Speak Lord for Your Servant Hears
1 Samuel 3:1-10
Second Sunday after Epiphany
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen. The sermon text for the second Sunday after Epiphany is the Old Testament reading 1 Samuel 3. Listening is difficult for most people. It certainly is for children. How many times does the scene I am about describe play out in households across the land. The parents give very clear nighttime instructions to their children. Go upstairs, put your PJ’s on and brush your teeth. Simple enough and yet when the mom or dad check on the progress of the children, they find that nothing got done. When confronted the children seem perplexed that their parents gave any instruction at all. But let’s face it, children are not the only ones that have trouble listening. We know that adults are not always good at it either. Many conflicts are a result of poor listening skills. How many problems happen in marriage due to selective hearing?
You wouldn’t think that listening would be a hard thing to do. All it takes is to concentrate on what the other person is saying. But it seems that listening is a skill that many people don’t have. Most of us would rather talk then listen. We would rather be doing something than listening to another person. Besides we don’t always like what is being said. Most of us are very good at talking and watching and doing. But we are not always good at listening.
But when it comes to our spiritual life listening to God is of vital importance. Let us thank the Lord that He has opened up our ears so that we can hear Him. God comes to us in His Word and He speaks to us. It is a wonderful thing that God speaks to us in His Word because the Lord has many things to tell us. The most important revelation that God gives to us is the revelation that His Son, Jesus, is our Savior. Through the power of the Holy Spirit our ears have been opened so that we can hear God’s Word. The fact that Christ has been revealed to us and that God speaks to us in His Word is a glorious gift indeed.
So we have to ask the question. What would life be like if we stopped listening to God’s Word? What would life be like if God did not communicate with us at all? That is exactly what happened during the time of our Old Testament reading. Our text opens with these words. “Now the young man Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. And the Word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision”. The time period of our text takes place after Moses and Joshua and before King Saul and King David. It is often referred to as the time of the Judges. The book of Judges describes the spiritual condition of the people of Israel during this time. “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” It was a wicked period in the time of Israel. In places the book of Judges is hard to read. The people of Israel refused to listen to God’s Word and instead followed their own sinful desires. The people turned away from God and trusted in worldly idols. The people committed many sins against the Lord and did not have a penitent heart. The people hardened their hearts and did horrible things. Our text tells us that the Word of the Lord was rare in those days. God sent very few prophets to the people at that time. It was one of the low points in the time of the Old Testament. Even the sons of Eli the priest were wicked. The people would not listen to the Lord and so God withdrew His Word from them. Can you imagine a group of people not listening to God? Can you imagine what it would be like if God’s Word was silent?
The world would be lost if God remained silent and there would be no hope. Darkness would overcome all of us and we would remain in sin. This life would be meaningless. Worse yet, we would be separated from God for all eternity.
But as we see in our text God did not remain silent. He called Samuel to be His prophet. He called Samuel to speak His Word. After Samuel understood that God was calling him to be a prophet who would speak to the people he responded by saying these words to the Lord. “Speak, for your servant hears”. That takes us back to our theme for the day – listening to God’s Word. We have not been called to be a prophet like Samuel but God has called us to be His people. He has called us to faith in Him.
Let us be thankful that the Lord does not remain silent. Let us be thankful that the Lord speaks to us in His Word. In our day there are many false teachers that claim to speak the truth. There are those who falsely claim to speak for God. We must turn away from lies and deception and listen to the voice of God. But to learn what the voice sounds like; we must go to where we can hear Him. Holy Scripture, the very Word of God, is where we learn to recognize His voice. We read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the precious Word of God. Yet the Lord has not left us without a human voice to speak on His authority and in His Name. That is how we hear the absolution spoken by the pastor.
All the prophets bore witness to the same message. From the promise given at the fall in the Garden of Eden through John the Baptist, every word, and every act of God in the life of Israel prepared the way for the coming of Christ. When the One promised long ago was born, He came to be the final Sacrifice for all people. The world needs a message of salvation and hope, and that message is found in Christ. He alone brings salvation by bearing all sin, shedding His blood to cleanse us, entering the tomb, and then breaking forth on Easter with the glorious message, “Christ is risen.”
The Lord calls out to us, and He opens our ears so that we are able to listen to Him. I will give you just a few examples of the things that He says in His Word. 1 Peter 2:9 says this; “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” God has chosen us to be His own. He has called us out of the darkness of sin. He has called us to turn from coveting, laziness, self-centeredness, bitterness and the ways of this world and turn to Him. The Lord has brought us into His light of grace and forgiveness. The light of Christ shines into the darkness. As redeemed people of God we are now given the wonderful calling of reflecting that light of Christ into the word. We can know confess the truth of Jesus. 1 Corinthians 1:9 says this. “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord”. The Lord has indeed called us into fellowship with Him. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we have been made right with God. Through Christ we are able to see God’s love and we see His faithfulness. Jesus said these words in Matthew 11:28. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”. There are many burdens and troubles that we will face in this life. But we see in the words of Christ that we will always find rest in Him. 1 John 3:14 says this. “We know that we have passed out of death into life”. Death does not have power over us because Jesus has defeated death and given to us the gift of everlasting life.
There are times when we think that God is silent. We may think that words in our Old Testament reading apply to our time. “And the Word of the Lord was rare in those days”. But we see in the few examples that I read from Scripture that God is far from silent. Keep in mind there are many more passages for us to hear and remember. God’s Word gives to us His Commandments and reveals to us the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God speaks to us in His Word to strengthen our faith and to give us hope. He gives us understanding of His Will.
As Christians we are called to listen to the Lord for it is the Lord who gives joy and peace, life and salvation. It is the Lord who guides us in a life of godly living and to a life of praise and thanks. Remember what Samuel said to God when the Lord spoke to Him. They are words that we also say to God. “Speak (Lord) for your servant hears”. Amen.