Text used – 1 Samuel 3:1-10

• Six simple letters: R … E … A … L … L … Y. “Really.” A word that can pack a whole lot of meaning and emotion into six simple letters.
  • Can convey excitement → story of boys opening Nintendo Switch from David and Nana at Christmas
  • Can convey disappointment
  • Can convey shock and disbelief
  • Can convey sarcasm
  • Can convey all the whiny, exasperate reluctance you can muster → that sound every parent hears when they ask their kids to clean … anything
    • “It’s your turn to do the dishes.” → “Really?!”
    • “You need to put your laundry away.” → “Really?”
    • Or, as my dad used to say, “If you don’t clean up your room, I’m going to come in there with a scoop shovel.” “Really?!”
  • And while that particular six-letter word doesn’t actually show up in our Scripture reading this morning, I feel like a variety of those meanings and emotions can be found woven throughout this story.
• Before we get started → dig a little deeper into who Samuel is (depth of character)
  • Son of Elkanah and Hannah
    • in Scripture: Elkanah had two wives, one named Hannah and the other named Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah didn’t. … Whenever he sacrificed, Elkanah would give parts of the sacrifice to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. But he would give only one part of it to Hannah, though he loved her, because the Lord had kept her from conceiving. And because the Lord had kept Hannah from conceiving, her rival would make fun of her mercilessly, just to bother her. So that is what took place year after year. Whenever Hannah went to the Lord’s house, Peninnah would make fun of her. Then she would cry and wouldn’t eat anything.[1]
    • Safe to say Hannah’s life is pretty awful. I mean, yes, it told us Elkanah loves her, but she’s basically getting the short end of the stick in every aspect of her life because she’s living in this ancient culture in which the only worth a woman had was in the bearing of children. And she can’t do that.
    • So distraught over this that, during one of their (dysfunctional) family pilgrimages to Shiloh, Hannah goes again to the tabernacle there and basically throws herself at God’s feet
      • Crying
      • Praying silently (mouthing the words)
      • General state of great distress
    • But Hannah wasn’t alone in that tabernacle. → observed by Eli, the priest (same Eli in our story for this morning) → And I have to admit that from this first interaction, Eli is not my favorite person. (More on that in a bit.)
      • Eli’s initial response to Hannah = scold her for being drunk in God’s house and acting like a fool[2]
      • Hannah’s response is that she’s not drunk, “just a very sad woman”[3] who needs time to pray
      • Eli has a change of heart → blesses Hannah in the midst of her prayers: “Go in peace. And may the God of Israel give you what you’ve asked from him.”[4]
    • Following this encounter, Hannah becomes pregnant and gives birth to a baby boy: Samuel.
      • Part of Hannah’s prayer in the tabernacle that day = promise to give her child to God’s service → So when he was weaned but “still very young,”[5] Hannah does indeed take him back to the tabernacle at Shiloh and back to Eli, the priest who blessed her, and gives Samuel into his care.
• It’s in that care that we find Samuel and Eli in today’s story – the story of Samuel’s call.
  • Samuel = still a young boy
  • Eli = old man at this point – text descr. him as one “whose eyes had grown so weak he was unable to see”[6]
  • Not exactly the people you’d expect God to call … yet in the midst of their mid-day naps, that’s exactly what happens. (Here come the “reallys,” folx!)
  • CALL #1: The Lord called to Samuel. “I’m here,” he said. Samuel hurried to Eli and said, “I’m here. You called me?” “I didn’t call you,” Eli replied. “Go lie down.” So he did.[7]
    • First “really” = Samuel’s excited and obedient “really” → He’s a young boy tasked with being the helper/assistant to this old priest. That is his whole life. But because he’s a young boy still, he’s not old enough to be jaded by the many requests places upon him each day. So when he thinks he hears his mentor call, he comes. Excited. Ready to help. “Really?”
    • Second “really” = Eli’s old and exasperated “really” → I feel like there might be a little bit of “whippersnapper” in this “really.” Eli’s old. He’s got this young boy helping him (which certainly wasn’t uncommon for the time), and as is often the case with young boys, we can guess that Samuel was more underfoot than help at times! Eli just wants his mid-day nap, and here comes Samuel running to him … again. “Really?”
  • CALL #2: Again the Lord called Samuel, so Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “I’m here. You called me?” “I didn’t call, my son,” Eli replied. “Go and lie down.”[8]
    • Samuel’s “really” probably remains the same here → God bless the exuberance and resilience of children, right? Even when they’ve already been deterred once, they bounce right back with all the enthusiasm and energy they had the first time around. Samuel is, by all accounts, a good child and an obedient helper, so when he thinks he hears his mentor calling him for a second time, he is once again eager to comply. “Really?”
    • Eli’s “really” here = combination of annoyance and patience so familiar to anyone who spends considerable time around young children → conveys annoyance of being interrupted yet again but patience of one who doesn’t want to hurt the child’s feelings
      • Hear this in the endearment Eli uses: “I didn’t call, my son.”
  • CALL #3: A third time the Lord called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “I’m here. You called me?” Then Eli realized that it was the Lord who was calling the boy.[9] → the part of the story in which the “reallys” are reversed
    • Samuel’s “really” may convey just a little childhood annoyance/exasperation (hey … even good kids have their limits!)
    • Eli’s “really” is one of dawning comprehension and awe → Because it is in this moment that Eli realizes Samuel isn’t just messing around. It’s God. God’s messing around. God is calling Samuel, but, as our text said, “Samuel didn’t yet know the Lord, and the Lord’s word hadn’t yet been revealed to him.”[10] “Really, God? Really?”
  • Eli’s instruction: “Go and lie down. If he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord. Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down where he’d been. Then the Lord came and stood there, calling just as before, “Samuel, Samuel!” Samuel said, “Speak. Your servant is listening.”[11] → And I can’t help but imagine Samuel’s own internal “really” of awe and disbelief here, too. “Really?! Did you call me, God? Did you really call me?!”
• Two important things to note about Samuel’s call
  • First = the perfectly imperfect nature of those called
    • Samuel = young boy … yet God is still calling him.
    • Eli = old man, and an imperfect one at that.
      • As we mentioned previous = priest who scolded a woman in prayer because he thought she was drunk
      • Priest who’s been preparing his sons to take over for him despite the fact that sons are all horrible, immoral, corrupt men → A fact that Eli is aware of but continues to ignore.
        • And, indeed, it is because of this situation that God is calling Samuel in the first place. → 2^nd part of our reading today (optional portion that we didn’t read) = God telling Samuel that Eli’s family will be forever punished because of the wrongdoings of his sons and Eli’s negligence in correcting the situation[12]
  • Brings us to the second important thing about Samuel’s call = calls are not always easy or comfortable or desirable → It could not have been easy for a young boy to deliver God’s message of censure and judgment to his own mentor, but that is what God called Samuel to do. And he did it.
• Calling perfectly imperfect people to tasks that God needs them to do, not necessarily tasks that they themselves want to do is a pretty steady MO throughout Scripture.
  • Moses → called to speak God’s word to Pharoah despite his insistence that he didn’t speak well
  • Jacob → called to return to his homeland despite his fear of retaliation from his brother Esau
  • Ruth → called to follow her mother-in-law Naomi to Naomi’s homeland (a foreign land for Ruth) despite the fact that culture didn’t required it
  • Jonah → called to deliver God’s rebuke to the people of Nineveh
  • Jesus’ disciples → called to follow Jesus despite having already established lives and careers of their own
  • John Calvin → called to Reformation change when all he really wanted to do was be a scholar holed up in a library somewhere reading and writing (away from people!) his whole life
  • And on and on and on. Throughout the books of the Bible … throughout the historical tradition of the Church … throughout the rhythms and movements of our own days. God calls. Still. Often. And repeatedly, when necessary.
    • Scholar: How do we hear God’s call? How do we discern the meaning of the call? What should be our response? Some, like Jonah, pack up and run the other way, and some of us have tried to emulate his response down through the centuries. Others struggle for years, even lifetimes, to figure out just what God is calling them to do. Still others seem to hear God’s call with absolute clarity; they know right away exactly what it is they are to do, and they set out to accomplish it. … Decisions to respond to God’s call today are often made based on means, convenience, resources, available opportunities, job listings, desire to relocate or not, admission to one’s choice of college and seminary. Rarely, if ever are we dropped off on the temple doorstep by our mother, who dedicated us to service in God’s name.[13]
      • Famous quote by 19^th English evangelist Smith Wigglesworth: God does not call those who are equipped. [God] equips those whom [God] has called.
  • Y’all, I know there are a lot of ways and reasons we like to imagine that God isn’t calling us. The timing is tough. The situation is challenging. The interpersonal dynamics don’t match up. We don’t feel like our gifts can be used right or appreciated enough. We don’t feel like we have the energy or the “right words” or the conviction to fulfill God’s call. Or other’s have told us we shouldn’t … we can’t … we’re incapable … we’re ill equipped. But God’s call is not nearly as fickle as we are. And God’s call is more persistent than our most persistent excuses. God is calling us to do and to be, to love and to speak, to witness and to work. God is calling God is calling us. Really. “Speak, Lord. Your servants are listening.” Really. Amen.

[1] 1 Sam 1:2, 4-7.

[2] 1 Sam 1:12-14.

[3] 1 Sam 1:15.

[4] 1 Sam 1:17.

[5] 1 Sam 1:24.

[6] 1 Sam 3:2.

[7] 1 Sam 3:4-5.

[8] 1 Sam 3:6.

[9] 1 Sam 3:8.

[10] 1 Sam 3:7.

[11] 1 Sam 3:9-10.

[12] 1 Sam 3:11-20.

[13] Bert Marshall. “Proper 4 (Sunday between May 29 and June 4 inclusive) – 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20), Homiletical Perspective” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary – Year B, vol. 3. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 75, 77.