Tuesday, January 9, 2024
Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Samuel’s story begins
Eli the priest was sitting on a chair near the doorpost of the Lord’s temple.
David’s story starts quietly, Eli sitting on a chair (as he so often did) watching Hannah praying silently, looking drunk, at least to Eli.
“I’m not drunk!” You silly old fool, she might have thought. Your sons do all the work and you just sit around and judge people.
Eli didn’t hear her, but he was, after all, a judge. Hannah’s son Samuel would become Israel’s last judge. And then there were kings. Saul, David, Solomon, and the rest.
Eli said, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.” She was no longer downcast. Early the next morning she and her husband Elkanah worshiped bfore the Lord and returned to their home in Ramah.
Remember Ramah? Ramah was the place the soldiers rounded up the Jews to march them into exile in Babylon. And there they wept, when they remembered Zion.
But now Ramah becomes a famous birthplace, to a boy her mother named Samuel (which means “the Lord heard my cry”). Samuel will be dedicated to the Lord, left with Eli at the synagogue in Shiloh, and and only rarely will he see his mother. Eli’s sons are already grown. There is no mention of Eli’s wife. Samuel has plenty of time to listen to the Holy Spirit. He, like Jesus, will grow, become strong, and be filled with wisdom, because the grace of God was upon him.
Hannah’s joy knows no bounds, and she sings a song to the Lord her God.
The Lord puts to death and gives life; he casts down and he raises up again. He humbles and he also exalts. My heart exalts in the Lord, my Savior. He raises the needy from the dust and seats them with nobles, he makes a glorious throne their heritage.
And I am one of them, she says. So let’s just praise the Lord.
Jesus knew the stories of Eli and Hannah and Samuel. He knew how quickly a fallen human can turn away from his blessing. Eli and his sons might not have been filled with demons, but their lives changed when they did not actively reject the evil that tempted them. How would Jesus have treated them if he’d been there?
In the synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit, who cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” Jesus said, “Quiet! Come out of him!” The spirit convulsed the man and with a loud cry came out.
Nothing like this had happened in the life of Israel. Eli had no chance against the evil that surrounded him. His muscles were soft and his will softer. God called Samuel and God’s Spirit guided him, and in spite of his surroundings, Samuel became strong. And in his middle age God would call him to choose first Saul, then David as the kings of Israel.
Samuel was not happy about this, and neither was the Lord.
Why did God allow this to happen? Because the people wanted it to happen. Why can’t we have a king like the tribes around us? They pouted and hounded Samuel.
God’s vision extends beyond that of his people. This choice they made would not change that. Some would come closer to God in their suffering, while others would become bitter and reject their Lord.
All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority.”
What will each of them do? What will we do. The choice is always ours.
(1 Samuel 1, 1 Samuel 2, 1 Thessalonians 2, Mark 1)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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