This is a sermon from Emmanuel Lutheran Church. It’s from January of 1997. Audio and text are available.
The gospel text is 1 Samuel 3:1-10 and 11-20, which makes this the text for either the Second Sunday after Epiphany or the Second Sunday after Pentecost in Year B of the Revised Common Lectionary.
There is also a story about Andrew Young in this sermon.
THE DANGERS OF GOING TO CHURCH 2EpiphB (1/19/97) 1 Sam.3:1-10
Dear friends in Christ, grace & peace……
You heard the fascinating story of Eli and young Samuel in the temple from our first lesson. Let me read for you the rest of the story to show the dangers of going to church: (vv.11-20) “Then the Lord said to Samuel, ‘See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house; from beginning to end. For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.” Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. But Eli called Samuel and said, ‘Samuel, my son.’ He said, ‘Here I am.’ Eli said, ‘What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.’ So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, ‘It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.’ As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord.”
Recently, in an airport waiting room, passengers watched in horror as a four year old demolished a wing of the terminal. He pulled papers off the ticket counter. He turned over trash cans, stomping on an ice cream cone and other food remnants that tumbled out. He ran on the rows of seats, tracking the gooey stuff from his shoes on the upholstery and people’s clothing. His helpless, terrified parents sat and watched him, not knowing the first thing to do. His flight was called, and you could see the relief of the people who realized they were not going to be on the same plane with the little rascal. As the parents tried to herd him toward the boarding ramp, the father was heard to say, “Dear, maybe we should take Thomas to Sunday School; maybe that would help.” Yes, maybe we could help to tame the little pagan in Sunday School. But is that what the church is for…taming, civilizing, subduing children and making them into gentlemen and ladies?
That’s not the way it is in our story from 1st Samuel. Here is a boy who lives in church. Luther would have called him a ‘sacristy rat’, a boy from town who spends all his time at church. Samuel’s mother knew he was a miracle baby and she dedicated him as a servant in the temple to the old priest Levi. What safer place could there be than the temple? But it turns out to be a place of radical change for Samuel. He hears this voice calling in the night, over and over. Eli teaches him how to answer…and the voice tells Samuel no easy things for a boy to hear or tell…the rejection of Eli and his sons as priests of the temple. Reluctantly he tells his adopted father who he has loved and cared for the terrible truth.
This is one of the dangers of going to church…God speaks to us and calls us and moves us in ways that no one can predict and not everyone approves. Perhaps you remember the name of Andrew Young (An associate of Dr. Martin Luther King). Andrew Young was a UCC pastor. He tells groups of his joy hen his oldest daughter became active in her local church. He remembers how pleased he was as she told of her growing faith and involvement. But one day she announced to Mom and Dad that she was moving. She quit her job to join the ministry of Habitat for Humanity to build homes for the poor of Uganda. This was shortly after the fall of Idi Amin, and Uganda was a violent and unsafe place to be. Andrew Young confesses, ‘I tried to talk her out of it. I mean, I wanted her to go to church, to find a nice Christian man to marry, to develop a relationship with God and to settle down. But, believe me, I didn’t have anything like this in mind. I didn’t intend for her to go so far with it. I mean….Uganda! But she said she felt called. What could I say?’ Parents, keep this in mind when you bring your children to church. You may not be prepared for the consequences. It can be dangerous to have your children hang out in the temple because, if they do, someday they might just hear the voice of the Lord.
Each time I participate in the baptism of a child, I cannot help but pray and wonder….what does God have in mind for this person? Will this just be a forgotten ritual for this child, or will God’s spirit abide with him?….will she hear God’s voice speaking in her life? For people who want the church to be a place where children are domesticated and tamed, this can be a dangerous place. For the spirit works in wondrous ways, and God’s word cuts through the superficiality of this world like a flaming sword. Like Jesus in our Gospel text inviting Daniel to ‘come and see’, we invite you and your children to this dangerous place called church, this unpredictable place called Sunday School, to hear the voice of God.
A college student on break stopped in to talk to the pastor. “How was Australia?” “Great! Especially the 300 foot bungee jump.” ‘Are you nuts. What did your parents say?’ “Pastor, I may be nuts, but I’m not dumb. You’re not going to tell them I did it, are you”. The pastor said, “No, but that was irresponsible and risky….it was wrong.” “Well, look at you each Sunday, Pastor, up there strutting around in front of God, speaking about God, helping God get messed up in people’s lives. That’s dangerous, too. At least I use a cord!” Ministry is dangerous business. The word of God and popular opinion don’t always agree. That’s one reason that every six minutes another pastor in America is fired, and why one in three pastors today has been forced out of a congregation. And the picture is similar for lay leaders who hear the voice of the Lord and follow it. They become ridiculed, they sometimes lose friends, and others think they’ve gone off the deep end and take them aside to try to talk some sense into them. You see, church can be a dangerous place, because this is one place that some people still ‘come and see’, like Nathaniel. It is a place where some, like Samuel, are bold enough to say, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.”
Samuel’s time is described in these words: “The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread”. Maybe that’s how you feel about these days we are living in. Maybe because we have domesticated God so successfully, we have bolted all the furniture down in the church, and padded everything so carefully, and planned every act of worship so well….because we want to make this less dangerous. We want to manage God’s word instead of proclaim it. We want a recording of God instead of the real voice. Then these Bible stories of people bust in on us; stories of people who were called….and we see the drastic results of that call in their lives. When the living God is roaming about, church can be a dangerous place to be. Some churches have a sign over their sanctuary entrance: ‘SILENCE PLEASE. PEOPLE AT PRAYER.’ Thinking about Samuel, and Nathaniel, I would have the sign say: ‘WARNING: GOD AT WORK’. May our church be a wonderful and dangerous place for us to be, a place where we ‘come and see’ and where somebody is willing to say, “Speak Lord, I’m listening.”
THE PEACE OF GOD…….
The full service is available here: