JUST THE RIGHT SIZE

SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26

Luke 2:41-52

When I was young I was used to wearing hand me down clothes. I had no older brothers, but I had an older cousin and as he outgrew his clothes I inherited them. The same was true for the other kids in the neighborhood. It was just the thing that was done where I grew up. It was our version of Goodwill. I never could figure out where the clothes came from originally, because it seemed that everyone I knew wore clothes that had been previously worn. We would wear the clothes until we outgrew them or we wore them out. I also remember when patches were part of the thrift of our parents’ approach to life and were not fashion statements. Of course, from time to time, especially before school started or at Christmas, we would get new clothes.

What brings this to mind is the charming little story told in the Old Testament lesson today of the little boy Samuel who grew to be the powerful prophet, priest and judge of Israel. Each year his mother Hannah would come with her husband Elkanah to worship at the temple and see their little boy Samuel, and they would bring him a new garment to wear.

Obviously, each year he would grow larger and would need a new robe. Each year it would be just the right size for him until the next year.

It occurs to me that this is the time of year when we think about things that no longer fit us. I’m not thinking about clothes that we have outgrown, but aspects of our life that we have outgrown, or in some cases, need to be renewed.

At the turn of the year we think about those aspects of our lives that we want to change, and so we launch ourselves on a bunch of New Year’s resolutions. We are led into that frame of mind by the close look at our lives and find things in ourselves that are lacking. It is a time of year for close examination, of introspection, of looking into ourselves and seeing what we like and what we don’t like.

During the course of my ministry it has been interesting to see who comes to church after the first of the year who hasn’t been around for a while. You can tell that person or family has made a resolution to examine their lives and have found something missing.

There are all the usual things that people resolve to do: lose weight, stop smoking, things which benefit their health.

I think about little Samuel. He had to grow into those new robes year after year. It wasn’t only the robes he had to grow into; it was the life into which he had been called. He was called at first to serve in the temple as an apprentice to Eli the priest, to learn the priestly duties. But he was called to do more than that.

Each year he grew into a new robe, and each year he acquired new responsibilities. First, he was a priest attached to the temple, and then he became a prophet, an oracle, a spokesman for God to the people of Israel. Soon he was a judge settling disputes for the people with wisdom and justice. He was no longer attached to the temple, but went out as God’s agent to anoint Saul king, and then when Saul was a disappointment to God he anointed David king. Each stage of his life he grew into new responsibilities. The text for today says that, “the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and with the people.”

Year by year he grew into new responsibilities and God gave him the guidance to do it. It is my belief that God does this for us each succeeding year. Barring physical limitations, each of us is now more capable than we were the year before. Each year’s experience builds on the previous year’s abilities and experience and we have more to offer one another and the world. At age 69 I have more experience and wisdom than I had when I was forty or thirty. I know of more pitfalls, I have made more mistakes and know what to avoid. I have experienced more sorrows and more heartache of my own and of other people’s. You see, we grow into life as into a new robe each year.

We don’t do it alone. Samuel did not do it alone either. First, he did it under the tutelage of Eli, and then he grew beyond Eli and relied on his close relationship with God.

We don’t suddenly become competent to handle all of life’s challenges, we grow into those capabilities. We do it by staying in touch with God and with one another. That is what it means when the scripture for today says that both Jesus and Samuel grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

We are never too old or too young to be useful to God. We are never too old to keep growing and to be an inspiration to those around us in the church.

It is all in what we feel God calls us to be. Samuel handled that by staying close to God. Jesus often went off to pray and to be alone with God. Can we who call ourselves by his name do less?

May the New Year find you growing into a new awareness of what God wants you to be, for God is not done with you yet. God is not done with First Congregational Church yet. You have many challenges and opportunities to be God’s agents in the world in the name of Jesus Christ. That is good news as you enter this next year with all its promise.

Sermon preached by Reverend Jake Close at First Congregational United Church of Christ, Appleton, Wisconsin on December 31, 2006.