1 Samuel 3:8
The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, ‘Here I am, for you called me.’ Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy.
It gives me some comfort to know that it was only when Samuel had come to him for a third time that Eli perceived what was happening.
As a priest, it was part of Eli’s job to listen for God, to be alert to God at work in the world. And still, it took him three times to realize that the voice calling to Samuel in the night was God’s voice.
Maybe Eli was tired. It was the middle of the night, after all.
And maybe, just maybe, his weariness was more than just a need for sleep. Scripture tells us that the word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. Maybe Eli had grown tired of waiting for God to speak, tired of waiting on God for direction and help. Maybe he had given up expecting that God’s word would ever come to him again.
We know that Eli has been having trouble with his sons. They’re described as scoundrels with no regard for the Lord. They treated the offerings of the Lord with contempt. And Eli can’t fix it. He can’t fix them.
We can understand how painful it is when there are family dynamics that render you helpless. We can understand how that deep grief in your family makes everything around you seem hopeless, how it can keep you from sensing God’s presence.
So when Samuel comes to Eli in the night saying, Here I am, for you called me, we can imagine Eli’s confusion. Maybe Samuel interrupted a dream—a dream in which Eli’s sons were healed and free of their struggles. How disorienting then to be awakened by Samuel, the boy Eli perhaps wished was his son.
And just imagine the confusion on Samuel’s part. He doesn’t recognize God’s voice either. He needs someone to interpret this experience for him. He needs someone to help him recognize that God is the one calling him. He needs someone to tell him how to respond when God wakes you in the middle of the night: Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.
God persists. God calls to Samuel three times. And I’m quite sure God would have kept on calling if it had taken Eli even longer to perceive what was happening.
God persists. Maybe you’re Samuel in this story and God is placing people in your life to help you discern that it is indeed God who is calling you. Maybe you’re Eli in this story and you are that person God is working through to speak to someone else.
God persists. God calls in the night, in the midst of struggle and sorrow, in the midst of dysfunctional families and disrupted dreams.
Here I am is a line assigned to Samuel in this story. But in Isaiah, the line is assigned to God: Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and God will say, Here I am.
Today, God says to you, Here I am.
Come, Jesus, come. Assure us of your presence. Help us to perceive your voice when you call. Amen.
Today’s accompanying song is Here I Am by Dolly Parton and Sia.