Samuel, Samuel!

Here is last Sunday's sermon. Please note my bipartisan prayer.

Eric Lemonholm

January 18, 2009

Epiphany 2B

1 Samuel 3:1-10; John 1:43-51

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

This week we will witness an historic event, something that was once rare in the world – a peaceful, democratic transition in political leadership.

It will be the seventh time in my life that we inaugurate a new president of the United States.

Let us pray for our nation and our leaders:

God, be with us at this time of transition.

Thank you for faithful leaders who have led this nation for over two centuries.

Thank you for President Bush, and those who have served under his leadership for the past eight years. Bless him in his retirement from public office.

Guide our new president, Barack Obama. Give him wisdom and insight, humility and patience, to help him lead this nation.

Let the United States be a beacon of freedom and hope, of peace and justice, in the world.

Walk with us through these times of uncertainty and financial hardship.

Help us to focus on what matters most: the good of our neighbors, in our nation and our world.

We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Samuel was a boy or young man.

He lived in ancient Israel, before Israel had a king. At that time, it was a loose federation of 12 tribes.

Samuel lived in the temple of God at Shiloh, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, where Eli and his two sons Hophni and Phinehas were priests, where the people of Israel came every year to worship the Lord.

The Bible tells us that “The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions [of God] were not widespread.”

Even though Samuel was sleeping right in the temple, he had never heard God speak.

So it’s no wonder that when God started calling his name, “Samuel, Samuel,” he did not realize who was calling.

Three times God called, and three times he answered, “Here I am,” and ran to Eli, thinking the old, blind priest had called him.

Finally, Eli realizes that the LORD is calling Samuel, and he tells Samuel what to say to God when God calls again.

A fourth time, God calls, “Samuel, Samuel,” and this time Samuel replies, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’

God has a word of judgment for Samuel to speak.

It is a time of transition or succession.

No longer will Eli and his sons be priests of the Lord.

In fact, Scripture tells us that Eli’s sons were scoundrels who abused their religious authority for their own personal gain. When Eli confronted them with their sin, they did not listen, and he could not or would not stop them.

So it is through the voice of a boy, Samuel, that God judges and condemns Eli and his sons.

God passes the mantle of leadership from Eli to Samuel.

It is Samuel’s inauguration.

Samuel becomes a great prophet, someone who speaks the word of God to God’s people.

No longer would the word of God be rare in Israel, for God was with Samuel and “let none of his words fall to the ground.”

The name Samuel in Hebrew means something like “Name of God” or perhaps even “Listen to God.”

Samuel certainly listened to God, and for the rest of his life faithfully exalted God’s name, and proclaimed God’s will to Israel.

It is Samuel who will later anoint Saul, and then David, as kings of Israel.

Do you know what it’s like to be called by God?

Garrison Keillor tells an anecdote from his youth. It’s a story about the choosing-up of sides for sandlot baseball games. Here’s how it happened back then — and, how it happens still.

There were two boys, as Garrison tells it: Daryl and David. They were always the captains, exercising their prerogative as though by divine right. First they would pick the popular boys, the natural athletes. Then it came time to deal with the rest:

“After the popular ones got picked, we stood in a bunch looking down at the dirt, waiting to see if our rating had changed. They took their sweet time choosing us; we had plenty of time to study our shoes. Mine were Keds, black, though white ones were more popular. Mother said black wouldn’t show dirt .... Nine boys to a side, four already chosen, 10 positions left, and the captains look us over. They choose the popular ones fast (‘Brian!’ ‘Bill!’ ‘Duke!’ ‘John!’ ‘Bob!’ ‘Paul!’ ‘Jim!’ ‘Lance!’), and now the choice is hard because we’re all so much the same: not so hot — and then they are down to their last grudging choices, a slow kid for catcher and someone to stick out in right field where nobody hits it, except maybe two guys, and when they come to bat, the captain sends the poor right fielder to left, a long, ignominious walk. They choose the last ones two at a time, ‘You and you,’ because it makes no difference, and the remaining kids, the scrubs, the excess, they deal for as handicaps (‘If I take him, then you gotta take him’). Sometimes I go as high as sixth, usually lower. Just once I’d like Daryl to pick me first. ‘Him! I want him! The skinny kid with the glasses and the black shoes! You! Come on!’ But I’ve never been chosen with any enthusiasm.”[i]

The amazing thing is that you have all been picked by God.

And you’re not God’s last pick.

You’re on God’s list of first choices.

God has called your name.

Perhaps not as dramatically as Samuel’s experience in the temple of Shiloh.

But God has called you by name.

You are God’s chosen one.

And God has given you a task, a vocation, a calling.

God wants you on the team.

Just like Samuel, you have a role to play in God’s plan for the world.

How will you answer God’s call?

How will we answer God’s call in 2009?

That’s the question for today, and that’s the question we will ask one another at our annual meeting next Sunday.

What is God calling us to be and to do?

Here is what we heard in the Gospel story:

Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

Jesus command is so direct and to the point: “Follow me.”

Jesus follows the K.I.S.S. rule: Keep It Simple, Sweetie!

“Follow me.”

Follow Jesus.

That’s the call we have received.

Our special focus during Lent this year is going to be on the Marks of Discipleship: growing habits of life that ground us in God’s word and will, and send us into the world as Jesus’ co-workers.

Our focus for the year will be growing the marks of discipleship in our congregation.

After Jesus called to Philip, “Follow me,” Philip said to Nathanael, “Come and see.”

Come and see. It’s what you want to say to your friends and family when you’ve discovered something—or someone– wonderful. You want the people you love to come and see.

Come and see. It’s what you want to say when you’ve been called by Jesus to follow Him.

God is calling us on an adventure, a journey, a life of faith as Jesus’ disciples. The number one way that Grace Lutheran Church will continue to grow is by each of us saying to our friends and neighbors, “Come and see.”

God is calling to you.

Answer God’s call:

‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’

‘Come and see.’

Amen.

Let us pray:

Lord God, you have called us by name, by grace.

Guide us as your church in this place, as your people, as your children.

Lord Jesus, you call to us, saying “Follow me.”

Give us the strength to answer your call and follow you this day, this week, this year.

Grow us in your image as we follow you.

Grow in us, faith in your faithfulness, hope in your future, and love for you and your creatures.

In Jesus’ name and by the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

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[i] Garrison Keillor, Lake Wobegon Days (Viking, 1985), 180-181. Quoted in Homiletics, 1/18/09.