The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.

One night, Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called Samuel.

Samuel answered, “Here I am.” And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.”

But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So, he went and lay down.

Again, the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.”

“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.”

Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. So, Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So, Samuel went and lay down in his place.

The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. At that time, I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end. For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God, and he failed to restrain them. Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”

Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”

Samuel answered, “Here I am.”

“What was it he said to you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything that he told you.” So, Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.”

The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word. (NIV)

Old Testament stories are typically arranged in such a way that we can perceive clear contrasts between the good guy and the bad guy. In our lesson today, Samuel is the good guy and Eli the bad guy. The contrast between them are two different ways of being quiet.

On the one hand we have the boy Samuel, who took a posture of listening. Samuel was quiet and heard the voice of the Lord. He responded with few words, with a spirit of listening. Eli the old priest, on the other hand, was also quiet, but for all the wrong reasons. Eli’s sons were also priests. They received sacrifices from God’s people and deliberately mishandled their responsibility. The sons cared not a whit for what the Lord really wanted. Eli knew what his sons were doing, and he was eerily quiet about their gross negligence as priests.

There is a time for everything – a time to speak and a time to be quiet. And when being quiet is required, it is for the purpose of listening. Listening seems a lost art and a forgotten ability in our day and age. People can be so concerned to express their opinions and say what they want to say that the virtue of listening is neither valued nor cherished.  However, God puts a premium on listening.

One of the reasons the art of listening is not well-practiced is that we esteem busyness over taking the time for silence. We cannot seem to slow down enough to listen. Yet, if we are to hear the voice of God, we must be still and silent long enough to listen to what the Spirit is trying to say to us.

We might be uncomfortable with silence and seek to fill any quiet space with noise to not have to deal with what is really going on inside of us. I once attended a ministerial retreat. One of the pastors I got to know was a church planter in an urban ministry. He grew up in a large family in the inner city. And he talked – a lot! He was a beehive of words and constant locomotion. During our lunch together, the retreat host made a pronouncement: Beginning after the meal, there was to be absolutely no talking until lunch the next day. There was to be a full twenty-four hours of total silence.

Some might think this was some sort of punishment. But that line of thinking exposes how much words and noise mean to us. The sole purpose of the silence was to put us in a position for listening to God. As you might imagine, my church planter friend had a difficult time. When we broke the silence the next day, he confessed he had never in his entire life been quiet for more than fifteen minutes. However, here is what he said about his time of silence: 

“Those twenty-four hours of silence were the loudest hours I have ever experienced. My mind was so noisy and so filled with stuff that when night came it nearly drove me nuts. But in the morning, as the noise started to fade away, I could begin to hear the still small voice of God.” 

This wonderful brother went back to his church a different pastor, determined to sit still long enough and be quiet long enough to hear what God wanted for his life and work.

If we want to hear God speak to us, we must take the same approach as the boy Samuel and say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Then, be quiet and listen. Any fool can babble on about their gripes and opinions. But the wise person discerns that talking is overrated. Silence, solitude, listening, and learning were the virtues practiced by Jesus. The kingdom of God comes to earth when those ideals are cherished.

Another reason we might not value listening is that we do not want to hear what God is saying. After all, it might not be something we would like to hear. Old Eli did not get good news from Samuel’s listening to the Lord. Yet here is where words are to follow listening. When we take the time to listen to God, we must do and say what God tells us to do and speak. And that can be scary. 

I would like you to do something: Take ten minutes every day for the next week to do nothing but sit in silence for the purpose of listening. Begin your time with Samuel’s phrase: “Speak, Lord, for I am listening.”  Then, be quiet, and listen. Pay attention to what is going on inside of you. Meditate on that phrase, or another Bible passage. Afterwards, take a few moments to write down how you felt during the time, and any insights you discovered.

Loving God, we admit to being uncomfortable with silence. Listening is such hard work! We confess to you our propensity of filling every nook and cranny of our lives with being busy and productive, achieving and doing. We admit that we keep looking for you to act without first listening to what you are saying to us. We choose today to take the posture of listening to your Holy Spirit speak to us through your Holy Word. Give us the courage to act on what you tell us. We lean into the faith we have in the Lord Jesus so that our lives may be shaped and formed in ways that please you. Be gracious to answer us and lead us to the green pastures and quiet waters of your sacred space. Amen.