Reading 1, 1 Samuel 3:1-10, 19-20

1 Now, the boy Samuel was serving the Lord in the presence of Eli; in those days it was rare for Yahweh to speak; visions were uncommon.

2 One day, it happened that Eli was lying down in his room. His eyes were beginning to grow dim; he could no longer see.

3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying in the Lord’s sanctuary, where the ark of God was,

4 when the Lord called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ He answered, ‘Here I am,’

5 and, running to Eli, he said, ‘Here I am, as you called me.’ Eli said, ‘I did not call. Go back and lie down.’ So he went and lay down.

6 And again the Lord called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ He got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, as you called me.’ He replied, ‘I did not call, my son; go back and lie down.’

7 As yet, Samuel had no knowledge of the Lord and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

8 Again the Lord called, the third time. He got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, as you called me.’ Eli then understood that the Lord was calling the child,

9 and he said to Samuel, ‘Go and lie down, and if someone calls say, “Speak, Lord; for your servant is listening.” ‘ So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

10 The Lord then came and stood by, calling as he had done before, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Samuel answered, ‘Speak, Lord; for your servant is listening.’

19 Samuel grew up. The Lord was with him and did not let a single word fall to the ground of all that he had told him.

20 All Israel knew, from Dan to Beersheba, that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. 

Today, once more, the passage chosen omits several verses. The reason is that in them God tells Samuel to announce to Eli, that because of the evil behaviour of his two sons, his family will be excluded from future religious leadership in Israel. Samuel does so, and Eli meets the bad news with the words, “It is the Lord!” It’s a story about the prophetic task of bringing God’s judgement to others, in this case to a beloved teacher. There were few prophets fortunate enough to be given a message of joy and comfort. Perhaps the prophet of Isaiah chapters 40-55 is the only one. As people lived by their own lights, Israel’s prophets preached a personal and communal ethic of faithfulness and justice, which often placed the prophet in opposition to the people. Samuel is faithful to his calling: listening for God’s will and declaring it.

 Gospel, Mark 1:29-39

29 And at once on leaving the synagogue, he went with James and John straight to the house of Simon and Andrew.

30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed and feverish, and at once they told him about her.

31 He went in to her, took her by the hand and helped her up. And the fever left her and she began to serve them.

32 That evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were possessed by devils.

33 The whole town came crowding round the door,

34 and he cured many who were sick with diseases of one kind or another; he also drove out many devils, but he would not allow them to speak, because they knew who he was.

35 In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house and went off to a lonely place and prayed there.

36 Simon and his companions set out in search of him,

37 and when they found him they said, ‘Everybody is looking for you.’

38 He answered, ‘Let us go elsewhere, to the neighbouring country towns, so that I can proclaim the message there too, because that is why I came.’

39 And he went all through Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out devils. 

the whole town crowed round (Bush Doctor)

This unit covers a period of 24 hours in Jesus life, from the morning of the Sabbath to the next morning. In contrast to the prophets, Jesus’ ministry is the communication of God’s favour. He joins his people in communal learning and prayer; he heals a woman who is fevered, he attracts many more sick people at the close of the Sabbath, and heals them all, liberating them from evil powers. He rises to pray alone, and then sets out to other villages to do bring them his message. Mark means this narrative to be typical of Jesus, to show how positive was his teaching about the reign of God, and how practical his own demonstration of it. There’s a challenge here for churches. Many traditional churches have turned the good news into a ritual. Many evangelical churches have turned it into an emotional pantomime. For Jesus, it was God’s goodness breaking into all aspects of human life.