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A sneak preview; of next week's sermon
Topic Started: Nov 5 2005, 01:13 PM (286 Views)
Dewey
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HOLY CARP!!!
First, thanks so much to all of you who took me up on my earlier request for help in writing this sermon. All the responses were fantastic, very insightful, and a great help.

Just to set the stage, here's the passage of scripture that the sermon is based on:

"There was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. He had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. Now this man used to go up year by year from his town to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the LORD. On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters; but to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the LORD had closed her womb. Her rival used to provoke her severely, to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb. So it went on year by year; as often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. Her husband Elkanah said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?"
After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the LORD. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD, and wept bitterly. She made this vow: "O LORD of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head." As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying silently; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard; therefore Eli thought she was drunk. So Eli said to her, "How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine." But Hannah answered, "No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD. Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time." Then Eli answered, "Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him." And she said, "Let your servant find favor in your sight." Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.
They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD; then they went back to their house at Ramah. Elkanah knew his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her. In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, "I have asked him of the LORD." The man Elkanah and all his household went up to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and to pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, "As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, that he may appear in the presence of the LORD, and remain there forever; I will offer him as a nazirite for all time." Her husband Elkanah said to her, "Do what seems best to you, wait until you have weaned him; only--may the LORD establish his word." So the woman remained and nursed her son, until she weaned him. When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh; and the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. And she said, "Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the LORD. For this child I prayed; and the LORD has granted me the petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he lives, he is given to the LORD." She left him there for the LORD."

"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685.

"Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous

"Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011

I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14
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Dewey
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HOLY CARP!!!
And the first draft of the sermon (don't tell anyone; this is our little secret!):


This passage of Scripture tells the story of Hannah, and the birth of Samuel, who will become one of the key figures in the history of Israel – a great prophet used by God when Israel demanded to have a king. Up until this time, Israel was a loose confederation of tribes ruled by “Judges.” But without a king, the Israelites felt like second-class citizens, compared to the surrounding nations, who all had a king and a strong centralized for of government. So, tired of this situation, the Israelites demand of Samuel, by this time a grown man, that God give them just such a king. God does give them a king, having Samuel first point to Saul, Israel’s first unified king, and later, after Saul loses God’s favor, to David, ushering in the peak of ancient Israelite civilization. But that’s all in Samuel’s future. This story only deals with his unlikely birth to Hannah, his grief-stricken mother.

Like a lot of Old Testament stories, this isn’t only a historical telling of an event. The story also includes additional layers of symbolism. In many Old Testament examples, the names of people in the story have significant meaning in the Hebrew language – something relevant to the story, and this story is no exception. “Hannah,” for example, comes from the Hebrew word meaning “favored.” “Peninnah” comes from a Hebrew word meaning “fertile.” In the passage, Hannah names her son “Samuel” because this name is similar to the Hebrew word for “asked for.” And when she presents young Samuel to the priests at the Temple, she says that he is “given over” to God, using a Hebrew word that’s identical to the name “Saul” – a kind of foretelling of Saul’s selection as king, and some say, that not only Samuel, but all the future kings, should be similarly “given over” to God. In a larger sense, this story is also seen as symbolic of Israel’s struggle as a nation: Just as barren Hannah has no son to give her status and joy, Israel has no king to give it status or joy. Just as Peninnah harasses and derides Hannah for having no son, the nations surrounding Israel deride them for having no king. And ultimately, just as Hannah is finally given a son, so is Israel finally given a king.

Now, that’s interesting to me. Understanding these additional layers of the story make me appreciate the story’s beauty even more. It’s fun, book-club kind of coffee chat. But what does this story really say to us today? I mean, what do we ultimately get out of this story? Is it really just a story about another kid being born?

I was curious to know what different people thought when they read this passage. So I asked a handful of friends to read it and give me their first impressions. They came at it from very different backgrounds, and even more different religious beliefs, including some who don’t consider themselves religious at all. I told them all I was just curious what their first impressions were. I didn’t want to hear what they thought I wanted to hear, or what they thought they “should” say – I wanted their honest take on the passage.

I got quite a bit of input. One friend compared Hannah’s distress to his own feelings over current political affairs. Another pointed out, very poignantly and with little elaboration, that the 27th verse – “I prayed for this child and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him” – was very meaningful to her personally, and that it was on the wall of her daughter’s bedroom wall. One friend saw Hannah as wallowing in self-pity and misdirected attention. To her, the story illustrated how desperately a woman with bruised self-esteem can act, especially when dealing with a husband who’s clueless to the depths of her despair. Another friend noted almost the opposite: here’s Hannah, living in an extremely male-dominated society – where women couldn’t even make a vow to God without a husband’s consent. But Hannah goes to the Temple herself, and prays passionately – stubbornly, even – and makes her vow directly to God, without any “middleman.” She understands that God’s love is offered equally to men and women alike. Another friend pointed out that Eli, the Temple priest, seems symbolic of “established religion,” and Hannah’s sincere worship and genuine prayer originally goes completely over his head; possibly symbolic of ritualistic religious practices sometimes getting in the way of the true worship of God.

I thought all these insights, and the others I got, were all really good. I think there are as many ways to initially take in the passage as there are people. But I also think there’s one basic message to us all in the story, that threads itself through all our various opinions. And that message is this: That with the grace of God, great hope can arise from hopelessness. With the grace of God, great joy can arise from despair.

Our church has just finished hosting Dayro Aranzalez, a pastor from Bogota Colombia, for a six-week visit. During his stay here, he learned a lot about us, our church, and U.S. culture in general. He also taught us a lot about his church, and life in his country. That life consists largely of trying to make sense out of a completely senseless situation. Living in the middle of a 50-year long civil war. Dealing with a corrupt government, and secret police infiltrating your church services. Daily random killings, kidnappings, and car bombings by paramilitary militias, guerilla forces, and narcoterrorists. Dayro himself was threatened with death and had to flee his home to save his life. His offense? Fighting for the government to provide just one doctor to serve the city. Life in Colombia today is a picture of complete and utter despair, with no solution even visible on the horizon.

Dayro & I discussed this sense of despair. I told him, in my really poor Spanish, that my heart ached for him, his family, has congregation, and the country in general. And I told him that frankly, I felt guilty for being here in relative luxury of both material goods and freedoms, but it didn’t seem like there was anything I could do to really help. I asked him what I could possibly do to make a difference. Without hesitation, he looked me in the eyes and said, “Just pray. Yes, the situation seems entirely hopeless. And we know that we’ll never see the fruits of our own labors. But we’re working for a better life for our children and grandchildren. Just pray, and keep praying. Because we know that with God’s grace, hope will arise out of hopelessness.”

And there was God’s message to us in Hannah’s story, right in my face – not just in an old story, but here and now, driven home by this quiet, unassuming, and incredibly brave man. Grief isn’t the last word, no matter what the cause of our grief. Desperation isn’t the end of the story. With God, hope arises out of despair.

On his last Sunday with us, Dayro delivered a sermon touching on this very issue. In his sermon, he told this story.

A tutor was called in by a local school to help a certain little boy. The boy had been very badly burned in a fire, and was in the burn unit of a local hospital. His face was badly disfigured, and he had severe burns over much of his body. He was in excruciating pain, and the hospital staff told the tutor not to touch the boy, and to be careful not even to bump his bed. The boy was very despondent, and wasn’t interacting with the staff. The tutor entered the boy’s room. It took every muscle in his body to look past the boy’s horrible, painful physical appearance. He smiled at the boy and said, “Hi, your school sent me here to help you keep up with your studies. Today, I’m going to teach you about nouns and adverbs.” The tutor worked with the boy for a while, and then left the hospital. The next day, when the tutor arrived, the hospital staff asked him, “What did you do to that boy yesterday? Before you came, he was depressed and unresponsive. Now, he’s eating again, is upbeat, and is talking with us!” At a loss to explain it, they went into the boy’s room and asked him why his outlook had changed. Through the pain and the bandages, the boy explained simply, “Because no one would waste their time teaching nouns and adverbs to a kid who was going to die.”

With God, great hope can from hopelessness. Sometimes we see it through the unlikely birth of a child. Other times, we see it in adverbs. Amen.




Thanks again for all your help. If you'd be willing, I'll probably ask for similar input in the future.
"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685.

"Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous

"Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011

I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14
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Larry
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Mmmmmmm, pie!
I don't have time to read it all right now Dwain, but I will later tonight. I just wanted to post so you'll know I've looked at it and intend to study it further.
Of the Pokatwat Tribe

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bachophile
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HOLY CARP!!!
i like how we are "a handful of friends" and not the more truthful..."idiotic band of internet forum loonies".
"I don't know much about classical music. For years I thought the Goldberg Variations were something Mr. and Mrs. Goldberg did on their wedding night." Woody Allen
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DivaDeb
HOLY CARP!!!
bachophile
Nov 5 2005, 03:47 PM
i like how we are "a handful of friends" and not the more truthful..."idiotic band of internet forum loonies".

heh...I want a t-shirt with that on it, bach!
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Dana
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That is a very beautiful passage Dwain, and how dearly I read it. If you only knew, if you only knew.
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Dewey
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HOLY CARP!!!
Dana
Nov 5 2005, 03:55 PM
That is a very beautiful passage Dwain, and how dearly I read it. If you only knew, if you only knew.

Ah Dana, if only you'd joined the NCR a few weeks sooner, I'd have loved to hear your impressions...

http://s10.invisionfree.com/The_New_Coffee...?showtopic=3844
"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685.

"Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous

"Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011

I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14
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Dewey
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HOLY CARP!!!
bachophile
Nov 5 2005, 03:47 PM
i like how we are "a handful of friends" and not the more truthful..."idiotic band of internet forum loonies".

:lol:
"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685.

"Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous

"Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011

I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14
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