I Samuel 3: 1-10 & John 1: 43-51
Roger Lynn
January 20, 2019
Samuel follows God’s leading. The disciples answer Jesus’ call. It is a pattern as old as God’s relationship with human beings. And such stories stand out for us as important touch points for understanding our own calls. But frequently we place the emphasis on the one who is responding. We hear about young Samuel’s encounter with God and we focus on Samuel’s words, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” (I Samuel 3:10) In the stories about the calling of the disciples, we often remember the ways in which they left what they were doing, confessed faith in Jesus, and followed.
All such responses, however, including our own, are made possible only because God first initiates contact and is then willing to begin with us where we are. Samuel may have ended up as one of the great heroes of the faith, but in the beginning he didn’t even recognize God’s voice when he heard it. It was only because God was willing to keep trying that Samuel had the opportunity to say, “Speak Lord...” Jesus had to overcome Nathanael’s skeptical attitude about “anything good coming out of Nazareth.” (John 1:46) Even rascals and scoundrels are not beyond the reach of God’s gracious patience. Eli, the old priest in the temple under whom Samuel served, was not exactly a model of faithful living. Under his leadership corruption had crept in to the affairs of the temple and his own sons were at the heart of the problem. And yet, when it comes to the important task of guiding young Samuel, it is old, tired Eli who understands the situation and offers the necessary advise. He got the chance to offer such advise because God did not give up on him.
God is always calling us to step beyond the present reality of our lives, but God never asks us to begin anywhere except where we are right now. And that is good news indeed for those of us who feel inadequate in the face of the challenges of God’s call. Take, for example, Moses. God wants to send him down to Egypt to free the Israelites from slavery. Moses says, “No, God, I think you’ve got the wrong guy. I can’t even talk right.” But God responds, “That’s OK. I know who you are and I know your limitations. But you’re still the one I want for the job.” Even when Moses continues to be reluctant, God does not give up. The plan simply expands to include sending Aaron along for support. Or look at Isaiah. He has a vision in which he finds himself in the heavenly throne room of God. His reaction is one of dismay. “I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips.” (Isaiah 6:5) He does not believe he is worthy to be the subject of God’s attention. But that does not deter God. Through the purifying action of fire from the altar, God declares Isaiah to be fit for service. And thus transformed, Isaiah is then empowered to respond to God’s call with “Here am I, send me!” (Isaiah 6:8)
And so it is with us as well. God’s call to us might not be as dramatic as a voice in the night, or as overwhelming as being sent into a foreign land to rescue an enslaved people, or as intimidating as a vision of God’s heavenly throne room, but it is no less real and no less important. Each of us has been challenged to follow God’s leading and that challenge can be just as life changing as it was for Philip and Nathanael and Peter and Andrew. Often, I suspect, we are tempted to dismiss, diminish, or ignore such a challenge because we do not feel up to the task. More than once in my ministry, I have heard people respond to a request from a nominating committee with, “I can’t possibly be the chair of that committee. I’ve never done anything like that before. I’m not prepared enough.” Well, I am convinced that faithfully responding to God’s call in our lives is not about being prepared. God is not interested in finding folks who are already prepared. God is interested in finding folks who are willing to set out on the journey. Preparation will happen along the way.
It’s a little bit like parenthood. If we were required to be ready for every challenge which comes along in the course of raising a child, not many of us would qualify, let alone even want to. We do the best we can and we learn as we go along. Samuel and Moses and Isaiah and the disciples didn’t accept God’s challenge to follow because they thought they were ready. They responded because they trusted the God who kept calling. When Philip went to Nathanael to tell him about finding the Messiah, he didn’t insist that Nathanael respond instantly with full blown faith. All he said was, “Come and see.” One step at a time, beginning wherever life finds us at that moment.
So I would ask you, has God been calling you in ways which you have been reluctant to answer? Have you been presented with challenges, from within or without, to which you are hesitant to respond? God calls to us in a variety of ways, for a variety of reasons, so we must often listen rather carefully in our lives. Such a call might come, as I indicated earlier, from a nominating committee with a request to take on a responsibility in the church. Or it might come from a friend who has seen some quality in you which could be put to some particular use in helping others. You might hear God’s voice in the form of that nagging thought inside your own head urging you to begin exploring some new interest or involvement. If, then, you discover that God has been calling you (and I suspect that if you listen carefully you will discover this to be true), and you have been unwilling to respond, then you might want to ask yourself why. If it is out of fear or a sense of being unprepared or unqualified for the challenge, then I invite you to remember the list of folks with whom you share such an experience. God will keep calling, because, in the words of a seminary professor of mine, “God does not call us to be perfect. God calls us to be faithful.” And that begins right where we are. May we be found faithful in responding to the call of God in our lives.
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