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| Samuel Reading to Eli by Copley, 1780 |
This past Thursday, I
got a note from my mother wishing me a happy anniversary. Every year, on the 12th or 13th of January, I receive a phone call, a note or both from my
parents with that greeting. Actually when I lived with them or near them, we
went out to eat at a restaurant of my choosing. Many times it was a restaurant
of class and distinction. When I was about ten years old, I chose Runza. Runza
is a regional fast food restaurant that in my opinion serves some of the finest
sausages. They also serve a Runza which is a meat twinkee. All of this happens
because it is the anniversary of the day that they adopted me into their
family. I say the 12th or 13th because the actual date is
remembered differently by the two people who remember the day most clearly. I
was only 12 or 13 days old when it took place, so I depend on their memories.
At some point, we couldn’t remember the precise date (more accurately, it was
remembered differently). But as we all know, the actual date doesn’t matter all
that much; but the recalling the event means quite a bit.
You see, that is the
greatest example of love: to open your life to another person, so completely,
that your own life takes a back seat. Your wants and needs are secondary to the
person you are caring for. You are blessed beyond anything that words can
describe if you experience this kind of love once in a lifetime.
The anniversary of the
day that I was welcomed into my family reminds me of how loved I am.
So, it is coincidental
that the passage of scripture assigned for this Sunday (and on which I was
reflecting on both the 12th and 13th) is about a person who
was adopted. There are many differences between my adoption experience and that
of Samuel. For many year’s, Samuel’s mother, Hannah, was considered to be
barren. She considered it a curse. She wanted a child, actually a boy, more
than anything. Helkanah, her husband, asked her, “Am I not better to you than
10 sons?” I guess the answer to his question was no. Hannah wanted a child so
much that on one night, when she had had too much to drink, she went to the
temple and voiced her greatest desire in a prayer. She promised that if God
were to bless her with a son, she would dedicate his life to God. And so, when
she gave birth to Samuel (which means “asked of God”), she brought him to the
Temple and to a preist there named Eli.
Eli was not without
family of his own. He actually had quite a family. A family known for taking
advantage of their position. You see, Eli was respected as a priest, but his
children were not so highly regarded. When people brought their offerings to
the Temple, Eli’s children would take the best of the offerings for themselves.
And, as we heard in Samuel’s vision, Eli knew this but didn’t do anything to
stop it.
So eventhough Eli had a
family of his own and problems of his own, he adopted Samuel (as would have
been expected of a man in his position) and began to train him to serve God. No
doubt this included learning to recite sacred stories of previous generations,
possibly stories about Abraham and Sarah, Moses, or even Samson. He would have
learned how to serve the temple, how to offer sacrifices, and accept offerings.
Samuel also came to know love through his adoptive father, Eli.
In response to the love
he experienced, he was willing to serve Eli in anyway possible (this is proof
that Samuel was not yet a teenager). Knowing this context is a preamble for the
story that we heard today, a famous story about Samuel’s call to be a prophet.
I think this story speaks to us because it mirrors our own experiences with the
still calm voice that calls us to speak out or stand up against injustice in
our world. The story speaks to us because we, like Samuel, don’t recognize that
it is God calling us. Samuel kept being wakened, but kept confusing God’s call
with the call of the man who adopted him, the one he knew loved him. He had yet
to discover that he was hearing the voice of God who loved him even more.
The young Samuel had
never experienced anything like it and he didn’t understand that the voice he
heard wasn’t from this world, it was a voice that only he could hear. A voice
that he was already becoming aware of because of his spiritual preparation.
When Samuel wakened Eli the third time to ask him what he wanted, Eli figured
out that Samuel was being called by God and he instructed him to respond, the
next time, by saying, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
For many, that ends the
story. The lectionary gives us an option to stop reading at that point, with
Samuel answering God’s fourth call with the words he learned from Eli.
But there are the last
ten verses to be considered. I would venture to say that these last ten verses
are much more important than the first. They certainly would be for Samuel. Samuel
knew the love of family through adoption, and God told him that he would lose
that family because of their evil self-centeredness.
God’s first message to
his prophet Samuel is that Eli has not lived up to God’s expectations of him in
his dealings with his two sons who blasphemed God. God tells Samuel that Eli’s
family will be punished no matter what they do to rectify the situation.
Samuel not only has to
hear the terrible sins about his family, he ends up breaking the news to his
adoptive father when the sun rises the next morning. I know that if I were
Samuel, I would not be excited about my new role.
Samuel spent the rest of
his life spreading God’s message to the people of Israel. Many would consider
him God’s authentic messenger, but in the end, the people would choose to get
rid of him in lieu of a king.
Samuel, if anyone in
scripture, can teach us about the hard facts of being a servant of God.
The same is true today.
A follower of God does not exist to be beloved, or wealthy, or self-centered.
Samuel knew about God before that fateful night when he was wakened by the call
of his name. He was taught about God through sacred story and ritual practice
both of which are ways to connect with God. But, Samuel came to “know God” only
after he realized that God was speaking to him in a voice that sounded very
familiar.
We can be taught about
what God tells us to do and about what God has done, but at some point, we have
got to accept God into our lives. And in doing so, we will be called to live
into a new, much more dangerous, existence.
God’s call surrounds us
everyday in the words and lives of the people we know and love. Like Samuel, we
are sometimes convinced that God’s voice is really that of the people we love
on earth. The voices that have become so familiar to us that we don’t even hear
them. The challenge before us is not “have we been called by God? but “Have you
realized that God has called your name?”
We have all been adopted
as servants of God. We mark this in our baptism and it is essential to our
nature as people of God. The challenge of being loved by God, a love that is
beyond our ability to describe in words, is that there is an expectation to
respond to that love by serving in God’s name in the world. It means being
aware of the injustice and self-centeredness and taking a stand against
it.
On Friday night, I
attended a Shabbat dinner and ecumenical worship service at the Washington
Hebrew Congregation celebrating the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. It was an
amazing night that demonstrated the power of gathering together in faith-filled
community to face the continuing challenges of injustice in our world. St.
Patrick’s exists in a city that was the site of the March on Washington and the
famous “I Have a Dream” Speech. Martin Luther King, Jr. heard God’s voice
calling him to challenge the status quo. His faithful toil helped open up new
paths for the peace and love of God in our world.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
is a shining example of responding to a call. It is an example that is known by
many. Our example may not be as profound as King’s, but that doesn’t make it
any less important. Each offering is a worthy one. Listen to the call of God
and may God grant us the ability to discern our way to serve in God’s name. Amen
The Rev. Dr. Kurt
Gerhard (kurt@stpatrickschurchdc.org)
St. Patrick’s Episcopal
Church (www.stpatrickschurchdc.org)
Washington, DC
January 15, 2012
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