As a nation we have just laid to rest our 40th president, Ronald Reagan.  After he was elected the first time in 1980, I remember very well wondering if it was a wise thing to have entrusted the future of our nation into the hands of a movie actor.  I had not kept up with politics, but wondered if that election was wise.  But today we can look back and see he served our nation and world very well during his years in office.

          Imagine the future of a nation on the hands of a five year-old boy.  Imagine a nation so self-absorbed that no one was thinking of God, not even the priests.  Imagine the High Priest's sons extorting money, attacking women, deriding God.  This is the way it was when God called out to the boy Samuel to deliver some bad news.

          The story of Samuel being called by God is fairly well known.  He was the child of aged parents, well beyond child-bearing age.  Out of gratitude, His mother gave him to the Lord to be raised in the Temple.  Though Samuel did not yet know the Lord, God called him one night to deliver a message to the old High Priest Eli.  Eli's sons, Hophni and Phineas, were so evil that God would soon destroy them.  They robbed and raped and terrorized people in the temple.  Not only did their father Eli do nothing, even the rest of the people didn't find what they did to be that offensive.

          Why would God make a young boy like Samuel the messenger of bad news?  Eli had already known what was coming.  A "man of God" had told him he was neglecting God and catering to his disobedient sons.  He knew what they were doing, and he had been warned to stop them.  But Eli did nothing.  Though his sons carried on like criminals, he just wrung his hands, shook his head, and mumbled something like, "Boys, please don't do that!"  But they completely ignored him.

          Every parent has a silent fear that his son or daughter may bring dishonor to the family.  My father made it very clear to the five of us that we were to be an honor to our Tasler name.  He didn't elevate the name above the person, but he did warn us never to drag it into the mud.  I tried to follow what he said except for one stupid incident.  The summer I was just 21, I bought some 3.2 beer for my friends and foolishly forgot that one of them was a few months under 21.  That was dumb, but not nearly as dumb as the three of us drinking it in our car on a public beach right by a police car!  The policeman who gave me a citation even said we were dumb.  Parked or not, he said, you just don't drink beer sitting in your car.  When the Justice of the Peace asked if I had anything to say, I admitted I was wrong and asked only one thing.  Would it be possible not to have this incident mentioned in the newspaper?  Everyone in our small town knew I was studying for the ministry, and I didn't want my parents publicly embarrassed.  Would it be possible that my name not be put into the newspaper?  I still smile that somehow that ticket was never made public.  The Justice even told my Dad later he wished his own son would have thought of that.  (By the way, of the three of us in that car, today two are Lutheran pastors and the other is a Lutheran Dentist).

          Eli's sons, Hophni and Phineas, embodied everything that was wrong with Israel.  People made up their own rules.  Truth was relative.  God was neglected.  Long before, God had given His people a blueprint for living, a few rules that honored Him and showed faith.  But now people made up their own rules.  They scoffed at the idea God had anything to do with how they lived.  They had become a law unto themselves.

          This was not what God had in mind when he led them out of Egypt and settled them in the Promised Land.  If things didn't turn around, Israel would become as pagan as the people who used to live there.  So God called Samuel to lead the way.  He said He'd do something that would make their ears tingle - Eli's sons would be destroyed.  Sometimes the message from God is bad news.  We rejoice that God usually has Good News for us, that He loves us and has a plan for our lives.  We are glad to hear of His forgiveness in Jesus, despite our wayward ways.  We love hearing the Gospel.  But we hate hearing the news when it's bad.

          What do you do then?  The test results are in and you have cancer.  Your spouse says she wants a divorce.  The police call that your son is in jail.  You are served with papers that you are being sued.  Your best friend is killed in an accident.  Your church is involved in a scandal.  What do you do when the news is bad?

          First thing, I believe, is that we need to wake up.  Far too often we're sleeping on the job, thinking only of ourselves, trusting in our wits, and thinking it's all up to us.  We need a "wake-up call" to bring us back to reality.

          I read an article about a man who woke up after 19 years in a coma.  This Arkansas man had been comatose since a car accident in 1984.  His family had faithfully cared for him and ten years later he just woke up, totally unexpectedly.  What was even more incredible is that all his mental faculties were intact and he immediately talked to people.  Can you imagine what it would be like to have missed 20 years of your life with all the changes in the world?  At the time of his accident, Ronald Reagan was president, the Cold War was still being waged, there were few personal computers and no cell phones.  That man had a lot of catching up to do!

          We, too, can go through "comatose" periods in our lives, conscious but just living from day to day without awareness of purpose or direction.  We exist rather than live.  The immediate overtakes the important, and busyness overshadows the valuable.  Then something unfortunate happens, some bad news, something that makes us ask, "How did I end up here?"  That's when we need to trust in the Lord, completely, especially if the news is bad.  I think this story of Samuel gives us a clue what to do.

          First we wake up.  Second, we must listen to the Lord.  When Samuel heard God's voice, he was confused.  He thought it was Eli calling, so he went in to see the old guy.  Eli told him he must have been dreaming, so go back to sleep.  After two more times of hearing the voice, Eli realized it was the Lord, so he told Samuel to say, "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening."  I'm sure very few of us hear voices in the night, but we can hear God speaking through children, or at work, or in the headlines.  God sends us messages in many ways.  Question is, will we be listening?

          After waking up and listening to the Lord, then we need to talk to a trusted friend.  Samuel went to see old Eli.  The boy was confused, so he asked someone who could help.  A Christian friend can clarify what we're hearing and calm our troubled hearts.  Are you filled with fear?  Worried?  Troubled by conflict?  Do you need to be reconciled?  Then talk it over with a trusted Christian friend.  You'll be surprised how it will help.

          Finally, we need to do what God wants.  Life is filled with choices.  Which choice will we make?  When we come to a fork in the road, which one will we take?  Yogi Berra, philosopher of baseball, once said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it!"  He also said, "I didn't really say everything I said."  But God did!  He said everything He said, and He wants us to follow it all.  Don't treat God's Word like an option - one of many things we can do.  Do what God wants, and stick to His ways.

          You and I do not deserve to be God's children.  When we're in His Church family we have a Father who provides for us, a Dad who will always be there.  Our heavenly Father provides for us.  He gives us a brother, a great guy who will even takes the blame for us.  I once did something and my brother took the blame.  He knew I did it, but didn't tell Dad.  Our brother Jesus was willing to die for us, despite our bad attitude.  Jesus our brother protects us from the bullies of sin, death and Satan.  Our Father built a house for us and one day He'll call us to come live with Him.  Some day soon our big brother will come back to bring us home.

          God probably won't talk to you in the same way He talked to Samuel.  But He is still calling.  Life today really isn't much different from Samuel's time.  Scandals in the church, people stealing from the LORD, and sex dominating the world.  My prayer is that God's Word will never be neglected like in Samuel's time.  Europe and America are trying to bury it, but may God keep calling us wake up, to hear His prophets and do what He wants.  God grant this for Jesus' sake, Amen

Copyright © 2004 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.