When the LORD Won't Let You Sleep

So this is a blog? 

Do reader’s read this blog when they choose to read?

Does it depend on what the blogger blogs?

My name is Graham, and I am the lay missioner at Southside Abbey. We are a quirky church to say the least, with the homeless and the over-housed hanging out over pizza and chili. If you want to know more, stop by The Hart Gallery on a Friday night at 6:11pm and worship with us. It will be no less than a genuine, awkward human interaction with a brooding sense of the divine hovering all about.

With no further ado, let us continue on to what I actually intended to talk about, namely, the Old Testament lectionary reading for this upcoming Sunday: 

1 Samuel 3:1-20

¹Now the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. 

And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation. 

²And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place, 

and when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see, 

³and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the LORD where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down, 

⁴that the LORD called Samuel. And he answered, "Here I am!" 

⁵So he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." 

And he said, "I did not call; lie down again." 

And he went and lay down. 

⁶Then the LORD called yet again, "Samuel!" 

So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." 

He answered, "I did not call, my son; lie down again." 

⁷(Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, 

nor was the word of the LORD yet revealed to him.)

 ⁸And the LORD called Samuel again the third time.

 So he arose and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you did call me." 

Then Eli perceived that the LORD had called the boy. 

⁹Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down; and it shall be, 

if He calls you, that you must say, 'Speak, LORD, for Your servant hears.'" 

So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 

¹⁰Now the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!"

 And Samuel answered, "Speak, for Your servant hears." 

¹¹Then the LORD said to Samuel: "Behold, 

I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 

¹²In that day I will perform against Eli 

all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 

¹³For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, 

because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them. 

¹⁴And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli 

that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever." 

¹⁵So Samuel lay down until morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD.

 And Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision. 

¹⁶Then Eli called Samuel and said, "Samuel, my son!" 

He answered, "Here I am." 

¹⁷And he said, "What is the word that the LORD spoke to you? 

Please do not hide it from me. 

God do so to you, and more also, 

if you hide anything from me of all the things that He said to you." 

¹⁸Then Samuel told him everything, and hid nothing from him. 

And he said, "It is the LORD. Let Him do what seems good to Him." 

¹⁹So Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him 

and let none of his words fall to the ground. 

²⁰And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba 

knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the LORD.

NKJV

Did both of your ears tingle?

There is a lot that can go into interpreting a passage like this. We could delve into the history, context, and culture. When was it written? Who was it written to? What seems to be the author’s intent? We could talk about Eli’s no good sons, using their religious privilege to abuse women. Or we could talk about the character of Samuel, the first son of a barren woman dedicated to a life of ministry in the temple. This is, after all, a story about real people in a real place, and as such, there is an almost overwhelming amount of complexity.  And then there is God mucking about in the middle of it. 

Ultimately, I am the most curious about this “LORD” character. What is God doing waking everybody up in the middle of the night? Wouldn’t a mid-morning call be a little more civil? Doesn’t he know he is ruining their entire night?  This is the season of Ephiphany, when God reveals himself like a light in the darkness. Why is he moving around in the shadows?

 Can you imagine how exasperated Samuel and Eli must have been getting? They had spent a long day in the temple praying, offering sacrifices, and expiating the guilt of thoroughly screwed up human beings before a perfect and holy God. That’s exhausting.  Samuel thinks Eli keeps calling for him. He recognizes authority in the call, but Eli keeps denying it’s him. Why is the old man messing with him? 

Eli is wondering what the heck is wrong with this kid who keeps waking him up. Why can’t the kid just go back to sleep?

Then Eli realizes something else is going on.  God, that troubling God they worship, is getting himself involved. I love the line “Now the LORD came and stood and called...” God is intervening with, what  sounds like, a very physical presence. Can you imagine the Creator God of the cosmos standing in your hallway and calling your name?

Then God puts Samuel in an extremely awkward and even dangerous position. Samuel has to condemn the very person in authority over him. Eli provides everything for Samuel. Eli can ruin Samuel’s life.  Why is God asking a child to deliver this troubling message to his elder? 

You have to credit Eli, who, even though he hears the words from a boy, knows that they are the LORD’s words. It is a fascinating response, “It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him.” 

Is the correct response? Should he have pleaded with God? Is he actually repenting or just resigning himself? Should he have gone out and drove his sons out the temple? Out of the body of Israel? 

Perhaps.

I think of the other characters in the Bible who struggle against God. David pleading for the life of his bastard son. Abraham bargaining against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Moses convincing God to not wipe-out all the Israelites. Habakuk decrying the seeming absence of God in the violence that plagued his society. Mary asking Jesus to miracle up some new wine. Jesus asking the Father if there is any way forward besides crucifixion. There is no one answer, but there seems to be space for asking.

So struggle with God. Listen for his voice. Obey. God may be troubling, but God is also Love.

I Had an Epiphany! No Wait, a Theophany!

I want to begin this week's post by wishing everyone a holy Epiphany-tide. Epiphany is a church word that gets tossed around outside of the church. Often my first response when I hear someone say, “I had an epiphany,” is: “no you didn't!” I know I am reacting to how the word gets used, but something about the word Epiphany has to do with our ability to see the “striking appearance.” The onus is on the individual and not the Divine.

In the Eastern Church they use the word, “Theophany,” meaning a vision of God. It is tough to corroborate, but theophany feels more about God's revelation of God's self, not our personal self's ability to see that revelation.

This flies in the face of the more-than-opportunistic advertise-at-every-opportunity of consumerist culture. God isn't just going to use the super-bowl commercial to get our attention. God can use the ordinary too, like eyelashes or splinters. God has used salt, light, water, mud, bread, and wine to get our attention. Occasionally God shows up in something miraculous like a burning bush, but for a mystic like Julian of Norwich, it was due to a hazelnut that she knew the whole world exists because God loves it. God is always there: revealing and revealing despite our – at times – poor perception.

At times aspects of the Episcopal Church can get me down. As a denomination, we often find ourselves glamorized with the glamorous. At this point in my journey following Jesus, I am less and less concerned with where (or if) someone went to seminary, what books he or she has written (or read), if he or she works in the Episcopal Mecca or Medina (New York City or Los Angeles). This Theophany Season, I am intentionally taking the Eastern road – looking for how God is revealing God's self all around me. I am walking the mystic's path – looking for how God is revealing God's self through what is already happening – what the Holy Spirit is doing – all around me.

One whole day into this intentional journey, here is the truth that has been revealed to me...

In my music career, people would talk about the “best drummer ever” or something like that. The superlative musician in question was invariably the herald's favorite. (Not that I am against favorites – Southside Abbey's warden prayerfully reminds herself daily: “I am God's very favorite, and so are you.”) But favorite does not equal best. I'm going to go on record and state that the best drummer is not Neil Peart, John Fishman, Steve Gadd (although I might entertain this argument), or Mike Clark. The best drummer in the world is a field worker in Cuba cutting sugar in a cane field or a stamp-canceller in a Ghanaian post office – using rhythm in their vocation everyday until it doesn't seem like work anymore. It is someone that – odds are – we will never hear about, because they don't put cane field workers or postal employees on the cover of magazines.

This makes me think about our beloved church. There are lots of people doing lots of really effective ministry that we may never hear about, because they are not marketing themselves, they are marketing Jesus. They are speaking the language of our sacred story through their vocation. As Paul put it: “We do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake” (2 Cor. 4:5).

For those of you toiling for Jesus in relative obscurity, let me use this platform to offer heart-felt thanks and blessings. If you are talking to college students about Jesus in Michigan, if you are starting a street ministry in North Carolina, if you are celebrating Holy Communion daily with a handful of the faithful in New Jersey, if you are hosting a medical mission at your rural Oregon parish, if you are practicing counter-cultural radically inclusive welcome in suburban Texas, if you are expanding the affordable housing options in Minnesota, if you are trying to engage in justice ministries with secular Vermonters, if you are in ecumenical conversations about greening food deserts in Ohio, if you wait in contemplation in New Mexico’s high desert, or if you are quietly, faithfully doing the work of Jesus that will probably never land you on the cover of a magazine...

Thanks be to God for your ministry and for your willingness to serve. May God bless you and the fruits of these ministries. 

This post was originally published on the Episcopal Church Foundation's Vital Practices Vital Posts blog on January 8, 2015. It has been reprinted here with permission.