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“Speak, For Your Servant is Listening”
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Reverend David Putnam
Vineyard Community Church, Morris Plains, New Jersey
I Samuel 3:1-10
1Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD before Eli. And word from the LORD was rare in those days, visions were infrequent.
2It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well),3 and 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,
4that the LORD called Samuel; and he said, “Here I am.”
5Then he 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.
6The LORD called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he answered, “I did not call, my son, lie down again.”
7Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, nor had the word of the LORD yet been revealed to him.
8So the LORD called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli discerned that the LORD was calling the boy.
9And Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10Then the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”
INTRODUCTION
There is a well-known story of an eagle captured as a chick and raised by a chicken farmer who put a long chain on its leg and left it with the rest of his chickens to scratch in the dirt. As it matured one day it heard a sound that instinctively made it raise its head from the ground where it was looking for discarded colonels of corn, seeds, or anything else it could find to eat. It was the cry of another eagle soaring hundreds of feet above the barnyard. The eagle sensed it should be there instead of clawing at the dirt. It wanted to go up to the heights; it instinctively wanted to join the wild eagle as it mounted up ever higher over the billowing clouds. But the eagle had been conditioned to the earth; it was chained; it only knew of a life of scratching the dirt for food. But one day the farmer had not fastened the chain securely, and as the eagle scratched the dirt it heard the call of the wild eagle; and again instinctively looked heavenward to see the sun glistening on the unfurled wings. The eagle had never extended its wings except to scare off chickens. But the desire to leave the earth was so great that it ran like a chicken but then extended it wings and flapped – the chain snapped and in a second it left the dirt scratching, flea covered chickens behind, the chain, the shackle, the coop with wire were now fading below as it raised its head and pointed its beak toward the sun. In a few moments it was where God had created it to be. God created the chicken as well and there is nothing wrong with being a chicken. If you are happy in the barnyard scratching in the dirt; well the world standard is “it tastes like chicken”. But if you are weary with satisfying the appetites of earth, and you are longing to be free of the chains of spiritual nominalism. And you hear the call of the Holy Spirit calling to you and saying there is more – then I want to encourage you that there is more than what we have known; there is more than what we know.
Isaiah 40:31 says,
“The strength of those who wait with hope in the LORD will be renewed. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and won't become weary. They will walk and won't grow tired.” (God’s Word Translation)
II Corinthians 4:1
“Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.” (NIV)
I. “And word from the LORD was rare in those days, visions were infrequent.” (I Samuel 3:1)
A.Back in the eighties and nineties we had a sense that we were on the cusp of the great spiritual renewal foretold by the prophet Joel that said, “In the last day I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. And certainly there are good things happening in many areas and places today spiritually, but there are few who would look at the big picture and say that the expectations of Joel 2 are being realized.
1. That is not to say that we are not close; to the contrary, the context of God calling Samuel brought judgment and destruction but it also heralded in a season of renewal and blessing under Samuel’s spiritual leadership.
With that in mind, our place in history is not dissimilar to time of Samuel’s calling.
2.The word of the LORD is rare – There are many words in the name of the Lord, there are many words about the Lord, but THE word of the LORD is rare. Visions are infrequent. There are many people who feel they are have a vision but when a word from the Lord comes things are established where they were in a place of insolvency. When I say things are established – I am saying that there is a new direction, a change, a fundamental paradigm shift in our thinking, in our attitudes, and in our lifestyle, and God assumes a place of greater importance and priority.
II.Eli was lying down in his place (I Samuel 3:2)
A.There are two things that are noteworthy here:
1. Eli was lying down. He was sleeping. He was oblivious.
The significance is that Eli was not in God’s place but in his place – contrast this with verse 3 that says that Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD where the ark of God was.The ark was kept in the Holy of Holies, behind a veil that separated it from the rest of the world. The High Priest was the only one that could enter and even that once only once a year where he would apply the blood of a perfect lamb to the ark to atone for the sins of Israel as a nation. Small little bells were sown into the robe of the High Priest so that as he moved behind the veil the other priests would know that he was still alive – for to enter God’s presence with even the slightest sin would mean death. In fact the other priest would tie a rope around the High Priest so that if he died in the Holy of Holies, they could recover the body.
Being where God is usually takes us is to a place outside our comfort zone. If we are too comfortable with our walk with God, we are probably less likely to experience spiritual renewal.
2.Eli was lying down in his place. He was preoccupied with earthly things. Of course, God understands we have to eat, pay the mortgage or rent, and pay the bills…but God is encouraging us not to allow the necessities of life to overshadow the NECESSITIES OF LIFE.
Don’t allow the things of earth to be more important than the matters of eternity.
B.Back in the days when cars had bench seats, an elderly couple, comfortably seated in their ’66 Chevrolet Belair; him at the wheel and her on the passenger seat, with the crank roll-open triangular vent slightly ajar to allow a little air, but not so much as to mess up her hair, which she had just had done by Melba down at the beauty shop. They meandered their way down the highway at thirty five miles per hour; when all of a sudden from behind a streak of blue shot by them at twice their speed. The old couple shuddered at the sound of the roaring engine, and the old lady held her heart. The old couple had just enough time to see the speeding blue ford had a young couple occupying its bench seat. But they were sitting close together with the young lady over by the young man as close as she could get to him. He had his right arm around her in an embrace so tight that they looked like one person. As they watched the other car disappear in the distance the little old lady looked over at her husband of fifty-three years and said, “Henry, remember when we were like that? “Yup.” came the reply, “We’d drive down the road (the old lady continues) and we would snuggle up close and you’d put your arm around me like that young fella was her? “Yup.” he said again. What happened to us Henry? We’ve grown apart. You just don’t do that anymore. There’s no excitement in our love, no passion, no thrill like there used to be. Why did you have to change? Why did you stop caring? Why didn’t you keep that spark alive? Why aren’t we close like that young couple? I want closeness. I want tenderness. I want romance and excitement. Well, haven’t you got anything to say? Speak up…I’m waiting. I want to be thrilled!”
As she finally stops talking, the old man carefully and deliberately takes a puff on his pipe, and removing it from his mouth, responds. “Well, Ethel…in our fifty-three years of marriage when we went anywhere I almost always did the driving right?” “Yes, so?” “Well…in all that time this steering wheel hasn’t moved an inch has it?” “No it hasn’t. So what?” “Well…to drive I had to stay right here behind this wheel. So if we’re not close anymore, you need to ask yourself who moved?”
And if our relationship is not what we want, God has not moved; but he is driving, so just scoot over and snuggle up.
Conclusion
Many years ago I was the guest speaker in a church in Missouri. The pastor and I were conversing about renewal and he told me a story that I’ve never forgotten. At one point earlier in his ministry he had served as a pastor with few results numerically or spiritually and he become so desperate for God to do something that he resolved to go to his trailer by the lake and not come out ‘til God spoke to him. He fasted, prayed, and read his Bible. Nothing happened until just before dawn on the third day. He was laying on the couch with his head at the end where a hall went down the side of the trailer. It was about 5 AM when he was awakened with a sense that he was not alone – someone was at the end of the hall. He tried to jump up to find something to defend himself – but he was completely paralyzed from the neck down. His heart raced in terror as he could hear movement that confirmed his worse fears. There was someone; but he could not move. He could hear a strange tinkling sound like a wind chime as the footsteps came down the hall. He could hear the persons clothing swishing at every step. He was terrified and his own body refused the commands of his brain to get up and fight. He just helplessly laid there until whoever it was standing at his head. He wanted to badly to look up but even his neck was frozen. Then the invader acted. He touched my friend’s head – and a searing heat came out of his fingertips and penetrated my friend’s head. The heat like a wave went down his neck, his back, his arms, his waist, his legs, finally down to his toes.
In a second my friend’s ability to move returned and he jumped as though electrocuted from the couch. But he could see no one. But a voice spoke in his head and heart the words of the Hebrews 4:13,
“Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.”
He remember then, that the High Priest had little bells sown into his robe, and that the other priests could hear bells ring as the High Priest made things right with God the Father.
My friend says the next Sunday that he stood in the pulpit and simply said that Jesus, the High Priest was there – and people began to weep and fall on their faces crying out to God. The people in the church did not want to be anywhere but at church and for two years they had a service every night. The whole region was changed for God.
How desperate are we for renewal?