AGM reflection
Text: 1 Samuel 3: 1-10
Reflection offered at James Bay United Church AGM, leading into a time of discernment
The Hebrew and New Testament scriptures are filled with stories of divine revelation. If there’s one thing that becomes clear -- amidst all the mystery-- it is that God seeks to be revealed to us, in touch with us, present to us. And so we have all these stories of people being called, guided, disturbed, comforted, stopped, sent, grieved, corrected … stories that encourage us that we are not left to ourselves, but rather, we are faithfully accompanied, in ways we can’t predict or prescribe. The burning bush, the still small voice, the blinding light, the cords of human kindness -- who would have thought!-- to name just a few of the ways we read of in scripture … to say nothing of how we may have experienced the Spirit’s presence in our own lives.
How do we make faithful decisions in our day to day living, as a congregation, as a Board? At some point, if we are serious about somehow offering ourselves in the service of God’s dream for our lives and our world, we ask that question. What does it mean to pray “thy will be done” ? How do we live out that intention?
This past year, one of the things Nola brought to her leadership with the Board was the invitation and the encouragement for us to adopt an intentional practice of spiritual discernment in doing our business-- that we shape our meetings and pace our meetings in such a way that we make room for the wisdom, the guidance, the influence of the Holy Spirit. What on earth else, you might wonder, would a Church Board be doing, if not that? Well, let me tell you!!! … but not this morning … we don’t have time!
The story of Samuel and Eli shows us some of what spiritual discernment involves. For a start, we see that God seeks to be revealed to us regardless of our age. We also see it takes practice to distinguish the voice of God from all the voices that influence us. Eli, we notice, was more seasoned in this than Samuel.
The capacity to listen --the discipline of listening-- is everything … listening not just to what we hear with our ears, but to what we hear with our mind, with our imagination, with our heart as well. Listening with our experience. Listening with patience. Listening with openness.
When Samuel comes running to Eli, thinking it was Eli who was calling, Eli simply confirms it wasn’t he who called. When it happens a second time, Eli responds in the same way. Notice, when it happens a third time, Eli -- he doesn’t fly off the handle in exasperation -- but allows for the possibility that there is something of God at work here. He doesn’t know it for sure, but perhaps out of his own experience, he senses it’s worth testing. So he guides Samuel to return to his place and if it happens again, to stay put … to be receptive, to say “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” Which Samuel does, and it happens … and more is conveyed to Samuel than he could have imagined.
That’s the other thing about this practice of attentive listening … we open ourselves to being surprised … even unnerved.
This morning will be considering several priorities that the Board is recommending we attend to this year. There are any number of ways we could receive, respond or react to those priorities. Our hope is that we will move into that time with intention, to listen deeply … to listen with the our minds, our imaginations, and our hearts as well as with our ears … to listen with patience … with openness … trusting that the Holy Spirit is among us, waiting to be heard in and through what arises among us, seeking to guide us in fruitful a direction.
As a way of moving into that time of discernment, let’s join together in singing … Come and Find the Quiet Centre … VU 374.