Home » Thoughts for the Week » ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening (9 June)

‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening (9 June)

The thought this week is written by Rev John Goddard, Minister at Saffron Walden Baptist Church and EBA Trustee

One of our favourite stories from Sunday School is that of the boy Samuel being woken in the night by God’s voice calling him – ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ We love the almost pantomime nature of the young boy running to his master, Eli the priest, to ask what he wants… The scenario is repeated three times before Eli begins to realise something special is at work. The passage began with the ominous words that ‘the word of the LORD was rare in those days…’ but now Eli concedes that maybe God is speaking to the boy even if God is no longer speaking to the Priest! Eli tells Samuel what to do when the voice speaks again: ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’

Those of you who know me will have heard me speak at length about my favourite local nature reserve, RSPB Fowlmere. It’s not a big or busy reserve, but it is my oasis of calm – my still point in a turning world. I visited in early May, knowing that many of the summer visitors would have returned to the trees and reedbeds and hoping to see and hear some of the Reed Warblers and Sedge Warblers newly arrived from Africa. I stood on the boardwalk and bathed in the cacophony of sound as these little brown birds sang their hearts out. I just stood there and listened.

A few minutes later I was overtaken by a gentleman, who smiled at me as he passed by, and who was clearly oblivious to the sounds I was hearing. He was wearing his AirPods. He was, no doubt, enjoying his walk in a beautiful place. And he was probably enjoying his music or enriching his learning with an excellent podcast. But he was missing out on the richness of all that was around him. If only he had taken the time to stop and listen…

As churches across the EBA we have been trying to listen for the voice of God speaking during these challenging times. I’m not sure whether we would echo 1 Samuel’s comment and suggest that ‘the word of the LORD is rare in these days’ or not. But if we did we might wonder whether that was because God had stopped speaking or because we had stopped listening – distracted by good and wonderful things – but distracted nonetheless.

How will we as individuals and churches intentionally listen again for the word of God. Will we retune and reframe our activities to allow more time to stop and listen? We are all different, and God may well speak to some of us in the busyness and activism – God is good. But I know that for me, I need to stop, look, and listen. I need to wander slowly and wonder deliberately. I need to listen for God again, and I need to have the courage and grace to respond when I hear God’s voice – ‘Speak, LORD, for you servant is listening.’