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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Amen.)
Celebrity Jennifer Aniston recently talked about her childlessness, telling Allure magazine that some 20 years ago she was trying hard to have children, even using in vitro fertilization. Of course, Aniston is not alone in wanting but, even with medical intervention, being unable to conceive children. In this year’s Midweek Advent series “Old Testament Divine ‘birth announcements’”, we have heard of the barrenness of Sarah and Manoah’s wife, and, in tonight’s Reading, we heard the Divinely-inspired author of First Samuel twice refer the Lord’s having closed Hannah’s womb (confer Genesis 30:2). And so, we might also think of Leah and Rachel, each of whose wombs the Lord is said to have opened (Genesis 29:31; 30:22). Leah and Rachel essentially “competed” with each other to produce children with their husband Jacob, a situation perhaps not all that unlike that which we heard of in tonight’s Reading involving Hannah and Peninnah with their husband Elkanah. As we heard, Eli the priest eventually both told Hannah to go in peace and made a statement about the God of Israel’s granting her petition. Some Bible translators and commentators take that statement not as a prophecy or prediction but as a wish or prayer, which God graciously fulfilled (Kretzmann, ad loc 1 Samuel 1:1-18, p.454; Keil‑Delitzsch, ad loc 1 Samuel 1:9-18, p.25), and, indeed, what we know of Eli from elsewhere in 1 Samuel might suggest that God had not revealed Samuel’s birth to Eli, but, other translators and commentators nevertheless take Eli’s statement as God’s Word that could not fail of fulfillment and so as a promise to be received by Hannah and trusted (Gehrke, ad loc 1 Samuel:1-18, p.30, with reference to John 11:51; TLSB, ad loc 1 Samuel 1:17, p.435; confer also Mark 5:34), as she appeared to receive and trust that Word, in her going her way and eating and no longer being sad (confer CEV and YLT). For our purposes tonight, we are taking Eli’s statement as the fourth and final of our “Old Testament Divine ‘birth announcements’” that points forward to the birth of the Savior and serves our focus both on our repenting of our sins and on our receiving God’s forgiveness by grace through faith in that Savior, Jesus Christ.
In tonight’s Reading, we are told, without comment, that Elkanah had two wives, but we are not told why he had two wives. Bible commentators sometimes think that Elkanah only took Penninah as his second wife because Hannah his first wife was barren, because that barrenness “thwarted” Elkanah’s continuing his family line (Gehrke, ad loc 1 Samuel 1:1-18, p.29). To be sure, like the conflict between barren Sarah and her handmaid Hagar with whom Abraham fathered Ishmael (Genesis 11:30; 16:1-16; 21:8-21), there was conflict between Hannah and Penninah. As we heard, at least every year when they would go up to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice, when there apparently was evident a contrast between Elkanah’s greater love for Hannah and his love for Penninah but also a contrast between Penninah’s sons and daughters and Hannah’s barrenness, Penninah would provoke Hannah grievously to irritate her, perhaps even doing so sacrilegiously (TLSB, ad loc 1 Samuel 1:6, p.435). Barrenness was seen as the greatest‑possible disgrace among women (Fabry, TDOT, XI:322). Not only did Penninah pick on Hannah, but Hannah herself clearly was not content with her circumstances and situation, maybe even questioning whether God was blessing her at all (TLSB, ad loc 1 Samuel 1:2, p.435), though, other than Eli’s wrong conclusions about Hannah, tonight’s Reading sounds no note of God’s judgment against Hannah, nor does it give any other explanation as to why the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb (TSLB, ad loc 1 Samuel 1:4-8, p.435; confer ad loc 1 Samuel 1:5, p.435), though we might think of her initial barrenness’s being so that the works of God eventually might be displayed in her and that God might be glorified through it (John 9:3; 11:4; confer TLSB, ad loc 1 Samuel 1:5, p.435).
Like Penninah, you and I might pick on other people who have not been blessed as we have been blessed. Like Eli, you and I might come to wrong conclusions about others, based on our superficial assessment of what we might misperceive as the facts of the case. Like Hannah, you and I might not be content with our circumstances and situations, maybe even questioning whether God is blessing us at all. Like all of them, Holy Scripture makes clear that all of us both are sinful by nature and commit countless actual sins: things that we fail to think, say, and do that we should, and things that we think, say, and do that we should not. We deserve nothing from God except death here and now and torment in hell for eternity, apart from God’s calling and so enabling us to turn from our sin, to trust God to forgive our sin, and to want to stop sinning.
As great of a “judge” or “deliverer”, prophet, and effective “priest” as Elkahnah and Hannah’s son Samuel went on to be, God and Mary’s Son Jesus is greater. Jesus is the greatest Prophet, Priest, and King. As the greatest Prophet, Jesus personally preached and validated His Word with miraculous signs, especially His own resurrection from the dead. As the greatest Priest, Jesus perfectly fulfilled God’s law in our stead and sacrificed Himself for our sins, dying on the cross in our place, the death that we deserved. As the greatest King, Jesus rules over all creation but governs and protects especially His Church on earth. (An Explanation of the Small Catechism [1991 edition published in 2011], #125, pp.127-130.) We might say that, ultimately, God’s Word through Eli created faith in Hannah that received God’s blessings as He “remembered” her, that is graciously acted to bless her. Likewise, out of God’s love, mercy, and grace, God’s Word through our pastors creates faith in us that receives God’s forgiveness through His Means of Grace.
This year considering the four “Old Testament Divine ‘birth announcements’”, you may have noticed that the Lord God Himself, Who walked with the man and the woman in the cool of the day in the garden (Genesis 3:8), gave the first announcement to Eve; that the Angel of the Lord, Who appeared as a man (Genesis 18:2), gave the second and third announcements, respectively, to Abraham and to Manoah’s wife; and that the priest Eli gave the fourth announcement to Hannah. Yet, whether speaking directly or speaking through another, the Lord is still speaking, as the Lord speaks through His Word in our time: to groups such as this one, through His Word read and preached, and His Word applied to individuals with the water of Holy Baptism, with the pastor’s touch in Holy Absolution, and with the bread and wine of the Sacrament of the Altar that are the Body of Christ given for us and the Blood of Christ shed for us. Samuel, no doubt, was circumcised and brought into the covenant people of God, as we are baptized and brought into God’s family. And, Samuel, at least for a time, could confess his sins to the priest Eli for the sake of absolution (confer 2 Samuel 12:13). Yet, tonight’s Reading draws our attention especially to Elkanah and his family’s partaking of the sacrifice in order to receive the blessings of the sacrifice, as we in the Sacrament of the Altar partake of the Body and Blood of Christ, Who sacrificed Himself for us, that we might receive the blessings of forgiveness and so also life and salvation. In tonight’s Reading, Hannah would not eat at first, but, after the Lord’s Word from Eli to her and her consent to it, she did eat. As for her with that sacrificial food, so for us with this sacrificial food and drink (confer John 6:55), here we have fellowship and communion with our God and with those who believe and confess as we do (1 Corinthians 10:16; 11:28-29).
In the course of their regular worship at Shiloh, Hannah eventually fulfilled her vow to give Samuel to the service of the Lord (1 Samuel 1:21-28; confer Numbers 30:10-15), apparently for him to be a lifelong Nazirite like Samson before him and John the Baptizer after him (Numbers 6:1-21; Judges 13:4-5, 14; Luke 1:14-15). At that time, Hannah prayed the song that we sang as tonight’s Office Hymn (1 Samuel 2:1-10; Lutheran Service Book 928), which expresses the gracious great reversal that God accomplishes, a song that is arguably echoed in the song that the Virgin Mary sang after she consented to the Lord’s Word (Luke 1:38) and was blessed with Jesus in her womb, which song we will sing in a few moments (Luke 1:46-55; LSB 248-249). Not ultimately because she prayed for them but because of God’s grace, Hannah eventually had three other sons and two daughters (1 Samuel 2:21), though we do not know if those children were fewer or more than those Peninnah had, and in the end it does not matter. Believers desiring a spouse and children today should know that, whether or not they receive a spouse and children, God has not withdrawn His favor from them. For those desiring children, we pray for patience and understanding and for a child or children as God wills. For those who are unable to conceive, we pray for grace to accept God’s will and for faith to cast all of their cares on God Who cares for them (LSB:PCC, pp.186, 188; 1 Peter 5:7). God promises to and does set the solitary in families (Psalm 68:6 KJV), and, like Hannah and Mary before us, we consent to God’s Word and will in all regards (confer Gehrke, ad loc 1 Samuel 1:1-18, p.30). And, God’s providential control over all things for our benefit does not fail to achieve His purposes (Kretzmann, ad loc First Samuel, p.453).
Celebrity Jennifer Aniston reportedly has resigned herself to not having children. Some of us may do the same. Like St. Paul, we can be content in all circumstances and situations, through Him Who strengthens us (Philippians 4:11-13). Most importantly, as tonight’s additional Psalm noted (Psalm 24; antiphon: v.7), we receive righteousness from the God of our salvation; we receive that righteousness by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord. This year’s consideration of the “Old Testament Divine ‘birth announcements’” regarding Cain, Isaac, Samson, and Samuel has pointed us forward to the birth of our Savior and helped us focus both on our repenting of our sins and on our receiving God’s forgiveness by grace through faith in that Savior, Jesus Christ. May God preserve us in that repentance and faith in Him until the end.
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +