WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:02.479 1 Samuel 3, 1 to 10. 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:08.080 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:11.359 And the word of the Lord was rare in those days. 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:14.240 There was no frequent vision. 00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:23.120 At that time, Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:27.039 The lamp of God had not yet gone out. 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:31.359 And so I ran up here and I'm like, sorry. 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:36.399 The lamp of God had not yet gone out. 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:41.200 And Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was. 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:46.079 Then the Lord called Samuel and said, and he said, Here I am. 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:49.759 And ran to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:52.640 But he said, I did not call, lie down again. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:54.799 So he went and lay down. 00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:57.600 And the Lord called again, Samuel. 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:01.679 And Samuel rose and went to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me. 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:03.759 But he said, I did not call, my son. 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:05.040 Lie down again. 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:10.959 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:18.400 And the Lord called Samuel again the third time, and he and he arose and went to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me. 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:22.959 Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:26.879 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, Go lie down. 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:31.599 And if he calls you, you shall say, Speak, Lord, for your servant hears. 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:34.560 So Samuel went and lie down in his place. 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:38.480 And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times. 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:39.840 Samuel, Samuel. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:43.599 And Samuel said, Speak, for your servant hears. 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:46.239 The word of the Lord, please be seated. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:49.200 Good morning. 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:52.079 Welcome to church this morning. 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:55.760 Great choice of seats, everybody. 00:01:56.319 --> 00:01:57.680 Great choices. 00:01:58.319 --> 00:02:04.159 Yeah, I like to say that because it wasn't it wasn't a choice this morning. 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:05.120 But excellent. 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:06.959 Thank you so much for joining us. 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:08.560 Welcome to church. 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:11.759 A couple of quick announcements. 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:16.879 We are still in our two-week period of signups for Redemption Groups. 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:23.360 Redemption Groups will launch a week from today, so the week of Sunday the 27th. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:28.800 And that's really the best way to get involved and connected here at Redemption Church Denver. 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:40.879 There's really only two ways we say that you can really get connected best at Redemption Denver, and that's we gather large, which you're doing now, and we gather small, which we do in each other's homes throughout the week. 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:53.520 So you can do that on online or in our app, or you can go downstairs to one of the welcome team at the welcome table wearing an RC t-shirt and sign up on an iPad. 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:56.240 So yeah, that's it. 00:02:56.319 --> 00:02:57.039 Let's just go with that. 00:02:57.120 --> 00:02:58.479 Let's go with one announcement. 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:02.000 And let's pray and let's start let's start preaching. 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:03.120 Well, me. 00:03:03.199 --> 00:03:05.759 You guys I don't know. 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:07.759 Let's pray. 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:08.639 Quick. 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:18.240 Holy Father, pray that you would attend this time, that you would apply your word to our hearts. 00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:26.080 Lord, that we would have a single-minded focus on what you have to share with us this morning, that we would gather together to seek you. 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:33.680 The God of all creation, the God of the universe, that we might hear what you have to say for us. 00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:36.800 Father, open our hearts. 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:41.039 The anxieties that are in our minds, let us cast them away. 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:43.199 That we might focus on you. 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:45.360 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:50.319 So this week we're talking about a question. 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:52.560 The question is calling. 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:55.759 What is my calling? 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:58.639 What is God calling me to? 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:02.000 And that's a really important question. 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:05.840 It's one that can feel extremely personal for our faith. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:13.520 It's basically what is it that God is asking me to do with my life to express my faithfulness to Him. 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:21.360 I was listening to a podcast that was not about this, but it's a podcast that I really like. 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:23.519 It's called Conversations with Tyler. 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:32.800 This guy named Tyler Cohen, that he's the Tyler that the conversations are with, uh I haven't read any of his books, but he's an economist. 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:36.319 And he interviews other people like him. 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:43.120 And so he was interviewing uh this behavioral economist, which is a thing, uh named Daniel Kahneman. 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:51.360 And Daniel Kahneman uh had spent decades of his life studying happiness. 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:58.240 And recently he's stopped and he no longer does any of his research regarding happiness. 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:05.040 And so Tyler was asking why you are no longer studying happiness, and he said, Well, it's just not that important to people. 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:27.040 What his research has found and sort of borne out is that happiness, this thing that we've thought of as our intrinsic motivator, from everyone from like Aristotle up to John Piper, the two pillars of our faith, uh have thought that happiness is this intrinsic motivator. 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:30.720 If there's one thing we know about humanity, it's that we're motivated by happiness. 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:33.360 Um, I'm downplaying both of them, by the way. 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:42.959 But what Kahnerman discovered is that our main driver, he suspects, is satisfaction. 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:53.360 What we're looking for most is not a life that provides us with the most happiness, but a life for which we could feel the most satisfied. 00:05:54.319 --> 00:05:58.879 A life that we could stand back from and say it's good. 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:07.839 If there's anything that compels me to think that Kahneman's probably right, it's it's that last phrase. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:13.360 It seems as though there is something fundamental about satisfaction. 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:20.399 As it in many, as I think it's probably the first emotion that we see in Scripture. 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:25.600 The first thing that we see God feel is satisfied. 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:30.000 He stands back after looking at his creation. 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:33.519 Each day he steps back from his creation and says it's good. 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:44.959 And then finally, on the seventh day after all of creation had been made, he steps back from all that he had made and he says, it's very good, and he rests. 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:50.399 I think that is the driver of the human heart. 00:06:51.120 --> 00:07:00.000 That we could step back from our days, that we could step back from our lives and look at a life that allows us to rest. 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:05.759 To look at it and see, I'm actually satisfied with this work. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:15.199 I'm satisfied with this effort that I'm put forward, and now I can confidently, peacefully, joyfully rest. 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:32.959 So there's a connection here between our calling, our purpose, our meaning, and this drive of our heart to find satisfaction and rest. 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:39.600 And that's why I think we spend so much time considering what is God's call for me. 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:47.839 When we get down beneath that, I think what we're asking is what type of life could I lead where I could actually be at peace before Him? 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:51.360 What is His call on my life? 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:52.800 What should I do? 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:54.639 How should I be living? 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:59.040 Well, that is what we're going to be looking at this morning. 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:12.319 In today's context, Samuel, who was just born last week, as the sermons go, uh, he's now a young, an older boy than he was last week, as we all are. 00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:24.000 But he's growing up in the temple and he receives an audible call from the Lord. 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:26.399 He's literally called by name. 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:28.319 That's the dream, right? 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:30.160 We know God's calling. 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:32.639 How do I know what God is calling me to do in my life? 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:36.879 Because he just wakes me up one morning and tells me. 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:38.639 That sounds great. 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:40.720 I've heard people with stories like that. 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:42.480 I'm about to share a story like that. 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:46.879 I I've never experienced anything like that in my life. 00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:51.600 Uh, where I heard God audibly calling me. 00:08:52.080 --> 00:09:00.720 But as I looked into this story, I found a lot of comfort in the way that I feel like I have experienced God's call. 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:14.799 Because what we see when we look at Samuel's story is that even when God calls you by name, it's not much less complicated than when he doesn't. 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:17.039 So that's what we're going to look at this morning. 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:18.960 We're gonna look at a couple of things. 00:09:19.279 --> 00:09:30.879 Discerning God's call, the way that Samuel was able to discern God's call on his life, and then finally how he responds to God's call on his life. 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:35.440 Help us understand how do we discern what God is calling us to. 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:58.159 If you're in a situation right now that feels like a turning point, if you're in between jobs or if you're in a job that you really don't like, if you're considering whether or not to stay with this person or break up or to ask them to marry you, these big life decisions that we face, our calling becomes really important in those moments. 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:01.679 And you'll pray things like, God, show me what to do next. 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:07.840 God, tell me what my calling is, where I should be spending my life. 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:12.159 And so if you're in one of those moments, I want you to kind of perk up especially. 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:16.720 Uh, because I think what we can see in Samuel's call will be particularly helpful. 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:20.559 All right, discerning God's call. 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:26.320 This is 1 Samuel chapter 3, verses 1 to 3. 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:31.360 It says, now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:34.159 And the word of the Lord was rare in those days. 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:36.080 There was no frequent vision. 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:44.159 At that time, Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:50.879 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the ark was. 00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:53.120 This is just our setting. 00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:58.240 The story, so you can have it in your mind, is that Samuel is sleeping. 00:10:58.559 --> 00:11:04.720 He's sleeping in the temple, and then he'll hear God call him three times. 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:08.720 And each time he thinks it's just the voice of Eli. 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:12.080 Eli is the high priest that he works under. 00:11:12.720 --> 00:11:15.679 So he thinks it's basically just his boss. 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:18.480 And in this way, he's more like a father. 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:21.440 So he wakes up each time and he goes to see him. 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:24.000 But the setting here is really important. 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:38.879 Because what we see before Samuel had been called to anything, before Samuel had heard the voice of the Lord, every time he's mentioned, he's ministering to the Lord. 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:46.240 He's already doing the very thing that he will be called to do. 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:56.240 His life after his call to be this great prophet that we see, it doesn't change very much from the circumstances that he's in. 00:11:57.200 --> 00:12:02.879 It's just basically a greater burden of responsibility will be placed on his shoulders. 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:08.960 But even as this youth, every time that he's mentioned, he's ministering to the Lord. 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:14.080 The way that this is laid out, it should tell us something. 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:22.000 Eli, excuse me, Samuel's responsibilities are growing throughout his time in the temple. 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:32.080 But not in a way that is God saying, like, look, now it's your job to maintain the candle that's supposed to be lit all night in the temple. 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:34.159 It's very circumstantial. 00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:44.879 Samuel is uh Eli is losing his vision, and so Samuel is taking on more and more responsibilities in the temple. 00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:47.840 You're the one who sleeps in the temple now to keep the light going. 00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:50.080 It's not something Eli could do anymore. 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:57.519 There's this growth in Samuel's ministry that's arcing towards where God is calling him to. 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:05.600 But it's in really normal, really everyday, somewhat mundane sorts of ways. 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:21.120 So we know that our calling, in fact, what we're asking for when we're asking what our calling is, is to be given something from the outside of ourselves. 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:28.559 Something from God, a statement from God that says, of your life, live this way. 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:34.320 Do this job, have this career, marry this person. 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:38.639 Be faithful in these areas, over these things. 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:41.279 I'm going to set you over these particulars in the world. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:43.279 That's what we're looking for, is that outside. 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:45.200 That's what we mean by a call. 00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:47.919 Something God places on you. 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:54.000 Now, it would have been easy, and I think a lot of us do this. 00:13:56.799 --> 00:14:01.440 We think, well, I haven't, I haven't been called to anything. 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:04.639 I'm not like Samuel. 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:09.279 There's no great call of God upon my life. 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:12.480 This just happens to be where I am. 00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:15.120 Samuel easily could have thought that. 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:21.600 Samuel was not, uh Samuel did not choose to serve in the temple. 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:23.600 We learned his story last week. 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:29.759 That story was made up by his mother before he was even, I mean, that decision was made by his mother before he was even born. 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:38.879 These were just the circumstances that he happened to find himself in as a servant in the temple. 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:49.519 And Samuel serves faithfully amid the circumstances that he happened to find himself in. 00:14:50.320 --> 00:15:02.480 I think the first lesson in our call is that even if you haven't heard an audible call from the Lord, your life has real constraints in it right now. 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:08.080 You have a job that you're responsible to. 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:24.080 And we know that Jesus is a good manager. 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:32.720 And so he rewards those who faithfully labor with the tasks that he's given them. 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:42.480 And that's why he's able to conclude, Jesus concludes the story about the one who labored faithfully with the allotment that they had been given. 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:52.080 And in Matthew 25, 23, he says, His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much. 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:55.840 Enter into the joy of your master. 00:16:57.519 --> 00:17:10.720 You see, Samuel receives this call, in large part because of his day-to-day, ordinary faithfulness. 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:26.319 So we can even see that Samuel's faithfulness becomes the mechanism that God uses to allow Samuel to discover his calling. 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:43.680 This is uh I I can feel and I can tell by your faces that that this breakdown of calling is um uh I'm looking for a better word than well, I'll just say it's really it's not cool. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:52.160 There's nothing uh fancy. 00:17:52.400 --> 00:17:54.799 Thank you, Thesaurus friend. 00:17:56.160 --> 00:18:04.079 Uh we see Samuel's call manifested in this ordinary faithfulness. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:14.400 What I hope our calling starts to become is a rediscovery of the life that you're really in. 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:22.559 To see that there really is an incredible depth here that God is calling you to participate in. 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:32.480 And when you engage with and move into that ordinary faithfulness, things like, I'm gonna start to pray over my work. 00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:48.640 I'm gonna consider that this relationship that I have with my coworker is not just some random happenstance, but as though I've been placed here by God and I've been called here to bring some sacred into this space that would otherwise just be written off. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:57.519 And so the world starts to light up around you, and you realize there's these constraints in my life that I have that are real. 00:18:57.680 --> 00:18:59.200 These aren't accidental. 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:02.880 This is the providence of God calling me. 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:05.920 That's the way Samuel treated his life. 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:14.240 I read, speaking of John Piper, I read a tweet of his, um, and I thought it was really helpful advice. 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:32.319 He says, sometimes it's appropriate to take some time and mourn and weep over the life that you thought you would have, and then wipe your face and move into the one that God has called you to. 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:35.920 I think that's such good advice. 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:44.240 Samuel chose none of the circumstances that he found himself in, and he's serving faithfully in them. 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:51.759 He's even serving faithfully under Eli, who is not deserved, he doesn't deserve to be served faithfully. 00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:54.559 He was a bad father to his own sons. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:20:01.680 He has neglected the responsibility of the temple that Samuel is seeking to uphold. 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:06.880 And yet, Samuel remained faithful to Eli. 00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:11.680 And it's Samuel's faithfulness to Eli. 00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:13.759 Well, we can see that in a couple of ways. 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:15.920 I'll go ahead and read the story so we can see it. 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:19.200 Continues in 1 Samuel 3, verses 4 to 7. 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:23.519 Then the Lord called Samuel and he said, Here I am, and ran to Eli. 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:25.440 The Lord called Samuel. 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:28.640 Samuel says, Here I am, and he runs to Eli. 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:30.720 It's funny, it should be funny. 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:33.440 Here I am, for you called me. 00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:36.079 But he said, I did not call you, lie down again. 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:37.839 So he went and lay down. 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:40.319 And the Lord called again, Samuel. 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:46.799 And Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me, but he said, I did not call you, my son, lie down. 00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:52.240 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:21:01.759 So we know that this is before the candle in the temple has gone out, and that candle is up, is lit from sundown till sunrise. 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:03.920 So this is before sunrise, it's early in the morning. 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:06.960 We see Samuel's faithfulness and nothing less than this. 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:08.559 He wakes up. 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:13.200 He wakes up when he thinks it's Eli calling. 00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:15.279 And he wakes up to tend to him. 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:18.319 Mornings are the worst thing in the world. 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:19.839 I think. 00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:23.839 Every morning I wake up an atheist thinking the same thought. 00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:26.000 Another day? 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:28.880 We have to have done so many of these. 00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:30.960 We have to do another one? 00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:32.960 That's my thought every morning. 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:50.960 And so faith of Eli's Samuel's faithfulness is clearly demonstrated there, and it's actually that faithfulness to Eli that equips Samuel to discern the voice of the Lord. 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:54.160 And the Lord called Samuel again. 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:55.920 This is 3 8 to 10. 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:59.759 And he arose and went to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:05.680 Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:15.200 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, Go lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, Speak, Lord, for your servant hears. 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:25.599 So Samuel went and lay down in his place, and the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, Samuel Samuel, and Samuel said, Speak, for your servant hears. 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:47.759 The ordinary, mundane faithfulness that you may be being called to right now is what equips you to be able to discern the call of the Lord. 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:54.720 The boring, I'm just gonna, I don't feel like it, but I'm gonna read the scripture again. 00:22:55.599 --> 00:23:00.000 The I'm so exhausted, but I'm just gonna show up for another day. 00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:06.319 I don't want to send this text, I don't want to schedule a meeting with this person, but I'm just gonna go ahead and schedule it. 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:17.039 The mundane faithfulness is doing an equipping for you to be able to discern God's call. 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:25.519 Without that, as a part of your life, built into the structures of your life, faithfulness in the things you know you're being called to. 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:33.599 You could very well be hearing God shouting your name and not go to him. 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:37.200 Look at how thin the margin is. 00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:39.920 It's God Himself doing the shouting. 00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:44.240 And ultimately, how does how does Samuel discern it? 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:47.440 It's by his faithfulness to someone who didn't even deserve it. 00:23:47.759 --> 00:23:50.400 His obedience to the call he knew he had. 00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:19.440 And he was self-referential, but he is uh my friend was like, he, you know, if you're in certain denominations, then the best thing you can be in the world is a missionary. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:22.240 Um we are non-denominational. 00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:30.799 We love missionaries, um, just not any more than people with other types of jobs. 00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:54.319 Um and so there's uh uh this compulsion, and you'll go to there's like conferences, Christian conferences, and it's like, you know, get fired up, you gotta make your decision for the Lord right now, and and you you know move overseas and you know, start witnessing to uh like I don't know, people who live overseas. 00:24:55.359 --> 00:24:58.400 Haven't been to one of those conferences in a long time, obviously. 00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:16.880 Um then people people arrive, you know, young kids arrive without the ability to move through the normal, mundane parts of life that God is calling us to be faithful in. 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:40.880 And so there's this manufactured call that we've missed our ability to embrace the normal, ordinary faithfulness that God is asking us to embrace, and waiting for a call of God that will somehow take us out of that. 00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:54.240 I think when many of us consider our call, what we're asking is for something to remove us from the things that we ordinarily need to be faithful to. 00:25:56.079 --> 00:26:00.720 But the call that Samuel receives does just the opposite. 00:26:02.319 --> 00:26:06.079 This is uh how he responds to the call. 00:26:06.240 --> 00:26:09.440 So let's look at the call that he receives itself. 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:11.920 1 Samuel 3, 11 to 14. 00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:21.359 Says, Then the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I'm about to do a thing in Israel, at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:31.680 That's uh um I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh. 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:33.279 It's the word of God, of course. 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:38.319 And it's translated, and I'm sure something's lost in translation, it's just not an expression I would ever use. 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:43.599 Um the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:47.599 That's uh always bad news. 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:54.240 In Scripture, when this expression is used, it's always impending doom. 00:26:56.319 --> 00:27:04.640 So whenever anyone hears it, he's like, I'm about to tell you something, and everyone's ears are gonna be tingling, which means I'm about to tell you some impending doom. 00:27:06.400 --> 00:27:15.839 On that day, I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house from beginning to end. 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:28.720 And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God and he did not restrain them. 00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:38.880 Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever. 00:27:41.839 --> 00:27:50.400 In that paragraph, do you hear God tell Samuel to do anything? 00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:57.519 That's interesting, isn't it? 00:27:57.680 --> 00:28:01.680 Because this is like when you look at the headings of all the Bibles, this is Samuel's call. 00:28:01.839 --> 00:28:04.880 This is always referred to as Samuel's call. 00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:13.759 And yet, in the very thing that he's called to, he's not given a he's not given a career. 00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:19.039 He's not given an answer to a question. 00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:24.319 He's not given uh which way to go on this path. 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:27.920 He's not given a whole new style of life. 00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:30.640 Uh he's given a task. 00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:34.000 And he's and the thing is, he's not even really given a task. 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:42.960 He's given the burden of responsibility of something that he now knows. 00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:48.799 Something that he now knows from God himself. 00:28:50.480 --> 00:29:03.519 And God tells him, I declare this to Eli, which means it is his responsibility, it is Samuel's responsibility now as the one who knows to declare this. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:09.440 To declare to the man that raised him his impending destruction. 00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:11.759 This is a hard call. 00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:15.839 This is a hard calling to receive. 00:29:16.079 --> 00:29:22.000 This is an incredible burden of responsibility that Samuel is given. 00:29:23.839 --> 00:29:30.799 We often think of our callings as a removal of a burden, a removal of a burden of indecision. 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:40.799 Perhaps I won't have to wrestle anymore, finally, with whether or not to marry this person, because God will just tell me, and then at least I'll know. 00:29:42.720 --> 00:29:45.039 That's not the way this calling works. 00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:50.240 And so we see this manifest in Samuel. 00:29:50.400 --> 00:30:00.240 It says in 1 Samuel 3.15, Samuel lay until morning when he opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 00:30:01.920 --> 00:30:12.000 So, with Samuel's fear to tell the vision, he ultimately does go to Eli, and Eli coaxes it out of him. 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:17.119 And as it turns out, Samuel didn't need to be afraid of sharing this with Eli. 00:30:17.279 --> 00:30:20.960 Eli had actually been told before by another prophet. 00:30:21.119 --> 00:30:22.559 He knew this was coming. 00:30:22.720 --> 00:30:31.839 And what this was about, probably more than it being declared to Eli, was about Samuel being the one who declared it. 00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:47.920 So Samuel was required to step out in faith with this information he'd received from the Lord, share a hard thing, and then wait and see if it happened. 00:30:50.240 --> 00:31:15.119 When we are pursuing our call, I know when I am, what I'm really asking for, or have been a lot of times, probably until studying this, I think what I've been asking for is the ability to move forward without requiring any faith. 00:31:17.119 --> 00:31:27.920 I wanted to move forward and not have to take on this risk and responsibility for the decisions that I was making. 00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:38.400 I wanted God to just say, you know, go you go tell Eli this, and you have to go tell him, and so go tell him. 00:31:40.079 --> 00:31:43.279 And then be able to say, well, look, it's God. 00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:46.640 I'm not, it's don't look at me. 00:31:46.799 --> 00:31:48.720 I'm not a part of this story. 00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:52.319 This is, I didn't even really have to make a decision. 00:31:52.480 --> 00:31:54.400 There was no decision to be made. 00:31:55.119 --> 00:31:58.160 The band put the ropes up, it wasn't my idea. 00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:01.119 It was totally my idea. 00:32:05.839 --> 00:32:15.200 But the way that God calls Samuel requires him to move in faith in what God is calling him to. 00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:22.480 Samuel isn't confirmed as a prophet when he tells Eli. 00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:31.119 Samuel is confirmed as a prophet when Eli is finally destroyed. 00:32:32.720 --> 00:32:39.119 And at that, the people of Israel look and they see, look, this is just as Samuel said it would happen. 00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:41.440 He really is a prophet. 00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:47.759 And so, in process, Samuel's calling is revealed. 00:32:48.240 --> 00:32:56.559 And it's the same process that he was in before he heard the audible voice of the Lord. 00:32:57.119 --> 00:33:00.240 It was ordinary faithfulness. 00:33:00.640 --> 00:33:02.559 That's what he was called to. 00:33:02.799 --> 00:33:06.240 And that's even what his calling from God entailed. 00:33:06.880 --> 00:33:16.559 So then we might say, and I might end the message here, go uh go be faithful. 00:33:17.039 --> 00:33:18.000 Now you know. 00:33:18.160 --> 00:33:22.319 If you want to know what God is really calling you to, go be faithful in what he's giving you to now. 00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:25.599 And he'll make this more clear in time, and that's true. 00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:29.519 Um, but here's the thing. 00:33:29.839 --> 00:33:31.039 Good luck. 00:33:33.599 --> 00:33:35.599 Just more faithfulness. 00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:39.119 Yes, do that. 00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:41.359 You're not going to get there. 00:33:46.480 --> 00:33:48.000 Here's the key. 00:33:52.960 --> 00:33:56.880 The answer to your satisfaction. 00:33:59.440 --> 00:34:10.480 The answer to the rest that you're craving is not in the right career that God has called you to. 00:34:12.320 --> 00:34:16.800 Knowing the right person that God has asked you to marry. 00:34:17.280 --> 00:34:24.800 Finally feeling the relief of God saying, walk away from this relationship, walk away from this business. 00:34:26.559 --> 00:34:32.400 That's not where the satisfaction that your heart is warring for actually lies. 00:34:34.079 --> 00:34:47.039 There's a deeper call that you need to hear to be able to even move into in the right way the particular calls that God has for your life. 00:34:48.880 --> 00:35:02.639 In Romans 8, 28 through 30, Paul says, And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 00:35:03.360 --> 00:35:14.320 For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 00:35:14.719 --> 00:35:17.840 In those whom he predestined, he also called. 00:35:21.519 --> 00:35:25.199 In those whom he justified, he also glorified. 00:35:29.519 --> 00:35:35.920 Regarding your calling, first thing, quit stressing that you're gonna miss it. 00:35:36.480 --> 00:35:38.000 You're not gonna miss it. 00:35:38.559 --> 00:35:41.199 It's been predestined in eternity past. 00:35:41.440 --> 00:35:43.679 If you're his, he will get you. 00:35:46.639 --> 00:35:51.039 Those whom he called, he justified. 00:35:52.159 --> 00:36:05.760 Quit looking to your career, to the calling of who's the right person to marry, to all these little things that you're expecting a direct word from God about so that you no longer have to move in faith. 00:36:06.079 --> 00:36:08.880 Those things won't justify you. 00:36:09.679 --> 00:36:17.519 To be justified means to stand before the Lord perfectly as you are, because he has made you perfect in Christ. 00:36:19.760 --> 00:36:26.239 If he has called you, that means he's the one who does the justifying. 00:36:28.320 --> 00:36:49.039 Once you see that call, once you see the call to come to Christ and lay down your whole life to him, entrust him completely with all the details of your life, including the ones that he has already laid out in it. 00:36:49.920 --> 00:37:03.760 And you say to him, I know that you have called me here, and I know that your call is good news, even when it doesn't feel like good news right now. 00:37:04.239 --> 00:37:11.440 I know that it will always work out to be good news for me, even, as the one that you've called. 00:37:12.639 --> 00:37:27.280 When you see that, then all of a sudden, what your career is, what your decision about marriage should be to have kids, not have kids, all those things that we think, God, will you just give me the answer so I'll know. 00:37:28.480 --> 00:37:34.639 You see that your satisfaction, your rest isn't in the answer to those things. 00:37:36.480 --> 00:37:38.000 It's in Jesus. 00:37:39.679 --> 00:37:41.840 Who says, you can rest now. 00:37:43.039 --> 00:37:49.039 Because all those things that I want to accomplish through you, I freely give to you. 00:37:50.800 --> 00:38:05.679 When we hear that call, we're able to actually submit ourselves to the normal, everyday, mundane callings of our life, that we might hear the great calling that he's bringing us to. 00:38:07.840 --> 00:38:09.519 Does that make sense? 00:38:11.440 --> 00:38:13.920 That connection, that call connection? 00:38:14.639 --> 00:38:19.039 We're sitting very close, and I'm trying to read your faces and see if I can tell. 00:38:19.280 --> 00:38:21.519 Okay, let's take one question. 00:38:22.239 --> 00:38:24.480 Uh who was texted in. 00:38:24.639 --> 00:38:32.639 How does this vision of calling fit in with Paul's admonition in 1 Thessalonians 4 to live quietly and mind our own affairs and work with our own hands? 00:38:33.039 --> 00:38:34.800 I think it fits really well. 00:38:35.920 --> 00:38:41.360 Uh he's saying, look, be faithful with these things that are immediately in front of you. 00:38:42.159 --> 00:38:46.559 You're out there looking for this call, and yet you have this whole life. 00:38:46.719 --> 00:38:48.719 Be faithful with those things. 00:38:48.960 --> 00:38:51.199 So, yeah, live quietly. 00:38:52.079 --> 00:38:54.000 Mind your own affairs, work with your hands. 00:38:54.079 --> 00:38:56.079 That way you don't have to borrow from people. 00:38:57.199 --> 00:39:00.239 Uh this is an underrated verse. 00:39:02.719 --> 00:39:14.719 The verses that I like more than this one are when Paul says, I have a holy ambition to preach the gospel where it has not been proclaimed. 00:39:15.440 --> 00:39:24.960 Same guy who wrote, live quietly, mind your own affairs, says, I have a holy ambition to preach the gospel where it isn't proclaimed. 00:39:25.280 --> 00:39:28.559 Somehow those are deeply related. 00:39:31.280 --> 00:39:42.480 If you can't live quietly and mind your own affairs, then be warned against your holy ambition. 00:39:45.840 --> 00:40:04.639 And if you're, I think we need to counter that, with if you have this terror or this idol of comfort, then you need to be warned that you're called to a holy ambition. 00:40:06.960 --> 00:40:13.119 So with that bid on calling. 00:40:13.519 --> 00:40:14.800 Let's pray. 00:40:22.400 --> 00:40:32.320 Holy Father, I pray that you would work on our hearts to give us the wisdom to discern what you are bringing us into. 00:40:34.719 --> 00:40:44.800 Lord, would you raise our horizon and widen our gaze that we might discover your calling that lies all around us? 00:40:46.480 --> 00:40:52.800 Lord, would you make us realists of your transcendent reality? 00:40:54.559 --> 00:40:58.719 That we wouldn't overlook the glory that is right in front of us. 00:41:01.760 --> 00:41:11.360 In our families, our friends, our coworkers, our children. 00:41:16.400 --> 00:41:30.960 Father, I pray that in the gospel we would find the rest for our souls so that we would no longer try and work to find that rest in something that we do. 00:41:32.719 --> 00:41:38.000 But that we would work wholeheartedly from the rest that you've freely given us. 00:41:41.199 --> 00:41:43.679 Father, we lift this up in Jesus' name. 00:41:44.000 --> 00:41:44.639 Amen.