{"id":3615,"date":"2024-01-15T14:03:45","date_gmt":"2024-01-15T14:03:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.firstpresvaldosta.org\/?p=3615"},"modified":"2024-01-15T14:04:19","modified_gmt":"2024-01-15T14:04:19","slug":"your-servant-is-listening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.firstpresvaldosta.org\/index.php\/2024\/01\/15\/your-servant-is-listening\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Servant is Listening"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your Servant is Listening<\/span>
\nSecond Sunday after Epiphany<\/span>
\nJanuary 14, 2024<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Have you ever thought you heard someone calling your name, but no one heard it but you?\u00a0 Did you think it was God calling out to you?\u00a0 Or did you just think you were losing your mind?!<\/span><\/p>\n

In our first scripture reading this morning, the boy Samuel certainly didn\u2019t recognize the voice of God, and thought it was Eli calling him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s step back a moment and consider the history before the call comes to Samuel from God.\u00a0 Samuel\u2019s story begins before he is born when his barren mother declares before God that if he grant her a male child, she would dedicate the child to the service of the Lord for the rest of the child\u2019s life.<\/span><\/p>\n

So Samuel\u2019s fate, you see, was promised to God prior to his birth.\u00a0 After weaning her male child, as promised, Hannah takes the boy to the temple over which the priest Eli presided, and places him in service to Eli.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is here that we see God calls Samuel into service for the Lord.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eli, having two sons that are less than favorable in God\u2019s sight due to their misbehavior, to put it mildly, causes God to pursue Samuel for his work.<\/span><\/p>\n

We might wonder why Samuel did not know the call of God\u2019s voice, and it even took Eli a while to understand that it was God calling the boy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Samuel, we are told, did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not been revealed to him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, it is at this particular time in Samuel\u2019s life that God calls to the young boy, and if you look at the scripture, you will note that he calls him with exclamation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s something else going on here also as we are told that it was rare in those days for the call of God.\u00a0 This is an interesting fact that is interjected into the story.<\/span><\/p>\n

Was God\u2019s call rare because people had stopped listening for it?\u00a0 \u00a0We don\u2019t know.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once Eli recognizes that it may be the Lord calling to Samuel, he gives the boy instruction to respond to the call by saying \u201cSpeak, for your servant is listening.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Thankfully, we are told that the lamp for Eli had not yet left him, so even though he may have not done all that God had desired, especially in disciplining his boys, God was still a part of Eli\u2019s life, and he played an important part in this story in being able to recognize it was God calling for the boy.\u00a0 Sometimes we need direction, encouragement in knowing when God might be calling us.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Samuel, God comes to him when he is alone in \u201chis place.\u201d\u00a0 In his room in the quiet of the day, and it is Eli who points out to Samuel that it is the Lord.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s fast forward to the Gospel of John.\u00a0 Here, we find Jesus gathering his disciples, calling his disciples to follow him.\u00a0 Jesus finds Philip who then finds Nathanael.<\/span><\/p>\n

While Philip is very excited to see that Jesus is the one of whom Moses and the prophets wrote about, Nathanael is not as enthused, it seems.\u00a0 However, Philip is persistent and tells him, to \u201cCome and see.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As Nathanael is approaching Jesus, he said of him, \u201cHere is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Nathanael, still not convinced, asked Jesus, \u201cWhere did you get to know me?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus answers, \u201cI saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I wonder, was Nathanael listening for God\u2019s voice as he sat under the fig tree, there in \u201chis place?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Just as God was watching Samuel, his behavior, his dedication to service, so was Jesus watching Nathanael.\u00a0 God had seen Samuel in \u201chis place,\u201d and Jesus had seen Nathanael in \u201chis place.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you have \u201ca place\u201d where you find God?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This came up in our Generations of Faith class last Sunday, and there were many answers.\u00a0 Some responded that they find God in nature, in their sunroom, in this church, and in other holy spaces known as thin places by the Celtics.\u00a0 Surely God can see us and call to us anywhere, however, it sometimes requires that we are still, that we are in a quiet place so that we are able to listen and hear the voice of God speak to us.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both God and Jesus recognize the gifts of Samuel and Nathanael to do the work that is required to carry out God\u2019s mission in life, and they still recognize the gifts that have been provided to you today.<\/span><\/p>\n

A little later in the service, we will install the new Elders for Session, Class of 2026, who have been called to offer their gifts for the good of God\u2019s mission in this church, in this community, and in this world.<\/span><\/p>\n

If there is one thing that I would ask these new Elders to consider, is that they are called for God\u2019s work.\u00a0 Working for God\u2019s mission is our purpose in life, above all else. \u00a0God has called David Carter, Jennifer Shepherd and Sue Miller at this particular time to bring their gifts for the good of all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a congregation, we can pray for them that the Lord bless them with wisdom and discernment and imagination during their term on Session for the next three years.\u00a0 And the congregation can pray for all of Session to lead with wisdom and discernment and imagination for the good of this church in seeking the answer of the call made by God for us to continue the work of Jesus, to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this place and in this community.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus still speaks to us\u2026.are we listening?<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus says, \u201cFollow me.\u201d\u00a0 Are we listening as servants to that call?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether we are on Session or wanting to offer our gifts to others, we might pray,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLord, who is my mission?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWho needs to encounter your love today?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBring them into my path today.\u00a0 Amen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This was the prayer of a gentlemen who lived in Detroit who spent eight hours a day walking around the city to see who he might be able to help.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus calls people by simply walking around and engaging them, as he did his disciples and others he met along his path.\u00a0 We can do the same.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus continues to call his disciples today, he\u2019s continually on the move leading his people into the world to spread God\u2019s love, grace, mercy and justice.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Jesus gathered his disciples, when he called to them and said, \u201cFollow me,\u201d he created a movement that was committed to reduplication and expansion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus calls Philip, and Philip immediately calls Nathanael, and shares his convictions about Jesus.\u00a0 Philip shares his story about Jesus to Nathanael in a way that is comfortable to him, and we can do the same.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have to prepare a special speech about who Jesus is, we can just tell people in our own words and in our own way who Jesus is, and what he has done for us in our lives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Like Philip, when we offer the invitation for someone to, \u201ccome and see,\u201d Jesus will do the rest.<\/span><\/p>\n

Psalm 34:8 reminds us, \u201cO taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus tells Nathanael he will see greater things, now that he has believed.\u00a0 We too, can see greater things when we go out into the world with the power of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Our ultimate purpose in life is to follow Jesus, be empowered by the Spirit and engage the world with Jesus\u2019 invitation.\u00a0 What greater things has God called us to do?<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2024, let us listen for God\u2019s call, let us say, \u201cSpeak Lord, your servant is listening,\u201d so that we can see what greater things God might be calling us to do today.<\/span><\/p>\n

In your bulletin is a form for you to complete, and place in the offering tray after worship.\u00a0 If you need more time to consider, you can take it home, and bring it back next Sunday.\u00a0 If God has put something on your heart, and you believe it is a call you might be able to participate in, Session would be interested in knowing this before our Session Retreat on January 27th<\/sup>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe God is using you like he did Eli and Philip to have us recognize that it is God calling, and Jesus saying follow me.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you are being called to serve on one of our Session Committees:\u00a0 Administration, Finance and Property, Faith and Nurture, Worship or Mission, Evangelism and Media, we would really like to know your willingness to serve.<\/span><\/p>\n

We can still dare to dream what work God might be calling us to do in our day.\u00a0 Jesus will indeed continue to do \u201cgreater things\u201d through us than we have seen in our midst.\u00a0 Might we seek to embody the principle one of my commentaries referenced:\u00a0 \u201cThe Gospel comes to us on its way to someone else.\u201d\u00a0 Let me say that again, \u201cThe Gospel comes to us on its way to someone else.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 The Gospel didn\u2019t stop with Jesus, and it doesn\u2019t stop with us.\u00a0 It is ours to pass on, and it is ours to share.<\/span><\/p>\n

Might we eagerly say, \u201cSpeak Lord, for your servant is listening!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*Cover Art by Unsplash, used with subscription<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Your Servant is Listening Second Sunday after Epiphany January 14, 2024 Have you ever thought you heard someone calling your name, but no one heard it but you?\u00a0 Did you think it was God calling out to you?\u00a0 Or did you just think you were losing your mind?! 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