Ministries

IF NOT NOW. . . .
by Pamela C. Hawkins
January 1, 2012
Scripture Readings: Ecclesiastes 3:1-13, Matthew 2:1-12

Audio - MP3

While preparing this sermon I came across a phrase I had not heard before. “Righteous Gentiles.”  Many of you may be familiar with the term, but it is new to me, and although I had a feeling about what it means, an intuition you might say, I still decided to search the internet before I bypassed “Righteous Gentiles” altogether.

I confess that my first response to the word “righteous” is grounds for a good detour when I’m preaching. “Righteous” is, for me, like “glory of God” or “persons of the Trinity,” a little thorny to work through in twenty minutes.  “Righteous” feels dusty to me, like something stuck on a top shelf for too long, unused and out of date; a word mostly abandoned to archived religious writings.

That is what I expected my search to reveal, that “Righteous Gentiles” is an archaic phrase from some dated biblical translation.

But instead, my search revealed that “Righteous Gentiles” is an official title for today, in use now all over the world. It is a title of honor awarded to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.

More currently translated the “Righteous Among the Nations,” these are non-Jewish persons from many faiths, countries, and economic circumstances who rescued, hid, saved, and protected Jews at the risk of losing their own lives. As their stories from dark times are revealed in the light of the world, these gentiles are awarded, often posthumously, the title and honor of “Righteous Among the Nations,” “Righteous Gentiles,” by Yad Vashem, which is the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority in Israel.

One of the most remarkable stories about “Righteous Gentiles” takes place in a little village on a dark, cold night lit only by starlight. We begin with a knock at a door of a little farmhouse.  From inside, a man slowly opens the door and sees a woman standing outside. She is poor, tired, and hungry. She has traveled a long way. He is the local pastor of the village protestant church. She is a Jewish refugee fleeing for her life from the Nazis.

“Can I come in?” she asks.

To receive her, to hide and protect her goes against all political authority and power of the time. To make room for this one Jew would not only put this one man at risk, but would implicate as a conspiracy all 5,000 villagers of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon if they chose not to report their pastor to the Nazis and Vichy government. Yet for this man,  Andre Trocmé, taking in the woman and protecting her was the right response as a man of God.

Over the following four years, it is known that at least 5,000 Jewish refugees, many of them children, were taken in, sheltered, and saved by the Christian villagers of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon—at least one Jew saved for every gentile villager.

Virtually every household became a haven. Every family played a role.
The story goes that not one single Jew was turned away or turned by from the village. Not one. And years later the entire village was honored as part of the “Righteous of the Nations”, as a community of “Righteous Gentiles.”

When Andre Trocmé was asked, after the war, at what time during the war he made the choice to stand against deadly political authority of the day and to save Jewish refugees, he replied, when “they came here and needed help… ”

Time can be like that, can’t it? One moment it is not the right time for us to act or choose or change; and then, something inside of us whispers or screams or urges: “now.”

“Now is the right time…..” Something we see or try not to see, something we hear that causes every cell in our soul to come to life because the beauty or pain or truth that resonates around us or shows up at our door or passes us on the street, calls up an inner voice of wisdom and compassion asking: “If not now….. when?”

For Andre Trocmé the right time to choose to live differently, the right time to choose life over death, healing over killing, keeping over throwing away, speaking over silence, love over hate, good over evil, peace over war…. The right time to choose was when a neighbor’s need presented herself at his door.

For the village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, for the entire village, it has been said that they became part of a “conspiracy of goodness” at a time when goodness was given little hope to survive.

When asked years later about the good that they had done, these Christian villagers replied, “How could you call us ‘good’? We were doing what had to be done.”

Five thousand gentiles determined that it was the right time to save five thousand Jews at risk of losing everything they had. Righteousness does not seem so strange a word anymore. It does not seem so archaic a possibility.

Many years before, in a different village on another dark starlit night, a Jewish refugee stood on one side of a closed door of a little hut-of-a-building. On the other side, out in the night, stood a gentile, a pagan, a wise man by reputation, who had traveled a long way.

Neither person was alone. On the inside were also a young woman and infant boy-child, refugees as well, huddled together in the dark, afraid of who might have found them at such a late and desolate hour. On the outside waited more than one wise man, more than one magus astrologer wishing on a star that he had found what he was searching for in the darkness.

With this wise man hovered other gentiles from the East who had also traveled by star-light through Jerusalem, through King Herod’s courts and inner circles, through prophetic predictions, religious posturing, and political plotting to get to this night at this door under this star with this family.

We cannot fully know what happened when that door opened, when starlight slowly illumined the faces of the refugee family hiding inside, when the wise men first peered into the space to find what they were searching for.

Still, we do know this much from Matthew’s Gospel: what they found changed them.

What they discovered in the presence of the Christ-child altered the course of their lives – changed their direction, changed their alliances, changed their loyalties, their obedience, their hearts, their story.

The wise men started out following the light of a star; they kept going at the instruction of a political leader; they agreed to report—turn in—the newborn child they were seeking; and then they planned to return home just like they had come.

But according to Matthew’s Gospel, that was not in the stars for them. According to the gospel, these gentile wise men got caught up in a conspiracy of goodness in a little village called Bethlehem. Not a conspiracy with the villagers, but a conspiracy with God.

And now, the time has come for them to go back out into the world. Time for them to go home. And it is also time for each of them to choose which way to go, to choose which conspiracy to join – God’s or Herod’s.

Their choice, like the choice of Andre Trocmé and of the village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, is recorded as part of history of the church. Their choice is revealed in our gospel reading: “they went home by another way.”

A biblical scholar writes: “the wise person’s task…is to know when the right time has come and to move visibly with whatever invisible program there may be…”

What the wise men thought they were searching for in a star, they really found in the light of the Christ-child. And in that light, that holy light, in that loving presence of God-with-us, the time was right for the wise ones to join God’s conspiracy of goodness.

So, what about us? When is it our time? “If not now, …..when?”

There is a beautiful song by Carrie Newcomer with lyrics that illumine this question for me:

“If not now, tell me when, if not now, tell me when.
We may never see this moment in place or time again.
If not now, if not now, tell me when….”

And then she writes :
“But miracles do happen every shining now and then.
If not now, if not now, tell me when.”

Villagers of Belmont United Methodist Church and beyond,
God’s healing, saving light has been revealed in Jesus Christ
and this light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not and will not overcome it.
May we risk opening our doors, our hearts, and our lives
to receive this life-changing Light of Christ.
If not now….     when?

Amen

“The Righteous Among the Nations, “ at Yad Vashem, website, http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/righteous/about.asp  
“The Village,” at http://www.auschwitz.dk/Trocme.htm
W. Sibley Towner, “Ecclesiastes,” in Introduction to Wisdom Literature, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom, Sirach, The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 5., ed. Leander E. Keck, John J. Collins, David L. Petersen, Thomas G. Long. (Nashville: Abingdon).
Carrie Newcomer, “If Not Now,” from Before and After (Rounder Records 2010).

Music Schedule

February 5
8:30 Wesley Ringers warm-up
9:00 Open Door Singers warm-up
10:00 Joyful Noise Singers warm-up
Sanctuary Choir warm-up
10:30 Wesley Ringers
Open Door Singers
Joyful Noise Singers
Sanctuary Choir
3:30 Wesley Ringers
4:30 Open Door Singers
5:30 Carillon Ringers

February 12
8:15 Bill Cooper, pianist
Ruth Hagler, soloist
8:30 Carillon Ringers, warm-up
10:00 Chapel Choir, warm-up
Sanctuary Choir warm-up
10:30 Carillon Ringers
Chapel Choir
Sanctuary Choir
3:30 Wesley Ringers
4:30 Open Door Singers
5:30 Carillon Ringers

February 19
8:15 Christy Perkey, pianist
8:30 Celebration Ringers warm-up
10:00 Sanctuary Choir warm-up
10:30 Celebration Ringers
Sanctuary Choir
3:30 Wesley Ringers
4:30 Open Door Singers
5:30 Carillon Ringers

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Click here to download the 2011 Youth Choirs schedule

Youth Choir California Tour 2010!

Mission Basilica, San Diego

Open Door Singers at First UMC San Diego

Open Door Singers at San Juan Capistrano

Belmont Sanctuary Choir releases CD

Orders now being taken

Belmont's Sanctuary Choir has recently released ?Song in the Night", a CD collection of worshipful music from various cultures. All selections on the recording have been performed in Belmont worship services.

The CDs are $10 each, and you can place your order now by downloading and filling out the order form posted here. Please return your order form to the church office or e-mail in your order to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Music Ministry Mission Statement

The music ministry of Belmont United Methodist Church strives to glorify God through music in all gatherings and presentations. The mission of the music ministry supports the mission of the entire Belmont UMC community: we strive to embody the gospel of Jesus Christ by reaching out to each other and the community, nurturing one another in the life of the church and sending one another in service to all persons.
The music programs at Belmont offer opportunity for
- Education
- Spiritual Growth
- Fellowship
- Participation in ministry
- Stewardship of gifts and talents
- Outreach

All choirs are voluntary, and everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate, regardless of experience. All participants strive for excellence, dignity, reverence and integrity in all musical endeavors.

For additional information regarding the Belmont Music Ministry, contact: Gayle Sullivan
Director of Music Ministries
383-0832 ext. 29
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sanctuary Choir (Adult) - This is the primary choir for 10:30 a.m. Sunday worship. In addition, they present several musical programs each year and sing for other various church events. No audition is required for membership and rehearsals are every Wednesday 7:15-9:00 p.m year-round. Childcare is provided.

The choir's recording "Song in the Night" 
is available on compact disc.

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Childrens Choirs

God's Flock (Children ages 3 years) - This group is introduced to music through simple songs, stories, and fun musical games from 6:15-7:00 p.m. Mid-August-early May.

Joyful Noise Singers Choir (Children ages 4 & 5) - This group is introduced to music through the use of simple children's songs and fun musical games on Wednesday evenings from 6:15-7:00p.m Mid-August-early May.

Music Makers (Children grades 1-2) - These young musicians learn the basics of music reading through singing and playing musical instruments. They meet on Wednesday evenings 6:15-7:00 p.m. Mid-August -early May.

Chapel Choir (Children grades 3-6) - This choral experience for elementary children provides special music for Sunday worship as well as seasonal musical programs. This choir meets on Wednesday 6:15-7:00p.m. Mid August-early May.

Open Door Singers (Youth grades 7-12) - This Youth Choir sings for 10:30 worship regularly. They also tour periodically and present musical concerts in the surrounding area. The group rehearses each Sunday afternoon 4:30-5:30 p.m. September-May.

Carillon Ringers (Adult) - A group of intermediate/advanced handbell ringers with music reading abilities. They rehearse on Sunday 5:30-7:00 p.m. August-early May.

Wesley Ringers (Youth grades 7-12) - An intermediate teenage handbell ensemble. Some musical experience is required. They rehearse from 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Sundays September-May.

Celebration Ringers (Adult) - A group of beginning/intermediate handbell ringers who rehearse on Thursdays 1:00-2:00 p.m.

Children's Chimes (Grades 5 & 6) - Group for beginning hand bell ringers who rehearse on Wednesdays 5:40-6:10 p.m. Spring and Fall.

Singing Schedule for Children’s Choirs 2010/2011


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Orchestra (Youth and Adult) - A group of instrumentalists with at least 4 years experience.  This group plays for worship occasionally and rehearses on Wednesdays 6:30-7:15 p.m. September - April.

Organ Specs

To view or download the organ specs, click here
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The First Steps of Faith
Mark 1:14-20
Belmont UMC—January 22, 2012
Ken Edwards, preaching

Audio - MP3

Last week I spoke of having our spiritual senses awakened so that we can hear and see what God wants us to hear and see, to know God’s purpose for us. I encouraged us to first look close at hand to see the ways in which God’s purposes are already being fulfilled in our lives, in our relationships with friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors. Sometimes we miss the obvious or we look for something more interesting or exotic, but what we need to see is right in front of us.

Today’s Gospel passage is the call of the fisherman who would become Jesus’ disciples—Simon Peter and Andrew, James and John. Peter and Andrew are casting their nets into the Sea of Galilee and James and John are busy mending their nets. As he walked along the Sea of Galilee Jesus calls out to them, “Follow me!” And they put down their nets and followed him.

This is in Mark’s Gospel and Mark’s short, concise telling of the Jesus story does not offer a lot of detail. We wonder if there was a verbal exchange, questions and answers, “Follow you, where?” “Who are you?” Some believe that these four had been followers of John the Baptist and their hearts and minds were already primed to become followers of Jesus, others refer to this calling and immediate response as a miracle, much like Jesus saying to a man who was lame, “Take up your bed and walk!” (Barbara Brown Taylor, “Miracle on the Beach”)

“Follow me!” Every week we gather here and we hear Jesus call, “Follow me!” I have a purpose for your life! It’s interesting that most Rabbis would not have called their followers in the way Jesus did. They would have interviewed potential disciples and chose from among them the most astute, the brightest and the best. Jesus walked among the common folks and called them to follow. He called the fisherman, the tax collector, the zealot, the thief, the doubter and he calls each of us to follow as well. He doesn’t wait until we are well credentialed or have finished our in-service training on discipleship. He says, “Follow me!” and bids us to come with him on this adventurous journey of faith.  

Are we ready to follow Jesus? Are we ready for this journey?  The story suggests a couple of things that we will need to do to follow Jesus.

First, we will need to let go of our nets. We will have to let go of the things that keep us from following Jesus. It means letting go of our security, our control, our fear of failure,  our “set in our ways” mode of doing things, our personal agendas, our past, and many of our preconceived notions and assumptions.



I remember learning to swim. I had had a scary experience once in the creek when I was a child. I fell in and went under and it seemed like a long time of struggling and gulping creek water before someone grabbed my shirt and pulled me to safety. It was probably seconds but I was convinced that I was going to drown.

When I went to the city pool and watched folks dive into the water and glide through the water with long, smooth, graceful strokes, I wanted to swim. There I was in the pool, holding firmly to the side, terrified and Dad said, “If you don’t let go, you’ll never learn to swim.” When I did let go I realized that I could swim a little bit. It wasn’t pretty, but it felt good. Later on swimming lessons would add to my gracefulness. We have to learn to let go to follow Jesus.

A rich young man came to Jesus. He wanted to follow Jesus but Jesus said, “First, you have to let go of all the things that own you and demand your allegiance, the things that hold you back.” And that young man walked away dejected because he was not able to let go.

The first time I preached was a letting go experience. The first time I visited a prison was a letting go experience. The first time I hosted homeless guests was a letting go experience. The first time I walked into an ICU was a letting go experience. The first time I spoke up for the poor before a City Commissioner meeting was a letting go experience. The first time I sat with a dying friend was a letting go experience. This whole journey is been a process of letting go of so we can take up God’s purposes.

I want to share a story that I’ve shared before but I think it’s important. I preached a sermon like this one time at my last appointment and a young mother came up to me after the service and she asked, “What do think God wants me to do? What is God’s call on my life?” Her question made me rethink how I preach this type of sermon because that young woman spent her days caring for her invalid mother and her nights doing hours of homework with her young son who was struggling in school. I knew this and I said to her, “I think you are already doing God’s work. I can’t imagine God calling you to do anything more noble or more important at this time in your life.” And she cried at the thought of it.

Letting go of your nets doesn’t mean that you quit your job and go to seminary. But this is what it means. When that young woman went to stay with her mother and work with her son the next day it felt different to her, and she said so; it felt meaningful and rich and sacred. Some fishermen and women won’t need to literally put down their nets to follow Jesus, but I can promise you the nets won’t ever feel the same in their hands; the nets will feel purposeful and holy, because they are God’s nets, not ours.





Barbara Brown Taylor says it this way, “It may mean doing something different with the fish you catch, or spending money they bring at the market in a different way. It may mean reorganizing the whole fishing business so that the drifters down at the pier have work to do, and so that everyone who works receives a decent wage.” (“Miracle on the Beach,” Home by Another Way” p. 41) “Follow me” means that the work of the doctor, the attorney, the accountant, the custodian, the teacher, will not feel the same anymore--it will feel like God’s work. It will be God’s work.

Jesus says, “Follow me!” and the next thing we must do is to take those first steps of faith. Faith is action. Faith is when we let go of the side of the pool and make those primitive attempts to swim. It may not be graceful at first but it’s still an act of faith.

When I was a boy someone told me that faith is like standing on the ledge of a burning building. Firefighters have gathered below and are holding a huge net and yelling, “Jump!” Faith, I was told, does not happen when I believe I can jump or I believe the firefighters will catch me. Faith happens when I step out into thin air and make my rapid descent. Faith happens when we step out to follow.

The church tends to rewrite this Gospel story. In our version of the story Jesus walked along the shore of The Galilean Sea and he found some folks and preached his ever popular “Follow Me” sermon. Those who gathered were enthralled by his words. There even a few “Amens!” and they sang a hymn or two, took up an offering and invited him to come back the next week to repeat the performance.

But that’s not what happened! Jesus said, “Follow me!” and they dropped their nets and left old Zebedee sitting in the boat with this mouth open with surprise and they followed in faith. And their faith, their action, would ultimately turn the world upside down and the course of human history would hinge on this lakeside miracle.

I served a church that mostly operated out of fear. These fears were most often expressed in Finance Committee meetings where the words, “We can’t do that!” were expressed each month. We operated out of fear all the time and I bought into it for a long time. One month I was asked to do the centering for that committee and I led them in saying the Apostles’ Creed and then I said, “There a lots of positive things happening around here and those alone should give us courage. (And I listed them.)  How can we say we can’t or we’re afraid when we serve this God in whom all things are possible, the Maker of heaven and earth? I absolutely refuse to be afraid anymore.” And that was a turning point in our church life because we promised each other that we would start stepping out in faith to transform the world.

(The Finance Committee here doesn’t avoid the reality of our financial status, but the focus of our time together is positive, hopeful and ministry and mission focused. We don’t have a fear factor in our budget but we have a line called the “faith factor,” because we believe that God has called us to do great things.)

We gather here each Sunday and we affirm our faith in a God who has the power to create heaven and earth, the God of justice and compassion, whose love for us never fails, who is our Rock and our Refuge. This God came to live among us and reveals God’s self to us in Jesus Christ. We believe in the God who has the power of forgiveness, the power of transformation and even the power of resurrection. We, the church, offer affirmations of faith but we must not leave this place to live affirmations of doubt, reluctance, restraint, and fear.

Because the world in need out there--the poor, the hungry, the disenfranchised, the immigrant, the imprisoned, the marginalized, the grieving and the lonely, the homeless, the bullied and belittled, await a church that is fearless and ready to follow Jesus.

The Apostle Paul said, “I can do all things, through Christ who strengthens me!” “We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us!” May this be our affirmation of faith as we journey with Jesus!

“Waking Up Our Spiritual Senses”
1 Samuel 3:1-20
Belmont UMC—January 15, 2012
Ken Edwards, preaching

There must have been times when the young Samuel wondered what his mother had gotten him into; he had spent virtually his entire childhood assisting in the temple at Shiloh, training to become a full time servant of God, loyally waiting on the priestly family of Eli.

But not once had he perceived God’s presence in the temple or God’s purpose for his life. Samuel had been dedicated to God, but where was God? What was he supposed to do now? The text says that there were not many words from God being heard and there were no frequent visions to guide him. It was a quiet, barren spiritual environment.

Because Samuel did not yet know the Lord, he must have been directionless, wondering, and confused. Why was he at the temple? Why was his life dedicated to this barren life? His role models for life did not offer much encouragement either. As priests, Eli’s sons were greedy, gluttonous and completely self-centered. They cheated the people, stole from the temple and desecrated it.

Eli was Samuel’s mentor. Apparently, he was kind, wise and obedient, but he was incapable of controlling his sons’ behavior and the sanctity of the temple had not been maintained under his leadership. He was a weak leader. With no vision or experience of his own, all Samuel could hope for was a lifestyle like that of Eli and his corrupt sons.

Samuel lived in Shiloh and Shiloh was thought to be God’s dwelling place, where the light always burned to symbolize that God was at home and where an oracle could always be obtained by priestly rites and rituals. At Shiloh the Israelites believed that they had God’s presence as a captive audience. At Shiloh Samuel literally slept in front of the Holy Ark of the Covenant. But the word of the Lord had not been revealed to him. It was a visionless, voiceless, experience. Where was God? Why was Samuel in Shiloh? What was God’s purpose for him?

And then one night the word of God came to young Samuel in an exchange that was both comical and tender. It was comical because Samuel thought Eli was calling him and he woke the old priest up three times before Eli was convinced that the word was from God.

What had God been all this time? Have we not asked ourselves this question at one time or another? Where was God during difficult days? Where was God when answers did not come? Where was God when depression or confusion came over us? Where was God when we went to church week after week and felt nothing of God’s presence?

The Psalmists often asked God this same question. Were you hiding from me God? Were you asleep? Did you turn your face away from me? Were you angry? Will you always remain silent?

Is God no longer around? Does God have no words to speak to our generation, our culture, our church? Does God no longer offer us visions of hope and direction for our future? Will God reveal God’s purpose for us?

These are fair questions but they may be the wrong questions. It’s possible that we, like Samuel, have been face to face with the holiness of God but unable to perceived God’s presence because our spiritual senses have been dulled by a dark night of the soul or our busyness, or because we have forgotten how to come into God’s presence and hear God’s word.

A relative shared with me his experience of quitting smoking after 40 years. He said, “I smell things. I taste things. My senses have been awakened and it’s amazing.” We need our spiritual senses to be awakened to the reality of God.

Where has God been? God has been in Shiloh, near the Ark of the Covenant. But the vision and hearing of the Eli, his sons and their attendant and trainee, Samuel, have been dulled to the possibilities of communicating with this revelatory God.

Where is God? God is here! And God has a word and a vision for the people of God, but we will need to have our spiritual senses awakened! God has been here all along. God has a purpose for our lives and we will need to have our spiritual sense awakened to see it and to hear it. From the text we find a prescription for awakening our spiritual senses.

The first prescription is to lie down! Be still! Samuel did not hear God in the moment of activity or when he was going about his daily temple duties, he heard God when he was lying still in the quiet of the night, alone, at rest, at the shutting down time of the day. We will need to be still, stop moving, stop our frenetic activity, our multitasking. Or we are like Mary Pipher who describes her journey to wholeness in Seeking Peace. She was learning to practice meditation and learning to be fully present to one thing at a time. She writes, “I have a long history of doing two or three or seventeen things at once. I am cooking, but planning my next road trip. I am talking on the phone but wondering if I have a can of tuna handy for lunch. I am bird watching but wondering if I have offended someone. I am walking, but even as I smell the French lilacs in the air and notice a heron on the lake, I am thinking of presidential politics.” (p. 218) Our minds are multitasking even if our hands are not.

Through the Psalmist we hear God say, “Be still and know that I am God.”
If you are like me you have trouble being still. We have a work ethic that does not want us to take moments of stillness and quiet—it always seems like wasting time to us. There are times when I’m alone in the car, or running (not still physically but quiet and experiencing some level stillness is inside of me), at times when the house is quiet and I’m caught up with work or too exhausted to keep going. And in those moments I may experience some clarity about the God’s presence and purpose in my life.

I used to sit down and pray something like this each morning, “Okay, God, tell me what you want me to do today? What can I add to my already extensive list?” I never heard an answer to that prayer.  I have changed my prayer practice. Most mornings now I will find time to sit in my favorite chair and say to God, “Here I am again. Allow me to be in your holy presence.” I don’t talk a lot and tell God what to do; I try to allow myself to be with God, to be still, to be quiet, and to wait. And God prepares my heart and mind for the day ahead and for what may come.

We need to be still! And we need to be quiet! I think it was Soren Kirkegard who said that if he were a doctor and were allowed to prescribe one remedy for all the ills of the modern world, he would prescribe silence. I doubt we need to elaborate on this but most of us fill our homes and our ears with sounds and most of us find silence a little unsettling. But Elijah heard God in the stillness and the silence of the holy mountain, at a time when he was too exhausted to go on his own energy and he had to rely on God. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. heard God in the quiet of his kitchen, late one night after receiving a threatening phone call. “I heard the voice of Jesus saying still to fight on.”

When we are still and quiet we will want to listen! I’m not suggesting that I have ever heard God speak in those moments of quiet stillness, but sometimes in those moments there will come an inner knowing, a certitude, about something. Sometimes I come away knowing that I need to be quiet and still more often, but that’s a good message for me to hear. Sometimes I am inclined to check on a friend or a church member because they came to mind in those moments of quiet. Sometimes I hear that I need to let something go or pay more attention to my family. Sometimes I simply enjoy the quiet stillness and that is enough.

If we are seeking God’s purpose for our lives, we will want to look! People ask me what God’s purpose for their life is. Obviously, I don’t know, but I encourage them to look close to where they are. Our tendency is to assume God is going to send us to some exotic place to serve. Samuel made his bed near the altar of God but could not see God’s purpose for his life. Look around you. Look at your family, your friends, your church. Look for the places God is already using you to fulfill the purposes of God in the world.

When I was a teenager I was pretty sure I was going to college and then to the Peace Corp and I had all the information on how to make that happen. One day a young woman spoke to our Sunday School class about her time in the Peace Corp in the Philippines and I was enthralled. I met with her later in the week to get more information and she told me a story that changed my life. She told me that her greatest adventure came when she had to return home to care for her dying mother and in the process she found God for the very first time. It was not long after that conversation that I experienced a renewed relationship with God and  I knew God was calling me to pastoral ministry, not in some far land, but here in Tennessee, among people I knew and understood and loved.

Today a story about a boy named Samuel allows us to imagine God calling our name in the quiet, stillness. God is calling us to fulfill God’s purposes in our world. God is calling us to something beyond ourselves. God is preparing us for the words, “Here I am!” “Speak, Lord, for your people are listening!”