If they had had caller ID, it would have come up as “Unknown” or “Private Caller.” When God called young Samuel in today’s first reading, Samuel had no idea who was calling.
The story goes like this ...

Can you imagine--can you even imagine--a time when people were fed up with corruption in government and scandals among the clergy?

Can you even imagine that? Well, that was the situation in the 8th century B.C. when God called young Samuel.

His birth was something of a miracle. Don’t try this at home but, Samuel’s father had two wives (at the same time!). One bore him children while the other--Hannah--was childless.

Despite the fact that her husband loved her very much, Hannah was brokenhearted and tormented by the fact that she had no children (and by the fact that her husband’s other wife--the one with children--put her down because of it!).

Hannah went to the temple at Shiloh and took her problems to the Lord, praying earnestly, “If you would give me a child,” she pleaded, “I’ll utterly dedicate him in service to you! For however long he lives, he will be your pure and devoted servant!”

As she was doing this, the chief priest, an old man by the name of Eli, watched her.

He assumed she was drunk (which probably said more about him than it did her!). When Eli saw Hannah crying, swaying, and silently moving her lips, he assumed she was drunk, and tried to kick her out of the Temple.

Hannah explained her situation to him--that she was silently but fervently asking God to deliver her from childlessness--and even the old man’s heart was stirred. Eli blessed her and joined her in praying that God give her a child.

And that’s exactly what happened! In less than a year, Samuel was born. And, true to her promise, as soon as Samuel was weaned, Hannah brought the child to Eli to serve God at the temple.

I said a moment ago that all of this took place at a time when people were fed up with corruption in government and immorality among their religious leaders. The problem, once again, was that very same old priest, Eli.

The old man just couldn’t bring himself to discipline his two sons! They were outrageously corrupt and notoriously immoral. Yet Eli did nothing to stop them!

What do I mean? In those days, as now, people showed their devotion and respect to God by, literally, offering God their first fruits--the best they had--to God. If their land produced crops, they brought the first--and best--to God as an offering. When their animals gave birth, they gave the first--and best--to God, no questions asked!

Of course, the way the people gave their gifts to God was by first bringing them to the priests in the temple. And guess who was there, with their hands open and their eyes gleaming, ready to receive the best that people had to offer?

Eli’s two sons did the opposite of what God expected and commanded, keeping the best of the best for themselves and offering God their leftovers.

As if that weren’t bad enough, the boys also took advantage of the best of the best of any women who might find themselves alone and unaccompanied in and around the temple.

It was outrageous beyond belief! And yet Eli just couldn’t bring himself to do anything about it! They were his boys. And yet he didn’t love them enough to stop and correct them!

Things were so bad that, in the dramatic words of our first reading, “The word of the LORD was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.” God was all but silenced and shut out.
This is the setting as today’s first reading opens. The old priest Eli and his young servant, the child Samuel, have lain down for the night when, all of a sudden, Samuel is called awake. “Samuel! Samuel!”

Assuming the old man is calling him (who else could it be?), Samuel runs and says to Eli, “Here I am, Lord!”

“I didn’t call you! Go back to bed!”

The scene repeated itself and then it repeated itself again. Each time Samuel was awakened by the call, “Samuel! Samuel!” And each time the child assumed it was the old man. After all, who else could it be?

Old and incompetent though he may be, Eli still could recognize the still, small voice of God when it was screaming to be heard. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’” Samuel did as he was told and, this time, when God called, Samuel answered, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.”

Let me be your “Eli.” That’s not just my sermon title today, that’s my message.

Let me be your “Eli.” That is to say, let me be the one who says to you, God is still speaking in our corrupt and contentious world. In fact, God is still speaking to you!

Although it wasn’t in our reading today, when God spoke to Samuel, God spoke the words that were needed at that time and in that place.

This is the way God still speaks in our world! When a word needs to be spoken, God will speak it. The only question is--the same question as was raised with the child Samuel--will we hear God? Will we recognize what we’re hearing as coming from God?

So, let me be your “Eli.” Let me be the one who helps you identify the voice you should hear as God’s! And, finally, let me the one helps you be ready to respond to God by readying you to say to God, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.”

And “Eli” says this to you: on a daily basis--often on a moment-by-moment basis--God is, indeed, speaking to you. (And by “you,” I sincerely mean you!) And, on a daily and moment-by-moment basis, God is speaking to you for the same reason that God spoke to Samuel: God needs you to share a word!

I can be concrete. Today’s gospel reading came from the very first chapter of the Gospel of John. And the very first chapter of the Gospel of John tells the stories of people like you and me realizing that the Word of God has taken flesh in Jesus and inviting others to see and realize what we’ve begun to see.

“Come and see,” is what God asks us to share; that, or, “Look!” It’s that simple. God takes care of the rest! But God does need us to do our part.

The message of Christmas is that the Word of God has become flesh and lives among us as Emmanuel: God-with-us.

That’s the truth. And that’s what’s real. But, as Christmas itself makes plain, none of that is obvious or self-evident. God needs us to say, “Look!” or “Come and see!” so that others might see what we see.

So, let me be your “Eli” today. Let me the one to say that God is speaking to you each and every day, asking for you to make real the presence of God to others. Be ready to console, encourage, uplift, and love. Be ready to say, “Look!” to see the unseen, and “Come and see” to find the God who is already there.

Let me be your “Eli.” Listen, God is calling! In Jesus’ name. Amen!