A Mother's Day Song

Today, we are going to look at the songs of two different women. Hannah and Mary. Now most, if not all of us, know who Mary is. Mary, mother of Jesus, only person to give birth as a virgin. You know…all that stuff. But you may not be as familiar with Hannah. Hannah, is the mother of the prophet Samuel. And 1 Samuel starts off with her experience as a mother. Hannah was married to a man named Elkanah. Elkanah also had another wife named Peninnah. Elkanah loved Hannah more than Peninnah even though Hannah never given her any children like Peninnah did. Peninnah taunted Hannah because of her inability to have kids while also receiving more from their husband. Elkanah see’s that his wife is in sorrow and he goes up to her and says “why are you troubled? Am I not better to you than ten sons?” Now let me give a little advice to any husbands or guys who want to be husbands…never tell your wife “you got me baby, you don’t need anything else!” That isn’t going to go well for you. But Hannah prays to the Lord and tells God that if He gives her a son that she will give him to the Lord. And the Lord answers her requests by giving her a son in Samuel, which means “requested from God”. The passage we will ready today is Hannah’s prayer of thankfulness to the Lord.

Now in this story we already see many parallels to other stories in Scripture. We see the same taunting and jealousy between Sarah and Hagar after Ishmael was born, and between Leah and Rachel after Rachel was unable to give birth to children yet Jacob still loved her more. Mary would have been familiar with all these stories, and in fact, many commentators believe that as Mary took the 4 day trip to see Elizabeth while she was pregnant that Mary was considering the song of Hannah as she herself would soon write her own song. A song of fears as a mother without a husband but also knowing that what she was apart of was something to be thankful for. And although the songs are not the same, and even have different tones to their writing, both hit on many of the same central themes about God’s character in connection to what God has done in their lives. In fact, for songs that are reflecting on the blessings that they are receiving, very little time is spent with an inward focused. Rather all of the praise is directed outwards to God. They do this because they recognize God’s blessings in their lives, it is almost as if through their circumstances in which God has worked that their eyes have been opened to more of who He is. As I read in one commentary. But as we focus in we can see 3 main themes on God’s character that emerge. That God is holy, God cares for the hurting, and God is faithful. Each of these reminds us that we are to Celebrate God’s work in and for His people. Just as Hannah and Mary do, both what God did in their lives but also how that showed them how God cares for all of His people.

God is Holy

1 Samuel 2:1-2

Luke 1:46-49

What does it mean that God is holy? It means that God does not just possess characteristics that are good, but that He is the best of each characteristic He possesses. God isn’t just compassionate, He is the MOST compassionate. God isn’t just loving, He is the MOST loving. God isn’t just a judge, He is the good and perfect judge over all creation. God is alone and by Himself in His power and glory. And not just the best, but perfect in each of them. And both Hannah and Mary delight in God’s holiness.

But in what way do they delight in God’s holiness? Oftentimes we think of holiness as a concept, that He is “set apart”. But we don’t often think about what that means about Him. But if God is the perfectly compassionate and loving and He is a perfect judge then we know that we can trust God. In Jackie Hill Perry’s book “Holier than Thou” she puts it this way. “If God is holy that means He can’t sin, and if God can’t sin that means He can’t sin against me, if God can’t sin against me doesn’t that make Him the most trustworthy being there is?” So Hannah and Mary are delighting in their God who is more trustworthy than any man or woman and they have no reason to question His plan for their lives. But when we look at their stories it sure seems like they had reason to doubt God. Both of them dealt with ridicule, with feeling shamed and humiliated, and both of them knew that their sons were being offered to God for His glory. That they wouldn’t be their child, they would be God’s child. But in light of God’s holiness they don’t ask the question “is God good?” but rather “if God is good and holy, then how is this an expression of His goodness and holiness?”

I'm sure many parents in this room have had a child who has cleaned their rooms, done the dished, vacuumed the carpet and when they come to you you think..."they either did something bad or they want something from me." Or if you know someone who has questionable character and they are nice to you all of a sudden, you start to wonder what the catch is. Because it isn’t just about what they do, it is about who they are. The best news in Christianity isn’t just what God does, but who He is.

So Hannah and Mary’s expression of God's holiness isn't just stating something about God's character, but it is her recognizing that God is trustworthy even in hardest moments where it is the most difficult to trust in Him. That everything God does is an expression of His goodness, every single thing. She see's this as Peninnah, Elkanah’s second wife, had children and taunted Hannah. But she overcame this disgrace in the Lord who gave her Samuel and looked on her helpless state. For Mary she was having a child out of wedlock and a child not in her plans, but she knew that God was blessing her with the Savior of the world.

And as they look at God’s holiness and look at their own lives they speak to another characteristic about God.

God cares for the hurting

1 Samuel 2:3-8

Luke 1:50-53

When we look at Hannah we see she goes from helplessness to blessing. And as she see God’s blessings she notices that God often reverses the fortunes of the proud and the humble. All of our boasting and arrogance is folly in the presence of the Lord. God is aware of all of our thoughts and deeds, He judges all of actions fairly. Our words and actions do not compare to God's holiness, each of us fall short. It is like what Psalm 139 tells us about God. He has searched and known us, when we sit and stand, our travels and our rest. Before we even say a word he knows it. And as David says "Where can I flee from your presence?" And the answer is nowhere. Then as the Psalm ends he writes "Search me, God and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way". Our way of everlasting comes from the God who looks on the poor in Spirit.

In verse 5 of Hannah’s song see says “the woman who is childless gives birth to seven, but the woman with many sons pines away”.

Notice that it says “the woman who is childless gives birth to seven.” It is not by accident that in Ruth the women of Bethlehem say to Naomi after Ruth gives birth to her grandson. "Indeed, your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him." This child was Obed, who would father Jesse, who would father David. So indeed, she was another woman whose fortunes were reversed. It also points us to Leah, who had many children but was always 2nd to her sister Rachel in the eyes of Jacob In many ways she was “bereft” even with her houseful of children. Yet it would be Rachel’s child who would be the savior of Israel when famine would come.

Mary also looks at the ways that God reverses the fortunes of the proud and the humble. That He topples the mighty and exalts the lowly. Satisfies the hungry, sends the rich away empty, He has scattered the proud because of the thoughts of their hearts and shown mercy to those who fear Him.

Mary says that God scatters the proud "because of the thoughts of their hearts". This phrase is used by Luke again in Luke 9 when Jesus knows the inner thoughts of the disciples hearts and tells them that "whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me...For whoever is least among you - this one is great." Almost as if Luke is looking back at this passage of Mary who had literally welcome the Savior into the world and would be called great herself. And in this we can also see that each mother plays a role in welcoming a child to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation and invites them to glorify Him.

In showing us how God cares for the poor in Spirit Hannah and Mary remind us that life is not just a straight, perfectly flat road with no bumps along the way. Rather life is full of hills and valleys, ebbs and flows. God can reverse fortunes, he can bring life and wealth or death and poverty. Our current situation does not mean we will stay where we are. Mary says that God "looked with favor on the humble condition of his servant" because God is close to the broken and the lowly. Mary calls herself blessed and that generations will call her blessed, which is exactly what has happened! They call her blessed because "the Mighty One has done great things for me, and his name is holy. It has nothing to do with her, but because of the God she serves. If we want to know how rich God's mercy is, first we must admit our own poverty.

Since it is mothers day I will use an illustration that I know every mother will love...a sports reference lol. The NFL draft was just the other draft, a huge weekend where teams choose players that will be on their team. Each team has difficult decisions to make about the player that they will choose. And there is always a question that is asked when a team picks a player "do we draft for need or do we pick the best player available?" To pick for need is to say "we aren't going to choose the most talented player, or the one we think has the best chance to succeed, we are taking this player purely because we have a need at this position and we think he can fill it". The problem with this line of thinking is that when you select for need you miss that each position is going to have issues at some point. You will have injured players, someone may ask for a contract and you have to overpay them because you don't have a good player behind them, and if you pick just for need then you might end up missing out on a player that you will later regret. So to draft the best player available is to say "we need to look past the immediate and receive something that is better." When we are rich in this world we often don't try and get what is "best", we try to fill perceived "holes" in our life. When we feel that emptiness it isn't "let me turn to God", it is "I need to install that new pool in the backyard because that is what I am missing", "I need to make myself more busy because I can't seem to find rest when I am not busy", "I need a child...I need ONE more child in order to make my life complete as a husband or father, wife or mother." So rather than running to the God who satisfied us with good things, we run to that which only satisfies for a moment. We run to the junk food rather than to the food that satisfies.

You may be childless, you may single and desiring marriage, you may have lost a parent or a spouse or a child and we can want to fill those need immediately. But Hannah and Mary remind us that God never forgets about us an our need. Hannah may have felt like she was still loosing something, because she wouldn’t be raising Samuel herself. But what she didn’t know in the midst of her song that the Lord would give her 6 more children!

I play board games with my children, and one thing children learn in games is that where you are does not mean that is always where you will be. In Candy Land there are cards that can take you from the back all the way to the front, but there are also cards where you can be send back to the beginnings. In Chutes and Ladders you can land on a ladder that will bring you closer to the finish line. While the chutes near the top can bring you back to the bottom. Whenever one of my kids gets upset at their current status in te game I remind them "things can change quickly" and when a child brags about how far they are I remind them "just because you are here now does not mean that you will finish". It is a great example of life, life can change so fast from grief to joy, from excitement to sorrow.

God is faithful

1 Samuel 2:9-10

Luke 1:54-55

Mary looks past what God is doing in this moment and sees how God has always been faithful, "His mercy is from generation to generation". "He has helped his servant Israel.” Mary sees that in her insignificance the Lord is revealed as the Mighty One. In her sinfulness, God is revealed as a holy God. In her sinfulness, God is revealed as merciful. And that God is faithful for generations (Psalm 103:17). Mary and Hannah both show that she believed God and that He would keep His promises, that He had remembered His promise to Abraham and that her son was the one they had been waiting for. Even before that, in Genesis 3 when God spoke to Eve and told her that her offspring would crush the serpents head. Through Christ God's wrath is satisfied, and in Christ we are made whole. I read this in one commentary. "The Son of God entered the world through pregnancy and childbirth. That fact fills pregnancy and childbirth with incalculable dignity and meaning! The infinite God came into the world through the close spaces of a human womb, making the womb and all that's in it sacred!" "Had Mary and Elizabeth lived under Roe v. Wade, the plan of God to save the world would have been in jeopardy from the angel's announcement to her. She would have had a line of people ready to tell her to abort the baby...Praise God our Savior was born!"

Mary refers to God’s power, a power that God revealed to His people in the OT but God is now revealing in the Messiah. Since we know God has been faithful in the past, we know that He will be faithful with His news for the future. God has judged the proud, even more so will the proud be judged when we have Jesus to look to. God knows the hearts of all people, and to those who are proud in their own ability, and just like at the Tower of Babel, God will always show His authority over them.

We celebrate the work of God in and for His people by hearing and keeping His Word.

Hannah ends by speaking of the King that is to come, the King that will reverse the fortunes of the people of Israel. The king that her son Samuel will identify in David. But it also looks forward, to Jesus, who will not just reverse the fortunes of God's people but to all the nations.

Interesting story in Luke 11:27-28 where a woman calls Mary blessed for giving birth to Jesus, but Jesus tells her "blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it." We are called to be blessed not because of the many possessions we have, or how many kids we have, or by the wonderful job we enjoy. But, like Mary, we are blessed by hearing the Word of God and keeping it in light of the Savior that Has been born.

Mother’s day is a day of celebration. We appreciate mothers day because God has given us wonderful mothers that care about us. Mothers celebrate today because God has blessed them children who they have had the privilege to raise. Husbands and fathers celebrate because God has blessed them with a good wife and a good mother. (Just like the husband in Prov. 31) But we also know for others it is a difficult day. But in light of God’s holiness, His care for the broken, and His faithfulness we can still rejoice in Him! Knowing that He cares for us.

I end with this quote about Hannah. “She could sing from the fullness of joy that wells up from costly giving…God controlled the providential ordering of the world, and therefore she need have no anxiety.”