Praise the Holy One -- A Message for November 14, 2021

 

Scripture Reading      1 Samuel 1:4-20

There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 

He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.

Year after year Elkanah went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the Lord. 

Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. 

But to (his wife) Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb. 

Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. 

This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. 

Her husband Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?”

Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s house. 

In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. 

And she made a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”

As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 

Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk 

and said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.”

“Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. 

Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”

Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”

She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.

Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. 

So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.”

Here ends the reading of the Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer for Understanding

O Lord, teach us your ways and give us the grace to follow them. Give us eyes to see the world as you do. Give us hearts to love others as you do. And give us the wisdom to discern how best to live as followers of Jesus, your Living Word. Amen.

Message                     Praise the Holy One            

          Last Sunday, our 8:30 am Adult Bible Study, our Wired Word group, discussed the problem that many young adults feel the church doesn’t focus on issues that are close to their hears. The young adults aged 13 to 25 surveyed by sociologist Josh Packard felt that their own church community did not care about contemporary social issues they were concerned about. The young people said they didn’t hear the issues they cared about spoken about in their churches – they didn’t hear about them in sermons and they didn’t hear other church members talking about the issues.

          Perhaps one of the reasons ministers shy away from talking about contemporary social issues in our sermons is that many ministers are criticized by their church members or their “former” church members for not having their sermons be “Biblical enough.” Ministers contend with complaint that they are not “preaching from the Bible.”  I haven’t been to a Christian church that doesn’t read scripture from the Bible during worship. But, perhaps, sometimes, the sermons preached by ministers aren’t connected to the Biblical passage in a way that is obvious to the people in the listening audience.

          As I read the story of Hannah praying for a child, I thought about the contemporary social issues present in this story, a story that is probably at least three thousand years old. Hannah struggled with infertility.  There are families sitting in this room and watching over facebook who have struggled with infertility. Hannah was bullied by her sister-wife. We may not have sister-wives, but we have all experienced bullying by family members or people who we care about. Hannah was accused of being drunk by Eli because she was so emotional. I suspect women in this community can relate—sometimes women are criticized for being “too emotional” or my favorite: “too hormonal.” So, despite the cultural setting of Hannah’s story being very different that Skippack 2021, there are many contemporary social issues present in this story.

          We have all lived through long, sad and difficult times. In the story we read from 1^st Samuel, Hannah is living through a long, sad, difficult time. This story takes place almost a hundred years before King Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem. Elkanah and other followers of God travelled to shrines to offer prayers and sacrifices to God. Every year, Elkanah, his two wives, and his children made a pilgrimage to Shiloh to spend time worshipping God. When the family was at the shrine, Elkanah gave his family meat for them to offer in sacrifice to God. Elkanah gave a double portion to Hannah because he loved her and he pitied her because she couldn’t have children.

 In the ancient Israeli culture, a woman was valued for the children she was able to birth. Women’s status in the family and community was based on her number of children, particularly her number of sons. When women became widows, their sons were responsible for caring for them. If a women did not have sons, she could be cast out by her family. She was at the mercy of her step-sons who were under no obligation to care for her.

Peninnah was Elkanah’s other wife. Since the scripture says Elkanah “loved” Hannah, we suspect he didn’t quite “love” Peninnah as much. Peninnah punished Hannah by tormenting her.  Peninnah picked on Hannah and was cruel to her because she was barren.  Hannah was troubled – she was probably hard on herself because she couldn’t get pregnant.  Many women who cannot have a baby worry there is something wrong with them or their bodies. And, Hannah had to live with a woman who intentionally tried to shame Hannah with her judgments and words.

While the family was at the Shrine at Shiloh, Hannah went to pray and talk to God by herself. Eli observed Hannah. Eli was the high-priest and was faithful to the Lord. His sons were not. Eventually, God punished Eli’s sons for not behaving the way priests were supposed to behave.

When Eli saw Hannah, who was in anguish, he misinterpreted her behavior. He thought she was drunk. Eli told her to go away.

Hannah defended herself and explained to Eli that she was not drunk, but was instead grieving and praying to God with her whole soul.

Eli offered Hannah a blessing and said he hoped God would grant her request.

Apparently, after Elkanah and Hannah went home, God did grand Hannah her request.  Hannah gave birth to Samuel, which means “Because I asked the Lord for him.”

When Samuel was old enough to be separated from his mother, Hannah took him back to Shiloh and gave him to Eli to be his apprentice.  Since Eli’s sons were not good priests, God made Samuel Eii’s successor. Samuel eventually became the high priest who anointed first Saul and then David to be king over Israel.

Samuel’s birth solved the problem of both Hannah’s barrenness and Eli’s unfaithful sons who couldn’t’ be their father’s successors as high priest.

Hannah was mocked by everyone. Penninah mocked her for not having children. Eli mocked her for being “too emotional’ when she prayed. Hannah’s neighbors probably joined Penninah in mocking and judging Hannah for her barrenness in a day and age when women were valued for their ability to bear children.  Before Samuel’s birth, Hannah was in despair.

But, she didn’t give up on God. Despite her mistreatment, Hannah believed in God. She prayed to God. She asked God to be gracious to her. She turned to God in her despair.

God doesn’t always answer our prayers the way we want them to be answered. We don’t always get the answer we want. When Eli prayed about his unfaithful sons, he probably asked God to help them turn around. He didn’t ask for a substitute, a step-son, to take on his work. But, eventually, God sent Samuel to Eli. God didn’t give Eli the answer he wanted, but God did answer Eli’s prayers.

God hears our prayers. God steadies us when we wobble. God makes sure we are not alone – after Jesus ascended to be with God, God shared God’s Holy Spirit with us to support and guide our daily lives. God answers our prayers, but not always in the way we expect. God answers our prayers, but sometimes in ways we don’t understand.

          The story of Hannah reminds us that God loves and blesses people the rest of the world looks down their nose at. Hannah was very low-status….she was a wife who couldn’t have children. She was a woman who lived in at a time when women were not treated as equal to men.  Hannah was bullied and picked on by her family members and by her neighbors. Yet, God listened to Hannah. God loved Hannah.

          Let us remember that no matter how low we feel, God loves us. God listens to us. Let’s us also remember to be better than the people who surrounded Hannah. Let us try not to judge others. Let us try to treat everyone with love and respect. Let us try to treat others as our equals, as our peers. Let us remember that Jesus reminded us God wants us to treat other people the way we want to be treated, to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

          Let us do so in love. Amen.