RCL: 1 Samuel 3:1-10(11-20); Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; John 1:43-51 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20) “The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.” For a community that feels that the inspiration of God is absent, this interaction between God and Samuel is ever more extraordinary. Imagine a time…

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20) “The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.” For a community that feels that the inspiration of God is absent, this interaction between God and Samuel is ever more extraordinary. Imagine a time when the divine presence was hard to find. Now imagine the gift…

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20) One line of thinking in modern learning theory is that it takes three or more exposures to a message for us to fully understand or learn it. For the prophet Samuel, those three exposures come at once, just before dawn, in the tabernacle holding the ark of the covenant. The word…

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20) This first half of this Sunday’s passage, the story of God’s call to Samuel, is often left to stand alone. It is made even deeper and more meaningful when read in conjunction with the second half, in which God speaks concerning the punishment of the house of Eli. Eli was the…

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20) As we enter a new year, change is happening. Change always precipitates or occurs concurrently with a transition in our lives. The reading from 1 Samuel is all about transitions. This story of Samuel and Eli was probably collected, edited, and placed into the book we call 1 Samuel during the…