As soon as I read this passage from 1 Samuel for today, I could picture it. I don’t know if any of you do this but when I read a book that is very descriptive about the actions, I picture it in my mind, almost as though I’m watching a movie. I want to thank the youth that helped to create this scene for us to experience together today.

This is a dynamic story; a story filled with misunderstanding and suspense. But this snippet that we have before us isn’t the whole story. There was a whole lot that went on with Eli and Samuel before this call in the dark. Eli had had a long run as a priest. His sons were supposed to become priests after him but they misbehaved rather badly. But Eli didn’t get after them for what they did. That was part of the reason for God’s judgment against Eli. He didn’t do anything to correct his son’s behavior.

Samuel’s past is interesting as well. His mother, Hannah, was not able to have children so she prayed to God promising that if she had a child she would dedicate him to God. While she was praying in the temple, Eli came up to her and tried to shoo her out of the temple because he thought she was drunk. Eli was willing to discipline a woman in prayer who was doing nothing wrong but was unwilling to discipline his sons who were doing a whole lot of wrong things.

Well God heard Hannah’s pleas for a child and Samuel was born. Hannah lived up to her word and as soon as he was old enough, she took him to the Temple and gave him up to serve God there. So that’s what went in to setting up this scene that we had acted out this morning. Samuel has grown up in the temple, and along with his duties of service for the temple, he also assists Eli with his needs. Since Eli has lost his sight, Samuel keeps his ears open to listen for what he might need.

The passage opened with an interesting tidbit that can be easy to overlook at a first reading. It begins by telling us that "The word of the LORD was rare in those days; visions were not widespread…. But the lamp of God had not yet gone out." So the people are no longer hearing the words that God is speaking to them. This helps to explain why it might have taken so long for Eli to pick up on the fact that if it wasn’t him calling for Samuel that it must be the LORD. We are told that Eli’s sight had grown dim. Perhaps he had grown unable to see the visions God was providing. It also said that "God’s lamp had not yet gone out" – God had not given up on the people. The lamp of God was a symbol of God’s presence to the people. As long as it was lit it meant that God was there.

Another interesting thing with this passage is the meaning of the names. Eli in Hebrew means "my God." Samuel means "God has heard." So if we think of it that way: During a time when that word of the Lord was rare, "God has heard" hears a voice and goes to "my God" only to find out that it wasn’t "my God" who had called him but "the God." Have you ever answered the call of "my God" instead of the call of "the God?"

Some might say that the word of the LORD is rare in these days. It seems hard to think that God is speaking as we hear all of the sorrow going on around us. It can be easy to have the word of the LORD drowned out by the cries of those around us. There are lots of little "my gods" around to distract us from "the God." Sometimes we mistake the voice of the little gods and distractions for the voice of the one true God. But how many times do you think it goes the other way? How many times do you think that the one true God is calling out to us and we dismiss it as though it cannot be the voice of God?

As followers of God, our continuing task is to listen to where the one true God is calling us. This is a task that continually challenges us. I know of very few people who audibly hear God calling them and telling them what to do next. But in order to hear God’s call we have to be open to listening for it. Samuel thought the only voice that would call out to him would be that of Eli. So that is what he heard. He and Samuel are alone in the temple. It is late at night, who else would he expect to hear?

In my grandmother’s old car there was a radio. It wasn’t like the ones you find in cars today with a digital tuner where you push buttons to get the right station. This radio had a dial and a little red indicator that slid up and down the radio frequency as you turned the dial. In order to get a station, you had to move the dial back and forth, slowly tuning into the correct frequency. Perhaps listening for God is a little like that radio, we have to tune our hearts and minds in order to find the right frequency to hear God’s word for us.

This radio also had buttons for four pre-programmed stations. If you wanted one of the preprogrammed stations, you had to push in the correct button. However, you couldn’t push it too hard or it wouldn’t tune in right. Nor could you push it too soft or the dial wouldn’t have enough oomph to reach the correct station. Even when you pushed the preprogrammed button, you still had to do some slight adjustments with the dial.

Perhaps listening for God’s word is a little like that. We know that there are certain preprogrammed things that can get us close to the right station. We can pray both individually and together in worship. We can read and study God’s written word, the Bible. We can live lives that exemplify the teachings of Christ. But even with those preprogrammed things, sometimes we still need a little adjusting to tune into the right frequency.

Grandma’s radio was still a little temperamental. Sometimes, when we would go over a bump, the dial would move and we would once again have to readjust to tune into the right station. We go over a lot of bumps in our lifetime. Sometimes it feels as though the whole road is nothing but bumps and potholes. After each trial that we face, we also have to struggle to readjust to find God’s word again.

But like Samuel, hearing God’s word to each of us isn’t the end of the story. Samuel’s story doesn’t end when Eli tells him that God is calling him. Samuel has to go back to his room and respond to God’s calling. God doesn’t just go ahead and give the message he had for Samuel, Samuel says, "Speak, Lord, for you servant is listening." It is when Samuel becomes open to hearing God’s word that God is able to deliver the message.

Hearing God’s word isn’t easy for Samuel. Even though he had been brought up in the temple and was surely familiar with all of the stories of God speaking to people, he still was slow on understanding that God was speaking to him. Samuel had to seek the guidance of another experienced follower on the journey of faith. But even for experienced old Eli, it took three times before he realized what was going on. The word of God that came to Samuel came through a process.

Similar to my grandmother’s old radio, we can bring people up in the church and follow those preprogrammed things to get us closer to hearing God’s word, but tuning in to the right station is a process. It is a continual process. As we go along the journey of faith sometimes trees or mountains overhead will get in the way of the signal, and we will have to adjust that station again looking to the experiences of those who have been through these mountains before. Sometimes a pothole in the road will take us off track for a while.

How are you tuning in to hear God’s word in your life? Then the question that I would like to hear your answers to is: How can we as a faith community help each other to adjust the dial to hear where God is calling us to next? How can we be Eli and help others to realize God’s word for them? I certainly don’t have the answers to these questions. There are lots of answers to these questions. Let’s share them with each other that we might be able to say, "Speak Lord for your servants are listening."