It’s very Shakespeare
by Shane Altmann
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Then the woman said, ‘Whom shall I bring up for you?’ He answered, ‘Bring up Samuel for me’ (1 Samuel 28:11).
Read 1 Samuel 28:3–20
Buckle up. Things are about to get weird.
This passage in Samuel is all Hollywood and special effects. King Saul, bereft of hope, turns to a medium, a clairvoyant, a seer to get in touch with the spirit world, séance style. ‘I need to speak to the recently departed Samuel. Can you get him up for me?’
She screams; his ghostly form appears and delivers the awful truth to Saul. Time’s up!
It’s very Shakespeare.
I mean, Samuel’s ghost appears (at least to the medium)! And talks to Saul! It’s wild.
Where is God in this unholy business? What’s in this for us? Well, for a start, don’t dabble in that voodoo stuff; it generally doesn’t end well. Here endeth the lesson.
But I reckon we can dig a bit deeper here and see some patterns and glean some good about our great God of Love.
I am a firm believer that God is active in the world, in service of people, through the vocation of others and the temporal rhythm of the natural world, his creation. He can – and does – act supernaturally and miraculously, but generally, it is the ordinary stuff of daily life where God is found.
‘Truly you are a God who hides yourself!’ says Isaiah in chapter 45, verse 15. He heals the sick through the work of doctors, feeds us through the work of farmers and shopkeepers and protects us with police and armies. The list goes on. Believers and unbelievers alike are all instruments of God’s loving kindness towards people.
And I think that’s what’s happening here. God has a plan. He is moving Jesus towards us, Jesus of the line of David. So, we need David.
God hides his glory in the baby Jesus, in the humanity and ordinariness of the person of Jesus, behind the cross. But he is always for us, always graciously reaching down to us, relentlessly moving the story forward. So, the seer steps in, pronounces Saul’s doom via the ghost of Samuel. And on we roll.
God at work, even then, even now. God for us.
Lord of Life, thank you for always being for us. Thank you for not just creating us and then leaving us alone, but for being constantly and relentlessly at work in the world out of your great love for all people. Thank you, Jesus, that you do indeed give us this day our daily bread. Bless us as we live out our vocations as your light in the world. Amen.
Shane Altmann is the principal of Faith Lutheran College Redlands in Queensland and has served in education for more than 35 years. Married to Monica and father of two children, Harry and Zoe, Shane has learnt that he is largely helpless without the love and support of the people with whom he lives and works. A pilgrim of multiple Caminos de Santiago, a Penrith Panthers tragic and a restorer of old stuff, Shane loves a project and, when he is able, fills his days tinkering with something.
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