Listening

God says, "I the Lord have called you for a good reason. I will grasp your hand and guard you, and give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to lead the prisoners from prison, and those who sit in darkness from the dungeon."

Uh, heck yeah!!!!!

I am exploring a subject that so intrigued me I wrote a book about it a few years ago. I am exploring the idea of the call.

God calls. We listen. We react. That's the way it goes, at least part of the time.

Without giving away too much of Sunday's sermon coming up, I'm taken by the call story of Samuel. Samuel is a kid, and he's lying down for the night. God calls him (even though Samuel doesn't know the Lord yet, the Bible says), and Samuel gets up and races into the other room where his mentor, Eli, is trying to get some shuteye as well. Samuel says, "Hey, here I am. Whatchawant?" Eli, trying to sleep as I said, says, "It wasn't me. Go back to sleep." This happens three times, till Eli catches on and says, "That's God speaking. Go listen."

That's the Billy translation, but you get the drift of the story. God speaks. Even if you don't recognize the voice, eventually even the still, small voice borrows into or under the skin and we listen.

Yesterday, in worship, I again felt the presence of God. Seriously. Felt Him moving. Felt the place shaking. Felt the love of God making a difference, felt a strangely warmed heart (and toes and hair and, well, you get the idea).

God has put the light in our little (but growing) experiment at this church. Don't know how or why, but I know that from Christmas Eve onward, things have changed. The light at the end of the tunnel is not a train coming, but the light of the world setting fire to the old and refining the new.

Uh, heck yeah!!!!

The question becomes, in all our lives, how do we listen to the call of God, and what do we do next? I believe the call comes to everyone. That every one of us is gifted, and we are called by a loving God to use those gifts to the advantage of the home team. This, by the way, isn't our home.

So, I'm asking every reader this morning to think about what they've been called to be, to do, by a loving and all-powerful God who strangely needs us to make a difference. It's time we shake off the rust, put on the anointing oil (see what I did there?), and head out into the world to make a difference in that world.

"Here I am," Samuel says.

Oh, so powerful a statement. Oh, so wonderful a realization.

God speaks, Samuel finally recognizes that voice (with the help of a mentor) and the world changes. Isn't it about time we hear that voice, as well?