I’ve recently been reflecting on the Godly Play curriculum, which we use in our new children’s formation ministry. In Godly Play, the stories of our faith are told in a simple but profound way. At the moment, we are making our way through Jesus’ parables on Sunday mornings.
When parables are introduced to the children, the storyteller begins with the same sequence of questions and observations that invite wonder from the children. One of these observations is that when approaching parables, you need to be careful, because if you’re not ready to handle them, you can break them.
This observation does not just apply to parables, though. It applies to so many aspects of our faith: if we approach the mysteries of God with recklessness or carelessness, we play with danger. If we are not mature enough to handle the things of God, we can even get hurt or hurt others.
It’s not that we need to be afraid of God, as if God is unapproachable or requires us to tiptoe around him, like walking on ice. Rather, when we bring inattention and irreverence to the things of God, we are more prone to turn God’s gifts into instruments for our own manipulation or power. In turn, we damage ourselves and we harm others. Godly Play seems to know this deep truth.
And Scripture has much to say about using holy things for unholy purposes. We are frequently warned to stay clear of those false prophets who wield God’s word like a dangerous weapon to bully others with their own agendas. God’s word is like fire; it should come with a warning label because when one tries to control or manipulate its true purpose, it can backfire.
The Letter to the Hebrews tells us that “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow.”[1] God’s word cuts through the layers of human deceit and pretention, and its sanctifying pruning is painful if we are not ready to receive it.
Reverence for God’s holy word is what distinguishes true prophets from false prophets. Samuel, as we learn today, is a true prophet. He is called by God in a time when, we are told, “there was no frequent vision.” This translation does not do justice to the original language. But the King James version brings us closer: “The word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision.”
Not only was God’s revealed word somewhat scarce; it was like a rare, precious jewel. It was like a parable contained in a gold box, which can easily be broken if we’re not careful or ready to approach it.
In Samuel’s initial call from God, he is drawn into a more mature understanding of God’s ongoing revelation. Samuel comes to understand just how precious God’s word really is when it pierces through the heavenly veil into his world.
His foil, of course, is poor old Eli. Eli is a priest in the temple, but he is no prophet. Over the years, he has become tired, perhaps inured to the sparkling mystery in whose presence he spends his time. He has lost all sense of the risk associated with handling God’s word. His eyesight has grown dim. To him, the word of God has been clouded over with opacity. The word of God in those days was precious, but Eli had lost an appreciation of just how precious it was. To him, the word of the Lord had become dull.
There is some irony in the fact that God works through bored, tired old Eli to reveal his precious, living word to Samuel. It is Samuel’s response to the gift of God’s word that shows he is a true prophet.
Samuel does not immediately assume that God is calling him. He is young and inexperienced, but he also does not seem to be full of himself. And he does what the apathetic Eli tells him to do: when God calls him by name for the final time, Samuel responds that he is listening. He is ready to hear what God has to say. He does not presume to tell God what he thinks he should hear or what he wants to hear. And what God tells him is not entry level information. It is a difficult word.
God explains that he will seek retribution on the house of Eli because of the immorality of Eli’s sons. These scoundrel sons have failed to appreciate how precious God’s word is. They have not handled the things of God with care. They have abused their proximity to holiness. And Eli, God says, is culpable, too, for lacking the spine to restrain his own sons’ deplorable behavior.
Samuel shows that he is a true prophet because, ultimately, he does not hide God’s convicting word from Eli. He is afraid to tell Eli, but he does so anyway. Samuel knows that God’s word is too precious to hide. Samuel proves himself worthy of being a prophet, and, we are told, as he grew into his prophetic calling, he “let none of [God’s] words fall to the ground.” For his prophetic ministry, Samuel carried the words of God into the world like precious jewels or fragile glass, knowing that his call as a prophet was to be a custodian of those beautiful words.
I often wonder if we are living in times similar to those of Samuel, where the word of the Lord is rare, as precious as a breakable, fine jewel. In the middle of a raging pandemic and of civil unrest in our country, it is easy to imagine that God is deliberately making himself scarce or intentionally hiding his word from us. But could it be the other way around? Could it be that God’s word is fully available, right now, distilled into the concentrated, radiant brightness of a precious, fine jewel? Could it be that we just don’t know how to handle it with care?
It’s becoming all too clear what happens when God’s word is not handled with care. It gets broken and it breaks others. The glass display case of the precious jewel is shattered, the jewel is stolen, and it is pawned off for illicit purposes.
What is intended to be a life-giving jewel for the life of the world is turned into a weapon. It might be that those who break into the display case and take the jewel do not even realize what they are doing. In their zealotry, they coopt the brilliance of a precious jewel in the name of a religion they profess but that has little resemblance to the Gospel we know.
On one extreme is the passionate alliance of a personal agenda with God’s word. Strong leaders are mistaken for prophets. False prophets bully others into following a way they peddle as God’s way. Others know full well the truth, but when it is hard to hear, they fail to speak it. They hide the truth. They let God’s words drop to the ground.
Others take their cue from Eli. They once knew the precious quality of God’s word shining in their lives, but through the years, their eyesight has become dimmed. God’s word no longer captivates them with its vibrant energy. They have grown bored, and at worst, they have lost their nerve. When they know God’s word of truth is yearning to be spoken, they yet remain silent.
But all these examples are so unlike the prophetic leadership of Samuel. Samuel knows that we must be careful when we handle God’s word. Samuel understands that God’s word is too precious and valuable to ignore. And if we don’t handle it with care, we can break it. We can break others. We can break ourselves.
And so Samuel speaks. Not one precious word from God is allowed to fall to the ground and shatter. Samuel gives voice to truth, even if the truth hurts. Samuel speaks from the mouth of God, even when he risks offending his own mentor Eli. Because the word of God is too precious to hide. It is too valuable to let it fall to the ground.
Because he is a true prophet, Samuel lets God speak, while he listens, ready for the word to change his life. Samuel is an open slate on which God’s word of truth can be written. And Samuel speaks that precious word, whether people want to hear it or not.
Samuel knows that God’s lamp never goes out in the temple. Even when the word of the Lord seems scarce and rare, it is always shining in our midst, waiting to be cradled and borne into the world like a precious jewel.
There are many voices crying for us to buy their jewels. But there is only one precious jewel worth having, and it cannot be purchased. It is always available to us as a gift. But it requires handling with care. It cannot be manhandled. It cannot be sold off for profit. It is fragile, too. We must hold it carefully when we take it out into the world with us.
It is God’s gift to us, unsolicited and unbidden, and sometimes it is hard for us to receive. But it is worth it. And when we choose to receive it, we must be careful with it. And whatever we do, we should treat it with such reverence and care that it never, ever is allowed to fall to the ground.
Sermon by Father Kyle Babin
The Second Sunday after the Epiphany
January 17, 2021
[1] Hebrews 4:12.