The LORD called to Samuel, who answered, “Here I am.”
Samuel ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.”
“I did not call you, “ Eli said. “Go back to sleep.”
The LORD is involved in the lives of his people in ways that go far beyond what they immediately recognize. He is already speaking before we realize that it is his voice we hear. We are called to learn to recognize his voice. He is speaking because he wants to be heard.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me (see John 10:27).
Sheep are, however, not born knowing the voice of their shepherd. It is through time spent together that they grow accustomed to it. And while they may never grasp in detail the content of the things the shepherd says, their very recognition of the voice is enough that they can follow the shepherd and remain under his care.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters (see Psalm 23:1-2).
Lambs, once trained, are examples of trusting obedience to their shepherd. Jesus himself is the Lamb of God par excellence.
“Behold, the Lamb of God.”
He and he alone perfectly obeys (which literally means to listen to) the voice of the Father. Or rather, since he himself is that voice, how could his life be anything other than obedience? He was therefore able to become for us what none of the rest of us could manage, a perfect offering to the Father.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth (see Isaiah 53:7).
He chose to become for us the lamb of sacrifice. Since he chose this path he was able to pay our debt, to overcome the insurmountable obligation to God. He was able, in himself, to put humanity back in right relationship with God. And this he did not just for us, but in us, making us able to hear and obey the voice of the our shepherd, now made manifest in the person of Christ himself, now spoken clearly and finally for all to hear.
For you have been purchased at a price.
Therefore glorify God in your body.
God is speaking to us today at least as much as he spoke to Samuel. And if our ability to hear is less, this can only be due to a lack of response on our part. It is true that this listening, hearing, and recognizing is something in which we must still grow, something which we will never completely master. But even so, the way God has made available for us to do this for surpasses the guidance of Eli in the temple.
Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the youth.
So he said to Samuel, “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply,
Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.”
We don't have to go back to sleep, waiting for the possibility that God will one day speak to us. Since we ourselves have each become "a temple of the Holy Spirit within" we need never be deprived of his voice. Like lambs we must let ourselves simply become exposed to that voice until we are saturated by it. We may not even quite know what to look for in these times of listening prayer.
Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them,
“What are you looking for?”
They said to him, “Rabbi” — which translated means Teacher —,
“where are you staying?”
If we do not yet know the voice of the Lord we do nevertheless know that he is present when we pray. To draw near to him and to remain with him is the way we learn to recognize that voice.
He said to them, “Come, and you will see.”
So they went and saw where Jesus was staying,
and they stayed with him that day.
As we come to recognize voice we hear we learn to follow Jesus, not just in abstract and general principles of morality, but in the concrete specifics of our lives. We ourselves begin to speak the words he would have us speak to others.
“We have found the Messiah” — which is translated Christ —.
Then he brought him to Jesus.
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