Calls - Nudges and Visions (2024)

Calls - Nudges and Visions

17/1/2021

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1 Samuel 3:1-10 (NIV)

The boy Samuel ministeredbefore theLordunder Eli.
In those days the word of theLordwas rare;there were not many visions.
2One night Eli, whose eyeswere becoming so weak that he could barely see, n
was lying down in his usual place.
3The lampof God had not yet gone out,
and Samuel was lying down in the houseof theLord, where the arkof God was.
4Then theLordcalled Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.”
5And 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.
6Again theLordcalled, “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.”
7Now the boy did not know that it was theLord,
because theLordhad never spoken to him before.
8A third time theLordcalled, “Samuel!”
And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli realized that theLordwas calling the boy.
9So 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.
10 TheLordcame and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

Reflection

I love this passage; Samuel’s call is so clear to us, the reader, and yet we understand Samuel attributing God’s voice to Eli. After all, it plainly says God never spoke to him before.

What does God’s calling sound like, feel like, look like?

We have lots of different example of call in scripture: Abram gets visited by angels, Jacob gets to wrestle, Moses talks to a burning bush, Ruth follows Naomi, and Samuel gets visited in the quiet and dark of night. Mary defies the call of her sister, Martha to heed the yearning to listen to Jesus.

What has calling felt like in your life?

Maybe it was just that half asleep- half awake awareness that something is calling, maybe at the edges of your life someone is beckoning, maybe there is something summoning you to something just beyond your awareness.

Or a dream, a vision, an urge that keeps coming back, that nags in the back of your mind, a little idea that keeps coming back again and again.

God calls all of us to what I don’t know. I like to think it is to a better us, a better community, a better world but I don’t know. I don’t think any of us really knows until we try to respond to this calling. And maybe it isn’t eve nthe success or failure that matters but that we listen, that we respond, that we try, that we say: “Here I am, Lord. I am listening.”

It would be helpful to have an Eli around to affirm that voice, that calling, that nudging but all we have is the idea that God didn’t stop calling either Samuel or us. God keeps on calling, so the voice, the dream, the call continues until we respond, either by denying the call or listening.

Some of us might respond by saying to ourselves that God isn’t really calling us, or we’re too busy with our own problems, after all we have families, jobs, illnesses, that need our attention. Or maybe we don’t feel we have the talents or gifts or interest but mostly I fear our response is
“God can’t be calling me!”.

I can even imagine Samuel saying in a sleepy annoyed tone: “Sorry God, I’m tired, I have a full day tomorrow in the temple. Let me get some sleep. Come back during prayer time”, as if God is going to choose the appropriate time for us to feel a nudge, hear a whisper, or see a vision.
Eli’s advice to Samuel is simple and we should take note – pay attention – this could be important!

We have other calls in the Bible that are much clearer and more direct such as when Jesus calls the disciples – you can’t mistake what is going on, “Come and follow me”
Jesus opens the way for people to be a part of his community, to be with him on his journey, and many say yes, dropping their fishing nets to become fishers of men, giving up their tax collection routes to become teachers and healers and go about the land spreading the Good News to people they previously taxed, his disciples all said yes. But there were probably many more who said: “No, not today Jesus” just like the rich young man who went sadly away from his meeting with Jesus.

We have Saul-Paul’s life altering vision on the road to Damascus, Jesus’ own affirming Baptism vision. We have Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descends on the people.

Calls - calling comes in all shapes and sizes: vague urgings and nudgings and ideas that won’t go away, a whisper of a dream in the quiet of night, strong traumatic events that shake us to our core and turn lives upside down or the single strong voice that comes out of the blue.

We are all called, all of us, each and every one of us is a witness to God's living presence in our world. Let us pray that when we respond to God's will for our lives that we will have the courage of Samuel to respond: “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening“.

Prayer
( prayer written by Helen Reed, Oyen, Alta.)

Holy God, Holy Mystery
You call our name…
and we don’t listen,
You call our name…
and we run in the opposite direction.
You call our name…
and we are afraid that
we will be asked to change our plans.
You call our name.

Call us again gracious God.
Push and pull us out of our complacency.
Open our hearts to know your will for our lives.
Make us bold,
Make us strong,
Make us yours.
Call our name once again.

Amen

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Calls - Nudges and Visions (2024)

Calls - Nudges and Visions

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