2 Corinthians 4:5-12
Who does God call? Christians do not all agree about this. Some people do not seem fit to be called, so it’s hard for us to imagine them as potential instruments of God’s divine power and love. Doe God call people worthy of the call?
Graham Greene addressed this question quite well in a story called The Power and the Glory. It takes place in Mexico in the 1930’s, a time when the church was being persecuted by the government. There is a priest who travels from place to place to administer the sacraments, all the while trying to evade capture and execution. You might say he is a hero, but he is an unlikely hero.
He is never given a name – Greene refers to him as the whiskey priest. He is not what you would call a stellar example of a man. He is a drunk, a gossip, careless about his own spiritual habits, and he is not especially courageous. But he bears the identity of one called to priesthood, so he carries out the functions expected of him – not always well, not always gladly.
The people to whom he ministers do not think much of him. They don’t hold him in high regard, because he’s kind of a mess. They roll their eyes and they sigh. But he has what they need and they have faith in his ability to provide it.
They believe that he has been called by God, and that God does not necessarily call the most impressive candidates. This whiskey priest was never a man anyone would expect to see among the chosen. He is proof that God can take a good-for-nothing and make him good for something. And leave the warts in place for the world to see.
We ought to believe that too, if we pay attention to the stories of scripture. Time and time again the stories show God choosing the one we don’t expect. God chooses the second-born son – not the first-born. God chooses the smallest one – not the big and strong one. God chooses the one who killed a man in a fit of anger and then ran from the law, took on a new identity out in the wilderness, and settled into a life of tending his father-in-law’s sheep. Then, when God called him, answered with excuses for why he couldn’t do want God wanted him to do. Yes, Moses was not the most likely candidate.
God calls the ones we don’t expect and in the story of Samuel, this child is the unlikely candidate.
Those were dark days. The word of the Lord was rare in those days, the story says, and so most of the candidates were unlikely. It was not a high point in Israel’s history.
Visions from the Lord were not widespread, and the priest, Eli, was losing his vision. And I think we can understand this to have a figurative as well as a literal meaning. Perhaps there was a time when Eli was a strong, visionary leader of Israel, but this was no longer true.
Eli had problems – not least among them were his sons. The priesthood was sort of a family business back then, but it was becoming evident that Eli’s sons would not be able to carry this tradition forward. They abused the power that was entrusted to them; they treated the people with cruelty, concerned only for their own gain. They would not be leaders of Israel. It wasn’t just because they were good-for-nothings, because as we have already said, God can take a good-for-nothing and make him good for something. No, that wasn’t the problem. The problem was they were not even listening. They would not listen.
There was sadness, darkness, in Eli’s life. It was a dark time in Israel – but there was still hope because, as the text says, the lamp of God had not yet gone out.
It is night and Samuel lay down to sleep on the floor in the temple, and he hears a voice calling his name. He assumes it is Eli – what else would he think? Eli is his master. Three times he hears his name, three times he goes to Eli and says, “Here I am.” It takes three times before the old man Eli recognizes this as a call from the Lord – but finally he does. He tells Samuel, to wait for the call to come again and answer, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”
Eli teaches Samuel how to listen.
God uses all kinds of imperfect, flawed vessels to carry God’s word into the world. God might call anyone. God might call any of us.
But we all need someone to help us learn how to listen.
Years ago, I asked a group of Sunday school children to draw a picture of somewhere they hear God speaking. Most of the children drew pictures that were not surprising – the church sanctuary or Sunday school room, scenes of nature, like flowers or a mountain. But one child drew a picture of the Weis Market, which was the local grocery store. And another drew a picture of some telephone wires. I never followed up with those children to ask them how they heard God, or what they heard from God, in the telephone wires or the supermarket. I think I suspected that they wouldn’t be able to articulate it. But I wonder if I should have asked. Maybe these children were hearing God’s call in a special way, and maybe they needed someone to teach them how to listen.
Children, especially, need someone older to teach them how to listen. We do that pretty well in some ways. Parents teach their children to listen to their voices and obey them. Teachers train their students to listen to the teacher’s voice and respond. But do we teach our children to listen to the voice of God?
That isn’t a particularly easy thing to do. Perhaps we, like Eli, have vision that is failing, and hearing that is not very sharp anymore. And we, like Eli, are not accustomed to hearing the voice of God.
But remember, even though the word of God had been distant for some time, Eli still believed it could happen. Even though it had not happened for Eli in many years, he knew what was happening for Samuel, and he showed him how to listen and respond.
The lamp of God has not yet gone out. The Lord is still speaking. Will we allow ourselves to be called and used by God for God’s purposes?
We hear stories sometimes about children who listen and respond in extraordinary ways. Just last week I heard a story about a five-year-old girl who had seen the plight of the homeless when her church sponsored the emergency winter shelter. She was moved to help them in some way, and with the help of the adults in her congregation, she put together health kits to give to the men and women in this community who need them. She saw, she heard, she listened, and she responded. But she could not have done it without the help of her faith family.
God may very well be calling you to hear and respond. Even if God is not calling you directly to minister, to prophesy, to evangelize, God could be calling you to guide and support someone else – someone who needs you to help them listen.
It is not too late for us to teach our children to listen to the word of God. There are children in our midst, and they need teachers, they need models, they need mentors and guides.
God could be calling you, regardless of whether or not you feel equipped to be called. None of us does, really.
As Paul said to the ornery and prideful Corinthians, we carry this treasure in clay jars, we are but humble vessels, holding this power. For we proclaim not ourselves, we proclaim not ourwisdom and glory, but we proclaim Christ and the power of his resurrection.
These are dark days, as dark as Eli’s days. There are still men and women who use the power that has been entrusted to them for greedy purposes. But the lamp of God has not yet gone out. We must watch, we must listen. For God is still speaking.
photo credit: Islamic broken jar, Metropolitan Museum of Art
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