Are Your Ears Ringing?

And the lad Samuel was ministering to the LORD in Eli’s presence, and the word of the LORD was rare in those days, vision was not spread about [1 Samuel 3:1, The Hebrew Bible, tr. by Robert Alter, a portion of the Old Testament reading for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, RCL, Year B].

Quick, quick, think to yourself, “What do I remember about Samuel, from the Old Testament?” Don’t do an online search. What do you remember?

If you’re like a lot of folks, you may think your memory is sparse. But I bet you remember more than you imagine. I bet, for example, you remember Samuel’s mother, Hannah [see 1 Samuel 1:2]. She was married to a guy whose name no one can remember. The guy had another wife, Peninnah, as well. Peninnah had a slew of children, but Hannah had none. Hannah, of course, was never going to forget about her infertility, but just to make sure, Peninnah tormented her often about it.

You probably remember that one day, Hannah was fervently praying at the edge of the LORD’s temple–women weren’t, of course, allowed into the interior portions of the temple. She prayed that if Yahweh would give her a son, she would, in turn, give him back to Yahweh. The arithmetic seems unusual–one minus one is zero. But you get the picture. It shows just how distraught Hannah was, of course. Yet when Eli, the old priest with two good-for-nothing sons of his own, saw Hannah praying for a son, he accused her of being drunk [1 Samuel 1:14]. His reaction, of course, said more about Eli than it did Hannah.

You might remember that, particularly in the Old Testament, Yahweh had a tender spot in his heart for barren women. Generations before, Sarah had been given a son, Isaac. Hannah is given a son as well. She names him Samuel. True to her word, after she had weaned the lad, Hannah took Samuel to the temple and presented him to Eli–the priest who’d made fun of her.

You might not remember Hannah’s song of thanksgiving, sung in the manner of a psalm, after she presented her son to Yahweh at the temple [recorded in 1 Samuel 2]. It was an unusual time to be thankful–giving up her son. Among modern church folks, Hannah’s hymn isn’t as popular as Mary’s “Magnificat” [Luke 1:46-55], but Mary’s song was actually based on the much earlier psalm of Hannah.

I’ll bet you remember reading about the night (or early morning) that Yahweh called out to Samuel in the temple [see 1 Samuel 3]. Samuel was merely a boy, ministering to Yahweh “in Eli’s presence,” and, as noted above, “the word of the LORD was rare in those days.” That would make the situation in Samuel’s time pretty much like it is now, wouldn’t it? Have you heard many folks recently relate that they have received a word from the LORD?

Back to the story: Yahweh calls out to Samuel once, twice, thrice. Each time Samuel runs into the next room and asks old Eli if he needs anything, and each time Eli says, “No, go on back to bed.” By the third time, however, Eli figures that the voice must be that of Yahweh. Since the word of the LORD was rare in those days, perhaps Eli can be forgiven for being a little slow on the take. After the third interruption of Eli’s slumber, however, Eli says to Samuel:

Go lie down, and should someone call to you, say, “Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening” [1 Samuel 3:9].

Well, we all remember what happened next: Yahweh calls out again to Samuel, and this time, Samuel responds as he has been told to do so by Eli.

That’s usually where we end the story. In fact, the Lectionary lets you stop with verse 10. Yahweh speaks to Samuel and everyone lives happily ever after. Only, that really isn’t how the story ends. We’re so enthralled with the fact that Yahweh has spoken to a young boy–chosen a young boy to be the next great prophet–that we forget what Yahweh actually said to Samuel.

Yahweh begins with an unusual statement: “I am about to do such a thing in Israel that whoever hears of it, both his ears will ring” [1 Samuel 3:11]. Yahweh continues by indicating that a reversal is about to take place. Samuel’s mentor, Eli, and Eli’s two sons, are finished. Their priestly line will not continue. What is more, “the sin of the house of Eli will not be atoned by sacrifice and offering for all time” [1 Samuel 3:14-15]. Instead, Samuel will be the next prophet/priest. “Ouch!”

I needn’t go into great detail here. Eli’s sons had scorned Yahweh by failing to act in a “priestly” manner–by taking the choicest sacrifices for themselves and laughing at Yahweh behind Yahweh’s back, as if Yahweh has a “back” that one can laugh behind. Eli’s sin? He failed to restrain his sons, choosing them over Yahweh. And what, we might wonder, is the first task that must be undertaken by the newly chosen lad–I mean prophet? Samuel gets to tell the old man that he and his sons have been fired! Spoiler alert: Samuel does just that.

When the events of his early morning call are related in writing much later by Samuel, the prophet acknowledges that “the word of the LORD was rare in those days.” And yet, Samuel also notes that “the lamp of God had not yet gone out” [1 Samuel 3:3]. The phrase has a marvelous double meaning. At one level, it hints that the story likely took place in the early morning; the lamp would not be extinguished until the sun rose in the morning. On the more profound, other hand, the statement speaks a deeper truth–that while the time might have seemed dark for Israel, while Yahweh might seem to have been silent for quite a while, Yahweh had not abandoned the people. They just had not been listening! And so, Yahweh was signaling change!

Change: it’s a word that is cursed within so many congregations. And yet, all congregations need to remember this story of Eli and Samuel, for it teaches us that we aren’t in charge. Yahweh is! Are your ears ringing, yet?

Our friend, Will Willimon, former Dean of Duke University Chapel, quips about his theory of church design. Speaking about this text from 1 Samuel, Will allows:

I think the reason why we pad our pews, bolt the furniture down to the floor, print up the service in a bulletin, then carefully, deliberately plod through the prescribed acts of worship, is out of an inner fear. We tie everything down, we make church so predictable, so settled and fixed because, in our collective memories, we remember stories like this one. We know Bible stories of ordinary people who have heard their named called. We know that the temple, or this church, can be a risky, dangerous place, what with the living God roaming about.

Are your ears ringing, yet?

Recently, we’ve shared some interesting discussions in our Wednesday Bible Study class (via Zoom). Several friends have remarked that they feel a powerful sense of spiritual restlessness around us. COVID-19 has caused us to jettison many of the old, comfortable patterns of practice, of worship, of interaction. On the one hand, these friends and I have shared a deep concern that, in so many ways, the word of the LORD is rare in these days. And yet, on the other hand, as we prayed together earlier today in the face of all that is happening in our nation, and in the world around us, I couldn’t help but be swelled up with confidence and assurance that God is at it again, making our ears ring with his message of faith, and love, and hope.

Are our ears ringing yet? Can we see that Yahweh is busy around us, often in ways that we fail to recognize, usually in ways that we fail to understand? The true blessed assurance is that the Kingdom doesn’t depend upon us. God is in charge! Yet there is also a strong, cautionary note in the story of Eli and Samuel: If we aren’t willing to do things God’s way, God will choose someone else.