When I was a senior in high school, a friend from camp, who attended a different school, was taking me to homecoming. In order to make it all work, my dad picked my friend up on Friday afternoon and drove him to our home.
While in the car (and probably because my dad asked) the conversation came up that my friend called me “Kim” rather than “Kimmy” like everyone else. And he told my dad that he called me Kim because he always wanted to make sure that I heard him over all the other voices.
We really were just friends!
All summer he had called me Kim, but I had never thought much of it. In fact, I enjoyed “trying on” the new nickname as I wondered if, at some point, I would choose to either go by Kim or my legal name, Kimberly, rather than Kimmy.
We ended up spending several more summers on staff together, and I honestly don’t remember if he continued to call me Kim. But the idea that when so many other voices were shouting to be heard, he wanted me to hear his voice has stuck with me. And I come back to this story every time I come to one of the call narratives of scripture.
There are many call narratives in the Bible, and each is unique. And there are reasons to appreciate each of them. But I particularly love the calling of Samuel.
Samuel is a young boy in the temple, dedicated to God by his mother. And one night, while he is sleeping, he hears his name being called. Sure that it is the priest, Samuel runs to his side. The priest sends him back to bed. But it happens again, and then a third time. Finally, the third time, the priest realizes what is happening and instructs Samuel to return to bed, and if he hears the voice again, reply, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.”
There are so many pieces of the story to consider, but what strikes me is that God called Samuel by name. The text tells us that Samuel did not yet know the Lord. But the Lord knew Samuel. The Lord had known Samuel before he was ever born.
God, the Creator of the universe, knew Samuel. God who made the seas and the stars is also the God who made every part of us, who knows every part of us, even our names.
We hear the message all through the pages of scripture. God says to us, “I have loved you with an everlasting love. I have written your name in the palm of my hand for all eternity. I have molded you in the depths of the earth and knitted you together in your mother’s womb. I created you. I formed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. You are honored and I love you.”
God’s love s great and vast, beyond our human comprehension. And God’s love is so personal that it knows our name.
Grace and peace,
Kimmy
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