"speak Lord, We Are Listening"

“Speak, Lord, We are Listening”

1 Samuel 3:1-4a

The passage begins in darkness, not just the kind of darkness we experience at night, although it is nighttime.

We are told that “the lamp of God had not yet gone out.”

The lamp of God, according to Exodus 27, was supposed to burn from evening until morning, in the Holy Place, in the Temple, near the Ark of the Covenant.

So, it is dark because it is night, but it is also spiritually dark.

We are told in verse 1 of Chapter 3 that “In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there weren’t many visions.”

Some scholars believe that this means that God wasn’t speaking much to the people back then.

But I don’t think that is the case.

I think God was speaking as God is always speaking.

The problem was that people weren’t listening.

This was the time of the Judges, and at the end of the Book of Judges we are told that “everyone did as they saw fit.”

They were without direction.

They were lost.

They were walking according to the flesh and human wisdom rather than the Spirit and knowledge of God.

It was a dark time in history.

Even the priesthood had become corrupt.

In Chapter 2 we are told that Eli’s sons “were scoundrels” and that “they had no regard for the Lord.”

They were stealing the meat that the Israelites were bringing to them as sacrifices for God.

They were also taking advantage of the women who were serving at the tent of the meeting.

They were sexually molesting them.

What a mess.

Having been led astray by the corruption of their spiritual leaders, people weren’t listening to the voice of God, and so, yes, the word of the Lord was rare and there weren’t many visions.

There is a lot to be said for the Church being the Church, and for Christians to live out their faith in Spirit, love, and Truth.

God often speaks through the words and actions of God’s people.

The day before I left for college the doorbell rang.

Standing on our front stoop was our pastor.

He had in his hands a brand new leather-bound pocket-sized Bible.

He handed it to me and said, “I hope you will read this.”

It turned out to be the first Bible that I ever really read.

I became so engrossed in that Bible that I could hardly put it down.

That, along with making new Christian friends changed my life forever.

God spoke to me through the Bible and through those who were already following Him.

I listened.

I couldn’t get enough.

I gave my life to Christ and I became a brand-new person.

I didn’t have that Bible for long.

I got to where I would carry it wherever I went.

One day, while waiting at a bus stop I got into a conversation about God with a homeless man, he was a Vietnam Veteran.

I gave the Bible to him because he didn’t have one.

When God calls us, He not only calls us to follow Him He also calls us to BE His Word to those whom we come in contact with.

St. Francis coined the saying, “We may be the only Bible some people ever read.”

That doesn’t mean we have to be perfect, nor does it mean that we should be phony.

What it does mean is that we must be in constant communication with God.

We must feed on the love He has for us…for that is the only way we can love ourselves, love Him, and love others.

The only way that can happen is if we are listening to what He says, to what He is calling us to do, to how He is calling us to spend our time, and everything else, and then do it—live into it.

It must be intentional.

I’m far from being perfect.

But, I’m a much better person, and much more at peace when I am listening to God and following His guidance rather than just doing things as I see fit.

We belong to the Holston Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, and one of the priorities for Holston in 2024 is to participate in Holston’s Read Together Initiative.

Daily readings begin with Genesis 1 and finish with Revelation 22 on the last day of 2024.

It’s not too late to start.

If you want the list of readings for each day you can go to our Church Website at rbumc.org.

Click on “events” and you will find them in our latest newsletter.

I like what our Bishop Reverend Debra Wallace-Padgett has to say about participating in the initiative.

She writes: “For the past 20-plus years, I have participated in various read through the Bible programs that feature daily assigned readings.