INTRODUCTION: In the early 1900s, back when the telegraph was the fastest method of long-distance communication, a young man applied for a job as a Morse Code operator. Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the office address that was listed. When he arrived, he entered a large, busy office filled with noise and clatter, including the sound of the telegraph in the background. A sign on the receptionist’s counter instructed job applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office.
The young man filled out his form and sat down with the seven other applicants in the waiting area. After a few minutes, the young man stood up, crossed the room to the door of the inner office, and walked right in. Naturally the other applicants perked up, wondering what was going on. They muttered among themselves that they hadn’t heard any summons yet. They assumed that the young man who went into the office made a mistake and would be disqualified.
Within a few minutes, however, the employer escorted the young man out of the office and said to the other applicants, “Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has just been filled.”
The other applicants began grumbling to each other, and one spoke up saying, “Wait a minute, I don’t understand. He was the last to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That’s not fair!”
The employer said, “I’m sorry, but all the time you’ve been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the following message in Morse Code: ‘If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours.’ None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did. The job is his.”
>> We live in a world that is full of busyness and clatter, like that office. People are distracted and unable to hear the voice of God as he speaks to them. Many voices shout for our attention—deadlines to meet, bills to pay, meetings to attend, phone calls to make, emails to answer, children to care for. What about you? Are you tuned in to God’s voice? Do you hear him when he speaks to you? Are you listening? I’m hard-pressed to think of anything more important. We have to learn how to hear God’s voice. [READ 1 Samuel 3:1-10]
I. SOMETIMES THE LORD SPEAKS EVEN WHEN WE AREN'T READY TO LISTEN (1-10)
A. For centuries God had rarely spoken to His people. “The word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions” (1). The spiritual life of the temple was in disarray due to the wickedness of Eli’s two sons and Eli’s failure to restrain them (more about that in a bit).
B. Two features of the tabernacle are mentioned in v.3, the lamp of God and the ark of the covenant.
1. Both were symbols of God’s presence. Priests were instructed to keep a lamp burning in the sanctuary every night.
2. When Samuel heard God’s voice, the lamp was still lit—i.e. it was just before dawn.
C. Notice that Samuel has difficulty discerning God’s voice from Eli’s.
1. Samuel has lived his entire life in the temple with Eli. Eli served not only as his spiritual mentor, but also was like a father to him.
2. Finally Eli discerned that the boy was being addressed by the Lord, so he advised him to submit himself to whatever the Lord would have him do. “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.”
D. APPLICATION: "Four Myths About Hearing God" (adapted from John Ortberg)
1. Myth #1: God only speaks to spiritual giants.
a. Samuel wasn’t! Neither was Moses, for that matter.
b. That’s one takeaway from this COLLIDE series.
2. Myth #2: If I am in tune with God, He will guide all my decisions.
a. God doesn’t speak to all at the same time in the same way.
b. Paul: “I don’t have a word from God on this …”
3. Myth #3: God's will is an inner subjective individualistic trump card I can use to get my way.
a. Watch “I felt led” or “I feel called” language
b. We are easily self-deceived into claiming from God what we want instead of really listening for what He wants.
4. Myth #4: There is nothing I can do to hear from God. (There is!)
[READ 1 Samuel 3:10-18]
II. SOMETIMES THE LORD SPEAKS EVEN WHEN WE AREN'T HAPPY TO LISTEN (10-18)
A. God’s message consisted of the shocking announcement that the promised removal of Eli’s family from the priesthood was about to occur.
1. The reason is explicitly stated—Eli’s sons were wicked, and though he knew it he failed to restrain them.
a. They were “scoundrels” with “no regard for the Lord.”
b. They sinned against God & His people & ignored Eli.
2. Samuel naturally hesitated to tell Eli what he had heard. On hearing these stern words of Yahweh, Eli made no complaint. His response showed his resigned acceptance of God’s judgment, so making it clear that he accepted the change in priestly leadership that was to come.
3. Eli himself lived for a short time thereafter, and indeed the priesthood continued in his family for three more generations.
a. The prophecy came to fully pass over 130 years later.
b. King David replaced Abiathar with Zadok (1 Kings 1).
B. Jesus, to unbelieving Jews in John 8:47 "Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." (They weren’t super happy to listen to that—tried to stone Jesus for that.)
C. APPLICATION: When are you most tempted to hide God’s word from others?
1. God has spoken, yet many people aren’t happy to listen.
2. When we know God has spoken, will we let that stop us sharing with others what He has revealed?
3. There’s somebody you know and care about who needs to hear a word from God through you, even though they won’t be happy to listen to it. Will you tell them anyway or will you hide it?
>> And sometimes we’re the ones who aren’t so happy to listen:
D. Erwin McManus, in his book The Barbarian Way:
My son, Aaron, was five or six when he began asking me, "What does God's voice sound like?" I didn't know how to answer.
A few years later, Aaron went off to his first junior high camp. In the middle of the week, I went up with another pastor at Mosaic to see our kids. Aaron, I learned, had started to assault another kid but had been held back by his friends. He was unrepentant, wanted to leave camp, pulled together his stuff, and shoved it into the car.
I asked him for a last talk with me before we drove away. We sat on two large rocks in the middle of the woods. "Aaron," I asked, "is there any voice inside you telling you what you should do?"
"Yes," he nodded.
"What's the voice telling you?"
"That I should stay and work it out."
"Can you identify that voice?"
"Yes," he said immediately, "It's God." It was the moment I'd waited for.
"Aaron," I said, "do you realize what just happened? You heard God's voice. He spoke to you from within your soul. Forget everything else that's happened. God spoke to you, and you were able to recognize him."
I will never forget Aaron's dug-in response: "Well, I'm still not doing what God said!"
I explained to him that that was his choice, but this is what would happen. If he rejected the voice of God coming from deep within and chose to disobey his guidance, his heart would become hardened, and his ears would become dull. If he continued on this path, there would be a day when he would never again hear the voice of God. There would come a day when he would deny that God even speaks or has ever spoken to him.
But if he treasures God's voice however it comes to him—through the Scriptures, through his conscience—and responds to him with obedience, then his heart would be softened, and his ears would always be able to hear the whisper of God into his soul.
Aaron chose to stay, I'm grateful to say. If he had chosen differently, he would have begun the path toward nominal discipleship. Perhaps he never would have rejected the faith overtly. He might have even chosen to be a faithful attender at a church and been by everyone else's estimation a good man, but he would no longer be a close Jesus-follower.
>> Sometimes God speaks when we aren’t ready to listen; sometimes God speaks when we aren’t happy to listen; but here’s the big idea we need to catch today:
III. (BI) SOMETIMES WE HAVE TO LISTEN BEFORE THE LORD WILL SPEAK
A. APPLICATION: Easy to think that God is chattering away all the time, and all we have to do is tune in when it’s convenient. But we don’t see that here. That’s why the attitude “speak, for your servant is listening” is so important in order to hear from God.
1. Samuel had to listen before God would fully speak
2. Eli had to listen before God spoke through Samuel
3. We have to listen before God will speak into our situation. God waits for us (!) to stop, to be still, and to listen.
B. APPLICATION: What is the greatest obstacle that prevents you from listening for God’s voice? What will you do to be more attentive?
1. Cut off the radio in the car: “speak, for your servant is listening.”
2. Cut off your TV: “speak, for your servant is listening.”
3. Go for a walk w/o iPod: “speak for your servant is listening.”
4. Carve out 5 minutes: “speak for your servant is listening.”
C. ILLUSTRATIONS:
1. [A story of a small group I was in that committed for 2 weeks to make time to listen to God.]
2. A time when I went for a walk, determined to listen well for God's voice. After awhile I hadn't heard anything, and I became disappointed. Maybe I wasn't doing something right. But just before I got back home, I received this word from Him: “David, it’s good that you listen. But that doesn’t obligate Me to speak.” And I thought I felt Him wink!
>> Yes, sometimes God collides with life to get our attention, but …
CONCLUSION: (BI) SOMETIMES WE HAVE TO LISTEN BEFORE THE LORD WILL SPEAK.
Vv. 19-21 give a brief summary of the years that followed, during which Samuel grew up. [READ] For the time being Eli continued as a priest at Shiloh, as did his two wicked sons. But Samuel grew in stature and attention. Whereas before the word of the Lord had been rare, it would now become common, for God had found one to whom He could entrust it. Whatever Samuel foretold came true (19). No longer was the prophetic word a rarity, and all Israel came to realize this. God’s revelation through the priests was passing away, and revelation through prophets was beginning. God’s word came regularly to Samuel, and from Samuel it was passed on to all Israel’s citizens, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south. And His Word is passed on to us—through the Scripture, and through the Spirit. The question is, will we listen?
