Seven Rhythms: Generosity (1 Samuel 1:9-28)
I love to hear about people planning their Disneyland trips. I overheard a parent at Lacrosse practice planning their Disneyland trip, and I could not help but give some input on how they could maximize their trip. We had a very pleasant conversation that started with me sharing my excitement for them. They walked me through their plans and allowed me to share my thoughts. I told them that my family and I had lived in Southern California for several years and had annual passes to Disneyland for a couple of years. When they heard that, they became very receptive to my recommendations on avoiding long lines, finding the best food, and prioritizing the best attractions.
When they returned from their trip, they initiated a conversation with me at the beginning of practice to share how their experience went. I was delighted to hear about the fun that they had. A Disneyland vacation is a family experience that many prioritize as an essential part of raising children. Disneyland may not be the destination you prefer, but I bet there is a vacation spot you want to enjoy as a family. Family vacations are magical moments of connection and frustration that have a lasting impact on us. To make these moments happen, we have to have a generous posture with our time and finances. A good vacation takes a lot of time and money to make happen. We make these sacrifices to ensure our kids have beautiful memories that will last them a lifetime. We hope that our present sacrifices will have a lasting impact.
There is another activity that we as parents need to invest in for the long-term health of our children. The same sacrifice and effort we put into planning vacations must be directed at this activity. This activity will significantly impact our children more than a memorable experience in the “Magic Kingdom.”
Big Idea: Devotions over Disneyland. Disneyland is great. If you are planning a trip, I would love to help you, especially if you would like to take me as your travel guide. Showing our kids and the next generation around us the importance of having a rich personal relationship with God will have a more lasting and significant impact on their lives. When we put more effort into vacation planning or academic preparation than we do into the spiritual development of our children, we are doing them a disservice. I want to highlight a heroic woman in the Old Testament who prioritized her son's spiritual life and changed the spiritual landscape of the nation of Israel.
1 Samuel 1:9-11, “9 After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli, the priest, was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. 10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. 11 And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”
In the first few chapters of 1 Samuel, the author sets up a contrast between two characters: Hannah and Eli. Hannah is the hero in this story, and sadly, Eli, the priest, looks more like a villain. Let’s focus on Hannah first. Her prayer is one of the longest-recorded prayers in the entire Old Testament. This prayer also contains one of the most occurrences of the divine name, Yahweh, God’s most sacred name. The content of her prayer is also exemplary. Her vow outshines the actions of the great patriarchs of the Jewish faith: Abraham and Sarah.
God promised Abraham a son and then, after delivering on this promise, asked him to sacrifice him. Hannah committed to sacrificing her son to the service of the Lord before she ever had a son. Sarah relied on her ingenuity to bring about the promise of God by requesting Abraham to sleep with her maidservant so they could have a child. Hannah sought the Lord's intervention and submitted to his plan. Her devotion to the Lord exceeds the majority of Old Testament characters. Hannah’s vow to not let a razor “touch his head” most likely refers to a Nazirite vow, which was a commitment one made indicating a special pledge to the Lord. Hannah’s devotion and commitment to her son's spiritual life is in direct contrast with the spiritual incompetence and parental negligence of Eli, the priest.
1 Samuel 1:12-14, “12 As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. 14 And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.”
Eli’s perspective may indicate what type of behavior he was used to seeing. Israel was not in a healthy moral and spiritual place at the time. It would not be hard to believe some visitors to this sacred place acted foolishly. I don’t think this fully explains his perception or excuses his accusations against Hannah. In the context of this book, I believe the author is pointing out another example of Eli’s incompetence. He couldn’t differentiate a pious heart from a drunkard. His inaccurate perception was most likely rooted in his spiritual corruption, which is mentioned in the next chapter.
Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were acting violently against the people, taking an improper share of their sacrifices and committing sexual sin. Eli was not directly responsible for his son’s misconduct, but he was complicit in their sins. 1 Samuel 2:29, “29 Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?” Hannah desperately longed for a son that she could commit to the service of the Lord, whereas Eli had been blessed with two sons whom he spiritually neglected and consequently brought under the judgment of God.
Eli’s family reflected the corruption in Israel's priesthood. In the book before 1 Samuel, Judges, we get a sobering picture of the decay of Israel’s spiritual leaders. Chapters 17 and 18 tell us about a Levite who aided a fellow Israelite in worshiping idols. In chapters 19 and 20, a Levite started a war between the tribes of Israel. 1 Samuel 1 plays a pivotal role in the spiritual story of the people of Israel. God was about to remove the corrupt leaders who misled his people and usher in one of the greatest leaders the nation had ever seen. At this watershed moment, God brings about this change through the remarkable devotion of a barren woman.
1 Samuel 1:15-18, “15 But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. 16 Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” 17 Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.” 18 And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
Like the early section, this section highlights the contrast between Hannah’s and Eli’s faith. Hannah referred to God by the name he gave to Moses, “Yahweh.” Eli used the title “God of Israel,” a more distant term. Hannah’s trust in God is also highlighted by her remarkable response to Eli’s blessing. Her posture changed once she was assured that the Lord heard her request. Her circumstances hadn’t changed, but now she was confident the Lord had heard her. Eli did not guarantee that Hannah’s prayer would be answered, but his comment showed that he was praying with her for a son.
I often am not at peace with my prayers to God until he answers them. Hannah had peace before her prayers were answered. Many of you here today have made similar prayers to God for children that have yet to be answered. I wish I could tell you that God will give you children. I can’t. I can say that God will hear your prayers, and he can give you supernatural peace in response to those prayers. He also may answer those prayers in unexpected ways. He may give you spiritual children in this church. He may open your heart to adopt or become a foster parent. I don’t know, but I do know that he hears you and has good for you. Hannah’s prayer was answered, and she fulfilled her vow to give her son to the service of the Lord.
1 Samuel 1:19-20, “19 They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. 20 And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the Lord.”
God's “remembering” points back to the stories of Noah in Genesis 8:1 and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Exodus 2:24. This is not a statement about God's memory but an indication that God was about to make a significant move in his unfolding plan. God was honored by Hannah’s heart, and he chose to use her and not the professional priests to cause reform in his spiritually deprived nation.
1 Samuel 1:21-28, “21 The man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord and dwell there forever.” 23 Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; only, may the Lord establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. 24 And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. And the child was young. 25 Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. 26 And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. 27 For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. 28 Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.
According to Mosaic law, Elkanah, Hannah's husband, could have voided her vow, but instead, he affirmed her commitment to giving up their son to the service of the Lord. Interestingly, Hannah is the main subject of the verbs in this section, showing us that she is being cast as the hero of this story. The sacrifice that the family gives is extraordinary. A smaller offering would have been acceptable, according to Leviticus 12. Hannah's son, Samuel, would become Israel's greatest judge. She raised him to approximately the age of three and would only see him once a year when the family made their annual trip to this sacred place of worship; one of these trips is recorded in 1 Samuel 2:20. Eli had more time with his sons yet had less impact. Hannah had such little time with her boy, but she fostered a faith in him that would reshape Israel’s history. When we trust the lord and devote our kids to the Lord, it is incredible what God can bring about.
Devotions over Disneyland. I hope you plan extraordinary vacations for your family and volunteer at our church's youth and kids’ events. Having fun is essential. Do it—do a lot of it—but don’t neglect your family devotion time. Don’t neglect to pour into the spiritual life of the kids around you. Christian Smith and Melissa Lundquist Denton write this in the book Soul Searching, “The most important social influence in shaping young people’s religious lives is the religious life modeled and taught to them by their parents.” Kara Powell, who has done extensive research on young faith maturing into adulthood, noted in her book 3 Big Questions That Change Every Teenager, “Teenagers with doubts who felt the freedom and had the opportunity to express their questions actually showed greater faith maturity. Put more simply, it's not doubt that is toxic to faith-it's silence. Tough questions are most likely to sabotage faith when adults stifle them.”
We want our kids to succeed socially, so we encourage them to pursue extracurricular activities. We want our kids to perform well academically, so we encourage them to study and work hard in class. What are our spiritual goals for our children? We can’t make them follow Jesus, but we can show them what it looks like. We can’t make them believe in the Bible, but we can teach them how to read, understand, and apply it to their lives. My prayer is that you will see the importance of passing your faith on to the next generation. Whether that is your kids or the youth around you. At the end of this month, we have an opportunity to sponsor kids in Nyagatare, Rwanda, where we have raised enough funds to build a church. I encourage you to prayerfully consider how you can contribute to the faith and livelihood of the children in this city.
Life-Level Application
Head: Read 2 Timothy 1:3-7. What was the spiritual heritage of Timothy? What is the spiritual heritage of your biological family?
Heart: Read Acts 16:1-5 and 1 Timothy 1:2. Why do you think Paul referred to Timothy as his son? Do you have any “spiritual” children of your own? How has the Lord used you in their lives? Do you have any “spiritual” parents? How have they impacted your life?
Hand: Read Matthew 19:13-15. Why do you think Jesus and his disciples responded differently to the children coming to him? How does this passage convict you about your heart for children?
Habit: What weekly practices can you adopt in your family to promote spiritual health? What spiritual habits do you hope your kids have before they leave your home? If you don’t have kids, how can you invest in the faith of the next generation?