Godly Appeal, Godly Gift 1 Samuel 1:4-20; November 18, 2018 By Rev. Susan L. Genge (in partnership with God!) Hannah Suffers Persecution and Grief

Transcription

1 1 Godly Appeal, Godly Gift 1 Samuel 1:4-20; November 18, 2018 By Rev. Susan L. Genge (in partnership with God!) Prayer: God, hear our prayer of openness. In seeking, we are expectant. In knocking, we are hopeful. In asking, we are readied by your Spirit, for your leading. In Jesus name. Amen. Hannah Suffers Persecution and Grief How tough it would be as a wife in a polygamous marriage during the days of the Old Testament. Today, we meet Hannah, wife number two to the Hebrew man Elkanah. Hannah finds herself in the unenviable position of being unable to conceive. In a culture where a woman s main role in life is to provide and nurture male heirs, to be barren is to be a non-person. And if her husband were to die before her, she would have it rough without a son to care for her. Hannah s misfortune is exacerbated by her rival, Peninnah, Elkanah s other wife, who has lots of sons and daughters by their shared husband Elkanah. You d think that she d sympathize with Hannah s plight, but she only makes Hannah s life more miserable. She misses no opportunity to provoke and irritate Hannah. It went on like this for years. We can only imagine how difficult it would be to live in a household like that. Notice this story s powerful verbs and adverbs which reveal the depths of Hannah s pain: provoke her severely, irritate her, heart sad, deeply distressed, wept bitterly, misery of your servant, drunken spectacle, a woman deeply troubled, worthless woman, my great anxiety and vexation. No wonder Hannah wept and wept and stopped eating. No wonder she suffered mental depression and anorexia nervosa. Hannah felt alone. Her husband Elkanah told her to cheer up and said, Why are you depressed and why aren t you eating? Aren t I worth more to you than ten sons? It s an egotistical, self-absorbed and dismissive response to his wife s plight. He doesn t understand her. He s got many sons and daughters by his other wife, so it

2 2 doesn t trouble him that Hannah can t conceive. Though he professed his love for Hannah, he didn t offer her any support in the face of her shame and heartache. Added to this, when she silently moved her lips in an outpouring of prayer during worship, the priest Eli accused her of being drunk and told her to stop drinking and smarten up. A priest, someone who ought to know better, turns out to be another example of someone in opposition to her. What difference did it make if she was drunk or sober? The fact that she was there in the place of worship, in an attitude of prayer, should have counted for something. But Hannah bears an even deeper pain and shame. The scripture says that Hannah can t bear children because God chooses to have it that way; the Lord had closed her womb. Societal belief attributed blame to God for Hannah s predicament. Why would God cause her to suffer and be humiliated like that? We Suffer Persecution and Grief We can identify with Hannah to one degree or another because there are times in life when we have all experienced feelings of disappointment, unfulfilled dreams, persecution and grief. We consider the women s movement, and know that for all the advances that it has brought to women s lives over the last 40 years, some women still experience guilt and shame for not fitting traditional roles, especially in some other cultures and countries. And some churches continue to support narrow, subservient roles for women in the interests of preserving the patriarchal status quo. We also think of the hundreds of women in the Me Too movement who have recently decided to no longer remain quiet but to speak up about the sexual harassment and abuse they have suffered, many by famous entertainers, sports coaches and politicians. Then there was a disturbing bullying story in the news last week about a young, disabled male high school student who suffered persecution by his peers in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia.

3 3 On November 7, 14-year-old Brett Corbett, who struggles with cerebral palsy, was sent to the principal s office sopping wet because some other students dared him to swim in the creek behind the school. Videos were distributed of him standing in the middle of shallow, murky water while about twenty kids stared down at him from atop a small hill. Then he was pictured lying down on his stomach, keeping his palms flat in the mud to steady himself as the current rushed past him. Then, a girl leapt from the bank, stepped on Brett s back as if it were a springboard, and launched herself to the other side, turning Brett into a human bridge. Two more students walked over him. Other students laughed hysterically. When he stood up they yelled at him to get back in the water. Like Hannah, Brett Corbett understands how it feels to have a physical limitation, to be different from others, to be misunderstood, and to be persecuted. God Answers Hannah s Prayer But we take encouragement from Hannah s action in time of trouble. She refused to wallow in self-pity. She turned to God in hope and expectation. She prayed persistently. She asked passionately. Then she made an incredibly sacrificial promise. She said, O God, please give me a male child, and I will give him back to you. I will dedicate him to you all the days of his life. Her prayer was a cry of deep desperation, but it was also an act of deep faith. God granted Hannah s prayer. She bore a son who would serve God s purposes. In her joy Hannah didn t forget that God was responsible for this lifechanging event, and she named her son Samuel, meaning I have asked him of the Lord. When he became three years of age, after she weaned him, Hannah made good on her promise to God. She gave him to the priest Eli to be raised in the service of the temple. This boy Samuel will grow up to fulfill a very important role in the history of the Hebrew people. He ll become the last of the judges- the inspired leaders of Israel, and he ll be a priest and a prophet. At God s command, he ll become the one to designate Israel s first and second kings- Saul and David.

4 4 God Answers Our Prayers What are we praying that God will bring into the world? One thing we re praying for is a world which demonstrates more compassion, more care and more mercy, like that which was extended to Brett Corbett after he was bullied by high school students. A local boxer organized a Stand for Brett Corbett rally outside his high school to show Brett that he is never alone. Many sent messages of support. And when his high school administrators discipline for the perpetrators was to suspend them from school for only a single day, twenty students walked out of classroom to protest the school s failure to take a firmer stand. Writer Seamus Heaney wrote this piece of prose: Don t Hope History says, Don t hope on this side of the grave. But then, once in a lifetime the longed-for tidal wave of justice can rise up, and hope and history rhyme. So hope for a great sea-change on the far side of revenge. Believe that a further shore is reachable from here. Believe in miracles and cures and healing wells. What wants to be born in you? What are you longing for in your life? Not material goods. Not little wishes. What are you truly longing for deep down within your soul? Have you talked with God about it? God cares about you and wants to realize the very best for you.

5 5 Hannah s story illustrates that God has compassion for every trusting and faithful person, whether that person is a priest like Eli, a husband like Elkanah, or even an oppressed and childless woman like Hannah. God acted with great compassion toward this poor woman, Hannah, who had no other hope. And Samuel was a gift of God s love. Stories like this still happen. God continues to give people unimaginable gifts. Hold onto that hope and promise. We don t always know what the future holds. It will certainly hold both joy and sadness. But in Jesus Christ, whatever the future holds, we know who holds the future. Amen.