Our Sermons

Bible Passage: 1 Samuel 3:1-10
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  December 1, 2021

This story is told in such a matter of fact kind of way, that it’s easy to miss just how remarkable it is. You see, it’s the backstory that maybe some of us don’t remember that makes this story so compelling. In First Samuel chapter one, we hear about a woman named Hannah. Hannah was married to a loving man named Elkanah, who also had another wife, as was the custom at the time. To make matters worse, up to this point, Hannah had been unable to have children. Maybe that doesn’t sound so bad, but in this culture, a woman unable to have children was considered to be cursed. And here’s the kicker. Elkanah’s other wife, Peninnah, had many children. And she wouldn’t let Hannah forget it. She kept taunting Hannah about this. Every year, when Elkanah would go up to the Lord’s house to offer sacrifices, Peninnah would taunt Hannah. It was horrible, so bad that Hannah would be brought to tears and couldn’t eat. 

One year, Hannah just broke down. She couldn’t take it anymore. So she went to the Lord’s house and began praying. Her spirit was very distressed. The Bible tells us she sobbed as she prayed. Her mouth was moving but words were not coming out. So troubled in spirit, so fervent in her prayers that when Eli the priest saw her, he actually thought she was drunk. She wasn’t drunk. She was just so overcome with emotion. Imagine wanting something so badly, that you’d even be willing to give it right back, just so you could enjoy it for a short while.That’s Hannah. She wanted a son so much that she was willing to give him back to the Lord if he would simply remember her. If the Lord would remember her, she would return her son to service in the Lord’s house all the days of his life. 

The Lord did remember her and he blessed Hannah and Elkanah with a son. She named him Samuel, which in Hebrew means “heard by God.”  And when Samuel was weaned, Hannah kept her promise. She brought Samuel back to the Lord’s house to serve under the High Priest, Eli. 

Ever since Samuel was a preschooler, he lived with the High Priest, Eli, at the house of the LORD at Shiloh. He became an assistant to the priests. He slept in a room right off of the tabernacle, near the ark of God. Part of his job was to open the doors in the morning and to tend to the lamps in the evening.  “Now it happened that Eli’s eyes had begun to grow dim, so that he could not see. Once when Eli was lying down in his place and God’s lamp had not yet gone out, Samuel was lying down in the Lord’s temple, where God’s ark was.” On this particular evening, it was very early in the morning, still dark though, for the lamp of God had not yet gone out. Eli was sleeping in his normal spot and Samuel in his. Eli was old and could barely see. It must not have been uncommon for him to call out during the middle of the night for Samuel to help him with something. You have to wonder if Samuel slept with one ear open just waiting for the next call. Only tonight, the call wouldn’t come from Eli, but from the LORD.

“The Lord called Samuel, and Samuel said, “I am here.” He ran to Eli and said, “I am here, since you called me.”  It’s understandable, isn’t it, that Samuel wouldn’t recognize the call of the LORD? I don’t know what you’re like when you sleep, but sometimes it takes a minute or two for me to get my bearings and realize what’s going on, which child is crying out, is that the alarm or the phone, right? Besides that, we learned before that, “The word of the LORD was rare in those days. Prophetic vision was not common.” Things were not good for Israel at this time. They had once again turned their backs on the LORD and welcomed sin with open arms. This horrific behavior had even made its way into the priesthood. Eli’s sons were some of the worst offenders and Eli did nothing to stop them. So God didn’t appear to his people as he had in the past. He kept his Word from them as a judgment on their unbelief and rejection. This is how bad it was, “The Lord called Samuel for the third time. So he got up and went to Eli and said, “I am here, since you called me.” Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the young man.” It took Israel’s spiritual leader three times to figure out what was happening here! How was Samuel supposed to understand? Eli may not have been the best mentor. He certainly lacked skills as a parent. But at least he had enough good sense to give Samuel some wonderful advice. Finally understanding what was happening here, he tells Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and once again lay down in his place. The Lord came and stood there and called as he had the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”” And we know from the rest of Scripture that Samuel did just that. He would be one who would lead Israel to follow the true God. He would be the one through whom God would anoint David to be king. Through a miraculous child, God would carry out his plan of salvation and prepare the people for the coming Messiah.

We are blessed that the Word of the LORD is not at all rare. We have it before us and available every day of our lives. In his Word, God tells us everything that we need to know about ourselves, about him, about his plan for us and how we fit into that plan. Yet, if we all share at least one thing in common, it might be how we don’t always listen so well. It happens here in church, during the sermons. Standing where I’m standing, I can see you. I can see what you’re wearing. I can see you when you jab your husband or wife in the ribs to wake them up or to remind them that the point just made in the sermon applies especially to them. I can see when your eyes take on that rather blank look and that you’re beginning to drift off somewhere else. It happens at home too, doesn’t it? I’m just as guilty as the next person of only giving the impression that I’m listening when really my attention is elsewhere. Who hasn’t agreed to do something without realizing they agreed to do it? Who hasn’t become frustrated because we’re not being listened to?

Right now, I want to you to take a moment and think about the worst sinner you know. I want you to picture their face in your mind. Got the picture? I’m not going to ask you to raise your hands, but my guess is many of you are not looking into a mirror. But we should be. Yes, we live in a sinful world and are surrounded by all sorts of sinful influences. Yes, the devil is constantly attacking us, trying to lead us astray. But just like Jesus once told the Pharisees to take the plank out of their own eye before grabbing the speck in someone else’s eye, we need to recognize that the greatest sinner we know is ourselves. I’m ashamed at how often I’ve failed, how often I’ve failed to listen. 

But friends, there is still hope. There is help for overcoming the sin that influences us from without and within. The way to overcome those sinful influences is to say with Samuel, “Speak, O Lord.” There was nothing about Samuel that set him apart from the rest of us. He was a sinner just like we are. So how could he respond this way? How did that happen? It happened by God’s power. The power to believe in God does not come from us. If it did, then we would deserve the credit for believing in him. No, the power to believe in God comes from God. Martin Luther explained it in his words in the Third Article, “I believe that I cannot by my own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts,” Jesus’ call to us through the gospel not only carries the invitation to believe, but the power to believe. Jesus’ call creates a willingness in us to listen to what God has to say and to follow it without question.

We’ve already heard what God has done for us. We know from that same Word that it was God who created us. It was God who loved us enough to send Jesus to live and die and rise in our place. We know that God has prepared a heavenly mansion, waiting for us when we depart this world. We know that God is the one who brought us to faith, who continues to feed that faith through his Word and Sacraments. We know that God has a plan for our lives, a plan that won’t harm us eternally, but a plan that gives us a sure and certain hope and future. We know all this from God’s Word and God has given us the power to believe through that same Word.

What we know enables us to follow our Savior and listen. The more you know about your Savior and what he’s done for you, the more comfort you will find, the more willing you will be to trust in God for everything. And that’s why we gather in this season of Advent. We gather to hear again all that God has done for us in Christ. We gather to rejoice that he used children like Samuel to carry out his plan of salvation, to prepare his people to receive the coming Savior. May he do the same for us. As we gather to hear his Word, may our hearts respond with the same eagerness as Samuel. As we prepare anew for the birth of the Savior, may we joyfully say, “Speak, O Lord.” Amen.