Jeremy L. Berg

1 Sam 3:1-10

¹ The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.  ² One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. ³ The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. ⁴ Then the LORD called Samuel.  Samuel answered, “Here I am.” ⁵ And 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.  ⁶ Again the LORD called, “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.”  ⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.  ⁸ The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. ⁹ So 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 The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”  Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said “I found God”.  My initial reaction was “good for you”.  Then I started thinking about that statement.  Is this the way it really happens?  Is our search for meaning and, ultimately, salvation nothing more than a story line from a CSI television show?  I can only answer this question for me by looking at my own story.

My parents had a clear understanding of the Golden Rule – love God, love yourself, love your neighbor.  They modeled this philosophy every day, but concepts that most of us at ECC take for granted such as “personal relationship with Christ”, “memorizing scripture”, and “salvation”, were not part of their regular vocabulary.  There was very little at home or at church that encouraged a deeper relationship with Christ.  Intellectually I knew that Christmas was about Christ’s birth and Easter was about his death and resurrection, but I had no idea how this was supposed to affect the way I thought and acted.

In my home church, religious education consisted mostly of church history.  How to live as a Christian was not part of the curriculum.  I’ve always been a practical person.  I acknowledge the importance of history, but I wanted to know how this church stuff affected me today.  There never seemed to be enough time in class to ask all the questions I had so, every Saturday, I would get on my bike, ride to church, interrupt the pastor during his sermon preparation and ask my questions.  I remember spending many hours over a period of a couple years sitting in the pastor’s office discussing Christianity and what it was really all about.  I started memorizing scripture.  I also started using scripture as a focus for my prayers.  I want to stress 1) how foreign these activities were at home and at church and 2) this was a spontaneous desire and not prompted by any suggestions from the pastor or my parents.

During the summer between 9^th and 10^th grade, 2 seniors from my school came to my home.  They talked about salvation and asked me to commit my life to Christ.  Let me add that 1) although I knew these 2 young men, we were not friends (not enemies either) and 2) it was unusual for seniors to associate with sophomores.

In the poem The Hound of Heaven, the poet, Francis Thompson, describes all the ways we try to run from God.

“I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;

I fled Him, down the arches of the years;

I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways

Of my own mind;”

Then in each refrain Thompson describes how Christ pursues us.

“From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.

…with unhurrying chase,

And unperturbed pace,

Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,

They beat”

At the end of the poem, the pursued falls to the ground in exhaustion and utter defeat.  It is at this point in the chase that Christ overtakes him and offers his hand.

“Rise, clasp My hand, and come!”

Halts by me that footfall;…

…“Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest,

I am He whom thou seekest!”

Why did I have all of those questions; why did I start reading scripture; why did I memorize scripture; why did I use scripture in my prayers; why did those 2 seniors come to visit me?  The only explanation I have is that God pursued me…slowly, relentlessly, patiently…until I could do nothing else but accept or deny the evidence of my eyes/ears/heart.