Week of 1 Epiphany: Wednesday, Year 2

Above:  The Building of the Tabernacle at Shiloh

The Call of God

JANUARY 10, 2024

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Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), of The Episcopal Church, contains an adapted two-years weekday lectionary for the Epiphany and Ordinary Time seasons from the Anglican Church of Canada.  I invite you to follow it with me.

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1 Samuel 3:1-20 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):

Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD under 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 within the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was.  Then the LORD called,

Samuel! Samuel!

and he said,

Here I am!

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.  And the LORD called again,

Samuel!

And Samuel arose 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.

Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.  And the LORD called Samuel again the third time.  And he 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 hears.”

So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

And the LORD came and stood forth, calling us at other times,

Samuel! Samuel!

And Samuel said,

Speak, for your servant hears.

Then the LORD said to Samuel,

Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel, at which the two ears of every one that hears it will tingle.  On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken against his house, from beginning to end.  And I tell him that I am about to punish his house for ever, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them.  Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering for ever.

Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD.  And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.  But Eli called Samuel and said,

Samuel, my son.

And he said,

Here I am.

And 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.

So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him.  And he said,

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

And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.  And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the LORD.  And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD.

Psalm 40 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1 I waited patiently upon the LORD;

he stooped to me and heard my cry.

2 He lifted me out of the desolate pit, out of the mire and clay;

he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing sure.

3 He put a new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God;

many shall see, and stand in awe,

and put their trust in the LORD.

4 Happy are they who trust in the LORD!

they do not resort to evil spirits or turn to false gods.

5 Great things are they that you have done, O LORD my God!

how great your wonders and your plans for us!

there is none who can be compared with you.

6 Oh, that I could make them known and tell them!

but they are more than I can count.

7 In sacrifice and offering you take no pleasure

(you have given me ears to hear you);

8 Burnt-offering and sin-offering you have not required,

and so I said, “Behold I come.

9 In the roll of the book it is written concerning me:

‘I love to do your will, O my God;

your law is deep in my heart.’”

10 I proclaimed righteousness in the great congregation;

behold, I did not restrain my lips;

and that, O LORD, you know.

Mark 1:29-39 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):

And immediately he left the synagogue, and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.  Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him of her.  And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her; and she served them.

That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons.  And the whole city was gathered together about the door.  And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak because they knew him.

And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed.  And Simon and those who were with him followed him, and they found him and said to him,

Every one is searching for you.

And he said to them,

Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out.

And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

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The Collect:

Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

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Some Related Posts:

Week of 1 Epiphany:  Wednesday, Year 1:

https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/week-of-1-epiphany-wednesday-year-1/

A Prayer to Speak the Truth in Love:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/a-prayer-to-speak-the-truth-in-love/

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So Hannah had her child.  The rest of the story, as we read it in 1 Samuel, is that, after a few years, she left Samuel to live with Eli, the high priest of the Hebrews, at Shiloh.  Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, but they would not succeed their father.  According to 1 Samuel 2:17, they “treated the offering of the LORD with contempt.”  There would be an heir, however; Samuel went on to succeed Eli as high priest.

This was the call of God on the life of Samuel; it surprised him.  Even the method of the call shocked the young man.

Once, more years ago than I choose to admit here, I encountered a woman who said that God was speaking to her at that time.  She might have been correct.  I have never heard a disembodied voice of God, but I have encountered messages from God in several ways:  via people, nature, the Bible, and “secular” literature and classical music.  (I think of the line separating the sacred from the secular as being more porous than many people imagine it.)

How is God calling you?  And what is God saying?  May you listen, understand, and obey.

KRT

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