The Lord Came

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2). The Word of the Lord has gone out into every generation of man, in many and various ways, but remarkably always through the mouth of men. Today you have heard about one such man, a boy really, and how the Lord called him to be His messenger to the people of Israel.

The Old Testament lesson begins by recording that “the young man Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli.” Samuel, from his conception, was devoted to the Lord. His name means “heard of God”, because God heard the cries of his mother Hannah and granted to her a son. Therefore, she gave him to the Lord to minister in the tabernacle. Samuel from a young age was brought up in the Lord's house, and he honored the Lord, even though he did not yet know Him. For this, the same is said about Samuel as would be said about our Lord: “Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man.” (1Sam. 2:26)

And yet, for spending his childhood in the house of the Lord, Samuel did not yet know the Lord. How can one grow up in a household, and yet not know the Householder? Is it not strange that he could sleep in the presence of the Ark of God, and yet not know that same God?Simply put, Samuel had not been taught.

This was not an issue of Samuel not having found God in the cockles of his heart. This was not a case of him needing to dedicate his life to the Lord. God was not lost, needing to be found. The problem is not that no one knew where to find God; the problem is that no one was looking for Him where He was already present. Therefore, no one was teaching the Word of the Lord, even in the House of the Lord.

The Scripture records that “the Word of the Lord was rare in those days.” At various times in Israel's history, the Lord sent many prophets into the land to proclaim His Word. In the time of the judges, prophecy was not uncommon. Prophets were called from many places. God even spoke through the mouth of a donkey!

However, at the time of Samuel, the Word of the Lord was in short supply. In the absence of the Word, laziness and wickedness abounded, even in the house of the Lord. Chapter two of 1 Samuel records the wickedness of the sons of Eli, and how he refused to rebuke them. The Word of the Lord was rare because there was no one to who the Lord could give visions. His worship was profaned, and the altar of God was turned into a barbeque for the priests. The sons of Eli did not respect the sacrifices, but took the choicest portions for themselves.

Therefore, “there was no frequent vision.” One might think it a bit embarrassing that the Lord would speak through a donkey, but not through the High Priest in His Tabernacle. The gift of prophesy and the giving of the Word were withheld from the people of Israel because of the hardness of their hearts and the wickedness of the priests. As threatened throughout the Scriptures, when the Word of the Lord is ignored and His gifts despised, the Lord retreats from His people and withholds His blessings. The Word of the Lord was rare and visions were scarce because the Lord rejected Eli because of his laziness and hardness of heart for failing to honor the Lord's sacrifices and to train up his sons to worship the Lord properly.

Now, Eli's “eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see”. He could not see because his eyes had grown dim. Likewise, his eye of faith had grown dim because he had forsaken the Word of the Lord and had not kept all that had been commanded to him to observe according to the Law of Moses. When the eye of faith is closed to the things of God, blindness sets in. Gross darkness and the shadow of death become the vision that stands before the unbelieving eye. Eli existed not only in the blindness of eye but in the blindness of unbelief and idolatry. His eyesight slid away as he slid from his God-given office.

So it was long before, with Adam and Eve in the Garden. They were created being able to see and embrace and enjoy all the good gifts which the Lord had given them throughout creation. However, the lie the serpent sold them was that the fruit would make them able to see good and evil. However, rather than enhancing their sight, that forbidden fruit destroyed them, making them only able to see evil, and blinding them from seeing good in themselves or anything or anyone else. The eye of faith is dimmed and blinded by sin, and when the Word of the Lord is not heeded, that blindness only deepens. Of course, the depth of depravity is that the human heart seeks to call good evil and evil good.

Your will is good, but your neighbor's demands are evil. Your desires are good, but marital vows are evil. Your freedom is good, but the burden of children is evil. Your money is good, but the cost of caring for the aged is evil. Your luxury is good, but sacrifice for the Good Confession is evil. Your daily bread is good, but the Bread of Heaven is evil.

However, “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.” The eye of faith may have been blinded in Eli, the Word of the Lord may have been withheld from the people of Israel, but the Lord had not abandoned His people altogether.

That faintly burning wick still smoldered, and the Lord would not blow it out. The young Samuel was not hardened by unbelief and idolatry, and the Lord chose him to be His prophet, to proclaim the Word of the Lord to the people of Israel.

The Word of the Lord has gone out into every land, among every nation. Despite all appearances to the contrary, the Lord never leaves nor forsakes His people in any time or place. Even in the midst of deep darkness, the Light of the World cannot be extinguished. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” In every time and place, there will be a remnant, a Diaspora, a scattered seed, from which sprouts the holy Church. The Word of the Lord grows when and where He wills, as the Spirit blows. But even in the midst of deep darkness, the lamp of God has not gone out.

“Then the Lord called Samuel.” In the midst of the darkness, the Lord called one to be His light-bearer. He called Samuel to receive and to speak His Word, that he might illumine the darkness. Out of the darkness, the Lord called, and Samuel responded in faith: “Here I am!”

However, Samuel responded in the wrong direction. Not knowing that it was the Lord calling him, he ran to Eli. Eli's response: I did not call you – go away. Eli did not, and could not yet discern that the Lord would be calling Samuel. So he sent the boy away.

The Lord did not give up, but eventually even worked through the dimness of Eli's faith. He instructed Samuel to respond, “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.” When the Lord calls, He will not be ignored. Jonah tried, and he ended up in the belly of a whale. Moses tried to get out of the Lord's call, and the Lord hemmed Him in. Here, however, Samuel responds in humble submission to the call of faith. The call of faith came how it always comes – through the Word of the Lord. The Word works faith where He wills. No vague whispers here; the LORD came and stood in front of Samuel and His voice spoke to Samuel with words.

The Lord whom he did not know called Samuel to faith. By the Word of the Lord, Samuel came to know what had been hidden from him. By the Word of the Lord, Samuel would go on to lead the people of Israel through good times and bad. He would be the instrument of God for the anointing of kings. He would be the mouth of the Lord for the proclamation of the promise of salvation for all generations. The Lord spoke to His people of old by the prophet.

But now, in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son. While you did not yet know Him, while you were yet in darkness and the shadow of death because of the sin of your fathers and the hardness of your heart, the Lord called to you with His Word and Spirit. He calls you by the Gospel, that He might make you His own. He calls you to bear His light and life within you, that the lamp of God might not go out of this place. He calls you to receive His gifts, that you might sing the praises of Him who died for you.

Now, in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son. He has spoken to us the Word of forgiveness. He has spoken to us the Word who was nailed to the cross. He has spoken to us the Word who is the light and light and salvation of all mankind. He has spoken to you the Word which says, “Your sins are forgiven.” He has called you out of darkness and into His light. He has removed the scales from your eyes and lightened your darkness. He calls you to believe this glorious news, take it to heart, and rejoice in such news, not from Nazareth, but from Bethlehem.

This is how Philip can exclaim to Nathanael: “We have found the Lord!” The Lord has revealed the continuation of His plan of salvation, entrusted to Samuel so long ago, hidden in the exile and diaspora of Israel, but now, after long ages, revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. The Lord who came and stood in front of Samuel stood in front of Nathanael. And He issued the same call to follow the same God and proclaim the same Gospel. The Word of the Lord has broken out among His people once again; this time not in visions, but from the womb of Mary.

Now, in these last days, the blindness of sin is removed from you, so that you may see and receive the wondrous gifts of God, and so that you may see the manifold works that He has prepared for you to do in Christ Jesus. He has opened your eyes, that you may see and believe, and believing you may have life in His Name. With open eyes, therefore, you may walk upon the path into which He has called you, and you may “teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” (Deuteronomy 6:7)

Lord, Your words are waters living
When my thirsting spirit pleads.
Lord, Your words are bread life-giving;
On Your words my spirit feeds.
Lord, Your words will be my light-bear
Through death's cold and dreary night;
Yes, they are my sword prevailing
And my cup of joy unfailing! (LSB 589.3)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.