in the presence of another

Hey team.

So I’ve been thinking about a story a lot lately. I am taking a preaching class and I did my most recent sermon on 1 Samuel Chapter 3. But part of our preparation for preaching is reading commentaries. We have to look at at least three, preferably more, and find out what the greatest biblical minds think about the passage. We are supposed to think for ourselves but consider the scholars, both modern and ancient.

In reading this stuff, I found out that I understood the story completely differently than any of the people whose job it is to interpret it. Not a good sign, right? No. I don’t think so. But the more I read it, the more I got comfortable with reading it differently.

In this story, Samuel is a really young boy and he was dedicated to the service of the Lord by his mother at birth. So he has lived with Eli, who is the high priest at Shiloh for his entire life. Samuel is lying down to sleep when he hears his name called. So he RUNS to Eli, thinking he must need him. But Eli says he didn’t call. So Samuel goes back to bed and this happens a second time. And the third time Samuel hears his name called out and runs to Eli, Eli realizes it is the Lord calling Samuel. So Eli tells him to go back and lay down, but this time, if his name is called, he should say, “Speak Lord for your servant is listening” (vs. 9).

So Samuel goes back to his sleeping place and lays down and the Lord appears to him and calls his name and Samuel says, “Speak Lord, for you servant is listening.” And the Lord speaks to Samuel a message against Eli’s house that Samuel is later expected to share with Eli. Not a situation I would want to be in. But Eli takes the news really well and responds by saying, “He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.” And in projecting forward, we learn that the Lord was with Samuel and Samuel’s word came to all Israel.

This story is oftentimes called, “The Call of Samuel.” Maybe so. Okay. But here is what I read. I saw a little boy who had something really strange happening to him. He was confused, and tired, and was caught in this back and forth agility test. It was probably a really unnerving set of events. For Eli and Samuel. But together, they figured out what was happening. With the comfort and support of Eli, Samuel realized what was happening to him. With the comfort and support of Samuel, Eli received his bad news.

I read a message of community. A story that tells me I can’t do anything alone. As much as I want to, I can’t. I need someone like Eli to help me figure out my life…my gifts, my weaknesses. I need someone like Eli to point me to the thing that will give me life. And I most importantly need people like Eli to remind me of my identity as being part of something much bigger than myself—as part of the church. That whatever I do with my life, may it be because it is simultaneously my greatest desire and the world’s greatest need. I am only fully myself by being part of something bigger than myself.


So, what do you all think? If you have the time to read this story (or this blog), what do you hear? Is it purely a call story or a dream story or a community story or a something-altogether-different story? Are you where you are in your life because someone like Eli was there to point you in that direction?