It was one of those warm mornings in the sanctuary as we gathered to worship. As the worship service progressed the temperature in the sanctuary rose from the body heat of the congregation that was gathered. It was that sort of warmth that lulled people to sleep; yet, most the people were hanging in there despite the temptation. But I noticed one person who was having a little difficulty . . . the church organist—Betty.
Betty had been the church organist for what seemed like forever. She was in her 70s and still plugging away at the organ every week come Sunday morning. Betty liked to sit at the organ through the whole service, which is not really a problem . . . except when the temperature in the room got really warm. I watched Betty as I began my sermon . . . she seemed alert sitting upright on the bench. As I progressed, I noticed her kind of swirling a bit and every so often leaning forward and suddenly jerking back . . . waking herself up. As the sermon went along, so did her motions.
About halfway through the sermon there was suddenly an ungodly loud noise issued from the organ . . . Betty had lost the battle with sleep and succumbing to the tiredness she had fallen forward with her head hitting the keyboard creating quite a racket If anyone else in the church had fallen asleep, they weren’t any more . . . including Betty! It was a rude awakening for those sleeping, but I had to laugh. That was about as exciting of a sermon as I had ever preached up to that point . . . it got everyone’s attention. But, poor Betty, well she wouldn’t play the organ for a couple of months because she was so embarrassed.
There are several reasons why I became a minister. True, there was the call of God on my heart to enter the ministry . . . that’s a given. Any minister worth his or her calling is going to tell you that. At the same time, well I had other reasons. One was that if I was going to have to endure someone preaching at me it might as well be me. The other was that I tend to fall asleep in group gatherings . . . if I was going to church every Sunday, I figured the only way to make it through the whole service without sleeping was to be the minister. Besides, if I fall asleep during my own sermon . . . well, it is okay for the congregation too.
Though young Samuel does not fall asleep in church he is caught sleeping when it comes to God. In our reading Samuel is sort of an intern to the old priest Eli. One night everyone goes to bed. As Samuel is falling asleep, he hears a voice call out to him. Quickly he responds, “Here I am.” Then he gets up, runs to where Eli is sleeping, and asks the old priest what he wants. Eli has no clue what is going on and tells the boy to go back to bed, he was not calling him. Then it happens a second time as Samuel is falling asleep . . . and, a second time Eli sends the boy packing to bed.
When it happens a third time, Eli realizes that it is God who is trying to talk to Samuel. He tells Samuel to return to bed, but if he hears a voice to answer, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Samuel returns to bed and soon enough a voice calls out to him, “Samuel! Samuel!”
One would suspect that if God was going to speak that it would be a theatrical production not someone merely waking another from his or her slumber. Yet, God speaks to people in many ways. God is alive and well even though there may be those who do not believe it . . . those who believe that the voice of God has been quiet for way too long. That is how our reading started out this morning, it had been a long time since the people had heard from God. But the fact of the matter is, God is constantly speaking to us. The question is whether we are listening.
God speaks to us. True, some have had the dramatic Moses and the burning bush experience, but for most of us it has been in the more subtle ways . . . in ways that touch our hearts, minds, and body. It might be in the setting of the sun over the Beartooth Mountains, or in the reassuring hug when we are feeling down. It might come in that moment when the congregational singing is suddenly harmonic, and a chill runs up the spine. It might be when we witness a person reach out to someone else in their time of need to help them change their lives for the better. Or, it might be while we sleep, and God speaks to us through our dreams. God is speaking, always speaking . . . it is whether we are listening. Whether we are answering, “Here I am” or “Speak, Lord, I am listening”.
Last week I shared a quote from Joel Osteen about God speaking to us. Osteen said: “We think when God speaks to us, there’s going to be a boom out of heaven or we’re going to get some chill bumps, but I really believe that God is talking to us all the time. He’s talking to us right in here. I call it our heart, our conscience, but it is the Holy Spirit talking to us.”
As I have said before, I do not always agree with Osteen, but on this he got some things right. God is always speaking to us though maybe not in grandiose ways, but God is speaking to us. God speaks to us and if we are listening it touches our hearts, our conscience . . . we feel the Spirit moving. The goal is to acknowledge the voice of God.
Once Samuel understood what was going on . . . he acknowledged God’s presence . . . and, he prepared himself to listen. Conversations are not just talking, in fact, the bigger part of conversation is listening. I think the reality is that, like Samuel, we have heard God call out to us, but we have rarely allowed ourselves to listen to what God has to say to us. Why? Well, I’m not sure but I suspect it has to do with the fact that often what God asks of us seems difficult. Think about it. When Samuel gave God his full attention, he was not ready to hear what God had to say . . . God explained to Samuel that God was about to put the big hurt on Eli and his sons. This was not something Samuel wanted to share with Eli despite Eli saying he could handle whatever it was. It was a tough situation for Samuel. Often, I think we believe that whatever is going to tell us it is going to be difficult for us.
And, true, it might be. Think of the times God spoke to people in the Bible. To the prophets God asked them to confront the people about their sinfulness. Think about the Christmas story . . . Mary was asked to have God’s child . . . Joseph was told to go ahead and marry Mary. Saul, who became Paul, was asked to share the “good news” with those he had been persecuting. Jesus was asked to lay down his life. God seems to have a way of drawing our attention to that which needs to be confronted and dealt with in our lives and world. Usually it is not a simple task like taking the garbage out.
Though God is speaking to us constantly, too often we are caught sleeping. Ask yourself the question about where have you heard God speaking to you? Where has the Spirit moved your heart . . . touched your conscience . . . made you have that “aha” moment when it comes to your life and faith? Made you want to do something to change the way that things are to fit better with what God desires . . . to bring about the Kingdom of God?
God speaks to us and we must listen. We do not have to be theologians or even rocket scientists to talk to God. God takes us just as we are and touches our hearts to love . . . love of God, love of others. We know pain . . . suffering . . . hardship. We know what poverty looks like, what the many “isms” are, and what injustice is. We know how it feels to be left out, to be ignored . . . to be forgotten. We know because we have seen it around us and within us . . . in our homes, communities, states, nation, and world. God is speaking.
In this season of Epiphany, we are called upon to enter conversation with God. As always, Jesus shows us the way through his life, his relationships with others and God, and through his words. Remember, Jesus is the way.
If you get caught napping in church or life, remember to say, “Speak, I am listening.” Those around you will probably think you were praying. But we are called to listen to the One who loves us, desires us, and seeks our assistance in establishing God’s Kingdom in this time and place. Amen.
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