aint nothing new about this

aint nothing truer than death

A sermon on the God who kills to make alive from 1 Samuel 3:1-21

Eli is a priest in over his head, if ever there was one…

Today God calls Eli’s charge, Samuel. Samuel, the boy. Samuel, the prophet in training. God calls Samuel in the night. Samuel hears God calling, but isn’t sure what’s happening, so he figures it must be Eli calling. An innocent mistake for a trainee.

But Eli, Eli should know better. After all, the calling of God is the stuff his career is made out of. When Samuel goes to Eli, though, it takes him not once, not twice, but three times before he figures out what’s going on!

And sadly, that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Eli’s blunders. 

There was the time when Samuel’s mom, Hannah, was in the temple thanking God for the giving her a child after her and her husband were unable to conceive on their own. When Eli saw Hannah praying, though, he thought she was drunk! Eli can’t tell the difference between a grateful parishioner and someone who’s had a little too much to drink!

Or, there are Eli’s sons; which is central to Samuel’s prophecy.
Eli’s son’s grew up watching their dad, the minister.  When it came time for them to take a job, they figured the priesthood wasn’t a bad career-move. But, they weren’t in it to serve God…

Eli’s sons’ “blasphemy against God,” was that they were stealing from the offering plate! When Eli catches wind of it, though, all he can bring himself to do is reprimand his boys.

In fact, it seems it’s Eli’s failure to take stronger action against his own flesh and blood, that is the straw the breaks the camel’s back. What sends God to to Samuel with this prophecy that Eli’s days in the priesthood are numbered…

And then to top it all off, there’s Eli’s pathetic response to Samuel’s prophecy… 

When Eli hears God intends to replace him, rather than pleading with God, Eli just shrugs and sighs. “Well, it is the Lord; let him do what seems good…”

Not much of a priest, if ever there was one… 

Watching Eli bumble his way through the job is a little like watching that famous boss, Michael Scott, from The Office.

Have any of you watched The Office? 

*You should, because when I meet your children to do their weddings, nearly all of them connect with me over our mutual love of this show…

But you should watch The Office for more than just another way to connect with your children. Because the truth is, The Office is chock-full The Cross.

There’s a great episode in the second season that portrays exactly what I’m talking about, the way the cross works in our lives.

Quickly, the two things you need to know about The Office are; One, Michael Scott is a terrible boss. The reason he’s so bad at his job, is primarily because he’s so desperate to be good at it. He wants to be a good boss so bad, he’s a terrible one. You know what I mean? 

And two; there’s Jim. Jim the midlevel salesman, with a long-suffering crush on the receptionist, Pam. 

In the episode I’m thinking of, Michael makes his staff go one of those booze-cruises around some lake. 

Michael’s idea is to use the outing as an excuse to give his employees an motivational speech, using a “ship” as a metaphor for their office. 

But, there are other people on the cruise who just want to enjoy their night. Michael’s employees aren’t much interested and Michael’s presentation is pretty weak. 

Finally, in one misguided attempt to gain his employee’s attention, Michael shouts, ‘the ship is sinking!’ *He’s trying to get his staff to think about what’s most important in an office. All he does, though, is send everyone else into a panic! One unsuspecting partygoer even jumps from the boat! 

After that, the captain detains Michael. Zip-tying him to the railing on the far end of the ship… 

But then, while Michael is exiled from his employees, Jim wanders over. Jim’s wandering because he’s upset. Jim is afraid he missed his chance to tell Pam how he feels about her. 

At his wits end, Jim even confides to Michael about how he’s feeling.

And Michael, who finally isn’t trying to motivate anyone; tells Jim what he needs to hear! He tells Jim that it’s not too late, that if he loves Pam he shouldn’t give up. 

After all his failed attempts to be a good boss, when he can’t try to be one anymore, Michael is finally made into one! Michael becomes the boss he’s been trying to be. The one Jim needs him to be!

And that, that’s how the cross works on us, beloved.

Here’s your “Gospel gut check:”

The Office is all about the cross because it’s a show full of awkward, crash and burn moments where something happens in the characters’ disasters.

And as Christians, we have a lens to look at these events through… 

Martin Luther put it like this, “Christ bore his suffering and cross and thereby transformed all suffering and every cross into a blessing—doing us no harm and even being salutary and most beneficial.

Your cross is now  your greatest blessing! A benefit!

Worshipping a crucified savior means finding out for yourself how God has made your crosses the places of your salvation. Where your faith goes, not to die, but begin!

One more Gospel gut check: That’s what really happened to Eli…

When Eli hears Samuel’s words, that he’s going to be defrocked, Eli’s entire career comes crashing down in front of him.

But God uses those words, Eli’s smoldering future, to do something. 

As Eli loses what was his all along by right of his office, he’s finally freed to gain everything it has to give! As Eli loses his future in the ministry, he’s given everything the ministry has to offer!

In the word Samuel delivers to Eli, Eli’s can’t manage his failures anymore. As they comes crashing down on him, God gives Eli a glimpse of something he’d never seen before. 

That the sacrifices and offerings Eli has been presiding over aren’t any favors he’s done for the people or God. Rather, they’ve been a gift of God, a pointing ahead to what God has been up to since the beginning…

These words of Eli, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good,” Eli looks ahead! 

Eli sees that he cannot do a thing about his sin, that there’s no sacrifice or offering he can give to expiate it! And as Eli sees this, he becomes more of a helpless priest than he’d ever been before in his unremarkable career. And Eli becomes as good of a priest as you could ever hope to be, or have! 

These words of Eli, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good,” are not the end of his career, but the beginning of it!

In these words, that sound to us like resignation, Eli sees ahead to what no priest before him had ever dared to see! God taking matters into the divine hands, even letting them be pierced for our inequity. Expiating sin not with our sacrifice or offerings, but his own blood. 

Eli sees ahead to Jesus Christ the last and perfect sacrifice!

But first, God killed Eli’s career to raise it up like that…

All we hear of Eli after this, is him sitting by the side of the road, his heart trembling for the ark of the Lord. And then, we hear of Eli’s death. How he drops dead when he finds out the ark of the Lord has been stolen. 

Eli is a faithful priest.

These words of Eli’s, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good,” are not the culmination of his failed priesthood. But the beginning of a obedient one. They’re the confession of a priest who’s finally grasped what his calling is all about. 

It is the Lord, let him do what seems good.

And these words will be the beginning of faith for you. When you can’t manage your career, your failures, your life. When you can’t cover up your sin anymore. When all you can do is cry out, “it is the Lord, let him do what seems good.”

Then God will do what seems good to God. God will give you a faith that sees ahead to what only God can do.

Not another sacrifice or offering you have to give, but rather God sending the Holy Spirit to give you all Jesus Christ has to offer. The blood that covers all your inequity. That life that conquers your death.

These words, “It is the Lord, let him do what seems good,” are not the end of your faith, but the beginning of it!

So let’s say it together: It is the Lord, let him do what seems good.

And God will. God will…