God Is Speaking - A Sermon for Sunday October 12, 2025

Last Week,

we heard the story of God providing Manna in the wilderness.

God saved Israel from their captivity in Egypt,

Death passed over Israel,

and God fed God’s starving people

in their wilderness freedom.

God listens,

and God provides.

The Exodus happened around the year 1290 BCE.

Today’s story comes about 250 years later.

Here’s a quick timeline:

After Moses’ death,

Joshua led Israel into the promised land,

likely around 1250 BCE

and the time of the judges began about 50 years after that.

The call of Samuel, which we hear today

comes near the end of the period of Judges,

as Israel will clamour for a king of their own.

Samuel will be the last judge of Israel,

before the time of the kings;

Samuel anointed Saul as king

sometime around the years 1000-1021 BCE.

For today’s text, Samuel is just a young boy.

Invite reader forward

What we hear today

happened at a time of great change for Israel.

They were becoming a united nation,

increasing in political power

and in military might.

You could say their greatest threat was the Philistines,

but I’d say the greater danger

was the people’s lack of trust in God.

So let us trust God,

let us open our hearts and minds to God’s Word

to hear what God is saying to us, today.

Narrative Lectionary READING: 1 Samuel 3:1-21

A reading from 1 Samuel.

  1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.
  2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; 3 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. 4 Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” 5 and 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. 6 The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8 The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
  10 Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 11 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. 12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. 14 Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.”
  15 Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 16 But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” 17 Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.”
  19 As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord. 21 The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

Word of God, word of life.

Thanks be to God.

(Slide 1 - Hannah)

The word of the LORD was rare in those days;

visions were not widespread.

For Lutherans,

the Word of God carries a three fold understanding.

First and foremost,

the Word of God is Jesus Christ,

the person,

God in the flesh.

Second, the Word of God is the proclaimed Word of God:

what we hear when God speaks through preaching

or when the Gospel is shared;

the living Word.

Third, the Word of God is the text in the bible,

the words on the page.

So I wondered, some 2700 years ago,

what is meant by the Word of the Lord was rare?

Was it the printed Jewish bible being rare?

Was it the spoken Word of the Lord that was rare?

Was it experiences of God that were rare?

Another possible translation for the word rare is precious.

The Word of the Lord was rare and precious in those days.

Like a diamond or ruby

or warm weather in October,

the Word of the Lord is rare and precious.

My take - I think it means that

the Word of the Lord was longed for

because the people were not experiencing God.

I think it was hard to hear God’s Word in those days

because of the problems in God’s house.

Some context:

Eli and his sons were priests at Shiloh.

Samuel was presented to the temple in Shiloh

by his mother, Hannah,

who was said to be barren.

Before Samuel was born,

Hannah prayed fervently before the Lord

in the temple

that she might have a child.

Eli saw Hannah praying,

her mouth moving but no sound coming out,

and in the most pastoral way possible,

Eli said “Go home Hannah, you're drunk”

Hannah explained that she was praying,

that she was not drunk as Eli supposed.

Eli blessed Hannah, saying

“Go in peace, the God of Israel grant the petition

you have made to him”

and sure enough, Hannah in time was with child.

When the child, Samuel, was weaned,

Hannah presented Samuel at the temple

as she had promised.

This is an important connection to make

between Samuel and Eli -

Eli pronounced God's blessing on Hannah,

which brought about Samuel,

who would later prophesy against Eli and his house.

God works in wonderful ways.

(Slide 2 - Sons)

Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas,

were scoundrels.

They had no regard for the Lord,

nor for their duties as priests.

The big problem we read about is they stole meat.

But it is about more than just meat.

The stories about them in the 2nd chapter of 1st Samuel

are somewhat odd -

(Slide 3 - sons, Beavis)

Hophni and Phinehas sound more like

Beavis and Butthead.

Simply put,

the blasphemous behaviour of these priests

got in the way of the people

being able to experience God’s precious Word.

(Slide 4 - Priest sons)

Eli spoke to his sons, he called them out on their sins,

but the sons did not listen to Eli.

Their sins were great enough that

the Lord spoke to Samuel saying

“I am about to punish Eli and his house forever.”

In fact, The Lord spoke this same word to Eli previously

by an unnamed man of God.

You see, God didn’t just speak to Samuel:

God spoke to Eli as well.

God spoke to Phinehas and Hophni, his sons

God spoke to Hannah, Samuel’s mother.

God speaks.

God speaks.

The people needed to hear the Word of God,

they weren’t hearing it from the priestly house,

So God ended their priestly dynasty.

When something gets in the way of God speaking,

when something gets in the way

of the people’s ability to experience God,

expect God to remove that barrier.

Our God is a God of reversal.

Our God tears the insecure, racist,

power hungry, wisdom lacking

tyrants from their thrones

and God lifts up the lowly.

God brought Eli and his sons down from their priestly throne.

I need to just touch on something difficult here,

You may have noticed verse 14: God says;

“Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering, forever.”

God forgives, abundantly.

But there seems to be no forgiveness for Eli and his house. I could be wrong,

but I think this is the only story in the bible

that includes such a curse.

Not even Judas is treated this way.

We should think of this, primarily, as a warning,

just like Jonah going to Nineveh -

God was giving Eli and his house

a chance to change their ways.

They didn’t.

No sacrifice will cover these sins.

Now there remains a biblical theological question,

is there forgiveness for everyone

except Eli and his sons?

Did they commit the unforgivable sin?

I have to believe that, in the end,

there is forgiveness for Eli,

and for his sons,

because if they aren’t forgiven for their corruption,

their blasphemy and arrogance,

then how can I possibly be forgiven

when I’m capable of the exact same?

I am convinced that

when we are gathered together

in the company of all the saints;

we’ll see Eli and his sons there too.

But here’s the lesson I take from this,

and I need to take this seriously as your pastor,

as a leader in God’s house:

When there are problems in God’s house,

God’s Spirit comes to work.

God will remove the barrier

that gets in the way of hearing God’s voice.

(Slide 6 - speak, Lord)

God’s Word is not rare, today.

It is proclaimed from pulpits around the world,

there are plenty of apps and bible translations.

God’s Word is not rare.

But God’s word is precious today.

It doesn’t take much looking around to see

that our communities are in desperate need

of God’s Word,

proclaimed, and received.

Our time isn’t that much different than Samuel’s:

the nations war and rage,

there is political uncertainty

there are problems in parliament,

let alone problems in God’s house.

You could argue that

with each congregation that closes its doors,

the Word of God

proclaimed and received,

becomes more and more rare.

But just like 3000 years ago,

God is speaking.

God is speaking.

Sometimes God’s Word is a word of judgment,

like was given to Eli’s house.

Sometimes God’s Word is a word of promise

like God gave Abraham,

Perhaps a word of release to the captive

like God gave Moses,

or a word of presence like God gave Jacob.

God is speaking.

Can we hear it?

God is tearing down barriers.

Can wee see this?

God saw something in young Samuel,

God called Samuel,

God spoke through Samuel,

But Samuel needed some help to hear God speak.

Young Samuel heard the voice,

3 times that night.

3 times Samuel thought Eli was calling him.

We should note that Samuel was with the Ark of the covenant,

Samuel was likely the attendant to the Ark,

to be before the Ark is to be before the Lord.

The symbolism matters.

Samuel says: Here I am, Eli, for you called me.

Go back to bed, Eli says twice,

but by God’s grace, on the third try,

Eli figured out that it was God talking.

Go lie down.

(or, put another way,

take on a posture of openness to God).

Next time, say “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.”

and he did.

We should take a little lesson here:

it is easier to hear God’s voice

in proximity to God’s Word,

and in a posture of openness.

When distanced from the text,

when we are full busy to the margins,

distractions pull us away from listening to God.

God used Samuel to usher in a change of culture,

God used Samuel to break down barriers

that God’s precious Word be heard.

And it wouldn’t have happened without Eli.

Don’t lose sight of this.

In his old age,

Eli is the one who thought Hanna was drunk,

but he had a change of heart

and pronounced God’s blessing on her.

As his eyes were dim,

Eli thought little Samuel was just having a dream

but he had a change of heart

and helped Samuel listen to God.

We are never too old to have a change of heart;

our eyes are never too dim

to be opened to God’s possibilities.

We are never too old

to allow God to tear down the barriers we build

that prevent us and others

from hearing and sharing the Word of God.

Samuel heard God’s Word.

Samuel spoke the words of faith,

Here I am, Lord.

I am ready.

Samuel heard God say that Eli’s house

would be brought down

for the blasphemy of his sons.

It must have been brutal for young Samuel

to prophesy against this father-figure Eli.

Despite their relationship,

Samuel told Eli the truth,

that God will punish Eli’s house forever,

that his priestly dynasty is over.

And Eli responded in faith:

“It is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him.”

This is not apathy,

this is not complacency.

Eli lets God be God.

Eli lets God’s will be done.

Eli practices what he preaches.

May that be our prayer:

Speak, Lord, For your servant is listening.

Even if that means the downfall of my house,

God is God, I am not

May God’s will be done.

May I practice what I preach.

Isn’t God’s Word marvellous?

Even Eli, cast down from his throne,

is an example of faith for us.

He owned his mistakes.

He didn’t fight God on this.

His house was worthy of downfall.

You and I might want to obey God’s call,

but could we obey God

if it would mean our own downfall?

In our baptism,

you and I are daily invited to die to ourselves

and rise to Christ.

It is no longer I who live,

but Christ in me.

This daily downfall is real freedom.

When our lives are about our own success,

our own accumulation of wealth,

climbing up the ladder,

stepping on the people

on the rungs below us,

There is no freedom.

If my life is all about what I want,

then I cannot fail.

too much is at stake.

But if my life is about God,

God’s will

and God’s call,

If it is about listening to what God is inviting me into

Then the weight is off my shoulders to succeed.

We can spend our time, our money, our energy

trying to build some kind of dynasty,

But God doesn’t promise

that the dynasties we build will last.

Just ask Eli and his sons.

Rather, the kingdom of God will last.

Baptism will last.

God’s work in the world will last.

God’s Word is precious,

and it will last.

God is speaking.

And by God’s grace, we can hear it!

May you be like Samuel and old Eli.

May you listen for God’s voice and obey,

even if it means your own downfall.

May you own your past,

own your mistakes,

and trust that there is forgiveness for you.

And freed in baptism,

May our words be

Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.

Thanks be to God. Amen.