The Second Sunday after the Epiphany, January 18, 2009

Preached at Providence Lutheran Church, Holland, Ohio

Pastor Dennis R. King

"Listening to His Call!"

I Samuel 3:1-20

The Grace and Mercy of our Lord, Jesus Christ, be with you all. Amen.

Listening to God! Listening to His Call! Hearing what He has to say to us. It is so very, very important. All of our lives are affected by whether we hear His Call or not. We need to be listening.

There is a story about a man who was a longshoreman by trade who over a period of time became an alcoholic. He visited the same bar day after day. One day he found himself very bored with life and decided to ask God for help. He did not really expect an answer but he heard what he thought was the voice of God saying to him, "Go out and buy a broom cart." There was no doubt in his mind that it was God and so he did buy a broom cart. He bought a broom cart, and he found a place in the neighborhood where he could clean the streets near the school. As he got involved in his cleaning, he forgot about his drinking. He began to meet the children as they came and went from school. He got to know them, and they got to know him. For some he was like a grandfather and they always liked to see him and his wonderful smile. He really felt God was calling him to do this, and he was enjoying life for the very first time. After people, especially the students, got to know him, a funny thing happened. No student would dare throw a piece of trash on his street. This man only wanted to do God’s work, to set his life straight. He said he never felt more peace and happiness than cleaning those streets. He knew deep down that he was sent into those streets by God to love those children, to become their friend, to listen to them, and to help them that they might make more of their lives than what he had made of his life. He encouraged them to take advantage of opportunities that he had overlooked.

Young Samuel heard a voice. He was expecting it to be Eli and then realized that it was God calling him. It is interesting to note that God called Samuel and not one of Eli’s own sons. One's calling is not necessarily inherited. God might not be calling you to do the same thing that your father or mother has done or is doing. He might be calling you to do something different. In a very distinct way He is calling you to be obedient and faithful to Him. Samuel was called to be a prophet of the Lord, a spokesperson for God. He listened. He heard God calling him and he responded. God worked through him to change the lives of a multitude of people.

God has a way of working with us. God has a way of calling us that our lives might be more full. His calling helps us to see that whatever vocation we are in is, potentially, a calling from God. At one time the word vocation was used only in referring to someone who went into the monastery or ministry. Martin Luther changed that meaning of the word vocation. He helped us to see that the word, "vocation" had a fuller meaning. You see, at one point in time, people felt that Adam sinned and part of the punishment was that he should work. Maybe some people still look at it that way. But Martin Luther would say - not so! Luther saw a person's work as a calling from God. Luther would claim that the person who shoveled manure and the woman who milked the cow might be doing work more pleasing to God than the monk in the monastery who spent his days praying and singing songs. After all every honest job is based on meeting human need just like the role of a pastor or priest. All of us have a place in the universe, a reason for being, a role in partnership with God. Luther would say, "God milks the cow through you". Every worthwhile endeavor is potentially a calling from God. Are you listening?

Sometimes it seems that jobs are difficult. Sometimes they are not very enjoyable. Sometimes it might be hard to see them as being a calling from God. A certain man was eager to hear the chimes from St. Nicholas in Amsterdam. So he journeyed to that place and went into the bell tower to listen to those chimes. To his horror, he discovered that as the man struck the immense keys with his hands encased in wooden gloves, the noise was deafening. The air was filled with this loud discordant sound. The man that was eager to hear those beautiful chimes was disappointed. Surely, he had heard wrong about these chimes of St. Nicholas. It just so happened the very next day he was wandering on a hillside near the church about that same time, when suddenly he heard one of the most beautiful sounds that he had ever heard. It was the chimes of St. Nicholas. He wondered if the man who played those chimes ever heard what a beautiful sound he was making for the people nearby. It sounded like noise inside the tower, but to those in the countryside it was the most beautiful music this side of heaven.

Some of us may have equal difficulties in seeing the beauty in our work. All of us may have experienced at one time or another burnout or unemployment. In a magazine, a humor magazine, there was an elderly monk who was admonishing a younger monk. The elderly monk said, "It has come to our attention, Brother Hooper, that you may not be happy with your vow of silence." There was young Brother Hooper on the edge of his bed holding a ventriloquist dummy. We all get that way sometimes. Fed up with things! How could God possibly want us to do this job? Suppose, however, there was no one willing to do that job. No one willing to drive buses, milk cows, work in the field, take memos, design buildings, prescribe medicine, teach children. Think how much poorer our world would be. Every worthwhile occupation is potentially a calling from God. Listen to Him.

There was a young man who was a bathroom attendant in a country club in New York City who was interviewed by a newspaper. What he said was, "I make the bathroom a happy place. That sounds funny, I know. But it is God working through me." Maybe that bathroom attendant had the right idea. Any job can be a calling from God even cleaning bathrooms.

Sometimes people ask us to do things and we do not always care to do them. Then again, maybe we do not really understand what they are asking. There is a story told about a conflict between two groups of people. The commander asked his troopers if they would be willing to be dropped into this enemy territory. It would be a difficult assignment because they would need to go quietly in at night. These particular men, who were always agreeable, hesitated a little bit. No, they did not particularly want to go in. They thought about it and then later came back and decided that they would go under certain circumstances. If they were dropped into enemy territory, they wanted to be dropped in marshy or reasonably soft ground. They also wanted to be dropped from a slow moving plane and they hoped that the plane could possibly get them lower than a hundred feet. The commanding officer that was working in this situation told them that was impossible. A parachute would not open in a hundred feet. The men responded, "Oh, well if we use parachutes we can go in at any time and altitude!" It seems as though they did not quite understand what they were potentially asked to do.

Do we really understand what our job is all about? Do we really understand what God is calling us to do in that vocation? Our ultimate commitment is to Him and to His Calling. Sometimes we forget. Sometimes we fail to teach our children that our ultimate commitment is to follow His Call. When you talk about Communism and Christianity, people begin to make comparisons in a hurry and many people would say, "Communism sounds real good!" People get together. Everybody works for the whole. Everybody shares. Nobody has anything of their own. There is commitment and there are sacrifices. Those commitments and sacrifices are known up front. While Christianity on the other hand often asks little of someone. Even though we have the truth, even though the message we have to proclaim affects our whole life, we often are afraid to ask people to make a commitment or to sacrifice even a little. Why is that? Is it because we do not understand? Or is it because we have not heard clearly what God is saying to us? If our vocations or jobs, are only a means of securing wealth, passing time or achieving status, they will eventually be a millstone around our neck. If, however, we see them as part of God’s plan for us, as we care for His people, feed His people, teach His people, and a 1001 other ways making His world a better place for all to dwell in, than we can get up in the morning with enthusiasm believing, indeed, that we have listened to God and answered His Call. Amen!