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Sunday 24 November 2002 - "The Word of God - a rare event?" 1 Sam 3:1

(Summary of sermon by Arno Stegen)

1 Sam 3:1 "Now the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation."

The Word of God and the role it plays in our lives remind us of the importance of God speaking to us. As Christians we can't go through our spiritual life without God speaking to us.

There can be 3 categories in the Word of God being rare, or an infrequent event:
1. The Word of God being rare in government and society
2. The Word of God being rare in the church, when revelation is infrequent
3. The Word of God being rare in our own spiritual lives.

If the Word of God gets pushed aside by governments and society, no longer acknowledging God and functions and meetings and schools doesn't open with prayer, we can pray that God will change the situation, and make use of the limited opportunities to make an input to change the state of affairs.

But looking at the life of Eli and his sons, maybe we can avoid the Word of God becoming rare in our churches and personal lives.

It's worse if the church experience the Word of God and revelation is a rare. The Word is preached, there is lots of activity in the church, services held and attended, work done for God, but the Word is not alive. God says, like He did in 1 Sam 2, that the sons of Eli were useless and corrupt. Their being there and serving in the temple didn't make any difference. Their lives were degraded to the point that they were considered useless, because they didn't know God personally and He didn't acknowledge them as His own. We can sing, preach, work and testify for God, but may He consider it as lip service. This should be a warning to us, lest we deteriorate into salt that has lost its worth.

We need to know God personally and He must speak to us and reveal things to us. We must have personal contact with Him. Woe unto us if He can't speak, and the Word of God becomes rare in our own spiritual lives.

Only when the people started speaking did Eli speak to his sons. But he should have checked the sin in the beginning with the severity it deserved. If we deal softly with our own sins, or the sins of our children, it means that we don't consider God's glory anymore. When we consider something or somebody else higher than God, and honour them more than God, our love for God will grow cold, like Eli's love. Then God will hold you accountable for their sins (see 1 Sam2:29). And the Word will become rare in your own life.

Don't be like Peter (Matt 16:22-23) who didn't recognise Jesus' speaking, and so became a stumbling block. Neither be like the 2 disciples on their way to Emmaus who heard the Lord speaking, but because they were so engrossed in their situation, they failed to look beyond and see and hear God.

Be as the little boy Samuel, who said: "Speak, LORD, for Your servant hears." (1 Sam 3:10)  It doesn't help to say He must speak, and we don't listen, or we hear and don't put it into practice. It became a turning point in history. In a time when God's Word was rare, when priests lived in sins, and the theologians of the time lost personal contact with God, there was a boy to whom God could speak and reveal Himself. Samuel became a great man of God, because early in his life he said: "Speak, LORD, for Your servant hears."