Hannah and Her Little Boy

Acts 10:44-48; Psalm 98; 1 John 5:1-6; John 15:9-17 Recently, I have been driving a little boy to and from school that I met just recently. His mom is always there when I pick him up and is always waiting when I take him home. They obviously are very close, but he has issues, or he wouldn’t be on my bus, he’d be on the big bus. I have heard he can be difficult at school. So far, he has been very good on my bus, but then, he is the only kid on my bus for that school. He is always very entertaining and is almost always talking. When I pick him up after school, he always says: “Let’s go! I have places to be!” He’s a fourth grader. On our first day, he told me that one of the places he had to go after school was to Dairy Queen. “If I don’t get my afternoon milkshake,” he said, “I turn into a Grumpisaurus!” One day this week, he got onto the bus and asked: “Guess who I just saw?” “Who?” “Mrs. King! I called her Mr. King today. Haha. You too are married, aren’t you? She’s very nice once you get to know her. You should buy her flowers today. My mom likes flowers.” He definitely is a “mamma’s boy” but that certainly is alright, even though some use the term as an insult. On Friday, we had to return to school because he forgot to get the present he had made for his mom. Apparently, he left it at school last year, too. Seeing him and his mom together remind me how blessed I am to have my mom (and my dad). I would not presume to say anything about what it is like to be a mother, but I do know what it is like to have a mother, and how much I cherish her. I have certainly known many people who don’t have good relationships with their mother and am grateful that I am not one of those. It must be very painful. As we pray in thankfulness for our mothers today, we should also pray for those who find Mother’s Day to be difficult. All children, no matter how old, need that love. As I grow older and the past gets fuzzier, one of my favorite memories of being a kid is the smell of freshly made chocolate chip cookies as I opened the door, coming home after school, with mom waiting for me. I am certain there are other things she would like me to remember, things that took more effort and suffering on her part, but I of course remember the food. But knowing that she is still there for me is a blessing, indeed. Does anybody have a memory of their mom that they would like to share? There are many mothers mentioned in the Bible, most of whom are remembered for their tough circumstances and the sacrifices made on behalf of their children. Thinking of the story of Hannah and Samuel, you moms will have to tell me if you can identify with the story. Can anyone say that their husband is worth more than ten sons? Would you willingly give up your child after waiting for so long? I can’t imagine what that was like for Hannah, or to be forced to put a child up for adoption today. My sister tried to get pregnant for several years, with many tears, and was finally successful through invitro fertilization. For Hannah, prayer is what it took. Perhaps it seems harsh when we are told that God prevented Hannah from getting pregnant, and her rival ridiculed her for it. Which part is worse? We don’t like to think that God does such things, for no good reason that we can see. But how many times does such a thing happen in the Bible, and the long-awaited-for child turns out to be very special? Anyone think that hardship is part of being a mother? In this case, it is the shame of being childless that drives Hannah to God after her rival harasses her. She makes a vow most of us would probably struggle to fulfill, but we say such things often, don’t we? We aren’t told much about Eli, but we get an earful about his sons, for they sound like a wicked bunch. Even though they grew up in the church and two were even priests, they didn’t know they Lord. They take more than their due from the sacrifices and are abusive to the people they are supposed to serve. We are told later in the story: “they wouldn’t obey their father because the LORD wanted to kill them” because of their wicked behavior. But in contrast: “Meanwhile, the boy Samuel kept growing up and was more and more liked by both the LORD and the people.” (1 Sa 2:26). You’ve got to ask why God thought it was a good idea to choose this family for Samuel to grow up in! Eli is told by God that not only his sons but all of his family will be wiped out. How many of us have known kids who grew up in a harmful environment but were able to overcome it? Hearing such stories on the news and elsewhere is always inspiring. They often are very special kids who grow to be strong, successful adults in spite of where they came from. It’s usually their mom who gets the credit for making sacrifices to get them where they are. Perhaps the message for us here is that Samuel is very special, and it is largely due to the sacrifices of his mother. That is often the case in the Bible: elements of a story, such as the mom being barren, are meant to show how special the child would be, and often, how special the mom was. Anyone remember what a Nazarite was? A Nazarite was someone who took a vow pledging a higher level of purity and commitment to God. Although it seems to have been a somewhat common practice back then, in the Bible, a very distinguished few take this vow. Can you name any of them? (Samson, John the Baptist, Paul). Generally, those taking the vow voluntarily do so in order to draw closer to God, it is unusual here for a mother to choose it for her child. It is another sign that Samuel was special. We aren’t told if Hannah knew how bad the house of Eli was, but perhaps this vow was given to protect Samuel as much as to set him apart. We are told that Samuel worshipped God there, unlike Eli’s sons. Perhaps Eli had given up on his own kids and put more effort into training Samuel properly. Hannah is often considered to be an example of motherhood, but Samuel essentially grows up without a mother, seeing Hannah only once a year. Even though Eli has many sons, we never hear about their mother. God takes on that role, apparently, and Samuel grows up to be extraordinary. In our time, the opposite seems much more common: many kids grow up with absent fathers. Although Hannah may not see her son much as he grows up, she still cares for him as she is able, and she can take credit for setting him on the path he would follow all of his life. She is a very devout woman and lays the foundation for Samuel’s service to God. How many of us can thank our mom for our relationship with God? How many of us had moms who dragged us to church when we were kids? If Hannah had kept Samuel for herself, he probably still would have been a believer in God, but without her sacrifice in giving him up, he might not have become the great man of God that he is remembered for. Ideally, a church family should provide the love of God for all those present, given through one another, making up for what we may have missed elsewhere. In a church, we should all have several mother figures. Even those of us who had a good mom are probably thinking of those other women who have loved us like a mother over the years, many of whom we never would have met if we didn’t go to church. A church family should be a place where we learn how to love one another, as we learn of God’s love given in Jesus. It is a place where we are loved as children, and where we can love others as adopted parents. That love continues even when there are not any kids present. As 1st John says: Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. (1st John 5:1-4) Faith is what drives Hannah. Certainly, the desire to have a child did too, but her faith gave her the means to make it happen. For us, loving God means to love the children of God. Loving God means loving one another. As a church, we want everyone who comes here to be “born of God” for His love will conquer the world, starting with us. I can’t imagine living without love, either to give or to receive it. Can you? At the start of my second year of college, at the annual kickoff meeting of our Christian Fellowship group, a woman requested that we not refer to God as “He” or “Father.” The rest of us just kind of looked at each other, not knowing what to say. I assumed it was because she had issues with her dad. One of the lady pastors in our conference refers to God as “she”, quietly changing the words of our hymns and liturgy at Annual Conference. There are hymns the present God as female, calling Him such things as the “Mothering God.” Such things may seem strange to us, but God is beyond such things, playing both mother and father roles to us, as well as many other roles. I have always wondered what it is like to be Catholic and have Mary as part of your religious experience and practice. But I like to think that God is enough! His (or Her, if you prefer) love fills us and makes life worth living. If you are thankful for your mother, then thank God for providing you with her. If not, thank God for providing someone who filled that role for you, and we can all thank God for our aunts, grandmothers, and the many other women who have blessed us with their love and commitment. And let us always be thankful for the love of God in Jesus our Lord. When earthly love fails, God’s love endures. May we love one another as He first loved us, and always abide in that love. May it comfort and guide us, nurture us, and one day bring us to our eternal home.