Lutheran Seminary's God Pause "Moved by the Promise" Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States for Monday, 12 January 2015 - Scripture: 1 Samuel 3:1-10

Lutheran Seminary's God Pause "Moved by the Promise" Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States for Monday, 12 January 2015 - Scripture: 1 Samuel 3: The Lord Speaks to Samuel
1-2 Samuel served the Lord by helping Eli the priest, who was by that time almost blind. In those days, the Lord hardly ever spoke directly to people, and he did not appear to them in dreams very often. But one night, Eli was asleep in his room, 3 and Samuel was sleeping on a mat near the sacred chest in the Lord’s house. They had not been asleep very long[a] 4 when the Lord called out Samuel’s name.
“Here I am!” Samuel answered. 5 Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. What do you want?”
“I didn’t call you,” Eli answered. “Go back to bed.”
Samuel went back.
6 Again the Lord called out Samuel’s name. Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am,” he said. “What do you want?”
Eli told him, “Son, I didn’t call you. Go back to sleep.”
7 The Lord had not spoken to Samuel before, and Samuel did not recognize the voice. 8 When the Lord called out his name for the third time, Samuel went to Eli again and said, “Here I am. What do you want?”
Eli finally realized that it was the Lord who was speaking to Samuel. 9 So he said, “Go back and lie down! If someone speaks to you again, answer, ‘I’m listening, Lord. What do you want me to do?’”
Once again Samuel went back and lay down.
10 The Lord then stood beside Samuel and called out as he had done before, “Samuel! Samuel!”
“I’m listening,” Samuel answered. “What do you want me to do?”
[Footnotes:
3.3 They. . . long: The Hebrew text has “The lamp was still burning.” An olive oil lamp would go out after a few hours if the wick was not adjusted.][Contemporary English Version]
Children sometimes wake their parents in the middle of the night because of their imagination and fears. The call story of Samuel has a young boy waking Eli the priest multiple times in the night and for a good reason—he hears Yahweh's voice calling him. This hearing seems especially remarkable because, as the story tells us, "Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him." Samuel needs Eli to help him direct his heart towards God with the response, "your servant is listening."
We, too, are often much like young Samuel as God continually reveals new ways in which to speak to us. Many of us would not know how to respond to our baptismal calling if not for the community of the baptized urging each of us to listen. Whether in daylight or darkness, we turn our ears to God asking how might we listen more deeply?
God of Grace, just as you called your prophets, may we be attuned to your calling to love and healing of the world through our work in your kingdom. Amen.
Matthew A. Maas
Pastor/Chaplain, Swedish Medical Center
Seattle, Wash. 
Master of Divinity , 2010
1 Samuel 3:1 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!" 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."[The Revised Standard Version]
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