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| 4 Epiphany 29 January, 2006 The Rev. Robert C. Granfeldt |
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It was while I was preaching last Sunday’s sermon that I found myself thinking back to
a couple of weeks before, to the First Sunday after the Epiphany, when our Old
Testament lesson was taken from the First Book of Samuel. That was the day, you may
recall, when I said I was NOT going to preach about the Lesson that was one of my
favorites; this is the one.
I hope you recall it. Samuel, who will eventually become God’s kingmaker in the
establishment of the Kingdom of Israel, in the story, is just a boy. He has been
apprenticed by his mother to Eli, the Priest and Prophet. Samuel is awakened in the
middle of the night, to the call, “Samuel. Samuel.” He gets up and goes in to Eli and
asks what the old man wants of him. Eli tells him he didn’t call – go back to sleep.
Again Samuel is awakened by his name being called, and again he goes to his master
to see what he wants; and again Eli sends him back to his bed, saying, “I didn’t call
you!” Finally, the third time Samuel comes to Eli to find out what he wants, Eli realizes
what’s happening – and he tells Samuel to go back to bed, and the next time he hears
his name being called, to stay in bed and say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant listens.”
Samuel does as he’s been told, and the Lord speaks. And Samuel’s life as a prophet
of the Lord and founder of the nation begins that night.
It’s a story very much like another tale, in it’s import; this one told in the First Book of
the Kings, when the great prophet Elijah, having offended King Ahab and Jezebel, his
Queen, runs for his life. He takes refuge on a mountaintop, where he’d been led by
an angel telling him the Lord would speak to him on the mountaintop. When he gets
there, he seeks the Lord’s voice! He looks for it in the windstorm that blows; in the
fire that rages on the hillside; in the earthquake that shakes the mountain – but the
Lord’s voice is in none of those things, and Elijah is dejected. But then, finally, after
all of that passes and in the great calm that follows, Elijah hears what the Scripture
calls “a still, small voice!” It is the voice of God, speaking within him.
Our lessons, during these weeks after the Epiphany have been about “call.” And I’ve
been speaking to you about the most important call of all – the one pointed to by the
word used in the Old Testament that we translate “sin” – hamartia: to “miss the mark”
– and how that word points to that call – the call to become that person, in our lives,
that God creates us to be, hitting the target, fulfilling the goal of personhood.
I’m painfully aware that talking like that sounds like something out of a recruitment
add for the army – “be all that you can be,” but that’s not it, at all. It’s not about the
kind of “excellence” the world values; it’s not about the character traits the world
prizes. It’s about being human; about being the unique human being God calls each
individual one of us to be. It’s a call that doesn’t require any particular strength, or
ability, any minimum degree of intelligence, any beauty, any talent. It depends only on
seeking out God’s will for who we are, and who God would have us be and become.
And that’s where the stories of Samuel and Elijah come in, stories telling us how it is
that we can best discover who we are and who we’re called to be, stories of prayer.
Stories of the most profound prayer in the world; stories of the deepest prayer
experience; stories of the most basic kind of prayer – all in one.
Stories about stilling the storms that rage, inside and out of us; stories of blanketing
the flames, of quieting the shaking of our world; stories of learning to listen – simply
listen.
Stories about the most difficult and the simplest thing we’re called to do, which is,
simply, to turn to the stillness that surrounds our center, and entering into it, to listen.
Everything begins with learning to listen; everything waits for listening. Everything
depends on learning to listen: learning to stop, to be still, to quiet the noise, inside
and outside, and listen.
Among the most important stories in all of scripture are those stories about the
young boy, Samuel, and the old man, Elijah. Among the most important words in all of
Scripture is hamartia. And both word and story come together in the most powerful
tools we have for our own growth, our own success, our own ability to hit the mark –
silence and listening.
Learning those two things is the key to our health, to our wholeness, and to our
holiness. It is, quite simply, learning to pray.
In Jesus Christ’s Name. Amen.
a couple of weeks before, to the First Sunday after the Epiphany, when our Old
Testament lesson was taken from the First Book of Samuel. That was the day, you may
recall, when I said I was NOT going to preach about the Lesson that was one of my
favorites; this is the one.
I hope you recall it. Samuel, who will eventually become God’s kingmaker in the
establishment of the Kingdom of Israel, in the story, is just a boy. He has been
apprenticed by his mother to Eli, the Priest and Prophet. Samuel is awakened in the
middle of the night, to the call, “Samuel. Samuel.” He gets up and goes in to Eli and
asks what the old man wants of him. Eli tells him he didn’t call – go back to sleep.
Again Samuel is awakened by his name being called, and again he goes to his master
to see what he wants; and again Eli sends him back to his bed, saying, “I didn’t call
you!” Finally, the third time Samuel comes to Eli to find out what he wants, Eli realizes
what’s happening – and he tells Samuel to go back to bed, and the next time he hears
his name being called, to stay in bed and say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant listens.”
Samuel does as he’s been told, and the Lord speaks. And Samuel’s life as a prophet
of the Lord and founder of the nation begins that night.
It’s a story very much like another tale, in it’s import; this one told in the First Book of
the Kings, when the great prophet Elijah, having offended King Ahab and Jezebel, his
Queen, runs for his life. He takes refuge on a mountaintop, where he’d been led by
an angel telling him the Lord would speak to him on the mountaintop. When he gets
there, he seeks the Lord’s voice! He looks for it in the windstorm that blows; in the
fire that rages on the hillside; in the earthquake that shakes the mountain – but the
Lord’s voice is in none of those things, and Elijah is dejected. But then, finally, after
all of that passes and in the great calm that follows, Elijah hears what the Scripture
calls “a still, small voice!” It is the voice of God, speaking within him.
Our lessons, during these weeks after the Epiphany have been about “call.” And I’ve
been speaking to you about the most important call of all – the one pointed to by the
word used in the Old Testament that we translate “sin” – hamartia: to “miss the mark”
– and how that word points to that call – the call to become that person, in our lives,
that God creates us to be, hitting the target, fulfilling the goal of personhood.
I’m painfully aware that talking like that sounds like something out of a recruitment
add for the army – “be all that you can be,” but that’s not it, at all. It’s not about the
kind of “excellence” the world values; it’s not about the character traits the world
prizes. It’s about being human; about being the unique human being God calls each
individual one of us to be. It’s a call that doesn’t require any particular strength, or
ability, any minimum degree of intelligence, any beauty, any talent. It depends only on
seeking out God’s will for who we are, and who God would have us be and become.
And that’s where the stories of Samuel and Elijah come in, stories telling us how it is
that we can best discover who we are and who we’re called to be, stories of prayer.
Stories of the most profound prayer in the world; stories of the deepest prayer
experience; stories of the most basic kind of prayer – all in one.
Stories about stilling the storms that rage, inside and out of us; stories of blanketing
the flames, of quieting the shaking of our world; stories of learning to listen – simply
listen.
Stories about the most difficult and the simplest thing we’re called to do, which is,
simply, to turn to the stillness that surrounds our center, and entering into it, to listen.
Everything begins with learning to listen; everything waits for listening. Everything
depends on learning to listen: learning to stop, to be still, to quiet the noise, inside
and outside, and listen.
Among the most important stories in all of scripture are those stories about the
young boy, Samuel, and the old man, Elijah. Among the most important words in all of
Scripture is hamartia. And both word and story come together in the most powerful
tools we have for our own growth, our own success, our own ability to hit the mark –
silence and listening.
Learning those two things is the key to our health, to our wholeness, and to our
holiness. It is, quite simply, learning to pray.
In Jesus Christ’s Name. Amen.
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| Calvary Episcopal Church, Rockdale |
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