Scripture can be found here…
Welcome to Bedtime Stories, moments in scripture that reveal a God whose is with us always, and whose work sometimes takes place when it’s time for the lamps to be extinguished. Bedtime.
Once upon a time, there was a boy named Samuel. Scripture tells us the story of his very beginnings, of his mother, Hannah, who longed for a baby and cried bitterly to God about the delay. But when we meet him, Samuel doesn’t live with his mother anymore. After Samuel was born, Hannah decided to dedicate him to God, and when he was 3 or 4 years old, he went to serve at the temple in Shiloh, under the mentorship of Eli, an elderly priest, who was not very good at his job.
Here's what I mean by that. Chapter 2 tells us of Eli’s sons, also priests, who are thoroughly corrupt individuals. They are far more interested in the perks of the priesthood, than they are in serving God or God’s people. They have pilfered the choice offerings for themselves. They have raped the women who come to serve at the Temple. In our story, we read, “The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.” And we also read, Eli’s eyesight had begun to grow dim; he could not see. And we can take that as a commentary on how Eli, the chief priest at Shiloh, does not restrain or discipline his terrible sons. The best thing Eli does, is something he does right in our story.
When we meet him this evening, Samuel is about twelve years old, which means, he’s had the basic instruction in Torah, the first five books of the Bible. He probably has vast portions of it memorized. But when we meet him, he’s just a sleepy tween, and Eli hasn’t yet extinguished the temple lamp.
Samuel is tucked up in bed when he hears a voice calling: Samuel! Samuel!
You know how sometimes people will say, “When my mother calls me by my first and middle names, Watch out!”? Well, when God calls your name twice—watch out. The double call of God is seen throughout scripture. Abraham, Abraham. Moses, Moses. When God calls your name twice, something big is about to happen.
Samuel thinks old Eli is calling him, so he runs to him and says, “Here I am!” In Hebrew he says, “Hineni!” Just to put it in perspective, here’s a professor’s round up of the implications, based on who says that word in scripture, and why:
After Abraham says hineni in Genesis 22, God calls him to the mountaintop with Isaac, where a sacrifice is expected.
When Jacob says hineni in Genesis 31, God calls him to return home to face Esau, the brother who last he knew, wanted to kill him.
Moses says hineni in Exodus 3, when in the presence of the bush that burns but is not devoured, and God calls him back to Egypt to help liberate his people.
Isaiah says hineni during his powerful vision of the Temple, and God calls him to prophesy judgement on the kings of Judah.
… When [a person] says hineni to God in Scripture, [that person] is about to be called to a journey of difficult service.[i]
You know what happens. Three times Samuel hears the call, two times Eli sends him back to sleep. But the third time, just for a moment, Eli’s vision sharpens. And the old man who hasn’t heard God’s voice in a long time understands that the boy who serves him is about to hear it for the first time. I suspect something knows that the torch is about to be passed. Eli tells Samuel what to do.
Our passage ends with the boy saying, Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening, which is a beautiful, hopeful moment—the moment a very young person is called to the service of God in a very adult way.
What isn’t clear yet will become crystal clear in the next verses. Samuel is called to condemn Eli and his sons. Samuel is called to take over Eli’s ministry, not as a priest, but as a prophet. Samuel will be known as a prophet and a seer. To his credit, Eli’s response is humble and contrite: after Samuel tells him what God has said, Eli replies, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him” (1 Samuel 3:18).
The old priest who has no vision is being replaced by the young boy who can hear God’s call with clarity and respond to it with eagerness.
The boy Samuel will spend the rest of his life calling out the abuses of those in power, be they prophet, priest, or king. He will be the one to pour the anointing oil over the head of a young shepherd whom God has called to replace an older, corrupt king. With his reply to that call in the dark, “Hineni,” “Here I am, Lord,” Samuel has embarked upon a journey in difficult service.
But scripture is also very clear: God is with Samuel. When Moses asks God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, that I should carry out this impossible mission?” God doesn’t give Moses a pep talk about how well-suited he is to the task. God says, simply, “I will be with you.” God is with Samuel.
On the long sleepless night during which he has to steel himself to speak the truth to Eli, God is with him.
As he grows up and grows into his prophetic calling, God is with him.
As he charts a course that eventually makes him a maker of kings, God is with him.
And when he is finally gathered to his ancestors, God is with him.
God is with us, too, whether we are going about the quotidian tasks of our day or steeling ourselves to do something truly difficult.
God is with us, in our anguish and our fear.
God is with us, in our joy and our celebration.
God is with us, as God was with that boy. And that is our happily ever after.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
[i] Cory Driver, 2nd Sunday After Epiphany: Commentary on Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20), Working Preacher, January 17, 2021, https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/second-sunday-after-epiphany-2/commentary-on-1-samuel-31-10-11-20-6.