Sermon-Lessons from Eli

"Lessons from Eli About Disappointments"

Dr. James L. Mayfield
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

February 13, 2000

Text: I Samuel: 3:1-10

Sometimes life does not turn out the way we want, and yet in the midst of our disappointments, God uses us and gives our lives purpose of which we are unaware. This is what happened to Eli.

Eli was a priest of Israel at Shiloh. One day he saw a woman mumbling in the temple, and he thought she was a drunk. He went to her and asked, "How long will you be a drunk? Why don't you give it up?" But she was not drunk. She was a woman in deep distress. In tears she had been pouring out her soul to God. She desperately wanted to have a child. In her longing she had told God that if God gave her a son she would give him to the Lord.

Eli was touched by her distress and deep longing. "Go in peace," he told her, "and may God grant your request." Within a year, the woman had a son, and she named him Samuel.

It may be that several months later Eli would remember this encounter, but it is also possible that he would have no memory of the woman or his acts of kindness. There was a lot to distract Eli. He had two sons who were also priests, but they were an embarrassment to Eli. They used their positions to get what they wanted; they were not interested in serving God, they used their positions of religious authority to get what they wanted. Their abuses were so bad and so obvious another prophet came to Eli and denounced his sons and heaped shame on Eli as their father. "God will see to it that neither of them will follow in your footsteps," the prophet declared. "In fact both will die on the same day."

I suspect only parents who have tried to live faithful lives and who have tried to help their children and teach them what is right, but who have seen their children reject the values by which they were raised and choose a way of life contrary to the ideals of the parents, can begin to know the agony of soul that must have tormented Eli.

About a year after Eli was kind to the woman who was so upset because she was childless, the woman returned. She was bringing her baby boy, the one she had named Samuel. She gave him to Eli so that Samuel could be taught to be a special servant of God. What better mentor for her son could there be than this priest who had been so kind?

And so it was that Samuel came to live with Eli and the story we read today happened. Eli was Samuel's mentor, sharing with Samuel what he had learned and the wisdom he had gained. Samuel, for his part, was serving as a helper to the elderly, almost blind, Eli.

One night Samuel was sleeping in the temple where the Ark that contained the Ten Commandments was kept. Samuel was awakened from his sleep by someone calling him. "Here I am," Samuel said, and he ran to where Eli was sleeping. "What do you want?" Eli told the boy, "I didn't call you. Go back to bed."

Samuel lay down again, but it was not long until he was again aware of someone calling him. Again, he got up and went to Eli, "You called me. Here I am."

"No, my boy, I did not call you; go back to bed."

In my imagination, I can picture Eli in his bed, wondering what is going on with the boy. Then, Eli had a hunch, an idea, an insight. It had been a long time since anyone had been aware of being confronted by God. Could it be that what was going on in the life of Samuel tonight was really God's doing? Could it be that God was trying to tell Samuel something? Could it be?

About that time, Samuel came into Eli's room for the third time. "I heard you calling. Here I am."

"I did not call you, son. It may be that the Lord is trying to tell you something. Go back to bed, and if you hear what you have heard before, don't jump up and run in here asking me what I want you to do. Just lie there and listen. Say: ‘Speak; tell me what you want me to know; I am listening.’ "

That is what Samuel did. The next time he was aware of being called, he said, "Speak; I'm listening." And Samuel heard; he became of aware of what God was trying to tell him.

The message was this: "I am about to do something that is going to shock the people of Israel. And when that happens, the consequences of what Eli's sons have been doing is going to catch up with them. The family of Eli will never again be allowed to hold the positions they have held in the past."

Samuel lay in bed until morning, dreading the coming of the day and his having to face Eli. Early that morning, Eli called him. "Samuel, what did God tell you? Do not try to avoid or hide the message. Tell me, straight out."

And so, Samuel told him. It was a message not unlike what the prophet had told Eli some time ago. Few of us can fully understand the anguish this message of God's disgust with Eli's sons and his family must have caused him. But Eli understood. I suspect Eli had his own feelings of disgust as well as disappointment in his sons. Regardless of his inadequacies or whatever failure was his as a father, Eli remained a faithful man. "Yes, that message is from God. Let God do what seems good to him."

And God did. The event that shocked Israel was the loss of the Ark of the Covenant to the Philistines. It happened this way. After a defeat by the Philistines, the soldiers of Israel decided they wanted to have the Ark of the Covenant brought from Shiloh to be with them as they went into battle. The sons of Eli brought it to them. When the Philistines heard the shouts of celebration from the Israelites camp when the Ark arrived, they were frightened. They had heard stories about what the God of the people of Israel had done to the Egyptians. The Philistines, filled with fear, committed themselves to fight with greater courage and determination. The result was, the Philistines not only defeated the Israelites and in the process killed the sons of Eli, but they also captured the Ark of the Covenant.

When the news of the defeat, the death of his sons, and the capture of the Ark was told to the ninety-eight year old Eli, he fainted, and when he fell he broke his neck and died.

The story does not end here for either the Ark or for Eli. In a sense it was just getting started. However, in the interest of time, I will only talk about how this was not the end of the story for Eli.

Life had not turned out the way Eli wanted. I can only guess that when his sons were born and he held them, looking into their infant faces, Eli was like most fathers and dreamed dreams about the fine men his sons would someday be. He dreamed about them following in his footsteps and serving the Lord better than he had.

But that is not the way it had turned out. They used what their father Eli had made possible not to serve God and the people, but to take advantage of people and to try to use God for their selfish ends. Who can say why? In all probability Eli asked himself that question a thousand times: "Why did they turn out the way they did? What did I do wrong? What should I have done?"

Who can know the depth of Eli's grief and disappointment? And yet, I suspect, to the very end, Eli was like most parents whose children are as big a disappointment as Eli's sons. Eli kept hoping, hoping they would see life from a different perspective and change their attitudes, their values and their way of living. But in the end, it was not to be.

And yet, Eli's life was not a failure merely because his sons failed to be the persons they could have been. Eli's life mattered and made a difference, although he was probably unaware of the major contribution he had made.

Eli's kindness and compassion had been involved in fulfilling the longings of that desperate woman who became the mother of Samuel. Eli was the mentor of Samuel. It was Eli who helped Samuel learn to be still and listen. This is the essence of prayer and the beginning of true faithfulness. Samuel was not to assume he had to go somewhere and do something each time he was called. Eli helped Samuel learn to be still and listen for what God had to say.

When Samuel was grown he became a great leader of Israel, and part of what enabled him to fill his role in the history of Israel was what he had learned from Eli—especially the lesson of listening for what God was trying to tell him. Because Samuel listened to God, he was able to do what God wanted. Samuel was able to hear God tell him to anoint Saul as king and then later to hear God tell him to anoint David as king. Eli's wisdom and tutoring of Samuel was a major factor in setting the course of Israel for generations to come.

The disappointments in Eli's life did not prevent God from making good use of Eli's life, and the same is true for each of us. Sometimes life does not turn out the way we want, and yet in the midst of our disappointments God uses us and gives purpose to our lives of which we are unaware.

God, help each of us learn what each of us needs to learn from the story about Eli. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer:

God, we need your help. Sometimes what happens to us or to those we love seems to be more than we can bear. Sometimes the load of sorrow and heartache weighs so heavily on us we find it difficult to move through the day. Sometimes our worries and fears so fill our minds we cannot think clearly. God, give us your peace—the spiritual health that enables us to bear our burdens and deal with our fears.

When we look into our past and remember other times when you have seen us through various kinds of storms and crises, we are encouraged to believe that in our present need you will provide what we need to make it through. And for that we are grateful.

God, when we pause to think deeply about our lives, we become aware of many ways that your grace has been active in our lives. And yet we are also aware that all too much of the time we fail to recognize, much less appreciate the various blessings you have given us. Forgive our insensitivity. Help us to be more aware of what you have done and are doing so that as we face whatever problems are in front of us, we are able to do so with renewed confidence that you will be with us, each day and each step enabling us to face whatever we must face and do whatever we must do, fulfilling the prayer Jesus taught us to pray: "Our Father …"

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