Good and Bad
1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20) to do something important.
Rev. Gary Shoemaker
Bellingham F.C.C. 1-14-18
The story of the call of
Samuel is wonderful. Partly
because it’s just sort of funny -
he keeps going in and waking
up poor old Eli every time the
Lord calls to him. Finally, Eli
figures it out and tells Samuel
to just answer the next time
instead of coming in and
waking him up. The call of
Samuel is also wonderful
because it comes to him in his
youth, and he’s totally
surprised by it. And who
wouldn’t be? When your 10 or
11 years old, you don’t usually
expect to become a
spokesperson for God. I’m
sure it hadn’t even entered his
mind that he might be a
person that God would choose
But God does call him, and he
calls him to a very special
purpose. To be a prophet of
God. To be a vessel for God’s
words and ways. Samuel goes
on to deliver God’s message
for many years. In fact, it says
that not a single word fell to
the ground. Samuel became a
faithful prophet for God.
But let’s back up just a bit.
You remember that Samuel’s
mother Hannah had wanted a
child, and had gone to Shiloh
to pray for a son. After her son
is born, she dedicates him to
the work of God. She
eventually leaves Samuel
there, with the priest Eli, to
serve the Lord. That’s how
Samuel ends up working in
1 of 6
the temple late at night. And
that’s where the call comes.
First God has to get Samuel’s
attention, that’s where our
scripture reading ends. But
that’s not the end of the story,
because after God gets
Samuel’s attention, God gives
him the message to deliver.
And it’s not a good message.
In fact it’s really bad news for
Eli and his family.
Can you imagine being a
young person who was
basically raised by this man,
and your first job as God’s
messenger is to bring bad
news to the very man who had
taken you in and cared for you
all these years. That’s a heavy
burden, and I’m sure that
Samuel didn’t want to deliver
the news.
But when Eli heard that
Samuel had received a
message he made him tell it.
He said, if you don’t tell me
all of it, then may God do the
same to you and even more! It
seems like Eli might have
been expecting some bad
news.
The whole chapter starts with
the phrase, “The word of the
Lord was rare in those days.”
We might say the same thing
about today. When’s the last
time the word of the Lord
came down from the mountain
top, or a prophet got the
attention of the entire nation
with a message sent from
God? The word of the Lord is
rare these days. Or is it that
we don’t really want to hear
the word of the Lord? I don’t
think that Eli was especially
2 of 6
eager to face up to God, when
he knew he was falling short.
What if the word of the Lord
called us out for all the ways
that we’ve messed up? That’s
exactly what Samuel has to
tell Eli. Look! You and your
sons have messed up, you are
blaspheming God instead of
serving God. No wonder the
word of God was rare, no one
wanted to hear it!
There are times when we are
called to do things that are not
easy, not fun, not pleasant.
There are times when the
word and the ways of God are
more of a challenge than a
comfort.
Poor Samuel was called to
deliver a challenging message,
it was not a message of good
news but a call to change
direction.
It’s not easy to deliver such a
message. And it’s even harder
to receive such a message.
We’d rather be patted on the
back for all the good we’ve
been doing than face
correction for the fact that
we’ve messed up. But for
most of us it’s a mixed bag
isn’t it, we’ve all done good
and we’ve all messed up.
But looking at the larger
picture, how is the church
delivering and receiving the
word of the Lord today? Does
this story have anything to
teach us?
We’re called to be people of
justice and love. We’re called
to live lives that create God’s
realm on earth. We’re called to
3 of 6
bring people together, to care
for the poor, to watch out for
the vulnerable, to build peace
instead of division and
suspicion.
How are we to do that? What
does that mean for the church?
What difference does our faith
make in the world? What
difference should it make?
Eli and his sons had not been
doing their jobs as leaders of
the faithful. Instead they had
become corrupt, putting
themselves before the work of
God.
Am I doing my job? Are you
doing your job?
I think that there are people,
there are voices rising up to
challenge a church that has
grown complacent. That
challenge a church across the
country and world that has
lost its way. We need to hear
those voices, we need to hear
the same sort of message that
Samuel had for Eli. A call to
come back to the basics of the
faith. A call to return to the
ways of Jesus.
And we also need to be aware
that perhaps God is calling us
to deliver a message that may
not be easy to hear. A message
that shakes up the
complacency of the church. A
message that challenges a
status quo that has grown
comfortable with a gospel that
ends at our doorstep. Perhaps
we’re being called to deliver a
challenge that as people of
God, we need to be the hands
of healing and change that
shake the world out of
complacency. A world that has
4 of 6
grown accustomed to
injustice, hunger,
discrimination, poverty and
violence.
We need to challenge the
attitudes that allow us to
forget that we’re more than
citizens of a particular
country, but we are citizens of
God’s wide, wonderful world.
We need to challenge leaders
who can’t think beyond the
needs of their own county. We
need to awaken a spirit that
opens our eyes to the fact that
what happens in one part of
the world affects us all. We
need to answer God’s call to
be part of the healing of the
nations.
Maybe that’s too big for us to
seriously consider. So, for me
I’m going to start small. I’m
going to speak up the next
time I hear someone making a
racial slur. I’m going to speak
up the next time I hear
someone talking down a
different religion. I’m going to
speak up the next time I hear a
man speaking about or to a
woman in an inappropriate
way. I’m going to challenge
the next person who says that
we don’t have to care about
our sisters and brothers in
Africa, or Haiti, or Mexico or
Palestine or anywhere that’s
not right here. I’m going to
challenge people to put
themselves in the shoes of
whoever it is they’re against.
It wasn’t easy for Samuel to
recognize the voice of God.
It’s not easy for us to
recognize the voice of God. It
wasn’t easy for Samuel to
deliver a tough message to Eli,
and it’s not easy for us to
5 of 6
deliver a tough message But God is calling us right
either. But you’ve been called now to do better. It’s not
to do just that. All of you have
been called to do just that. easy, but it’s right.

And in order to do that, first

we have to really listen to
what God is saying. As
Christians we do that by
studying the Bible and looking
for the great themes and
directions that jump out at us.
We do that by studying the life
and teachings of Jesus and
applying them to our place
and time.

It’s hard and sure, we’ve

messed up. Everyone of us has
messed up. We’ve not spoken
out. We’ve not challenged
people who say and do
harmful, hurtful things to
others.

6 of 6