(Note: For this sermon I had my cell phone in the pulpit. I had someone call me on it just as the sermon began.) The Word of God that we will consider in our sermon this morning is the Old Testament lesson for this Sunday from 1 Samuel 3:1-10. (Cell phone rings…) Just a minute let me take this call. (Talk for a few seconds with the person.) How long would you pay attention to me if I kept talking to someone else while you sat there waiting? Or what would you get out of the sermon if I interrupted it every now and then to receive phone calls? You would be distracted and disappointed. In time you would stop listening to me because I wasn’t giving you my full attention.
We could reverse this situation. Imagine how hard it would be for me to speak to you if you were all talking to each other or carrying on conversations on your cell phones. In time I would just give up trying to communicate with you.
What I just illustrated for you with my cell phone has a number of applications to the way we listen to God and even the way he speaks to us. As we focus on the familiar story in our Old Testament lesson for today from 1 Samuel 3:1-10 about God calling Samuel we will be led to see those connections. In the process we will also be reminded of how important it is for us to give God our full attention and to really listen to what he has to say. We ask the Holy Spirit to work in us the ability that we find in Samuel. May we learn to:
“LISTEN TO THE LORD”
I. With the ears of a servant
II. With the actions of a servant
Our Old Testament lesson begins with this information. “The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli.” Samuel was one of those “miracle” babies of the Old Testament. A barren woman named Hannah prayed intensely for a son. She vowed that if God enabled her to conceive and give birth to a son she would turn him over to serve the LORD all his life. After Samuel was born Hannah kept her vow to the LORD and offered her young son back to the Giver of Life. She placed him in fulltime service to the LORD at the temple that had been constructed at Shiloh.
The first chapters of 1 Samuel not only tell us about Samuel they also tell us about the spiritual conditions among God’s people at that time. Hitting an all time low in their idolatry and immorality the Israelites could barely be recognized as the LORD’s people. Even some of the priests, especially the two sons of the high priest, Eli, were openly ignoring God’s commands and living immoral lives.
After being told that Samuel, the future prophet, was serving at God’s house we are given another important piece of background information. “In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.” Because God’s people were not listening to Him He stopped talking to them!
But that was about to change. God would use Samuel to open the ears of His people. “Listen to the LORD,” would be Samuel’s message. And he himself would be a living example of how that is done. Samuel listened to the LORD with the ears of a servant and the actions of a servant.
I.
At that time God’s people certainly didn’t have the ears of a servant. Their ears were deaf to God’s Word and closed to his commands. In direct contradiction to the First Commandment the Israelites worshipped idols. Although they kept up some of the outward signs of religion and of belonging to the LORD their hearts and lives were filled with sin. The book of Judges outlines the spiral of unbelief and wickedness down which the Israelites slid in each generation. And it wasn’t as though God didn’t try to get his people to repent. Again and again he raised up spiritual leaders who attempted to lead the Israelites to repent of their sins and change their ways. But they refused to listen. So finally God stopped talking. Again, that is why we are told, “In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.”
But there was at least one person in Israel who would listen to the LORD. “One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, ‘Here I am.’ And he ran to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’” Samuel had the ears of a servant. When he thought Eli was calling him he ran to see what he needed.
“But Eli said, ‘I did not call; go back and lie down.’ So he went and lay down. Again the LORD called, ‘Samuel!’ And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’ ‘My son,’ Eli said, ‘I did not call; go back and lie down.’” If you have ever been called out of bed several times in one night you know how hard it is to keep a good attitude about it. Most parents do fine when one of their children calls for them in the night. But if it happens several times frustration will begin to build. And how would we feel if the calls appeared to be false alarms? We would get angry or just stop responding. But in Samuel we see someone with the ears of a servant.
Before we are told that Samuel hears someone call him a third time we are given another important piece of information. “Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.” Obviously Samuel knew who the LORD was—he was serving Him at the temple. But Samuel did not know the LORD on a personal level. The LORD had not yet spoken to him nor had he previously appeared to him.
“The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’” Certainly Samuel had the ears of a servant. Three times he went to Eli thinking that Eli had called him. Samuel doesn’t ignore the voice and go back to sleep. He doesn’t say, “Well, I already went in there twice. Let the old man get what he needs himself!” Samuel didn’t tune Eli out or pull a pillow over his head and ignore the voice he heard.
Sometimes when we read a section of Scripture it is easy to see the point that God is making. Do you see it here? God reserved a spot in his precious Word to record this simple story of Samuel and Eli. And he gives us what at first might seem like unnecessary details. But through this short story he teaches us a powerful lesson. Those who would listen to the LORD must listen like Samuel—with the ears of a servant.
So let’s ask the question. What kind of ears do we have when it comes to listening to the LORD? When God calls are we ready to jump at a moment’s notice? Do we say, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening”? Or have we begun to say, “Listen, LORD, your servant is speaking”?
The action of listening to someone is often an expression of love and respect for that person. Just as love can’t be forced or demanded from someone. It is a response freely given. So too, listening can’t be forced or demanded from someone either. Even if I tied you to your pew I couldn’t force you to listen to me. If you didn’t want to listen you could still ignore me even if the sound of my voice were forced into your ears.
So in order to give us the ears of a servant God first extends his love to us. He breaks the bonds of sin that bind us. Through the blood of Jesus he redeems us—he buys us back—from slavery to Satan. Now we have every reason to be attentive to what he has to say. It is in a response of love that we now say, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening”?
Having the ears of a servant also implies that we are willing to listen closely and carefully to the LORD. We don’t assume that we know what he says. Even if we have read the Bible many times and studied it often, with the ears of a servant we gladly listen to our LORD once again.
I heard about a minister who was visiting the home of some one of his members. The lady of the house was trying to impress her pastor about how devout she was by pointing out the large Bible on the bookshelf and talking in a very reverential way of it as “the Word of God.” Her young son interrupted the conversation and said, “Well, if that’s God’s book we better send it back to him because we never read it!” Having the ears of a servant is one thing but actually using them to listen to our LORD is quite another.
Talking about listening I want to tell you about something that happened when my son Jared was about four years old. It happened shortly after we moved from Tulsa to Cincinnati.
The move left Jared a little unsettled. He always wanted to know where everyone was in the parsonage. If he couldn’t find Teresa or me right away he would start to panic. One time I told Jared that I was going to take a shower so I would be in the bathroom. But although the sound of my voice reached his ears he didn’t listen to me. When he thought I had left the house without him he ran down the street crying. Thankfully our neighbor picked him up and brought him back into the house. On the one hand I was thankful that Jared was safe. But on the other hand I was angry that he hadn’t listened to his father.
I imagine our Heavenly Father has similar feelings toward us at times. His words reach our ears but we don’t really listen to them. We then get into trouble, panic and run around crying like lost children. Thankfully he doesn’t stop speaking to us. Beginning today we have another chance to listen to the LORD with the ears of a servant.
Our congregation offers Bible classes for you to listen to the LORD. The Meditations are available to bring God’s voice to your ears. In the Forward in Christ magazine there is a daily Bible reading schedule so that you can listen to the LORD. Copies of the sermon are available every Sunday for you to read again latter in the week. And very soon you will be able to pick up a free copy of the audio Bible to listen to the entire New Testament during Lent.
“Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” Those words express the attitude of Samuel. He had the ears of a servant. May God give us such servant ears so that we too would gladly listen to the LORD.
II.
But God wasn’t calling to Samuel just to see if he was listening. He had work for Samuel to do. “Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’ So Samuel went and lay down in his place. The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Then Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’” With the ears of a servant listening to the LORD Samuel was ready to respond with the actions of a servant.
Samuel’s whole life was shaped by service. His mother had dedicated him to the LORD. He served the LORD starting at a very early age. He did various tasks around the temple. He assisted Eli with his responsibilities. So when the LORD called Samuel he went into action. The first twenty-four chapters of 1 Samuel record the actions of Samuel as a servant of the LORD. He led the armies of Israel. He became a circuit-riding judge for his people. When he was an old man he anointed Saul as the first king of Israel. Later he anointed David as king. All his years he faithfully listened to the LORD with the actions of a servant.
In his letter to the Romans the Apostle Paul stated that concerning the Scriptures “everything that was written in the past was written to teach us.” (Romans 15:4) What lesson does God want to teach us with it? He wants us to listen to him and respond with the actions of a servant. As James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” Like Samuel the LORD calls on us to listen to his Word with the ears of a servant and to respond with the actions of a servant. And yet that is where we struggle the most. Wouldn’t it be fair to say of ourselves what Jesus said, “The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” (Matthew 26:41)
So then what is the secret behind listening to the LORD with the actions of a servant? There really is no secret to it. To listen to the LORD with the actions of a servant we only need to return to our relationship with him. In our current Bible class on the Ten Commandments we noted that before God even gave the commandments he reminded his people of who they were and what he had done for them. He said, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (Exodus 20:2) Then he went on to give the commandments. For us to put God’s Word into practice we need that same reminder. God gets our attention by saying, “I am the LORD your God. I freed you from sin through my Son. I have given you a get of hell free card because I let my Son suffer it in your place.”
But how exactly do we listen to the LORD and respond with the actions of a servant? It is very unlikely that God will wake us up in the middle of the night and entrust us with some special mission. No, for must of us we are called upon to serve the LORD in much more mundane ways. By putting him first in our lives we are ready to serve the LORD. If you are a husband the LORD asks you to serve him by loving your wife. If you are a wife the LORD asks you to show the actions of service to him by loving your husband. Children are called to serve the LORD by obeying their parents and others in authority. Fathers and mothers are entrusted with the work of caring for their children and teaching them to also listen to the LORD. As an employee God calls us to do our job as if he himself was our boss. Everyday we run into people who need an encouraging word, a smile, and a simple act of friendship. All these things may not sound like great and noble tasks. No, God hasn’t asked us to lead an army, serve as a judge, or anoint someone king. But our carrying out of the every day tasks of life to his glory is the job the LORD has given us.
But we sell God short when we think that he has only asked us to do ordinary things for him. He has given us the great mission of sharing the gospel. To each of us some great gift of the Holy Spirit has been given for us to use in service to others. Has the LORD been calling you to get into action as his servant? You know if he has. Listen to the LORD with the actions of a servant.
When the LORD called Samuel he listened with ears and actions of a servant. Since we are dependent on God for the ears of servant we are also dependent on him to work the actions of a servant in us as well. Like Samuel he did in the life of Samuel God uses our lives to train us for service. As he gave Samuel the abilities he needed for service God gives us the abilities we need to serve him. As he put the heart of a servant in Samuel he puts the heart of a servant in each of us.
“Samuel! Samuel!” “Speak, for your servant is listening.” May God make us like Samuel. May he give us the ears of a servant that listen closely and carefully. May he also give us the actions of a servant. So that every day we say, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” Then with the ears of a servant we will respond with the actions of a servant. Amen.
