Every now and then I preach at my local church, Toowong Uniting, in Brisbane. This story comes from one recent example. Before you read the message, checking out the bible reading I’m reflecting on will help. It’s 1 Samuel 3.

Good morning! I feel like it’s been so long since I shared with you on a Sunday morning that I should re-introduce myself! I’m Scott, and with my family – some of whom are in the worship team this morning – we’ve been part of the community here for about 11 years. For a long time, I’ve worked with the Uniting Church across Queensland and earlier in Tasmania, helping congregations and leadership teams reflect on mission, discipleship and strategy. It’s lovely to share with you this morning.

It’s quite the story, this one of Samuel and Eli. It is, in a very real sense, the story of Samuel’s call. But it’s also Eli’s story. And of course, it’s God’s story – God comes calling, so to speak. Before we dig into what we’ve just heard from Warwick, let’s set a little bit of the scene – spell out some context so to speak.
Eli is the priest, he’s one of the main characters in the story. They only barely get a mention here, but he has two sons who serve in the tabernacle at Shiloh along with him – and we’ll get to them in a minute.

The book of Samuel actually opens with the story of Hannah. She’s married to a bloke called Elkanah, and as was the way in those days, there’s another wife Peninnah. Penninah, we hear, has born children, but Hannah hasn’t. There is jealousy and rivalry at play in the household – even though Elkanah clearly loves Hannah. She feels the sting of not having children – for her, that’s important – and is constantly praying that God would bless her with a child. So powerful is this urge, so determined is she that he promises that if she’s blessed with a child she will dedicate that child to the Lord’s service.

We also hear this funny little story of an encounter between Hannah and Eli at the Tabernacle. Hanna is there, making sacrifices with Elkanah, and praying desperately, wordlessly for the child she craves. Eli sees this but doesn’t understand what’s going on – he just sees her chattering away to herself. Eli accuses Hannah of being drunk. When she explains herself, Eli gets it, blesses her, and promises God’s favour on her. It’s not so long after this that she gives birth – Samuel has arrived on the scene.

As soon as Samuel is weaned – and most commentators think that’s probably somewhere around 4 or 5 years old, Hanna takes him to the Tabernacle to fulfil her promise to commit the child to God. She presents Samuel to Eli, to be brought up in the Tabernacle as a servant of God. Imagine bringing your pre-schooler down to TUC and presenting them to Clare or Matt to be raised in service of the Lord! From a child-safety perspective, there’s no way the Uniting Church would allow this! It’s a worldview that doesn’t make sense to us in this age.

Recently I spent some time in Longreach working with the Church there and was reminded of the challenge to many of our remote families when they send their kids off to boarding school at age 10 or 11 – knowing they’ll likely never properly live at home again. That’s tough enough – imagine doing that with your longed-for first child at age 4?

In chapter 2 Hanna prays an extraordinary prayer of thanksgiving. It’s somewhat similar to what we know as the Magnificat, that astounding prayer that Mary later offers as she recognises the blessing she has in giving birth to Jesus. It’s rare for the bible to tell women’s stories – so this story of Hannah, her faithfulness, her prayerfulness, her commitment and dedication – it’s a story worth paying attention to. The rest of the morning we’re talking about the story of Samuel and Eli – but not without recognising the extraordinary story of Hannah, her determination and her faithfulness.

While Hannah is demonstrating what it means to seek the Lord faithfully, Eli’s own two sons are well off the rails, described as ‘having no regard for the Lord’ and being ‘scoundrels’. What a great word…scoundrel! They’re treating the offerings of the Lord with contempt, and leading people astray. That’s important context for later in the story.

Meanwhile, Hannah keeps on caring for Samuel, even from a distance. She comes to visit when she can, bringing him a new robe to wear as he grows older. Eli blesses her again, God takes note of Hannah’s faithfulness and she has more children. Samuel, we hear, grows up in the presence of the Lord.

What of Eli’s pair of scoundrel sons, on the other hand? Hophni and Phinehas….they’re even further off the rails by now. Eli tries to whip them into shape, but they ignore him and continue on their scoundrelous ways. I do like that word…I think I’ll start using it more regularly! At this point a prophet visits and lets Eli know in no uncertain terms that God is not pleased, that none of his family will live to an old age, both sons will die on the same day. And, that God will instead raise up a new priest, one who is faithful, just and trustworthy.

No prizes for guessing that we’re talking about Samuel.

And all of that brings us to this call story. This story in which Samuel, the boy who has been serving the Lord since such an early age hears his call. The story in which God comes calling.

So, some basic facts of the story.

Samuel is a few years older by now. The Jewish historian Josephus suggests he was perhaps around 12 years old. He’s old enough to have learned quite a bit, having lived in the Tabernacle for perhaps 7 or 8 years by now, growing up with Eli.

This one night, a night that probably seems like any other, he heads off to bed, sleeping in the sanctuary as he does. It’s kind of a funny story really, isn’t it? This story of getting Eli and God mixed up. I don’t know about you but I have visions of a 12-year-old running through the Tabernacle at night to respond, dodging the pews, the baptismal font, the communion table.?

It says something about Samuel’s character I think – that he’s obedient and responsive when he perceives Eli has called to him. He might not realise who’s calling – but he responds quickly each time. If it was me, I’d respond slower and slower each time, and be more and more annoyed every time Eli denies calling. I’d be muttering under my breath things like “senile” and “I just want to go back to bed”.

Perhaps burdened by the fog of sleep, Eli eventually, at the third time of asking, figures out what’s going on. He puts his priestly mentor hat on and suggests a different response for Samuel to use the next time God comes calling. Eli seems in no doubt that there will be a next time. And he’s right.
It’s a clear call, an encounter with God that probably doesn’t make much sense to a modern mind. A verbal call, an audible call, the very voice of God in the night. God, quite literally, comes calling in the night, waking Samuel from his sleep.

This time Samuel offers that prototypical response – the one we’re learning we should all offer, maybe the bravest possible response: “Speak Lord for your servant is listening”.

God speaks, gives Samuel the details and lays it all out. It’s a hard message for a kid of 12 to hear. The next morning Eli manages to get the full story out of Samuel and that brings us to the end of the story. If we were to read on, we’d find that the prophecy against Eli and his sons does come to pass – they both die on the same day – and Eli shortly after.

Samuel is indeed, the one mentioned in the Chapter two prophecy – and perhaps the true son to Eli after all.

So that’s the story – and even in just reading it and reminding us of the basic facts the lessons are pretty clear. I’d like to take a few minutes to remind us of four particular aspects of this story, four things to remember when God comes calling.

So the first thing we notice is that Samuel doesn’t immediately recognise God’s voice. Maybe he wasn’t expecting it, maybe wasn’t ready for it. There’s nothing in the story to suggest this night is any different from the hundreds of other nights Samuel has gone to sleep in the Tabernacle. There’s no reason he should be expecting God to show up on this particular night. Reading from the outside, we of course recognise immediately what’s going on – but Samuel doesn’t. Maybe that’s true for you and me as well. Maybe we’re not ready, not expecting it, not realising that God might come calling. Maybe it’s today – even though today is no different to any other day? I can’t help but wonder if I’d recognise God’s voice? Would you? What do you think God’s voice sounds like?

The second thing we learn in this story – or at least my second observation – is that sometimes it takes a trusted friend or mentor to help us figure out what’s going on. Samuel can’t figure it out on his own, and doesn’t know what’s going on. His first assumption is wrong, as are his second and his third. It takes the different perspective that Eli offers to eventually figure things out. That’s the value of trusted friends and mentors. These are people who can help us when we can’t make sense of things.

I grew up with a pair of mentors – Lynn and Gary. I’d go to them when I was having trouble figuring things out when I couldn’t work out what God was saying. When my self-reliant discernment was at its end. Lynn and Gary would always be ready to think things through with me, to pray for me, to prod me along to work out what was going on. They were my Eli. Let me ask you to go away today wondering this one thing: who is your Eli?

Third – and remember there are four things. Third, God continues to call. God calls not once, not twice, not three times – but four times. Four times he calls Samuel in the night. God, we might be reminded, is a pursuer. God keeps calling. A wise friend once told me that if you sense God calling you, run as far and as fast as you can. If it really is God you won’t get away, because God will keep calling. That’s a bit facetious and I’m not really advocating that as a response – you might want to reflect on the story of Jonah and the consequences for him of continuing to run when he knew God was calling.

Four, and finally. Samuel and Eli eventually figured out what’s going on, and Samuel offers that most extraordinary, courageous response of “speak Lord, your servant is listening” And what does Samuel get? A nice message about how God loves him? A call to ministry on a Whitsunday Island? No, Samuel receives a hard call, a confronting message. He’s given this message about Eli – a man who has cared for him for 7 or 8 years, who is perhaps some combination of mentor or father figure. The message God gives Samuel is hard. Sharing that message with Eli must have been one of the hardest things I can imagine a young person having to do. The call is hard. Sometimes that’s how it is. We’re not all called to easy things, to nice messages, to comfortable lives. We’re not all called to settled, happy circumstances. Sometimes God comes calling and the message is hard.

I’ve not had the experience of an audible call. I’d be terrified if I did. Incidentally, that seems the response of most who are called in the bible – fear, anxiety, and a “who am I to do what you’re asking?” kind of response. Think of Moses for example.

I have had one experience that was as unmistakable as it was unexpected. At the time I was working for the Uniting Church in Queensland, as part of the property team there that helps the church manage all of its property across the state. If you know me, you’re already thinking “What? He knows nothing about property!”. And you’d be right.

One day I was on the phone to a church in Perth, tasked with doing some research about their work and life to see what we could learn for our property team. I spoke to them for maybe 30-40 minutes, loving every moment of the conversation I hung up the phone and my boss said “You just talked to those guys for all that time and didn’t ask a single question about property! I’m not sure you’re in the right job, and I want to help you get into the right spot – give some thought to what you really want to do and let’s talk some more”.

I went away, knowing he was right, and started thinking about it. I pulled a post-it note from my desk drawer – you know those square ones – and wrote down all the things I would want in an ideal job. I stuck that post-it note to my desk phone and got on with the day trying to think about property. A day or two later the Uniting Church newspaper arrived and I was reading it….to avoid doing property work. Imagine my surprise when I saw a job ad – you guessed it. The same size as my Post-it note and containing all the same things I’d written down. I was in no way qualified or experienced enough for the job, but I picked up the phone, called the number and said “Tell me more”. A few months later our family packed up and moved to Tasmania where I spent the next five years supporting Uniting Church congregations across the state with their mission, strategy and direction. I’m not super-spiritual…but that experience was my Samuel moment. My boss – coincidentally another Gary – was my Eli.

As you go today, as you enter into the week, as you get started into the meat of 2024, let me invite you to reflect on the times God has come calling, and to think a little about the next time that happens. Will you recognise when God comes calling? Do you have a trusted friend or mentor, an El, to help figure out what’s going on? Have you already heard the call a couple of times but missed it? And how will you respond if it’s a hard call?

Samuel’s story, Eli’s story. Hannah’s story. God’s story. God comes calling. How will we respond?