2nd after epiphany year b - 1 samuel

1 Samuel 3:1-20

Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Sovereign under Eli.

     The word of the Sovereign was rare in those days;

          visions were not widespread.

     ²At that time Eli,

          whose eyesight had begun to grow dim

               so that he could not see,

                    was lying down in his room;

                        ³the lamp of God had not yet gone out,

     and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Sovereign,

          where the ark of God was.

⁴Then the Sovereign called,

     “Samuel! Samuel!”

and Samuel said,

     “Here I am!”

     ⁵and ran to Eli, and said,

          “Here I am,

               for you called me.”

But Eli said,

     “I did not call;

          lie down again.”

               So Samuel went and lay down.

⁶The Sovereign called again,

     “Samuel!”

Samuel got up and went to Eli,

     and said,

          “Here I am,

               for you called me.”

But Eli said,

     “I did not call, my child;

          lie down again.”

⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the Sovereign,

     and the word of the Sovereign had not yet been revealed to him.

⁸The Sovereign called Samuel again,

     a third time.

     And Samuel got up and went to Eli,

          and said,

               “Here I am,

                    for you called me.”

Then Eli perceived that the Sovereign was calling the child.

     ⁹Therefore Eli said to Samuel,

          “Go, lie down;

               and if they call you,

                    you shall say,

                        ‘Speak, Sovereign,

                             for your servant is listening.’”

So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰Now the Sovereign came and stood there,

     calling as before,

          “Samuel! Samuel!”

And Samuel said,

     “Speak,

          for your servant is listening.”

¹¹Then the Sovereign said to Samuel,

     “See, I am about to do something in Israel

          that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle.

          ¹²On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken

               concerning his house,

                    from beginning to end.

               ¹³For I have told Eli 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.

               ¹⁴Therefore I swear to the house of Eli

                    that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated

                        by sacrifice or offering forever.”

¹⁵Samuel lay there until morning;

     then he opened the doors of the house of the Sovereign.

     Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.

          ¹⁶But Eli called Samuel and said,

               “Samuel, my son.”

Samuel said,

     “Here I am.”

¹⁷Eli said,

     “What was it that the Sovereign 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 God told you.”

¹⁸So Samuel told Eli everything

     and hid nothing from him.

Then Eli said,

     “It is the Sovereign;

          let God do what seems good to God.”

¹⁹As Samuel grew up,

     the Sovereign was with him

     and let none of his words fall to the ground.

          ²⁰And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew

               that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Sovereign.

Queeries the text:

Are the word of God and visions rare today or do we just institutionalize or ostracize the people to whom they come?

What kind of "word of the Sovereign" has to be revealed to you before you recognize God's voice?  Isn't God's voice also God's word?

How annoyed are Samuel and Eli with each other before they figure out what's going on?

How many times have we been confused when God is calling us?

Did Eli know he was in trouble?

Was God only appearing by voice the first three times so that Samuel would wake Eli up and clue him in on what was going on?

Why does God always seem to give prophets news people don't want?

When words fall to the ground, do they become seeds?  

What are your queeries?