Listening
1 Samuel 3:1-10
So Samuel hears the voice of God calling him. Did it really happen this way? Well once again “I don’t know if it happen this way or not but I know it is true.” In this story there is truth. So much truth. First God calls those who seem most unlikely to act on behalf of the divine in the world. Maybe another truth is that we often mistake the source of the call, the voice. Another is that sometimes we are called to challenge those that we respect the most. But really I think the truth we might need to hear today is that sometimes God does surprising things. For God comes with a message that tickles our ears. Can we believe that God is “about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle.” About to do something in this place that will tingle our ears. Something that makes you sit up, go wow, hey now that is different, that is something new and interesting. When the whisper comes can we say with faith “speak Lord your servant is listening.”
Listening is a hard skill to maintain. Some might suggest that listening is a lost art. Yet we all want to be heard. Being heard can be healing. In the 70s a group studied this is a very simple way. A researcher in psychology set up a simple apple computer with a program that echoed back to a person what they had said. They told the participants that the computer was connected to a master student studying to become a therapist. The session started with the computer asking “how are you today?” The person might respond “I am feeling down today.” Then computer would respond “So you are feeling down today.” Everything the participant said would be echoed back to them. Afterwards many of the participants reported that they thought the person talking with them would an amazing therapist. Gifted even. Simply because they felt heard. In today’s world there is a great deal of noise. The internet and social media has given us opportunities to speak. Someone posts something clever or humous or unique on some social media platform and they feel “heard” because of likes and shares. But have they really spoken their truth and have they really been heard. In the fast pace online world we have lost the skill of just listening.
With all the racket and noise of the world is it any wonder that the whisper of God’s call is lost. Who of us slows down enough to simply say “Speak Lord, Your servant is listening.” There is a mediative practice that is helpful to restore this. Find a reasonably quiet place and sit and listen. Really listen. Pay close attention for there is beauty in sound all around us that we filter out. Bird singing, water flowing, the hum on the fan, the distance rumble of a car, and even the sound of your own heart beating. The purpose of this technique is not to make you listen to external sounds but by doing so with intent your busy thinking mind slows down. Listening intently means you are not thinking constantly. It is in that quieter state of mind that the “voice” of God comes. Samuel doesn’t hear the voice calling him during the day, or while busy with ritual duties. God comes gentle in the silence of your thoughts, when your mind slows down. Perhaps even when he is half asleep. For the sake of our spiritual wellbeing we must find a place outside the racket and the noise for in the in-between moments is where we will find God.
We must listen for the direction of God but not with our egos. There are always those who say that God is calling them to do something that seems most beneficial to them personally. God is calling me to be rich and comfortable. God is calling me to be famous. Even more sadly some will believe God is calling them to abuse others, to deny others justice or even safety. The TV preacher feels called to have a jet, a mansion and a mistress. The voice of God calls us to acts of compassion and love, to justice, to peace, to sacrifice of ego’s gains and hopes. The calling of God is not to greatness and power but humility and surrender. A prayer from John Wesley might express this best.
I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be put to work for you or set aside for you,
Praised for you or criticized for you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and fully surrender all things to your glory and service.
And now, O wonderful and holy God,
Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer,
you are mine, and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
Let it also be made in heaven. Amen
Can we be brave enough to listen for this calling in our lives. To be used or set aside, to have all things or to have nothing. For God calls and we answer. It is not the other way around where we call on God to satisfy our ego need for affirmation and power. “Speak Lord your servant is listening.”
This is feel is one of the truths in this story of Samuel and Eli. Eli surrenders to the will of God even though it speaks of the sun setting on his own family. He freely passes the task, the light and hope and work on to Samuel.
There are two sides to this for our spiritual journey. One is the surrender and allowing another to take on the task. Even if we wonder if they will do it wrong, at least according to our way of doing things. We can hope that we are never the one saying “that is not how we do things here.” Or even worse “we tried that once and it didn’t work.” We may be the one needing to let go. Or we may be the one taking up the mantle like Elisha taking up the mantle of Elijah to do the work of God, even while bearing the grief of the losses of the past. Young, old, weak or strong, God uses all. From Moses, the poor speaker, to Jeremiah just too young, Abraham in his older days, Jesus the poor peasant boy, Paul with his poor eyesight, Peter the denier, blind Bartimeous, John and James so resentful that they wanted to call fire from heaven to destroy the innocent, God calls the flawed and weak, the broken and those set aside and works miracles. God calls a young lad to tickle the ears of the people with good news.
Listen! Listen for the call of God in the world. What does God want from us?
God has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God.
What do we hear from God regarding the rework of the Rundle building thrift store? What do we hear regarding the place of this congregation in this majestic valley? What are you called to in this village and in the village of Banff? How do we do justice for Creation? Not with power and all your ego collected skills but with your church and yourself surrender to the will of God. “Speak Lord your servant is listening.” “Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and fully surrender all things to your glory and service.” This truth calls us forward: we are the little one asleep by the light of God, disturb by the voice calling us to the in between places neglected by the world. It is not our strength that is called, or our great wisdom, or even our skills but our true selves called to use all we are and all we have to show the world the compassion of God. Listen God is calling, inviting us into the light of hope.
Listen, God is about to tickle the ears of the people with hope and new life. Amen.
