Samuel and Monty Python

1 Samuel 9:27-10:8New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

As they were going down to the outskirts of the town, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the boy to go on before us, and when he has passed on, stop here yourself for a while, that I may make known to you the word of God.” Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him; he said, “The Lord has anointed you ruler over his people Israel. You shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their enemies all around. Now this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you ruler over his heritage: When you depart from me today you will meet two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; they will say to you, ‘The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has stopped worrying about them and is worrying about you, saying: What shall I do about my son?’ Then you shall go on from there further and come to the oak of Tabor; three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three kids, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from them. After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim, at the place where the Philistine garrison is; there, as you come to the town, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the shrine with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre playing in front of them; they will be in a prophetic frenzy. Then the spirit of the Lord will possess you, and you will be in a prophetic frenzy along with them and be turned into a different person. Now when these signs meet you, do whatever you see fit to do, for God is with you. And you shall go down to Gilgal ahead of me; then I will come down to you to present burnt offerings and offer sacrifices of well-being. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.”

I have to admit that this scene makes me giggle.  It reminds me of a Monty Python skit.  (If you've seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you might remember the Holy Hand Grenade sketch.  "Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three!")

Samuel's directions have that kind of comedic value to them.  The sign offered to Saul have the kind of precision found only in scripture - or comedy!

I'm not sure about you, but generally, when I look for or hope for - or LONG for - a sign from God, I don't usually expect something this specific.

And yet on the flip side, I do think there are times when I pray, that I AM this specific.  There are times my prayer seems to ramble, giving God the same kind of specific, precise directions that Samuel here gives to Saul.

Do you ever find yourself caught in that trap?  Asking God for something so specific that maybe there isn't room for grace to squeeze in? Turning our prayer into directions?

We have a model prayer from Jesus on how to pray, and I also think we need to learn how to fit silence into our prayer - so that God can get a word in edgewise!

Perhaps the model for prayer then isn't so much Samuel's lengthy directions to Saul, but instead Samuel's answer from Sunday's Gospel when God called him.

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.

Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.  Amen