She Nevertheless Persisted: Hannah and Prayer

This is the first in our ongoing series leading up to and beyond the reign of King David - a series of meaningful, heartbreaking, and funny stories.  Come along for the journey this summer.  It all starts with Hannah, mother of the great prophet Samuel

Read First Samuel 1-3

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Transcript

Sermons from Mission Hills UCC

San Diego, California

 Rev. Dr. David Bahr

david.bahr@missionhillsucc.org

May 12, 2024

“Why Do We All Belong?”

1st Samuel 3: 1-10 – Common English Bible

Now the boy Samuel was serving the Lord under Eli. The Lord’s word was rare at that time, and visions weren’t widely known. 2 One day Eli, whose eyes had grown so weak he was unable to see, was lying down in his room. 3 God’s lamp hadn’t gone out yet, and Samuel was lying down in the Lord’s temple, where God’s chest[a] was.

4 The Lord called to Samuel. “I’m here,” he said.

5 Samuel hurried to Eli and said, “I’m here. You called me?”

“I didn’t call you,” Eli replied. “Go lie down.” So he did.

6 Again the Lord called Samuel, so Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “I’m here. You called me?”

“I didn’t call, my son,” Eli replied. “Go and lie down.”

(7 Now Samuel didn’t yet know the Lord, and the Lord’s word hadn’t yet been revealed to him.)

8 A third time the Lord called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “I’m here. You called me?”

Then Eli realized that it was the Lord who was calling the boy. 9 So Eli said to Samuel, “Go and lie down. If he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord. Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down where he’d been.

10 Then the Lord came and stood there, calling just as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”

Samuel said, “Speak. Your servant is listening.”

Every year when Hannah and her husband, and her husband’s other wife, went to the shrine in Shiloh to worship, Hannah cried out to God.  She was miserable and prayed to God for relief.  She pleaded for God’s mercy.  The other wife, Peneenah, thought this was funny and regularly laughed at her, made fun of her, mocked her, which, of course, only made Hannah feel more miserable.  

Why would Peneenah do this?  She liked to brag that she had children and Hannah didn’t and even made a point of parading her children in front of Hannah.  She was the B-word.  Not Peneenah.  Hannah.  She was barren.  And their shared husband was no help.  When Hannah was sad, she wouldn’t eat.  Elkanah asked what could be so wrong and she told him.  Now what do you suppose he should have said to comfort her?  Perhaps something like, “I love you, my darling, more than even 10 children.”  What do you suppose he did say?  “What, I’m not better to you than 10 sons?”  Mr. Sensitive and his other wife Mrs. Cruel.

One year they were all back in Shiloh to worship.  Hannah went off by herself and once again cried out to God.  “Look at my pain!  Don’t forget me!”  As she was in the middle of praying from the depths of her heart, a priest noticed her and came over to scold her.  “Stop acting like you’re drunk.  Sober up!”  “No sir,” she replied, “I’m just a very sad woman.  I’m praying out my heart to God.”  Why did the priest accuse her of being drunk?  She wasn’t wailing and howling or creating any kind of disturbance.  It was because she was praying by only moving her lips, not speaking out loud.  She probably didn’t want to attract any attention, from either a priest or from Peneenah who would notice and come by and laugh and make fun of her.  Can you imagine how alone Hannah felt?  She wanted a private moment for just her and God.  

So, what was Hannah praying for?  As you might expect, a child.  We may tire of biblical stories that equate blessing with sons and the seeming plethora of stories that marvel at the miracle of a barren woman having children after years of hoping.  But we have to respect the position this put Hannah in and recognize the significance this played in ancient times.  Among other things, it made her worthless in the eyes of her husband and a source of mockery by other women.  Hannah prayed for relief from her misery, so she bargained with God.  “If you give me a son, I will dedicate him back to you.  He will serve you his entire life.  And no razor will ever touch his head.”

When she finished praying, the priest who accused her of being drunk told her to go in peace and said, “may the God of Israel give you what you’ve asked for.”  The next day the family returned home and she told Elkanah to have sex with her.  Nine months later she gave birth to a son and named him Samuel, which means “I asked the Lord for him.”  

She kept her promise.  As painful as it must have been, as soon as she stopped breast feeding, she took the boy, her only child, to Shiloh and along with a jar of wine, 20 quarts of flour and a 3year old bull, she gave her son to a priest named Eli to raise.  When she handed him over, Hannah didn’t weep.  Quite the opposite, she sang:

The bows of mighty warriors are shattered,

  but those who were stumbling, dress themselves in power!

Those who were filled full now sell themselves for bread,

  but the ones who were starving, are now fat from food.

The woman who was barren has birthed seven children

  but the mother with many sons, has lost them all.

My heart rejoices in the Lord.

My strength rises up in the Lord.

There is no one holy like the Lord.

There is no rock like our God!

Her words sound remarkably similar to Mary’s Magnificat:  The humble are lifted high, but the powerful are toppled from their thrones.  The hungry are filled with good things, but the rich are sent away hungry.  Hannah’s song also sounds like Miriam.  When the people escaping slavery in Egypt had passed through the Reed Sea, she grabbed a tambourine and sang, I sing to the Lord who is highly exalted.  Horse and rider, he has thrown into the sea.  Songs of powerful women about reversals of fortune.  In fact, women in ancient Israel are often credited with singing battle songs.[1]

And, by the way, Hannah goes on to have two daughters and three more sons.  Peneenah was never able to conceive again.  So there!

Hannah’s story now shifts to Eli raising her son – whose own sons were rotten and everyone knew it.  They were disrespectful.  They ate food from the sacrifices they weren’t supposed to.  They had sex with the women who served at the entrance of the tent – which I’m sure meant without those women’s consent.  People kept coming to Eli to complain.  But whenever Eli tried to change his son’s behavior, they refused and continued their wicked ways.  This went on for years.  Finally, it was so bad that even God complained to Eli and warned, if you don’t set them right, there will be consequences.  

As time went on, God seemed increasingly absent.  It was rare for anyone to encounter a word from God or see visions.  They continued the rituals, but lost their relationship.  But there was one bright spot in Eli’s life thanks to Hannah.  Samuel.

When he was 12 years old, while he was sleeping he heard a voice and assumed it was Eli calling him to get up and help the now old and nearly blind man.  Samuel wasn’t familiar with the idea that he might hear directly from God, so he said, “Here I am.”  But Eli was sound asleep.  He yawned and said, “It wasn’t me.  Go back to bed.”  Not long after, Samuel woke Eli up again and said, “Here I am.”  “It wasn’t me.  Go back to bed.”  A little while later, once more Samuel woke Eli up. “Here I am.”  This third time Eli realized it must be God.  He advised, “if you hear the voice again, say “Speak, for your servant is listening.”  

It was indeed God and, boy, did God have something to say, but not what I would expect.  Not, “Dear child, I have wonderful and marvelous things planned for your life” but something more ominous:  “I’m about to make something happen in Israel that will make the ears of all who hear it – tingle.”  Almost all translations use the word tingle.  But a few translations say “shocked” or “shudder,” and based on what God says next, it would seem everyone will indeed “shudder.” 

God told this still innocent, wet-behind-the-ear, wide-eyed, hopeful 12-year-old boy:  “I am about to punish Eli’s family forever because of the sins of his sons - their wrongdoing, their cursing of God.  At this point, I’m done with them and nothing can change my mind.”  Imagine Samuel’s broken heart.  Eli was like a father to him.  He was afraid to tell him, but Eli said, “don’t hide anything from me.  What did God say?”  And after hearing the verdict, Eli agreed it was what he deserved.  It was the end of his line.  But, remember, regardless of the failure of his own sons, Eli had done something extraordinary.  He took Hannah’s son and prepared him and he became one of Israel’s greatest prophets.  

Samuel grew up and everyone from one end of Israel to the other knew that Samuel was trustworthy and that he was God’s prophet.  But, as it turns out, his sons were pretty rotten too.  He made them judges but they tried to turn that into a profit-making enterprise, accepting bribes and perverting justice.  And that leads to the next chapter in the life of Israel where we will continue our ongoing story next time.

I’ve always identified with the story of Samuel.  When I was 16 and thinking about who I wanted to become and what I wanted to do with my life, I knew there was one thing I didn’t want to do – the thing people may have thought I would do:  become a pastor.  No way.  I bargained with God that I would be the kind of lay person in a church who did the things no one else wanted to do, as long as I didn’t have to become a pastor.  God didn’t accept my terms and I started having dreams.  The same dream night after night until I was really annoyed.  I kept seeing myself doing things that pastors do – standing in a pulpit, visiting in the hospital.  I happened to attend the annual meeting of churches in North Dakota as a youth delegate and saw some pastors I knew from summer camp and youth events.  I told a few of them about my dreams and all of them said, it sounds like Samuel.  Just wake up and say yes.  I didn’t like that and rejected their advice.  Throughout the summer I kept having the same dream so one morning I woke up and reluctantly took their advice.  Feeling kind of defeated, I said, “OK, enough already.  If that’s what you want, I’ll do it.”  And immediately, I felt washed in peace, like a bucket of water poured out over my head.  I got my answer and I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do with my life.  

In that way, the story of Samuel’s call makes absolute sense to me – a true story.  But remember, it didn’t start with Samuel.  It all started with Hannah, because through all the pain and grief, nevertheless, she persisted.  And when she turned to God, God made her an active participant in changing the world – changing the mockery of her to power.  She said, “Here I am.”  

Have you heard her story before?  Hannah’s story is rarely told, perhaps because it could be just another predictable trope – she was childless, prayed, and conceived a son.  But her powerful song shows she understood that her role was much more than that.  She sang, The bows of mighty warriors are shattered, but those who were stumbling, dress themselves in power!  That’s nothing less than revolutionary.  She said “yes” and went home and told her husband what to do.

Like many of us, Hannah experienced a lot of pain and grief, some at the hands of those closest to her, but she was not resigned to bitterness.  She repeatedly went directly to God and poured out her heart.  She turned to God in honest and raw prayer and because of it, Hannah played a significant role in the epic story of Israel because she persisted through prayer.  

And what does that mean for us?  The lesson isn’t to pray to God and you will get what you want.  It is to be real with God.  Being real changes our potential.  God welcomes us to share our pain and grief so that we become more than that.  Can you be real with God?  

[1] Jo Ann Hackett, The Women’s Bible Commentary, WJK 1992, page 90