I preached this as a first-person sermon. It is the opening sermon of the summer preaching that will spend it's time in 1&2 Samuel and I Kings. I hope it gave an overview for the summer. It is always fun for me to do first-person sermons. the text below is an approximation of what transpired. when I preach with no notes, what gets said often departs from the notes I had worked with during the preparation time.
As often is the case, much of the congregation appreciates a first-person sermon. This is my second first-person sermon this year (Jonah visited earlier in the year!), plus Lisa and I did a two-person sermon, and we have had sermon with jazz music as a core part of the sermon. Not sure how often doing something unique is effective. of course, if every week something different, then unique is no longer unique!
I Samuel 3: 1:20 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.
2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; 3 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. 4 Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!”[a]and he said, “Here I am!” 5 and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. 6 The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8 The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 11 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. 12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God,[b] and he did not restrain them. 14 Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.”
15 Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 16 But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” 17 Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.”
19 As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord. 21 The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.
"Sammy, Sam, Samuel" June 3, 2018 I Samuel 3: 1-20
Samuel: Hello, my name is … I was a prophet and a judge. Do you know what a prophet is? I didn’t have crystal ball or anything, but I talked to God and God talked to me and told me what to tell God’s people. “Thus sanity the Lord,” that’s how I would begin when God had something for me to tell them.
But I was also a judge. Not a judge like on People’s Court, but a leader of the people. Someone like Samson. In fact, there were even a few women judges like Deborah, who were great leaders of God’s people.
During my time I saw a lot. I was the one who anointed Saul. I was the one who anointed David. But I guess it all goes back o my mother, dear sweet Hannah. How desperately she wanted to have a child, but she seemed destined not to have one. She would go to the temple and pray to God: “o god, if you will just give me a child, I will give him to you for your service.” one day, Eli the priest heard her prayer and told her God would grant it.
Soon I became the child in her womb, and before too long, I was kicking and screaming, the child,Hannah longer for, the child she would turn over to God. And so, when I was old enough o go work at the temple, she took me to be one of God’s servants.
Sammy: Hello, my name is….I’ll never forget the day my mother brought me to the great priest Eli. I couldn’t believe I was going to work with him and learn from him. I almost got to see his sons, Hophni and Phinehas. they were the ones who should have taken over for Eli when he got older, but , well I don’t know how to say other than to say they were bad people. they’d steal money and food from the poor, and I heard they even has sex with all sorts of women. My mother raised me to follow God, not do the tings they. I can’t believe Eli’s sons were so bad.
I’ll never forget what happened one night. I was asleep in the room next to Eli’s, and I heard a voice: “Samuel, Samuel.: it scared me to death, but I figured ti was Eli so i ran into the other room and said, “here I am master.” Turns out he was asleep and I woke him up. He told me to go back to bed, ti was only a dream. I wasn’t asleep very long before I heard the voice again, “Samuel, Samuel.” I went back and woke up Eli again. He said he hand’t called me again, and to go back to sleep. I couldn’t figure out why Eli was playing this trick on me, but I went back to bed, and again I heard the voice, “Samuel, Samuel.” This time, I pretended I didn’t hear the voice, but no luck - “Samuel, Samuel.”
I didn’t want to wake up Eli again, but I didn’t really have much choice, so I went in woke him up again. This time Eli scared me. he said, ‘Sammy, I think God is calling you. Next time you hear the voice, say “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.” I’ve never been so scared in my life. could God really be calling me?
I tried to stay awake so i wouldn’t have to hear God calling my name again, but I fell asleep. Sure enough, I heard a voice calling me, “Samuel, Samuel.” I answered, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” then God told me about some bad things that were going to happen to Hophni and Phinehas, and then God told me I would be the next great priest. Me? How could I be that person?
I promise you I did not sleep the rest of the night. Eli asked me if God had called me again and what God said to me. I didn’t want to tell him, but I did. He sighed and said that God was right. I asked him, “I can I, Sammy, but God’s servant?” I was so cared. Eli said to me, “God will be with you and God will show you.”
Samuel: Hello, my name is …. Eli was right. God was with me when Hophni and Phinehas met their death, and I was the one who was called to serve. Boy was I scared then. Still am sometimes today, but God has always been there with me. With a life I have had a judge, prophet, and priest to God’s people. And then another day that is etched in my memory forever.
Sam: Hello, my name is….I judged over Israel for many years, and then I appointed my sons as judges, but they would not serve the Lord. One day the elders of Israel came to me and told me they did not want my sons to taking over when I died. Instead, they wanted a king like all the other nations around them.
A king? I have never felt so rejected. But the Lord told me, “Don’t feel bad, Sam, the people are not rejecting you, they are rejecting me. Can you imagine how the Lord must have felt? God’s chosen people turning against God. Here was a sadness in God’s voice I shall never forget. I could almost hear the tears coming down God’s face.
So I gathered all the people of Israel, and I talked to them. I told them they did not need a king. God would lead them like God always has led them, and their parents, and their grandparents. So what if other nations have a had a king. We didn’t need a king we we were God’s chosen people. But they would not listen. They had to have a king.
So God sent me to find Saul, who would be the first king. What a sight to see - he was the tallest most handsome man in Israel - the women adored him and the men would follow him anywhere. What a grand king he was a magnificent fighter and powerful leader. I began to think the king idea might work after all. But eventually King Saul forgot that he was God’s chosen king and began to think he was too good to obey God’s commandments and that he could make it on his own.
So the Lord came to me and said you have to anoint another king, this one from the house of Jess. Not me, I told him. Saul will kill me if I go and find another king.
But God gave me a plan for why I would go to the house of Jesse to find a king. I had Jesse bring me all his sons to see which one would be king. I kept thinking, this is the one, but even after the oldest, the strongest, the most handsome one had come before me, I had not gotten the sign from God that one of them was to be the next king.
“are there any more sons?” I asked. “yes,” but he is the youngest, so we left him in the fields tending sheep.” I told them to bring him to me. When I saw the youngest, the one called David, I knew he was the one. Everyone was surprised that David was the one, but I remembered what God had told me: “humans look at outward appearances, but I look at the heart.”
It took some time and lots of turmoil before David could become king. Saul fought, literally, against David. But God was right. David had a heart for God. He made mistakes. I would watch him and remember why kings were a bad idea, but then I’d see how much he loved the Lord and know his heart would always return to God. I began to see how a man could be a king of God’s people if he would follow a heart for God.
Then time seemed to pass me by.
Samuel: hello, my name is….I’m an old man now. I don’t do too much now, except remember things. Oh yeah, I can remember lots of things.
Seems like I remember lots of mistakes - my mistakes and the mistakes of God’s popped. hard as we tried to serve God, it seems like we kept failing. I remember thinking time and again, if I’m following God, why am I so scared abut what I’m about to do. Then, I’d remember Eli, good old Eli, who told me God would always be with me, and God would always show me the way.
I guess that’s what I mostly remember - in everything there was God, always showing me how to serve better, always forgiving me, never giving up on me. Maybe you know that God, too.
Well, that’s enough rambling from an an old man. Maybe we can talk again sometime.
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