1Sam 3.1-20; Ps 139.1-6,12-18; 2Cor 4.5-12; Mk 2.23-3.6
When did you first hear God’s voice?
Do you remember it?
Do you remember the first time God
spoke directly to you, and said “Hello, precious and beloved child. I have big
plans for you!”
How about the first time God
communicated that you were marked for a very important task – even if it wasn’t
going to be an easy one?
When God speaks to us, it can happen in
a variety of ways. Sometimes, some people will hear actual words. Take Samuel,
for example, as a child servant in the temple. There are other folks who will
have heard the voice of God in less concrete ways. It’s a stirring, or a
nudging. That feeling that you simply MUST do something in some way – that
you’ve been led down a hallway of possibilities, but every door feels wrong
when you get to it – until the one at the end opens and you think "AH...
this is EXACTLY where I'm meant to be, doing EXACTLY what I am meant to be
doing!"
I'd like to suggest that the first time
God spoke to you, you won't remember it. Because I believe that we communicate
with God right from the very beginning of our being. The God who (as the psalmist
poetically describes) started knitting us together in our mother's womb - who
was part of our being before we even saw the light of day. The creator who was
with us so tenderly and gently as we were lovingly, wonderfully, marvellously
made. God has always been communicating to us. God started calling us before we
knew there was anything other than God.
So my question for you this morning: How
is God calling YOU? How is God engaging with you today? What is the whispering
in your heart that is directing you towards God? What is the stirring of your
soul that is inspiring you to kingdom-work?
If the answer is “Um... I don’t
know...” I invite you to pray, and to listen. Notice the hints that are being
revealed to you in creation. Seek out the suggestions that just seem to present
themselves in your life. Listen to the still, small voice that pervades your
thoughts. Reflect on the nuances that have been shared with you on your journey
thus far.
And: speak to a spiritual companion,
someone who can help you to be clear that what you are hearing is God's voice
(spoiler: if a voice tells you that you *need* a 54 million dollar
fourth-private jet, and that others should pay for it - it's probably not God
speaking.) So we follow the biblical example of engaging with companions on our
journey, ensuring the call is confirmed and verified by others who are on the
same path.
But it's not always easy - just
consider Samuel! His story starts out before he does - his mother's experience
of prayerful service is a powerful story, so Samuel's entire life was one of
knowing that God was actively communicating and calling him into loving
service. He saw how his mother modeled praying, listening to God's call, and
actively discerning her ministry by dialoguing with other faithful people. She
demonstrates faith and devotion, always expressing in word and deed her trust
in the Lord. What a learning environment for Samuel, before he is gifted to the
service in the temple.
So today's passage starts where the
child Samuel – probably about 8 years old – embraces God’s call, getting help
from Eli. Eli – who is the man behind the not-so-great behaviours that Samuel
is being called to confront and change. Eli - who embraces that God’s work is
there for us at any age – remember he’s an elder, and helping a child to
embrace active service to God. And we see that he responds faithfully to the
difficult message that Samuel gives him. It would have been easier for Eli to
just keep doing his own thing, presuming himself to be right; it was the
faithful thing for him to accept change, knowing that God was speaking to him
through speaking to Samuel.
It's a POWERFUL story. Makes you wonder
how many times God had tried to speak directly to Eli about his ways, and was unheard
or ignored.
So now we can apply this learning to
our own lives. WOW. How many times have we ignored God speaking to us, because
it was inconvenient, or awkward, or didn't fit in with our personal agenda. How
many times have we not realised that God was speaking, because we weren't in a
place to hear it, or we didn't know how, or we didn't have anyone to talk with
about it? How often have we thought that God only calls other people. For other
things. At other times.
Yet: God calls. God calls each of us.
God invites us into ministries, of varying scopes and durations. God calls
people to their careers: teachers - and mortgage brokers - and garbage
collectors. God calls people to specific tasks: to work at the homeless
breakfast - to offer prayers in the church - to read to children. God calls
people to their roles - to be a husband - or a friend - or a parent. God calls
us all: for a lifetime, for a short time, for a moment. God calls us into
service: into ministry.
What a wake up call for us all then.
Because God is speaking to you – God is
speaking to all of us. God wants to be heard. God is inviting us all into
ministry. God is providing countless opportunities for all of us to express
what it means to be a Christian, what it means to be baptised, what it means to
be the body of Christ: the family of God, living in the service of Jesus. God
has called all of us - is calling all of us - will continue to call all of us.
Every day, God is inviting us to do what God has made us to do, to preach the
kingdom of God.
I hope that whatever God is calling you
to, that you will trust that God is with you, every step of the way: in our
good moments, in the moments where we could do better, in the bad moments that
we wish we could just erase from our history. God is there – encouraging us,
empowering us, inspiring us.
Don’t let the world tell you that you
can not or should not do your ministry. If it is of God, it is meant to happen.
Sometimes the world doesn’t want to receive it though: there are some folks who
are so afraid of what might be possible if we let in the light of God, that
they would prefer to sit in the darkness. It’s what Paul was encountering in
Corinth; people who made it all about themselves, who developed a following not
for God but for their own ego. It's incredibly unhealthy, and sadly:
unChristian. It’s why he was very clear that loving and serving God was NOT
easy. And so he warns that if we get too caught up in the realities of this
world, in those clay jars, we miss the light that is within us – and we miss
the opportunity to share that light. And that is just sad.
The Gospel repeats this: that the world
does not always want to receive the light of Christ. Jesus himself faces
opposition – from folks who claim to be religious. So we learn that sometimes,
even those who we think do – or should – be bringers of the light, may have
fallen into habits that promote staying in the darkness – because it’s easier.
The Pharisees tried and tried to
silence Jesus, with quite frankly, terrible excuses. Pathetic attempts. It's
not a good day to heal, they say - as though God wants suffering to extend
because of our calendar. It's not the time to pick food, they say - as though
God wants people to remain hungry at any time.
So I invite you to embrace your
ministry. Listen to God's call. Celebrate the ongoing communication that you
have always had with the divine. Ignore those who would do or say things to
deny light and love for the sake of their own popularity or ego,
As Shel Silverstein so brilliantly
articulated about a world so quick to deny light and love and the power of
possibility:
" Listen to
the MUSTN'TS, child,
Listen to the
DON'TS
Listen to the
SHOULDN'TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WONT'S
Listen to the
NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me-
Anything can
happen, child,
ANYTHING can be."[1]
May
your ANYTHING be exactly what God is calling for you to be: what God needs, and
what God wants, and what YOU can provide to the world.
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