Last Sunday, I taught my first youth group class for the Summer. We are going through the book of 1 Samuel which is a blessing considering that I just took a course from one the greatest professers on 1 Sam, Dr. John Willis. Still, I felt a little uneasy about teaching this book to a bunch of kids who don't share my passion for just hearing and knowing the story and trying to find the deep meaning behind the writer. So I went on and taught my first lesson which was about listening.
To start, for all of you Bible guys, I left out the stuff about Eli because I will get to him next week. I went on to use the story of Samuel's birth and calling. The striking similarities between the opening story and the book of Judges is interesting. Many scholars, and I would agree, think that this is because the books Joshua through 2 Chronicles were written by the same person or same group of people. This would explain the types of similarities we find at the beginning of Samuel compared to the Judges. It seems that maybe the same situation will occur but then we hear of Hannah's faith and God grants her wish.
The main point I then moved to was Samuel's calling. This is a puzzling passage in the Bible to me because it tells us at the beginning of ch.3 that God had not spoken in a while nor did anyone have any visions. But later down in the chapter, it says that God came and stood in the same room as Samuel. I don't know what that means but if it is a literal statement, then this is a very remarkeable event. So God calls out Samuel's name and three times Samuel believes it is Eli but Eli soon discovers that this is infact the voice of the LORD. This is puzzling to me because, just like in the chapter's beginning, we today do not seem to have very many visions or speaches from God. I spoke with Randy Harris last semester who spends many days and even months at monastaries taking vows of silence to sit in prayer. I came to him with questions about people today who say that God spoke to them and he told me that after spending all that time with monks who dedicate their lives to prayer and silence, not one of them had ever had the experiences that I described. So how does God communicate with us? From some conversations with people, some would argue that he indeed does speak to people today just as he spoke to Samuel that night. But does he talk to every Christian that way?
The Hebrews writer says at the beginning of his sermon, "Long ago God spoke to our fathers at many times and in various ways through prophets, but today he has spoken to us through a son..." So it is obvious that God speaks through certain people just by going through the Old Testament. So if God does not speak to us as direct as some think, how are we suppose to listen to him? I see that one way God might communicate his will is by sight. We see what Jesus has done for us and do our best to follow what he says. Another way, which is accessible to us but not to all those who wrote it, is through his word. But the word is silent on some issues. So how do we listen to God?
I encouraged the kids in the group to find a time during the day to sit in silence and pray. I believe that God hears us when we pray and is mindful of what we want and need. But are we mindful of God and what he says and what he wants?
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2 comments:
No. We arent. But even if we were, how would we know if what we heard was God or "Eli?" Are we constantly hearing God but thinking that voice comes from somewhere else? Do we want to hear God? Seems like listening to God usually creates some issues that most, if not all, people in the Bible have to work out. Its difficult to listen to God.
Here is an even more radicle thought, what if God isnt talking? Perhaps God is trying to say anything to us. Maybe because we dont listen, maybe because whats worth saying has already been said.
Just a thought.
That is actually something I have been thinking about. I have been reluctant to say that God has not been speaking, but someone could easily argue that maybe he is just not speaking to me. Obviously, there are times when God is silent according to the beginning of chapter 3 and it seems like some of the Psalm writers go through some silent times when they lement to God about not hearing them. But why is it so difficult to listen to God?
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