At the age of twenty, a young lad who was in his final year of the University, completing his science degree, suddenly felt the call of God to serve the church and the society. He was part of a church youth group that were praying for the revival of the church then. The call of God came to him as he was meditating on the Word of God. It was from the passage of Mark 5:1-20, where a healed person from evil spirits was getting ready to go with Jesus on his boat, begging that he might be with Jesus all the time. In verse 19, it is recorded, “But Jesus refused, and said to him, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.” This verse where Jesus refuses to take him on his boat and calling him to go to his friends and share the work of God in his life, felt a tingle on his ears, spoke strongly to the young lad, and ever since then he started to pray about it realising that it is the call of God in his life to go and share the work of God to his friends. When the young lad informed his decision that he had the call of God to go into ministry to share the love of God, starting from his family to his friends to his teachers to his college everyone was surprised to his decision of going into ministry, as they had high hopes and aspirations on him to reach greater heights in a government administrative service, for which he always had dreamt for. The dad of this young lad played an important role in helping him understand the call of God, and put him through to pursue theology to better understand the relevance of faith in the context of the world. Ever since then, the call of God evolved for this young lad, for the hand of God has been graciously leading him across oceans and seas to share the love of God, for God at any point did not give up on him. The young lad, grew up with God’s grace, served as a minister at a Lutheran church in his hometown, then went on to serve the National Council of Churches in India, and later the Student Christian Movement of India and currently serves as a minister in the United Stockport circuit.
The recollection of my own call came to the fore, as I began to reflect on the call of God that came to young Samuel as recorded in I Samuel 3:1-20, the prescribed lectionary reading for this Sunday. Those were the days when ‘the word of the Lord was rare and visions were not widespread’ (1v). The people of God having settled in the promised land were without a king, and lived lives as they liked (Judges 21:25) with no rule and with no guidance. Into such a context, the call of God came to young Samuel, who was dedicated by his mother Hannah for the service of God and who was living in the temple with the priest Eli. The call of God tingled the ears by at least three ways.
1. The call of God tingled the ears of the community by choosing a young boy:
At a time when the word of the Lord was rare, and if at all the word of the Lord came it would have come through an experienced person who has known the history and tradition of their faith. Since there was no judge or a ruler, people would have been waiting for some comfort and hope from the voice of the divine. Here was Eli, an experienced priest who was serving all his life in the temple, perhaps waiting to hear the call of God himself, so that he can go and share the love of God to all the community around. Defying all the norms and rules, the call of God came to a young boy Samuel, who had no clue of what was the call of God like. Imagine when the news went around that the call of God came to a young boy Samuel, who has no experience of temple, tradition and history, it would have tingled the ears of the people of Israel. However, by choosing a young boy to be the recipient of God’s voice and call, the message was clear and loud, that God’s call comes to people not based on their individual merit or experience, but based on God’s graciousness. Right after the Judges who demonstrated God’s call through their actions of justice, it was a young boy Samuel who heard the call of God, and since he was under God’s constant grace, he became a greatest prophet of God and for God, in that time and context. God speaks to the inexperienced, the unknown, and the insignificant, such a news comes tingling to the ears of the public sphere, but that’s how God works, all surprising, beyond known expectations.
Now when I think of my own call, when my family and friends heard about it, their ears also were tingled, for it came as a surprise. When I informed that I received the call of God and am going to work for God’s kingdom through ministry, it shattered all their high expectations they have had. God surprises and keeps surprising every day through God’s call, working beyond human imaginations and aspirations.
2. The call of God tingled the ears of Samuel by repeatedly calling out his name:
When God calls, God calls repeatedly with love, till the point that the listener recognises it. God called Samuel at least four times, and with the help of Eli, Samuel could recognise the call of God. Listening again and again to the call of God with his name being called, “Samuel, Samuel,” would have tingled the ears of Samuel, and even more so for he mistook that call to be from Eli rather than from God. We need to recognise the role of Eli in helping Samuel understand the call as the voice of God. Eli had that generous heart in guiding Samuel to recognise that it was the call of God which was speaking to him. In all of this, what we gather is that God doesn’t get tired of calling out someone God wishes to speak and call out. Under any circumstances, God doesn’t give up God’s call to God’s people. No matter how many times it takes, no matter however long it takes, no matter however abstract it becomes, God keeps God’s cool in seeing to it that the recipient listens to God’s call. God’s call comes out of God’s generosity, love and perseverance. God doesn’t give up so easily, God doesn’t give up in between, God doesn’t give up God’s call. In this process of God’s call, God kept calling Samuel all along, and so he was always led by the call of God in his life.
As I remember my own call, I can also vouch that God kept calling and has been helping me to know God’s call at every point of my life. All I have learnt about God’s call is that it evolves and unfolds with time, and God has never given up giving God’s call to me. God kept calling me, reminding me of the purpose of sharing God’s love through the various contexts and situations I have worked. God’s call certainly tingles our ears as God repeatedly keep calling.
3. The call of God tingles the ears with the kind of works God does:
When Samuel recognises that it was God who was calling him, in verse 11, we see God further saying to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingles…” The call of God is not always soothing and pleasant, for it is tingling with matters of justice, and in that context, it was about the house of Eli whose sons were exploiting the temple for their selfish needs. The call of God tingles the ears as it comes with the voice of justice. The tingling for Samuel further continued when he was to break the content of God’s call and voice straight to Eli the next morning. However, when God calls, God gives the strength to communicate it, and which Samuel experienced it during that time. Since Samuel without any fear communicated the message of God, the Lord was with him and Samuel grew up to become a trustworthy prophet in his land and to his people.
In my own call of God, I recognise that God has given me the task of contesting the oppressive structures of status quo, be it caste or colonialism, and to engage with the liberation of God. The call of God surely comes as a tingle and to spread that tingle in speaking truth to the powers.
What is the learning of the call of God to Samuel for us today in our context today? Firstly, the call of God to Samuel is an invitation to introspect our own calling in our lives. God calls each of us differently, and God calls each of us for different purposes. Some are called to be prophets like Samuel, some are called to be doctors, some are called to be teachers, some are called to be engineers, some are called to be business people, some are called to be nurses, some are called to be home-makers, some are called to be researchers etc. It is important to recognise that every work to which we are called is a gift of God and is equally ordained by God. In each of our calling we are called to recognise the hand and voice of God, so that we can exercise our work in love, peace and justice for the betterment of our society. Secondly, never discount the role and support of Eli in helping Samuel recognise the call of God. Even today, there are many Eli’s helping us to recognise the call of God in our lives. Celebrate such people’s contributions. Thirdly, when God calls, surely the ears and the body tingles, for God calls to share God’s justice with some hard messages. In our context today, God is calling us to speak about the free school meals to be given to children during holidays, God is calling us to speak about hearing the voice of God in our communities, God is calling us to ensure that the vaccine is available and accessible to all people in the world, God is calling us to strive for a just world, where love, equality and justice alone will thrive, God is calling us to locate and recognise the voice of the divine among the margins of our society, and God is calling us to speak that ‘staying at home, act responsibly and care for one another,’ is our witness today. Fourthly, the learning is to respond to the call of God graciously. When God calls, God also strengthens.
Martin Luther opposed the view of a “special calling” or “vocation” to the monastic life. He believed the call of God comes to each of us in our daily tasks. So, for the task we are entrusted with, we are called to recognise that it is God who has called us to it, and so we need to be engaged with it in all honesty and graciousness. May each of us recognise the call of God in our lives and live out our call to the best of our abilities depending and waiting on the Spirit of God to lead us. When God calls, it tingles! Look out for such tingles.
Raj Bharat Patta,
15th January 2021
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