Title: Hannah's Thanks
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<Thanksgiving Day, October 6, 2002>
Nurturing Sermon / Video
Hannah's Thanks
1 Samuel 1:21-28
Colossians 3:12-17
Today is Thanksgiving Day in our church. Even if we do not farm, Thanksgiving is always given during the harvest season, so it is appropriate to give it as a thanksgiving. Harvest is always meaningful to us because it is the harvest season not only for harvesting the crops in the fall, but also for the farming of our lives.
Hannah, who appeared in 1 Samuel chapter 1, which we read today, was a woman who was always grieving because she could not have a baby. Hannah then dedicated her son Samuel to God and raised him in the sanctuary. Through this story, we want to think about how we should give thanks to God.
Hannah's Pain
Hannah was very much loved by her husband Elkanah, but she could not have children. Elkanah's other wife, Peninnah, always harassed Hannah while she had children. Not worthy of the name Hannah, which means 'abundant grace', God did not give him a baby. Once a year, Elkanah and her two wives would go up to the sanctuary in Shiloh to offer sacrifices, and each time Hannah would only weep and eat nothing. The husband loved Hannah very much, even though she could not have children. But the more it happened, the more distressed Hannah became, and she couldn't control her feelings of regret. In the old days, it was considered a great shame and a felony for a woman to get married and not have children. It was to sever the family's faith, weakening the family, and in the end it was considered a sin against God.
Hannah had been like this for a few years, and feeling that she could not bear it any longer, she went up to the sanctuary and prayed earnestly to God alone.
“Lord of hosts, if you have compassion on your servant’s humble appearance, remember me, and do not forget your servant, and grant him a son, then I will dedicate the life of the child to you and razor I will not put it on his head."
She couldn't contain her sorrow, so she poured out his heart before the Lord. It seems that Hannah felt that her life had no meaning if she could not have a baby. His dedication to God as soon as he gave birth and weaned shows that he did not intend to rely on him in old age, to keep his child in his arms and to take pleasure in him. Giving birth to a child was to confirm one's existence and to fulfill one's responsibility.
Hannah's thoughts are also important to us who believe in Jesus today. We have been saved through the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and become his bride. Then we have a responsibility to bring forth the fruit he desires. We have a mission to fully fulfill the commandment of love that He has given us. If the believers who became the brides of Christ did not bear these fruits, they should be ashamed and grieved and should pray with regret like Hannah in order to fulfill their responsibilities. We should be praying for God to understand God's great will through tears and to be reborn as a spiritual being according to that will. But while we are the brides of Christ, we do not please Christ, we are just brazenly putting our demands before him. We Christians should always go to the Lord with fear and trembling, clearly aware of the responsibility of becoming the bride of Christ, and pray earnestly, asking the Lord for forgiveness with regret for not being able to fulfill it.
Gratitude that comes from the discovery of one's identity
God heard Hannah's tears, opened her womb, gave birth to a child, and finally gave birth to a son. He named him Samuel because he was the son God gave him because he had answered his prayer. 'Samuel' means God heard. Hannah's joy could not have been expressed in words. In 1 Samuel 2, she expressed her joy:
You have filled my heart with joy. Now I can raise my face before the Lord. I am proud even before my enemies. My joy is great, because the Lord has saved me.
When God heard his prayer, it means that his existence was acknowledged, that all his shame had gone away and he was now a proud and proud child of God. She could not help but be grateful as she experienced the abundant grace of God that came upon him, just as his name intended.
My husband, Elkanah, must have been happy too. So, after giving birth to the baby, Hannah also went to the sanctuary of Shiloh, the first to go up, to give thanks to God, but Hannah refused and fell. Because when she weaned the baby, she was going to give him to God. It was also the vow of his prayer, perhaps because he could not bear it without such an expression of his gratitude for God's abundant grace, even if it were not a vow.
In fact, if he was such a precious son, he would have loved it and wanted to keep him next to him. But Hannah did not hesitate and decided to give the baby herself to God. Abraham must have been very happy and cherished when he had a son at the age of 100. Then, one day, when God heard the command to offer his son as a burnt offering, Abraham reluctantly tried to offer his son to God in amazement and wonder. It must have been a test that God had given Abraham to bring him to his senses because he was too attached to Isaac. However, Hannah did not ask God to sacrifice it, but considering that she would sacrifice the child to God first, it is possible that Hannah's faith was superior to Abraham's.
When Samuel was weaned, Hannah and the child went up to the sanctuary in Shiloh with the child, three bulls (one bull that is three years old), an ephah of wheat, and a bottle of wine. Hannah prepared a gift with all her heart, thanking God for the abundance of grace bestowed upon him, and did not hesitate to entrust her precious son Samuel to Eli. Three bulls are too many for a sacrifice. For the poor, one dove is the offering, and usually one sheep is sufficient. When cattle are sacrificed, it is at the time of a large national feast. However, the reason why she took not one but three bulls for a personal sacrifice is probably because Hannah wanted to thank God that much.
The direct motive for his gratitude is that God gave him a son. However, if you look at the content of his praise of thanksgiving to God, you can see that he is giving thanks for the joy of knowing that “there is no one but the Lord who protects the weak like a rock” rather than simply the joy of having a son.
He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the dung heap, to sit with the noble and to occupy a place of glory. The foundation upon which this world is supported is all the Lord's. He laid the lump of earth upon the foundation. 1 Samuel 2:8
He thought he was a God who answered the prayers of powerful and strong people, priests and prophets, but it was his unspeakable joy to know that he is a God who also answers the prayers of a poor woman. As Hannah's prayer was answered, she became convinced that she was a child of God who could hold her head proudly, and for this she gave thanks to the Lord. With this confidence, Hannah was no longer a weak woman crying and sighing, but a courageous woman with confidence and pride. Hannah offered her a gift of thanks to God with all her heart, with the joy of finding her again after she had lost her.
What can we give thanks for today? If we don't have a clear sense of who we are as Christians, at best we'll be grateful for the past year that has kept us healthy, brought peace to our homes, and worked flawlessly. Not all of these things are unappreciated. But if our gratitude stays there, it is too superficial and far from God's will.
Like Hannah, we were little sinners, but we must clearly know that we are children of God who were saved by God’s special grace, and we should strive to glorify God with pride and pride as children and to realize his kingdom on this earth with confidence. will do When we realize clearly who we are as God's Beloved Child, we will be thrilled, and we will be able to offer the gift of gratitude with all our might.
If our thanksgiving and worship are wrong, it is easy to end up as a ceremonial ceremonial act. It is because I do not know for sure whether I am a child of God or not. An ambiguous self-awareness that always seems to be a stumbling block is that when you go to church, you seem to be a child of God, and when you go out into society, you return to an ordinary worldly person who is no different from an unbeliever. Therefore, when they do not clearly glorify God, nor do they deny God and do evil, but remain as an insignificant being, no praise of thanks can come out of their mouths, and no pride or pride can be found. When we clearly know and believe in a God who cares for the weak, a God who values even the least of us like me, who brings down the proud and raises up the humble, we are not afraid even if the people of this earth turn away from me, Even if you are poor and powerless, you will have nothing to be ashamed of.
Beloved, how hard have you been in the farming of faith over the past year? So, on Thanksgiving Day today, do you really want to give thanks for God's abundant grace over the past year? I believe that the beautiful fruits of faith have been borne in your life in which you have discovered that I am a glorious child of God as you have been attending church for the past year, and have done your best to fulfill your duty as a child.
Now, with pride and pride as God's children, I hope that you will live your life to glorify God and to participate in the construction of his kingdom.