sermon excerpts: In the Barrens

There is a similar theme [of barrenness and growth] in today’s reading about Hannah. In her despair and frustration, that she was “a failure as a woman” (because in those days, the only purpose for a woman was to bear children), she turns to prayer. In return for a son, she’ll give that child back, dedicating his life to God. So Hannah bargains with God, which is a natural human strategy or coping mechanism. We appeal to God’s graciousness and generosity, but we need to be careful about how it comes across. It very easily can turn into treating God like Santa Claus, I’ll be a good boy if I can get the Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas.

Why is it that when God speaks to us or we attempt to live out our faith, the reaction of others is “Are you drunk?” That we are in an altered state of mind, that we don’t have full control of our faculties, that our reasoning must be deficient?

If we think back to the story of Pentecost where the Holy Spirit first filled the disciples in Jerusalem, the response to them was – they must be drunk. And here, centuries before, as Hannah fervently prayed to God, the priest wonders if she is intoxicated. Part of this accusation is to knock her down a peg because she represented someone connecting to God without the aid of a priest...

Which is what Hannah did – speak to your situation, identify what is most important in your life and give voice to it, whether it is a happy message, or a sad one, it deserves to be told. And when Samuel is finally born, the happy-fulfilled mother gives him back to the Temple! She gave up that which was most important to her, something she’d waited her whole for and she gives him up.

Of all the sacrifices made on behalf of one’s faith, and you can’t really measure these kinds of things, but Hannah’s was one of the greatest. She gave up her only son. And we know that God did the same, when Jesus was born.
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In the face of so much encouraged self-interest and greed, which seems to fuel the Christmas economy, it is easy to be overwhelmed and discouraged. As churches everywhere watch people flock to the malls instead of to places of worship, as more time is spent on revising shopping lists than in prayerful reflection, I feel a spiritual barrenness in our society.

Yet, I will cling to the example of Hannah. She was at the Temple praying by herself, for herself. As we heard, Eli had a lot at stake. This represented people finding God without a priest! Hannah dared to take faith in her own hands. For whatever reason, that she didn’t want to take up the priest’s valuable time, that he wouldn’t understand, that she didn’t think someone else could convey to God the turmoil in her life, and in her heart. There is truth to that; we are the only ones who know what is going on in our lives.

The message is to persevere and to take our faith into our own hands. Am I preaching myself out of a job? If I am, I suppose it’s not a bad way to go; and the church as a whole is on the brink of needing to make changes if it’s going to survive in these times. But remember, too, that we need the support of others, we cannot reject their encouragement or corrections. Which is what the church community is supposed to be about – helping everyone be the best person they can be, celebrating and supporting one another. We are not alone. Thanks be to God.