Choir Sunday
Listen to God’s Voice in Song
Reading: 1 Samuel 3:1-21 Preacher: Kevin Kim
This Sunday is our Choir Sunday, and we’ll be reflecting on the story of young Samuel who said, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Just as Samuel listened for God’s call, we too are invited to open our hearts to God’s voice. Our church band will lead us in music and song, with the choir joining in to enrich and lift our worship. The choir will also bring two of their own special items. Together, band and choir will help us tune our hearts to God’s call and join in the harmony of praise.
Sermon Text
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening
1. When God’s Word Feels Rare
Friends, the story of Samuel’s call begins with a chilling line: “The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.”
That’s not just a throwaway comment. That’s the climate of Israel’s life. Silence. Distance. God’s voice seemed absent.
Think about where Israel was at that point. The Book of Judges had just ended. And honestly, it ended in disaster. Everyone was doing their own thing. Idolatry everywhere. Violence unchecked. Women abused. Whole tribes at war with each other. The refrain was this: “Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.”
It was chaos. Leadership had collapsed. Faith was fractured. The promises to Abraham and Moses—well, they seemed to hang by a thread.
And into that silence… God speaks. But notice who God speaks to. Not a king. Not a warrior. Not even a priest. God calls a child. Samuel. The son of Hannah’s prayer. A boy growing up in the temple.
When the word is rare, when vision seems lost—God still speaks. And God often starts with the ones nobody expects.
2. Samuel’s Listening Heart
Now picture the scene. Samuel is lying down in the temple, the lamp of God still burning. He hears a voice: “Samuel, Samuel.” He jumps up, runs to Eli. “Here I am!”
Eli shakes his head. “I didn’t call you. Go lie down.”
It happens again. And again. Three times. Finally, Eli realizes: This is the Lord calling the boy. So he says, “If you hear the voice again, say these words: ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’”
And that’s exactly what Samuel does. A simple prayer. Not fancy. Not long. Just open-hearted: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”
That one moment changes everything. Samuel becomes the prophet who will anoint kings, confront injustice, and hold God’s people together in transition.
But let’s not miss what happens next. The very first word Samuel hears from God is a hard one.
11 And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. 12 At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end.
Judgment on Eli’s household. A call to speak truth no one wants to hear.
So from the beginning Samuel learns: calling is not about comfort. It’s about courage.
3. Samuel’s Story Echoes Across Scripture
Samuel’s story echoes across Scripture. Abraham was called to leave his homeland. Moses was called from a burning bush. Isaiah was called in the temple with a vision of holiness. Jeremiah was called before he was born. Mary was called to bear Christ. Fishermen were called to follow Jesus. Paul was called on the road to Damascus.
Sometimes they resisted. Sometimes they embraced it. Sometimes they ran the other way. But every story reminds us: God calls. Again and again. In every generation.
And Samuel shows us something vital: you don’t have to be old, powerful, or experienced to be called. God calls children. God calls elders. God calls ordinary people like you and me.
The question is never if God calls. The question is: are we listening?
4. Calvin on Calling
Now, let’s think a bit theologically. What does it actually mean to be “called”?
John Calvin, the Reformer, gave one answer. For him, God’s sovereignty is absolute. Salvation rests on God’s decision, not ours. That’s grace. Nothing but grace.
But Calvin went further. He taught what we call “double predestination”—that God has chosen some for salvation and others for condemnation. In that view, God’s call belongs only to the elect.
Now, there’s strength in this. Calvin wanted to make sure we knew: we don’t earn God’s call. We don’t manipulate it. It’s gift. Pure gift. That’s reassuring.
But there’s also a shadow. If God only calls some, what about the rest? Then verses like “God desires all people to be saved” (1 Tim 2:4) start to sound like empty words. And instead of assurance, some people are left with anxiety: Am I really chosen? Or am I left out?
5. Barth on Calling
That’s where Karl Barth comes in, centuries later. Barth pushed back. He said: in Jesus Christ, God has already reconciled the world. Not just a few. The whole world.
For Barth, election is not about God picking some and rejecting others. Election is simply Jesus Christ himself—the chosen One. He is both the judged and the forgiven in our place.
That means the cross is not a possibility. It’s a reality. Redemption has already happened. The call of God is universal. It includes everyone.
Now, does that mean everyone automatically responds? No. Barth says there’s an “already and not yet.” Reconciliation is already done. But salvation—entering into that reconciliation—requires response. Faith. Trust. Obedience.
Still, the crucial point is this: no one is excluded. God’s “Yes” in Christ is bigger than any “No.”
So when Samuel hears God’s call, we don’t just read it as an old story. We hear it as our story. God calls prophets and priests, yes—but also parents, workers, students, singers, carers, retirees. God calls all of us.
6. Worship: Where We Learn to Listen
But here’s the question: how do we actually learn to listen?
Samuel needed Eli’s help. We need help too. And that’s what worship is for. Worship is the place where our ears are tuned.
Think about it. In Scripture, in prayer, in silence, in sacraments—we’re practicing the art of listening. And especially in music.
The Psalms command it: “Sing to the Lord a new song.” Paul urges it: “Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts.”
Why? Because music gets through to us in ways words alone cannot. A hymn plants truth deep in us. A song carries faith into our memory. Augustine said, “The one who sings prays twice.” Luther called music “the handmaiden of theology.” Bonhoeffer said singing together disciplines our egos to serve the community.
On Choir Sunday this is crystal clear. The choir and the band are not here to entertain us. They’re here to lead us. Their voices and music invite us into listening. Their harmonies help us hear God’s voice together.
Every hymn, every song is really our version of Samuel’s prayer: “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”
7. Answering the Call
But listening isn’t the end. Samuel listened—and then he spoke. He acted. That’s what calling requires.
Paul says it beautifully: “It is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Phil 2:13). God’s call always takes shape in our gifts and desires.
The talents you have—the things that make you come alive—are not accidents. They are invitations.
If you love to teach, maybe God is calling you to guide young minds.
If you love to serve, maybe God is calling you to care for others.
If you love to lead, maybe God is calling you to stand for justice.
If you love to sing, maybe God is calling you to lift up prayers in music.
And for every one of us, the call is always to love God and love neighbour.
Now, we all make excuses. I’m too young. Too old. Too ordinary. Too busy. But Samuel’s story reminds us: it’s not about being qualified. It’s about being available. Here I am, Lord. That’s enough.
8. The Choir of God’s People
So let me finish with this picture. Today our band and choir lead us. But the truth is, all of us are part of God’s choir and band. Some sing in tune, some off-key. Some sing loudly. Some softly. But all are needed. Together, we form the harmony of God’s people.
In Samuel’s day, the word of the Lord was rare. But God raised up a boy who said, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”
In our day, God is still raising up voices. Not just musicians and choirs. Not just ministers. But each of us, called to sing God’s song in the world.
So let’s move forward today with hearts tuned like instruments. Let’s say, “Here I am.” Let’s answer God’s call in our lives. And may our whole lives become a song of faith, a harmony of hope, a choir of love.
Amen.