been revealed to him.
As we follow the text we see that it took Eli some time before he finally realizes that God is calling Samuel. He tells Samuel that the next time God calls he is to answer with, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Samuel does that and our text ends.
It ends there and we are left hanging, not knowing what God told Samuel. It is a good story, but what is it that God wants us to learn from this account of Samuel being called by God. Well let’s see. Verse one reads, “In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visitations.” It is certainly not any different today, for so many people have shut their ears to God by centering their lives around self, or science and its ability to do all things, so much so, that God’s Word has become a distant second or third?
A little further we read that Samuel thinks that it is Eli calling him and not God. Aren’t we pretty much like Samuel? We quite often rely on the obvious. Alexander Pope, who is recognized as one of the greatest poets of the 18th Century, once made a rather brilliant observation, “Some of us never learn anything because we understand too soon.”
Boy, that is the truth, for it takes some of us a long time to catch on to what is happening. We think we know it all, so we often speak without regard for the consequences. We make decisions without thinking, and hear without listening.
How many times does God have to speak to you before you hear him? Does God have to go like the Verizon guy, “Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now?” as he tries to get your attention?
If you can’t hear him, maybe it is because you are too concerned with yourself. Or, maybe you can’t hear because of an unforgiving spirit, or a life that is too concerned with what the world offers. It could be all or any one of those things that are keeping you from hearing the call of God, none of them good.
If you are having a hard time hearing God, it doesn’t have to be that way. If you so choose to do so you can become more receptive to God’s call. I sense that there might be a little doubt out there. Maybe the question of, “How do I know when and if God is calling me?” is bothering you. If that is the problem, I have the solution. It consists of two questions that you can ask and then answer, to see if it is really God who is calling you to serve your neighbor.
First of all you need to know that God speaks to people today, just like has since the beginning of time. He speaks to you through his Word and Sacraments, for that is where you see God and find his will for you. He speaks to you through pastors, teachers, parents, grandparents, relatives, friends, and anyone else that speaks the truth of God’s Words to you, whether it is the law with its sting of condemnation, or the Gospel with its salve of comfort.
Why, he might even call you, as Larry Hannaman found out, though a six year old boy in Panama, that walks 4 ½ miles each way to church and Sunday School so that he can hear about Jesus. You never know who God speaks through, and where his call will lead you.
The second question that needs to be asked and then answered, “Is what I am being told prohibited in God’s Word?” That sounds like an almost silly question to ask, doesn’t it? But it really isn’t, for I can’t even begin to tell you the number of times that I have heard and read things that warped and twisted God’s Word. Remember, God will not entice you to sin, or to commit adultery, or to steal, or to say things that will hurt your brothers and sisters in Christ, or do anything else other than show God’s love to your neighbor.
The third question that needs to be asked and then answered is, “How can I better put myself in the position of hearing God’s call?” There use to be a very popular song by Marc Almond, and recorded by numerous artists, that is called, “Looking For Love In All the Wrong Places.” If you are looking for God in some book, magazine, tape, or preacher that does not base their teaching on God’s true Word as it is found in the Holy Scriptures, you are looking for God in all the wrong places.
So where is the best place to start so that you can better hear God’s call? You can start by reading verse one of our Old Testament text for today. See where Samuel is sleeping. He is in the temple, next to the Ark, where God resides. What that means is that you need to be near God at all times, so that you can hear him when he calls.
A good place to be near him is right here as you worship and take part in the Lord’s Supper each week. Another good place to be near him is in Bible class, for that is when you are near the ark, God’s Holy Word.
If you have convinced yourself that you are the most unlikely person in the world that God would ever call to do something for him, just look through the Bible and tell me if you find anybody listed there that deserved to be called by God to be his hands, feet, or mouth. I will save you the time, there is no one, absolutely no one, that deserved to be called by God. It is not any different today. God calls who he wants to call. That excuse just won’t fly anymore.
I would like to close my sermon this morning by asking you a question. Now it might seem like what I am going to say has nothing to do with God’s calling you, but it has everything to do with it, for if you believe in Jesus as your Savior you have been called by God to tell others of his love and forgiveness.
How many people can you introduce Jesus to this year, five, four, three, two, one, none? None, because you don’t know what to say and its scary. Let me show you something that you might never have noticed before.
Please open up your service folder or your Bible, and take a look at our New Testament reading for today, particularly verse 46, where Nathanael is asking Philip if anything good can come out of Nazareth.
Pay close attention to Philip’s response. “Come and see.” Pretty simple statement and this is coming from a person that had just been called by Jesus to follow him. Phillip didn’t have any convincing arguments. He had just met Jesus. He really did not know anything about Jesus. He just wanted Nathaniel to “Come and see.”
“Come and See”, such simple words, yet so powerful. That is something that we all can say over and over again. “Come and see”, and then let God’s Word take over from there.
What is your response going to be when God calls and asks, “Can you hear me now?” Amen.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 1:24 PM
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