ALL SAINTS DAY
I Samuel 2:1-10
Revelation 5:6-10
November 2, 2008
Listen to this sermon HERE

     What makes a woman sing such a song of praise and gratitude to God?  Obviously God must have done something which pleased her very much.  From the way she goes on and on, it must have been a really good thing.  Let’s take a look back and see what wonderful event had just taken place to make Hannah pray like this (1 Samuel 1:1-28).

 

     Around 1000 BC king Solomon builds the temple in Jerusalem to house the Ark of the Covenant.  Until the temple was built, the Ark was kept in a tent in Shiloh, where it was guarded by the senior priest.  Every Israelite family would come to Shiloh once each year for the feast of Tabernacles or Sukkoth, which we talked about last week.  They would bring a sacrifice to honor God for the goodness of the harvest and then spend the next seven days partying. 

     Hannah’s husband was a man named Ĕlkānâh.  Elkanah had a second wife named Pēnĭnnâh.  After many years of marriage, Peninnah had given birth to several children.  But, Hannah had no children at all.  Every year during the trip to Shiloh Elkanah would portion out meat for his wives, sons, and daughters to sacrifice.  And, every year Peninnah would taunt and tease Hannah about having such a small portion of meat (since she had no children).  Elkanah would give Hannah twice as much meat as one person would normally sacrifice, to try and balance things out, but it only made the taunting and teasing that much more unbearable. 

     One year, after Elkanah and his family had made their sacrifice, they decided to have lunch near the tent before they started back home.  I told you Sukkoth was a party, and overuse of alcohol was not uncommon.  Hannah was the first one to finish eating and drinking.  She stood up, moved a few steps away from the others, dropped back down to her knees, and began to pray.  She prayed silently, with her eyes closed, but while she prayed her lips moved. 

     She said to God, “O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servants 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 (1 Samuel 1:11).”  (Cross reference Exodus 22:29)    

     Now Eli, the senior priest, is watching this from the door of the tent.  He sees a woman who has just finished a drink of wine.  She appears to stumble away from the others, fall down, and start mumbling to herself.  Eli thinks Hannah is drunk, and he is offended that someone would get drunk so close to the Ark of the Covenant.  He shouts to Hannah, “How dare you get drunk here.  Throw your wine away!”  Hannah is shocked, and she tells Eli, “I’m not drunk.  I am a woman who has been praying because I have a deep anguish and grief.”  Eli recognizes his mistake, and uses his authority as the senior priest to invoke God to grant Hannah whatever she has requested.  Hannah and her family travel back to Ephraim.  Shortly after they get home, they find out she is pregnant. 

 

     Nine months later Hannah gives birth to a beautiful baby boy.  She names him Samuel, which means ‘God heard me’.  Now remember, Hannah promised God that if she gave birth to a son she would not keep him.  Instead, she would give him back to the Lord.  Samuel is three months old when the time comes to return to Shiloh.  Hannah tells Elkanah, “I’m not going with you.  I’m going to stay here and nurse Samuel.  I’ll take him to Shiloh when he’s been weaned.”  The following year Samuel is fifteen months old when it’s time to sacrifice.  Again, Hannah and Samuel stay home.  But, the year after that, when Samuel is two and a half years old, he and Hannah make the journey to Shiloh.

     When the family arrives at the tent they sacrifice a bull to God.  As the rest of the family members move off to eat lunch, Hannah and Samuel approach old Eli.  Hannah says to Eli, “Remember me, the praying woman you thought was drunk?  On that day I begged God for a son.  Because God was good to me, I have promised my son back to God.  Here, he’s yours.”  Hannah took Samuel’s tiny little hand, and she placed it in Eli’s large wrinkled paw.  Then she turned and walked back to her family. 

     I can’t imagine how hard that must have been, to leave her only child there with the priest.  It must have been like Samuel died.  In fact, maybe it was worse.  Because she knew that every year when she returned to sacrifice, Samuel would be there.  Each time he would be a year taller, a year smarter, a year more mature.  Every year he would love Eli more, and remember Hannah less.  Eventually, he would forget her altogether.  I would imagine it would be like having your child die, then die again every year on the anniversary.  I can’t imagine how hard that was for Hannah to do.  And yet, giving Samuel away was the event that prompted Hannah’s prayer of worship and rejoicing for the goodness of God.  How could she praise God when her son, for all intents and purposes, had just died?  How do any of us find it within ourselves to praise God when someone we love is taken from us? 

     In her prayer, Hannah acknowledges that there never would have been a Samuel if not for God’s goodness.  And, although her time with Samuel was short, at least there was a time to love a son of her own.  We do not love based on the permanence of a relationship.  If we only loved what was permanent I wouldn’t love any of you.  Men and women come and participate in the church, they become members of our family, and then life takes them somewhere else, and they move away.  What pastor would ever love his congregation?  The time comes when a pastor has shared all of the insight and understanding God has blessed them with, and so they move on.  What congregation would ever love its pastor?  If we only loved what was permanent why would anyone ever get married?  Even if the marriage doesn’t end in divorce, eventually one of the two will die and leave the other alone. 

     Hannah recognizes that love, even short lived love, is a gift from God.  Of all creation, only we are made in the image of God.  Only we are capable of reflecting the attributes of God (Genesis 1:27-32).  We love because God is love, and we are a reflection of God (1 John 4:8-9).  We love because love, even if it only lasts for a moment, is a good thing.  Hannah thanked God for the opportunity to have loved, even though it was brief.

     We lit candles this morning, in remembrance of those who have passed away during the last twelve months.  As each flame was ignited, a loss was rekindled.  I suspect that heartache doesn’t diminish significantly with time.  I know that each of you, who lit a candle, felt heartache.  I would guess that, even after many years, it is the same heartache that Venita still feels for Price, the same heartache that Ann still feels for Bert, the same heartache that Kathy still feels for Jim, the same heartache that Debbie still feels for Les.  It is, in fact, the same heartache that God felt for all of humanity when we were lost to sin (John 3:16).  It is the same heartache that Jesus felt as he shared Communion with the Apostles (Luke 22:15, John 13:21). 

     That heartache is real.  But, at the same time there should be gratitude in our hearts this morning.  Not because of our loss, but because we had the opportunity to love.  Whether love is short or long, it is wonderful.  And so, we praise and glorify our God.  Not because of how long we loved, but because we loved at all.