calling - This chapter is important because it not only recounts theologically about how God initiates and calls people for vocations, but also it authorizes and legitimizes Samuel as God’s sole source for God’s Word during the oncoming period of radical dislocation and transformation in Israel. [1] On one hand, Samuel closes out the period of the Judges (good riddance) and presides over the institution of the monarchy.

hermeneutical shift - This calling story reminds us that God’s call comes to us in a variety of ways. Sometimes a dramatic event shakes us up and turns our ears toward God (cf. Paul in Acts 9 and Isaiah’s call in Is. 6). But here the call comes in a much quieter way-through repetition before it finally dawns on Eli that God may be calling Samuel to a new expression of discipleship. [2]

the learning curve? - This lesson reminds us of God’s surrounding presence throughout our endings and beginnings-whether personal or human history at large. This is a story about an ending-failed leadership, failed family, oppressive priesthood-has brought an end. But this is also a story of beginnings-the stirring of a boy’s heart, the breaking of silence and absence of God’s Word in Israel, a new era of proclamation. As we reflect on this intriguing story, see the link between the endings and beginnings-the proclamation that brings an end to the existing order and the calling into a new beginning through new leadership. [3]

[4] As a child, did you ever run into your parents room after a nightmare?

• What do you make of Eli’s physical disability (v. 2; 33)? What might this and the "lamp of the Lord" symbolize?
• Scripture suggests that does call people and that those calls come in a rich variety of forms. How would you describe your own "calling"?

block #1 - Retell the story of Eli and Samuel in a way that helps listeners to imagine what it might have looked or felt like.

• block #2 - Shift to a discussion about how God calls people. Describe yours or others’ callings. Several excellent books await you at the library about just such themes (e.g. Conversion edited by Hugh Kerr; this is a fascinating anthology about how historical persons heard and responded to God’s call).
• block #3 - Invite listeners to open their lives to God’s call; suggest ways that may be useful in hearing such calls through spiritual guidance, prayer, friends and family, etc.

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[1] New Interpreter’s Bible II (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998), page 991.
[2] James Childs, Jr. New Proclamation (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002), page 90.
[3] NIB, page 995.
[4] Serendipity Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing Co., 1998), page 354.