Lonely, or just Feeling Lonely

Even in your loneliness, God is there and he cares

Trouble in the world:

I am a fan of war movies. I don’t really know why. There’s just something about fighting for the common good that is appealing to me. Those movies aren’t just appealing to me, they get me hooked. I mean, my eyes are glued to the screen through the whole movie. And this is coming from the guy who fell asleep for a Marvel movie the other day (Dr. Van Nest can testify). Some of my favorites are Saving Private Ryan, Dunkirk, 1917, and The Patriot. I also specifically like American War movies. I feel a specific connection with them because they are American. They are my countrymen from generations ago, so when I see them losing a battle, I am losing the battle; when they are winning the battle, I am winning the battle. It is also Veterans Day, and it seems appropriate to talk about one of the most famous veterans from WW2.

One of my favorite war movies is Hacksaw Ridge. The movie is about a Seventh Day Adventist named Desmond Dawes who refuses to carry a weapon, but for some reason still joins the army. It sounds pretty ridiculous, right? Who does that? Dawes joined the army to become a medic. He wanted to focus on saving lives as opposed to taking lives. As you can imagine, everyone in the army thought of him as an idiot. The Japanese had just bombed Pearl Harbor, and any remaining feelings of passivity were quenched all across America. Dawes refusing to take up arms was like refusing to take revenge where it was due. It was showing mercy to the enemy who had just attacked us. Basically, by not taking up arms, Dawes was showing that he did not care about Pearl Harbor. Of course, Dawes cared about the war, but to him his beliefs and values were more important. As a result, many of the soldiers in his company treated him badly and hated him. There is one scene where they beat him VERY badly at night. Can you relate with Desmond Dawes? Have you ever felt like the whole world was against you? Have you ever felt alone?

As we progress through the movie, the troops get sent to Okinawa. If the Americans can take over Okinawa, they can take over Japan, and end the war in the Pacific. Dawes’ troop is tasked with overtaking one area that the Americans are really struggling to overtake: Hacksaw Ridge. They fight and seem to have taken back Hacksaw Ridge, but in the morning, the Japs attack and push the Americans back off the cliff. The American regroup at the bottom with extremely low morale. However, Dawes decides to stay up on the cliff. Under the cover of night, he rescues many wounded American soldiers, all the time telling himself, “Just one more.” The soldiers at the bottom of the cliff take the wounded soldiers and in the morning, everybody realizes that it is Dawes.

I want to focus on that night that Dawes kept going back out to save more soldiers. The only thing that I can think of is how impossibly alone he must have felt. His battalion had abandoned him to regroup, and he was the only one left. There were dangers all around him. There could be mines or undead Japanese. If he was too loud, he could give away his position. Not to mention, it was dark! There were no lights outside, only dead bodies and a mess everywhere. Dawes was essentially blind in an area that would kill him without a second thought, all without anything to protect himself with. Now take a moment and put yourself in his situation. You can see nothing, you hear the occasional moan or far off explosion, you smell the stink of death, you taste your parched mouth and the sweat that rolls down your face. And you feel incredibly sore. Your entire body aches with pain. And you are alone.

For many of us today, our situations may feel similar to what Desmond Doss. One thing that our culture is focused on is individualism. In other words, everything is all about me, myself, and I! It is all about what we do by ourselves, what we can make of ourselves, and how much we can accomplish by ourselves. As a result, we feel that the whole world is against us. Not only our enemies, but also our friends don’t understand us sometimes. We think that we have to go through this world alone. We may also feel that we have nothing to defend ourselves with, that we are walking through this world blind. What complete and utter anguish, despair, and distress we sometimes feel!

Trouble in the text: Let’s look at a bible passage that really displays this sense of deep sadness. The story is about a woman named Hannah, and even though her story is only in one chapter, it speaks volumes to this anguish and distress that we may feel. It goes like this,

“There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite b 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. 2 He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.

3 Year after year this man 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. 4 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. 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb. 6 Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. 7 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. 8 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?”

9 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. 10 In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. 11 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.”

12 As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14 and said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.”

15 “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. 16 Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”

Now as we can see, Hannah is going through quite the struggle. First, in Hannah’s world, a woman’s value was in being able to bear children, specifically sons. But Hannah was not able to bear children. The one thing that she was expected to do, and she couldn’t do it. This reminds me of those jokes we may see about “You had one job!” I’ve seen some where a stop sign was put on upside down, a sink was not built properly, and cheese is on the side of the burger instead of on it. We laugh at these images because they are funny. For Hannah, she had one job, but her one job is not funny, it is sad.

To really sense her despair, the closest thing that I can think of is the ending of Avengers: Infinity War. I left the theater that night in shock with goosebumps. The Avengers had one job, to stop Thanos from annihilating half the universe. And yet, as close as they came, they still failed. Seeing our heroes on screen just disappearing from existence was shocking to say the least. Especially the Spiderman scene, when he said Mr Stark I don’t feel so good. I was almost crying.

Second, not only was Hannah heart sad because she couldn’t do the one thing she was expected to do, but no one could sympathize with her either. We see that Peninnah, Elkanah, and Eli all failed to truly understand her problems. Peninnah provoked Hannah, making fun of her for having no children. Now in those days, it was common practice for a man to take on a second wife if his first could not bear children. Peninnah could bear children, but Hannah received a double portion because Elkanah clearly loved her very much. This created a rivalry between Peninnah and Hannah. Next Elkanah seems to genuinely want to help his wife. We know that he loved Hannah very much, but his actions did not seem to help Hannah. He was trying all he could to make Hannah forget her sorrows and remember how much he loved her, but it did not help her. He misunderstood her sorrow. And we also see Eli. He though Hannah was drunk, essentially calling her a crazy person. As a pastor, I would hope that I would never treat any of you like that. There are three people who we see in this story, and they all fail to truly help Hannah, either by provoking her, calling her crazy, or having misguided intentions.

So we can see two problems with Hannah, and these are important for you to remember for the good news at the end. She not only feels like she is alone in her sorrows, but she also feels as though no one cares about or understands what she is going through.

Hannah’s despair was like a farmer who waits all year long for the rains to come for his crops, only for the rain to never come. It is like a construction worker who breaks his wrist on the job, losing his ability to provide for his family who depends on him. It is like a family who loses all that they own in a fire that burns down their house. It is like a single mom who can’t scrape together enough money to take care of herself and her kids. It is like graduating college with so much debt that you can’t get a good start for the rest of life. It is like sending a relative to hospice, knowing that they don’t have much time left. That is like what Hannah was feeling. What is more, this problem went on year after year. Her anguish was extended over a long time.

Then, at the festival, Hannah finally reached her breaking point. The meal after the sacrifices was the high point for the family’s trip to Shiloh. Peninnah and her children at the table was probably enough to make Hannah sad, let alone Peninnah provoking her. For Hannah to miss this meal was not good. Instead of eating and drinking, as was expected, Hannah decides to go to the Lord’s house to lament and give her prayers to God. This is where the story starts to turn around.

The type of prayer that Hannah is offering to God is a prayer of lament, and this is an important distinction. Laments went like this in the Old Testament : they were directed to God, presented their conflict to God, gave a confession of trust in God, exclaimed the certainty that God would hear their prayer, and ended with a vow of praise/thanksgiving. Laments therefore are not just offering sadness, but they move from distress to joyful praise.

Grace in the Text: This is the turning point in Hannah’s struggle. She came to God with her troubles, but she also expressed her confidence in God to deliver her. This is why she offered a vow to God to give Samuel back to the Lord. Let’s finish the story.

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

18 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.

19 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. 20 So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, j saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.””

There is an instructive contrast between the Hannah who, distraught and averse to food, went to pray, and the Hannah who returned to join the family. Though outwardly her circumstances had not changed, she was now joyous and resolute, full of assurance that her prayer would be answered1 What we can see from Hannah’s story is that she experienced true healing and answering to her prayer from God.

Hannah’s prayer was answered! This was amazing for Hannah because she could not have children. Now, it’s not as though they had not tried hard enough to have a child, she was actually barren. It was an act of God that she was able to have Samuel at all. I want to make a distinction here. The text says that Elkanah knew his wife Hannah. That is a euphemism in Hebrew for ‘slept with her.’ However, what the text says next is what is truly astonishing. It says that the Lord remembered Hannah. The Hebrew word for remembered is zakar. What the text means here by remembered is in the same sense that the Lord remembered Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and his people in Israel when they were in Egypt. In other words, God heard Hannah’s prayers and he recalled the utter anguish and despair that she felt. And when the text says God remembered Hannah, he also opened her womb and gave her the ability to have a son. Hannah was not just suddenly able to conceive out of coincidence, the Lord was the one who did it.

Grace in the World: So what does this mean for us? The good news that I have for you today is that Even in your loneliness and distress, God is there and he cares. Even when we feel like we are alone, like there is no one there, God is there. Even when no one else cares about our struggles and they mock us or instigate us, God cares about our struggles. How can God understand? He understands because of Jesus who came down to earth and experienced what we go through. Hebrews tells us, 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. 2” God doesn’t just care, he also understands. Take comfort in that today, knowing that you can cast your cares on the Lord, who truly cares for you.

In Hacksaw Ridge, we see that in the end, Desmond Dawes gets respect from his fellow soldiers. Even though he was mocked and ridiculed, he never compromised what he believed in. He became an example of courage and bravery to not just his troop, but also for all to learn about. One of the coolest scenes in the movie is when they all take time to pray with Desmond Dawes on his Sabbath. It is clear that God was using Dawes to also show his grace to the men, even in the middle of a war.

Likewise, God used Hannah’s son Samuel greatly in Israel. He was a transitional leader between the time of the judges and the time of the kings. He would be there as the tribes of Israel move into being a real nation. He would anoint both David and Saul as kings of Israel. Because Hannah prayed to God for Samuel and she gave him back to the Lord, he was able to do wonders with Samuel. And the Lord continued to bless Hannah by giving her more children.

What do we make of this? Not only does God care and not only does he answer our prayers, but he uses our answered prayers as a witness to the world. Imagine how God can use our answered prayers for the witness of the church. The farmer who makes it through, even though the rain didn’t come that year. The construction worker who can collect unemployment and has friends who can help him provide. The family who would probably be living on the street but has family and friends who give them a place to stay. The single mom who can’t get by suddenly receives some money to help her survive. The college student who is in massive debt, and yet still gets a great job out of college. And the relative we send off to hospice, knowing that even though they don’t have long left, they are going to a better place sometime soon.

I am reminded of John 9 here, where Jesus sees a man born blind, As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him” God uses these hard times to display him glory in us. As we go from here today, let us be at peace with this

You see, God uses our prayers as a witness to his glory. And more often than not, the church is the means through which God shows his glory to the world. As the church, we are called and commissioned to be that means in the world.

Let us go from this place at peace knowing that people may not understand or care about what we are going through. They may also even mock us or ridicule us. And we may be alone in how we feel. But the good news is that God is with us in our struggles and he cares about our struggles. Even in our loneliness and distress, God is there and he cares. Let’s pray.

God, I thank you for this time that I have to bring your word to your people. Help us in our times of need, when all we feel is distress and anguish. We may go through times of loneliness, feeling like there is no one with us as we struggle. And we may also feel as though no one cares about the struggles that we are dealing with. But the good news that we have is that even in our loneliness and distress, you are there and you care. Thank you for this good news that you have given us. In Jesus name and in the power of the Spirit I pray, AMEN.

Blessing: 14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.