2024-01-14 Epiphany 2B

In this transcription, the speaker discusses the concept of silence and how it can be deafening when one is seeking to hear a specific noise. They then delve into the story of Samuel from the book of 1 Samuel, highlighting the rarity of the word of God during that time. They explain how Samuel was called by God in the middle of the night, but initially mistook God's voice for that of Eli. Eventually, Samuel learns to listen and respond to God's call, and is commissioned to speak the truth on behalf of God. The speaker then draws a parallel between Samuel's commission and Jesus speaking the law and gospel to the religious leaders of his time. They emphasize the importance of repentance and sharing the word of God with others. They conclude by highlighting the forgiveness of sins through Jesus' sacrifice and the need to stand for the truth. Silence is golden, unless it's noise you're particularly looking for, wanting to hear. In that case, silence can be deafening. In the days of Eli and his young protege Samuel, the word of the Lord was rare, it was precious, it was not heard very often. Let us our text say about that word of God as it comes to us in our text. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. We're in the Epiphany season. Epiphany as a season runs from the visit of the Magi on January 6th as it's celebrated all the way through the Transfiguration account. Epiphany means in Greek to shine upon, to shine upon for the purpose of revealing something that otherwise is hidden or unknown. Epiphany, to shine upon. Think of a person in modern expression who, when he understands something all of a sudden, then we say of that man, oh for him the light bulb went off on his head, right? He had an epiphany, the truth, so to speak, shined upon him. That's the idea. In the appointed lessons for this time of the church year, they all serve to shine the light upon the mystery of who our Savior is. That is Jesus, who is God in the flesh, to come and save you from your sin. That's the epiphany. This time, the epiphany comes from the book of 1 Samuel. Samuel got his start sort of miraculously after his mother had struggled to get pregnant. She prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed some more and in that prayer promised God that the boy would be enlisted in his service to him, to God, as long as the boy shall live. It so happens that God granted her petition and Hannah and Elkanah made good on her promise. She entrusted her son, Samuel, his life and his care into the hands of a priestly judge named Eli in the service of God. Eli as a name means the Lord is exalted, but unfortunately Eli was not true to his name, that is to say he didn't exalt God that much. Rather, he had a handful of sons who were worthless, lazy and sinful, even amid the places and things of God himself. They were not so, but the old man didn't have the gumption to discipline his sons and they just got worse and worse and worse still. They weren't much role models for this young Samuel who was taken under Eli's wing as soon as he was weaned. No wonder, no wonder the word of God, the word of the Lord was rare in those days. He still upheld the world with his word, right, as he had promised. He still was God over his people. He still had made good on his promises, but the people began to be recalcitrant, become stubborn in their sins to be resistant to God and his rule over them and their lives. So it is in our day and age that people want to claim Jesus as Lord, want to claim the name Christian only to shirk back when the title Lord becomes clear that God wants to have a say in your life. Both in terms of law and in terms of gospel that he might maybe disagree with the thoughts and actions and intentions of your heart and the words that you spew out of your dirty mouth. Just maybe the Lord might want to be Lord. God was ruling over Israel, his people, and providing for them, but they became all the more resistant to that leading. And it got so bad under Samuel's service that the people beckoned God to send them a king after their own hearts, a king after their own hearts. Instead of the king of kings, instead of the Lord of Lords. That king Saul disobeyed God and was replaced by young David, whose name will forever be remembered in history of the church. Saul was the king of the people's choosing. David was a man after God's own heart. Samuel actually anointed them both, but not before he was commissioned, and that's the text you have before you now. Samuel's actual commission is in the verses immediately following our appointed text, but what has been given us has been given us for our learning. Or to put it another way, more liturgically appropriate, for our epiphany. Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli, and the word of the Lord was rare in those days. There was no frequent vision. At that time, Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was. Samuel was Eli's protege, his assistant, his training companion, his intern, whatever you want to call him. Eli and Samuel both were resting. He was resting in the quarters of the tabernacle compound reserved for those called to priestly service while on duty. Think about like a volunteer firehouse, right? They have bedrooms available, bunk beds for the firemen so they can be on watch, someone can be on watch 24-7. And you, as a fireman, can stay there on campus while you are serving your duty. That's the idea we get in our minds. The lamp of the Lord had not yet gone out yet, and so we deduce therefrom that it's early morning or middle of the night when our text occurs. We get an editorial note that Eli was losing his eyesight. He was an old man. While he might not be able to see much, he is going to see through the eyes of his feeble faith that God is watching over him. In the eyes of his feeble faith that God is working something special in Samuel's life. Samuel would have probably been in his late teens by this time. Old enough to have some responsibilities. Still young enough yet, though, to have not had a full commission or to have known the Lord from experience. That's the kind of lay of the land we have. The Lord called Samuel and he said, Here I am. Ran to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me. But he said, I did not call. Lie down again. So he went and lay down. The Lord called again, Samuel. Samuel rose and went to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me. But he said, I did not call my son. Go lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. Remember, this was in the middle of the night. When the lamp of the Lord had not yet gone out. And so if you've ever, in the middle of the night, been awakened by someone, particularly a small human being, let the reader understand, you might sense Eli's frustration. I did not call you. Go to bed! Moments later, the same thing happened. Meanwhile, Samuel was certain that his master had been calling him. He was right! He, Samuel, was right that his master was calling. He was wrong, however, about who that master was. You see, Samuel would have had faith. He grew up in the church. He lived out every day this behind-the-scenes look at what God's people were doing. But he himself had not yet taken on full responsibility. That might lend to this confusion. So the Lord God called Samuel again, a third time. And the Lord, rather he, Samuel, arose and went to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me. Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, Go lie down. And if he calls you, you shall say, Speak, Lord, for your servant's ears. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Yet again, a third time, Samuel wakes up his mentor from sleep in the middle of the night. At this time, Eli senses that something is up and he gives Samuel perfect advice. Go lie down. And if he calls you again, you shall say, Speak, Lord, for your servant listens. And he did just that. The Lord came and stood and calling as at other times, Samuel, Samuel, and Samuel said, Speak, Lord, for your servant hears. It is after this, after Samuel's reply to the Lord, that Samuel learns of God's plan to squash Eli and his sons for their stubbornness, for their laziness, for their sinful living, for their lack of repentance, for following God's word. What God says to Samuel when he listens is only for Samuel, but only at first. You can imagine the anticipation that he would later go on to share that word, right? Eli wakes up in the morning. So what did the Lord say? He would go on to share that word. And so likewise, our faith is not a matter of personal secrecy either. Rather, it is something that should be shared. Along the same vein, then, we must repent of shirking from our duty of speaking the truth and love to others around us, particularly the law. Why? Because we fear its consequences. Samuel didn't have good news to report to Eli when he asked what the Lord said, but still he said it anyway. The word of the Lord was rare in those days and had not come to Samuel just yet. But that night, Samuel was given a great gift. Samuel was commissioned by God to speak the truth and love on behalf of God to his people. Samuel received the word of the Lord and spoke it to those in his hearing. A thousand years later, about a thousand years after the Lord had spoken, a thousand years later, about a thousand years after Samuel got his gift, we, the Church, got another great gift, and that is the word of the Lord stood among us. He came in the flesh. And like Samuel before him, he spoke to the religious leaders who, like Eli, were lazy and recalcitrant and unrepentant and deaf to the ways of God. He, the word, became flesh, spoke the law, warning his hearers of God's wrath against their sin. But he also spoke the gospel, that is, the sweet message of God's forgiveness through the blood of Jesus, by his death on the cross and by his resurrection from the grave. Jesus, the word made flesh like Samuel before him, heard God's commission and accomplished it to the end. The word became flesh and dwelt among us, John 1.14. He was crucified and raised for our justification. And we are forgiven all our sins, all our sins. Sins, for instance, of seeking our own leadership, sins of ignoring God's word, sins of not hearing it gladly and daily and weekly, sins of not standing for the truth because we're too afraid of what it might mean if we didn't repeat the lies of those around us, sins of not being in the word so that we can distinguish the word of God's truth over and against the lies of the devil who wants nothing but to see us suffer eternally in hell. All these sins and more were answered by Jesus Christ for you. Today we have another gift, that is, the gift of the Holy Spirit. He, like Samuel, speaks what he hears from God the Father and from God the Son. And he caused that word of God to be recorded for us and preserved even to this day, with the result that, praise God, his word is no longer scarce. But it does have an attribute that can also be rendered by that same word. It is precious. Precious. Precious. Diamonds are precious because they are rare, supposedly, so they say. God's word is different. We have easy access to it, but that in no way diminishes its value. There are still folks who do not want to hear what God has to say when he speaks to them. There are still young men who are called by God to speak the truth. God, in his mercy, still calls you by the gospel, enlightens you with his gifts, sanctifies and keeps you in the one true Christian faith, now and to the life of the last days. On this day, Samuel shines on us this truth. That God, the word of God, which was active at creation, is precious precisely for this reason. The word became incarnate to die and rise for you, to save you from your sin, that he might re-create you, now into a new creature bound for heaven. And he gives us that word in the holy scriptures, and we see and hear that word of God active in the absolution and in the holy sacraments. Therefore, on this day, go in peace with the knowledge of the word made flesh for you, Christ Jesus. And as you have already prayed, so now pray again, even into perpetuity with all the church. Speak, O Lord, your servant listens. Let your word to me come near. Newborn life and spirit give me. Let each promise still my fear. That spread power of inward strife wars against your word of life. But fill me, Lord, with love-strong fervor that I cling to you forever. And all God's people say, Amen. Now may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, arisen Lord and Savior.