One of my favorite hymns is, “Here I am, Lord”. When I was a kid, I loved the catchy tune and loved singing along, even though I didn’t fully understand its meaning. Now I understand—thanks to my rock star pastor—that this hymn was inspired by scripture in 1 Samuel 3:4 (and Isaiah 6:8, but we are just focusing on 1 Samuel for now, so bear with me).
Samuel was the son of the incredibly faithful Hannah. Hannah prayed and prayed to have a child, and when she finally did, she dedicated him to God. Now when I say she dedicated him to God, I mean she dedicated him to God. Hannah offered her baby boy to live in a sanctuary and serve a priest named Eli. One night, when Samuel was likely around ten or eleven, God called out to Samuel. Samuel first thought it was Eli calling to him.
Samuel’s response? “Here I am!”
This occurred three times before Eli realized what was really happening, that God was calling to Samuel. Eli instructed Samuel to respond by saying, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening”.
At that point, Samuel was very tired, so he told Eli, “Nah, I’m good.”
(I jest, but truly I am awed by Samuel’s faith and often wish I could have faith more like Samuel.)
Faithful Samuel of course listened to the priest, and he listened to the Lord. Samuel responded to God’s call by saying, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening”.
Turns out God had some tough stuff to share. (Now this next part is where the title of this post came from.) Eli had a couple of sons in powerful positions; they were priests who were supposed to perform religious duties.
Instead, they abused their power.
Eli’s sons stole the best portions of sacrifices to God and sexually abused women serving at the tabernacle. In 1 Samuel 2:12 it literally states: “Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord”.
They were scoundrels. The definition of “scoundrel” is: A villain; a rogue. A mean, worthless fellow; a rascal; a villain; without honor or virtue.
They used their privileged positions not to serve people in their care and to serve the Lord, but instead chose to lord over others. They performed what one might call “gross injustices”.
I could go on and on here, but if you read chapter three of 1 Samuel, it will give you plenty of food for thought. And now my encouragement is to listen to my spouse Jeremy’s sermon on gross injustice: https://www.facebook.com/100079261172747/videos/818230397815656
After you listen, consider:
What does the story of Samuel & Eli stir up in you?
How well do you listen?
When are times you have listened well to God? To a friend? How about to someone you don’t agree with?
What might it look like to intentionally seek out ways to listen deeply?
What power do you have in your various roles? How do you use your power?
In what areas of your life do you pray that God reveals God’s purpose to and for you?
I get so wrapped up in wishing I had control over so many things. The danger here is that line of thinking leads to overwhelm and a general feeling of frustration and “stuckness”. My encouragement—for myself and for others—is to take that centering breath. Think about how Jesus leads. And try to approach the world with a posture that says, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening Here I am”.
Let’s see what happens.
