Listen for God
January 14th, 2024
2nd Epiphany
1st Samuel 3: 1-10
Psalm 139: 1-5, 12-17
John 1: 43-51
1 Samuel 3:1-10
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.
At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; 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. Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” 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. 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.” Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 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. 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.
Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
Homily by Rev. Megan Limburg
Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our
hearts be acceptable in your sight,
O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.
The clock on my car dashboard said 7:23am.
My meeting was set for 7:40am and I could already be there, except for the stop sign right in front of my car.
Let me back up a little. This was last Wednesday, the day after that crazy wind and rain storm, and as I headed out, the sky was quickly clearing and the day promised sunshine.
Tim and I live out Bluff Point Rd, and like so many roads around here now, crews are working to install the underground cable that I guess offers us the promise of faster and more available internet.
So, as I drove along the curves of Bluff Point Road, I was not surprised to come upon a truck with flashing lights and two people outside the truck, getting things out of the truck bed.
They were paying no attention to me, and as there was no car behind me, and I could see around them enough to pass them, I moved into the left lane, at which point one of them saw me, and violently gestured for me to get back in the correct lane, and grabbed a portable stop sign from the back of the truck and held it up, giving me a look that dared me to disobey.
I got back in my proper lane, and waited for further directions, figuring when we got to a very clear straight away, she would gesture for me to pass.
But no, one worker unloaded a sign saying “Caution Road Crew Ahead” and set it up, while my guardian with the stop sign continued to hold the sign in front of me, while another car slowly approached and fell in line behind me.
Then the truck began to move very slowly down the road. And the woman with the stop sign walked carrying the STOP high, while the young man walked along, ready to unload the next sign. And our 2-car parade followed them at 5 miles per hour.
We stopped again as a second sign was unloaded, “SLOW One Lane Road Ahead” it said. A second young man got out of the car to help set it up, and the STOP sign continued to be held high.
It was at this moment that I saw it was 7:23am. The shadows of predawn hung around the small work crew and the air was cold.
But all I could think of was my meeting. And I was getting very annoyed.
We were now on a very clear straightaway, why would the young woman not just motion the now three cars waiting to go around them, and let me get to my meeting!
Ok, full disclosure, my meeting was not with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, it was with Deb. But still, it was important and I needed to go and I could go, safely, if not for that young woman with the STOP sign, who kept looking me in the eye and daring me to pass.
Which I hate to say, I considered doing anyway. I was quite sure that as a highly educated white woman with an excellent driving record I knew far better whether I could pass safely.
But I had a boss years ago who always said to imagine the headline, and I could just see it in the Rapp Record:
“Local Episcopal Pastor Arrested in Work Zone” or even worse, “Local Episcopal Pastor Arrested for Fight with a Highway Worker”.
So, I sighed and settled in again, to wait.
And it was absurd.
Now 5 cars behind me, and we continued our 5 miles per hour parade down the road, following the truck, the 2 guys setting up the signs, and my nemesis, the young woman with the STOP sign.
The sun had peaked out and was burning off a bit of fog in the fields, and the day was beautiful.
And I finally got off my high horse.
When we think of being called by God, we think of fixing something, helping someone, being the one to solve a problem or point out to others what they are doing wrong and help then finally get it right.
In our reading from Samuel today, every time God called to young Samuel he responded:
“Here I am, for you called me.”
But only after he talks to the prophet Eli, does Samuel learn the first thing about call: we don’t get to choose it, God does.
Eli tells Samuel when he hears God call his name, he should answer:
“Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”
We are called not to righteously jump out, sure of our knowledge, no, we are called first and always to listen, to listen to God.
At 7:31am I finally shut up about how I was late, I finally shut up about how I knew how to drive safely, I finally shut up about how I was smarter than these young people, I finally shut up and listened, listened to God.
As the sunlight brightened, I knew my call was not to be in charge here, I knew my call was not to fix this, my call was to wait, not with annoyance or eye rolling, but with grace, kindness, empathy, and even joy.
Finally the 5-mile per hour parade was finished, the last sign put up, and the truck pulled over to the side of the road.
And the driver got out, an older woman who looked beleaguered and tired. By letting go of my self-righteousness, I could see she was starting a long day herding these young folks and teaching them to do their jobs, and keeping them safe on this narrow twisting road. And I realized this woman would still be out here in the cold, when I was snug in my meeting eating breakfast and planning religious activities.
The young woman with the STOP sign finally turned it say only SLOW, and gestured to me to pass the truck, still scowling, and I did the only thing I could, I smiled to her and drove slowly past, and I smiled to the older woman, and drove carefully onward.
And as I came around the next curve in the road, the sun burst out from the clouds and almost blinded me with its brilliance. I needed to be struck by the light to finally get off my high horse and listen to God.
Amen.