When God Speaks, Who Listens?
1 Samuel 3:1-10
Professional athletes, as a group, are not noted for their oratory skills – off the
playing field, that is. From what I understand, several of them are highly
efficient when it comes to getting under the skin of their opponents by the use
of verbal punches. I think it’s called "trash-talking" – or at least, it used to be
called that. But the ability to stand in front of a group of people and talk about
something other than the sport they play is uncommon.
Maybe that’s the reason why one interview, conducted with a professional
football player, stands out in my mind now, even though it’s been several
years since the interview was conducted. (Of course, the fact that the athlete
is a former All-American football player at the University of Tennessee could
have something to do with it, too.)
The interviewee was Reggie White, who at that time had just completed the
terms of his contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, where he had made the
All-star team almost every year since he became a professional. After his
contract with Philadelphia had been fulfilled, White, who is also an ordained
minister – hence his nickname, "The Minister of Defense" – had been free to
sign with any team he wished. And he had several offers that would have
made him a very rich man. But when decision time came, White shocked
most football observers and many of his friends by signing with the team
which was located in the smallest city of all the National Football League
franchises – the Green Bay Packers. The reporter who was conducting the
interview asked White how he had reached his decision to play for the
Packers. I will not soon forget what White said next.
"I spent a lot of time praying about this," White said. "And one day as I
prayed, I heard God say, ‘Reggie, go to Green Bay.’ So that’s what I did."
I suppose White either saw something in the way the interviewer looked at
him at that point, or maybe the reporter chuckled at this response. For
whatever reason, what White said next was this: "You know, when you tell
people you’ve been talking to God, they don’t have a problem with that.
That’s praying. If you believe in that sort of thing, it’s okay. But when you
say that God talked to YOU, then they think you’re crazy or something! Isn’t
prayer supposed to be a conversation with God? And in a conversation, don’t
BOTH parties talk?"
Many people do have problems with that today. And, to be fair about it, I
have to admit that there is some justification for concern or skepticism. Far
too many folks make false claims about hearing the voice of God. "God
spoke to me through my dog and told me to go kill every woman with a
certain color hair that I could." "God told me to take my AK47 assault rifle,
load it, and go down to McDonald’s and open fire." Or what I find almost
equally appalling, "God told me to tell you that He wants YOU to send ME a
$100 pledge of faith donation. And in return, I will send you one of these
beautiful, hand-sewn, anointed prayer rags." All kinds of people are making
all kinds of claims about hearing the voice of God these days.
Let’s take a look at what happened to a child in the Bible as God spoke to
him.
Read 1 Samuel passages 3:1-10
Many of us may have a problem in believing that God still talks to ANYONE
in our day.
"The word of the Lord was rare in those days," says the writer of 1
Samuel, "and there were no frequent visions."
It could be that this is a dryspell for you in hearing from the Lord! Or it could
be a dryspell for this church!
Perhaps we hear those words today and our misery takes some comfort in
knowing that it has company, that there have been other times in history when
the word of the Lord was rare.
Oh, we’re willing to concede that maybe there are a few people around today
– a VERY few – to whom God might speak – Billy Graham, for instance; or
Pope John Paul, and maybe the pastor of this church hears from God every
now and then. But God wouldn’t speak to just anybody, not any more – if
God ever really DID speak to anyone.
"The word of the Lord was rare in those days, and visions were not
widespread." Yes, that pretty well describes OUR day, wouldn’t you say? Or
does it?
A recent survey conducted among members of the Catholic Church found that
the majority of those who were interviewed reported having mystical,
life-changing experiences with God. But the majority of those who reported
having such experiences also said they had never told anyone about them.
When they were asked to explain that, most of them answered, "Because
people would think I was crazy, or a Jesus freak or something."
It makes you wonder if the word of the Lord is really rare today, as it was in
young Samuel’s time. Or have we postmodern people simply lost the ability
to hear and see when there is a word or a vision from God?
From the very beginning of time, God has spoken. Remember? "And God
SAID, ‘Let there be light’…." Throughout the ages, the Bible records
instances where God SPOKE to the patriarchs, the lawgivers, the judges, and
the prophets. When God finally decided that the time was right and, in a
divine burst of revelation, poured out saving grace over all of humanity in the
person of Jesus Christ, the writer of the Gospel of John summarized the
event, "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us."
From the very beginning of time, God has been a talker. So why do we have
so much difficulty believing that God stills speaks today? Why does it seem
to us that God has fallen silent, and we’re alone in the world without God to
guide us?
I suspect that the problem is not with God. I suspect that the problem is we’re
just not listening. And not only do we not expect God to speak, more
importantly we don’t expect God to speak to US! "Now why in the world
would God want to talk to a nobody like me when He could talk to the
President of the United States." Maybe that’s a bad example right now, but
you understand what I’m saying. As we go about our day-to-day business and
busyness of living, caught in the grip of the ordinary stuff we expect to
happen every day, the word of the Lord is rare in our day, and visions are not
widespread. Really? Is God silent? Or are we just not listening, and could it
be that we’re afraid of what we might hear?
When can God speak, He can pseak at any time, but we hear Him the
best when obstacles are out of the way! Satan is great at keeping us
busy!
What did you expect when you got ready to come to church today? To see
some good friends and catch up on what’s been happening with them since
last Sunday? To sing some old favorite hymns (or not)? To hear a wonderful,
spirit-filled, biblical, short sermon (or not)? Or did something deep inside you
ask, "I wonder what God will have to say to me today?"
When you open the pages of your Bible to read, what do you expect to
encounter? A lesson in morality? An inspirational story? Authoritative support
for some pattern of behavior about which you have already made up your
mind (that’s called "proof-texting," by the way)? Or do you open the pages of
your Bible expecting to hear the voice of God speaking to you, instructing
you, inspiring you, molding your heart and mind in the image of God? Would
you know God’s voice if you heard it? (That’s not an insult – it’s a valid
question. Stay with me, now).
In this story from the Old Testament, when the young Samuel heard his name
being called, he didn’t know it was God. He thought it was Eli calling him.
The scene is really funny if you think about it. God keeps waking Samuel up
and Eli keeps telling him to go back to sleep. The storyteller says, "Samuel
did not yet know the Lord." Well, duh! Which leads me back to my question
about whether or not we would recognize God’s voice if we heard it. We hear
our name being called by a whole chorus of voices – some of us more than
others – asking us to do this, buy that, drink this soft drink, eat this cereal, use
this Internet provider or that one. So it’s only natural, isn’t it, that if God
should call us, we might be confused and not be able to recognize whose
voice we hear? Like Samuel, when the voice of God calls our name, we tend
to become confused and more than a little bit afraid, especially when our
relationship with Him is less than ideal. Look again at verse 7:
Samuel, did not yet know the Lord!
God has the capacity to pseak to anyone and everyone regardless of their
condition in relationship to eternity. Has He spoken to you lately? Have you
listened? Have you responded to Him? I pray that the answers are all yes!
People turn to the church seeking affirmation of the voice of God in their own
lives. All too often, as the most visible figure in the church (look around. How
hard is it to figure out who the preacher is?) the bulk of that awesome
responsibility falls on the minister. But I’m not going to let you off that easy,
and you know it! Because, no matter how loudly you might protest, you
already know that the responsibility of helping others find the will of God for
their lives belongs to the "priesthood of all believers" – to the whole church!
A story is told of a pastor in Texas who answered a knock on the door of the
parsonage one Monday morning and found the church treasurer holding a
check and scratching his head.
"We’ve got ourselves a little problem here, preacher," the treasurer said. "I
have a check here for five hundred dollars."
"Well, those are the kind of problems we need around here," the minister
said.
"You don’t understand," the treasurer continued. "Look at who the check is
made out to."
The minister took the check and read the top line, "Pay to the order of
God…."
"Who’s going to endorse that check?" the treasurer asked.
"You are," the minister replied. "Would you want word to get around that this
church received an offering intended for God and didn’t know what to do
with it?"
The awesome responsibility of representing God rests squarely upon the
church. It’s a responsibility that creates the possibility for the church to
accomplish many good things. But it also creates the opportunity for us to do
evil. As people turn to the church to affirm the word of God in their lives, we
can either help them understand or add to their confusion.
What happens when the voice of God calls people to "make a joyful noise to
the Lord," while the voice of the church says, "SHHHH! I hope that you don’t
do that sort of thing here!"
What happens when the voice of the Lord calls out to His children, "Make
disciples of EVERYONE," while the voice of the church says, "Well,
everyone EXCEPT…."
When God speaks what do you do? Whatis your first reaction, what is your
very first impulse? I am just like many hear, I
First run to others before praying through it!
We are the body of Christ, the representatives of God. If our words and
actions are not in line with the word of God and the actions of Jesus, how
helpful can we be?
Andrew Young tells the story of how delighted he was when his oldest
daughter began to become more active in her local church. With each new
commitment she made to the church, he became more and more pleased and
proud of her. But one day she told her parents that she had signed up to go on
a trip with Habitat for Humanity to build homes for the poor in Uganda,
Africa. This was not long after the fall of Idi Amin, and Uganda was still a
very dangerous place to be.
Andrew Young would later make this confession: "I tried to talk her out of it.
I mean, I wanted her to go to church, find a nice Christian man to marry,
develop a relationship with God, and settle down. But believe me, I didn’t
have anything like this in mind! I mean UGANDA? But she told me that she
felt God was calling her to go. So what could I say?"
Even though in times like these it may appear that the word of the Lord is
rare, God is not silent. God is constantly speaking, constantly creating,
constantly calling. And one night, when you’re minding your own business,
watching television or reading a book or surfing the Internet on the computer;
or one Sunday when you’re in church, just going through the motions, there is
a voice. You hear your name, you recognize the voice, and your world will
never be the same.
Now, if you don’t want to risk that, church might not be a place you want to
hang around too much. And you sure don’t want your children hanging out at
church, because if they do, someday THEY might just hear the voice of the
Lord. Then what will you do? Will you try to discourage them and offer to get
them some psychiatric help? Or will you tell them, as Eli eventually told
Samuel, "The next time you hear that voice, you answer back,
‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening’."?
Prayer!
Invitation
