Learning to Listen 07/19/2026

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us here today
Sometimes
Often
Nearly always
We have the opportunity
To see your hand
In the moment
And give thanks
Even when that moment
Brings fear
Or hurt
Or sorrow

It is easiest to be
Thankful
In moments of ecstasy
Or quiet satisfaction
Of gentle pleasure
This we know
But there is the
Possibility of more

Grant us the knowing
That in your care
All shall be well
Not just symbolically
Or just superficially
But to know
In our depths
That we can
Greet you
With thanks
At all times
Because your great love
Is making us whole
Making us new
Making us all you ever created us to be
In every moment
By every means
To cure our pain
To repair our broken bits
And fill us with everlasting joy
And for this
We give our
Wholehearted
Unrestrained thanks
Thank you Lord
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Warning: My body is broken so I may be a little more open and personal than usual

“And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and wen to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, for you called me.’ Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, ‘Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, “Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.”‘ 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.’ Then the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.'” 1 Samuel 3:8-11

Intro: What are we witnessing in this archetypal story?

First, why do I refer to the story as “archetypal”?
– archetypes have to do with basic themes planted in the human mind
• familiar themes are revealed in the heroes, heroines, and villains of fables, myths, and fairytales
◦ these characters represent specific qualities that define human persons and their behavior
◦ including: virtuous, courageous, clever, creative, wise or foolish, industrious or lazy
• the plot of the stories, and the actors differ from culture to culture,
◦ but the qualities are universal, so we recognize when they’re pointed out to us
– in this story of Eli and Samuel, the archetypal theme is similar to the “the sorcerer’s apprentice”
• it doesn’t follow specific rules, because Eli was a priest and not a prophet
◦ but he was familiar with prophecy and could give Samuel basic instructions
• so first, after a delayed response, Eli discerns what is happening to Samuel
◦ he is able to explain to the boy that God is calling to him
◦ and, then he instructs him how to respond to receive God’s message

I am fascinated by some of the details of this story

For instance, Eli gives Samuel the exact words to say, “Speak, LORD [Yahweh], for your servant hears”
– Samuel, however, does not address God by name, but says only, “Speak, for your servant hears”
• it’s as if he cannot bring himself to address God so personally, because he doesn’t know him–yet
◦ but that doesn’t have any effect on what happens next
◦ Samuel can make this slight, personal modification, and God proceeds with his message
– then, the story of this encounter with God begins with a sad commentary regarding Israel’s spiritual life
• God’s communication with his people had practically died out
“Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying in his own place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was” (vv. 1-3)
• these observations are both literal and metaphorical
◦ Eli’s poor eyesight is literal, but it also symbolizes the absence of divine visions given to seers and prophets
◦ the same idea is repeated regarding the lamp in the temple
▫ it had “not yet gone out,” which implies it was in danger of being extinguished
▫ it seems that Samuel’s job was to prevent the lamp from going out
• Samuel will soon become God’s solution to this dark period of Israel’s history
– one more observation:
“And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the LORD” (v. 20)
(Dan was located at the northern boundary of Israel and Beersheba was located at its southern boundary)
• Samuel’s calling establishes the priority of prophetic ministry in Israel’s future
◦ Moses was referred to as a prophet, and prophets appeared in the Book of Judges,
◦ but a new contingent of ministers will be added to Israel’s spiritual resources
• during this period of history, groups of prophets begin to form and make their appearance
◦ at least once a community of prophets are seen gathered around Samuel
◦ not long after Samuel we begin to hear of a community known as “sons of the prophets” – 1 & 2 Kings

Why have I brought you to Samuel this morning?

As far as it is possible, I want help you as Eli helped Samuel
– I will immediately admit, I’m no better a teacher or guide that Eli
• but what I desire is for you to learn to hear God communicate with you directly
◦ if this sounds “spooky” to you, I assure you it’s a normal Christian experience
◦ it’s no weirder than watching sun set behind the ocean and feeling a rush of pleasure and gratitude
• if you are sincere in your devotion to God and love for Jesus,
◦ then I am certain God has already spoken directly to you
◦ maybe there’s even one specific time you can remember an experience like that
– but what most of us don’t realize, is that God communicates with us every day
• and it is through his Spirit he speaks to us – Spirit to spirit
“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Ro. 8:16)
• we can get to know the Spirit, as we know God our Father and Jesus his Son
◦ Jesus made this promise several times in John 14-16
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (Jn. 16:12-14)

We find a trail of bread crumbs beginning with Moses, that brings us to God’s Spirit

Moses had a longing – the connection he had with God, he wanted everyone to have
“Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” (Nu. 11:29)
– if not everyone at that time, then who were the ones anointed by God’s Spirit? prophets, priests, & kings
– time passed, Israel stumbled forward, then God raised up the prophet Joel–dropping more bread crumbs
• God gave Joel a prophecy, which sounds like it could be an answer to Moses’ prayer:
“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on your male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit” (Joel 2:28-29)
– the next bread crumbs are found in Acts 2, where the trail ends on the day the church was born
• the Spirit of God made a grand entrance into a humble meeting
“And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. . . . And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit . . . .”
• when Peter stood up to explain to the bystanders what was happening, he said:
“. . . this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams . . . .” (Acts 2:1-3, 16-18)

This is how it is that God chose for us the blessing of ongoing communication with him
– Paul realized what had happened in his life and realized it was every believer’s experience
“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. . . . If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Ro. 8:9-11)
• that’s just for starters – he goes on,
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. . . . you have received the Spirit of adoption as children, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Ro. 8:14-16)
• this, then, is how God speaks directly to us, Spirit to spirit!
◦ we come across instances of this in the Book of Acts
“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them’” (Acts 13:2)
“For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden . . . .” (Acts 15:28-29)
“And they went through the region of Phergia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia” (Acts 16:6)
◦ my point is that it is up to us to listen to God’s Spirit, to “test” what we hear, and to respond
– what the Spirit tells us is not apart from scripture and never contradicts the Scriptures,
• but at the same time it is personal and immediate

I don’t imagine myself a person of great spiritual depth

When I should be walking in God’s ways, I am more often getting in his way
– but I know God speaks to every person who chooses to listen to him
• he doesn’t hold our inadequacies against us, but meets us where we are
◦ he gives us only as much as we can handle or we’re willing to receive
• the more we listen, the more we grow and the better off we are
◦ not materially, but in taking life as it comes and finding God’s presence at every turn

What I want to share with you is what has been helpful for me recently

I believe that the Spirit of God fills the universe – not like an energy field or physical object
– he fills the universe in a dimension beyond our human experience
• and I believe a mystery that has me totally baffled is this:
◦ that the Spirit of God is conscious of every living person at every moment of their existence
◦ he is engaged in conversation with you at the same time he is with me and everyone else who are willing to listen
I believe we can become more aware of the Spirit’s presence and more receptive to his voice

Conclusion: This is as far as I want to take you this morning

I’ll just wrap it up with a meditation I wrote back in June 25 while meditating on Romans 8:11
“But if the Spirit of the one who has raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised the Anointed One Jesus from the dead will also make your mortal bodies live through the indwelling of his Spirit in you.”
My meditation: “I am grateful to God that I came to this passage and specifically to this verse today. Especially because I am discouraged, depressed, and feel like a complete failure.
“In my healthier moments of late, I have not only realized how, but also what it is for the Spirit of God to be in me. Nothing about this makes me more than what I am. In fact, God’s grace works for me in spite of myself; so there’s that.
“My ‘experience’ is not a feeling, not a thought or effect of thinking, not physical or anything I ‘make happen.’ The Spirit of God is here–not because I invoke him or comprehend his presence. He is here because he exists, and he exists in ‘hereness.’ Somehow, apart from anything I do, I have awareness of God’s Spirit. It’s as if I just woke up and here he is. Then, I realize he is within me. My entire person, no doubt, but especially in my conscious awareness of him. It is not like he takes up residence in one of my physical organs–lungs, heart, spleen, etcetera– or one of my ‘systems’ like respiratory, circulatory, or endocrine. The Spirit is not ‘in’ my physical body, because he transcends the physical realm. Neither is he outside my body. All that is irrelevant! Here am I, this interior person invisible to everyone but God; and here is the Spirit of God who is present to ‘me.’ I’m aware of him as if we are sitting here looking at each other, or he is in front of me looking at me as I take my walk. I am aware of him knowing that he is here aware of me.
“This awareness registers in my brain, though I have no idea what areas of my brain or neural pathways are activated. But I am conscious of the experience, so I know my brain observes it even if the nature of it is hidden from me in out Spirit to spirit connection.
“Typically, when the Spirit speaks to me, he is not revealing some profound truth. He speaks encouragement mostly. He says, ‘You’re doing okay, Chuck. You don’t have to worry, because I am here. I am with you and for you. You are always okay, because I love you.’”