PREACHED:OL,
“HANNAH:
THE GRACE AND FAVOR OF MOTHERHOOD”
INTRODUCTION:
1M Age
of Unrest
A. Change for change sake -
Old Standards cast off -
Traditional Roles considered
“antique”—abandoned -
Terms, Ladies
& Gentlemen, are meaningless terms of address, not descriptions of
character -
·
“A lady is a woman who makes a man behave like a gentleman.”
2L One of Saddest Consequences
A. Devaluation
of motherhood and a life devoted to rearing children and keeping the home—homemaker!
1. 34
years ago, in the bloom of radical feminism, Dr. Stephen Manchur
of
a. “…otherwise intelligent women are angry because their husbands cannot
become pregnant and do not have to bear children and raise them.”
2. One
leader of the radical feminist leaders during the ‘80’s stated many years ago that the
feminist movement had as one of its goals the abandonment of the need for fathers.
a. Nursery
schools and state kindergartens would do the child rearing, while the “mother”
(?) would assume the role of father and provider.
B. I
was overjoyed to hear the Secretary of Health and Welfare, in charge of family
health and stability state:
1. The
research unquestionably affirms the essentiality of a stable home environment
with both effective and functioning fathers and mothers!
a. Of
course, God knew that from the beginning, didn’t He?
1) Gen 1:28. “And God blessed them (male and female). And God said to them. ‘Be
fruitful and multiply and fill the earth…’”
2) Throughout
the scriptures: emphasis on the roles of both father and mother in the rearing
of godly children!
3¶ WHAT IS NEEDED?
A. The
reaffirming of the grace & favor
of being a “godly” mother!
B. No greater example than Hannah.
1. In
fact, the name “Hannah” means “grace” or “favor.”
a. And
truly she lived up to her name!
2. She
was the mother of the last great Judge and the powerful prophet of God, Samuel.
a. Anointed Saul & David
C. Introduced to her:
1. I Sam 1:1,2. “There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name
was Elkinah the son of Jeroham,
son of Elihu, son Tohu, son
fo Zuph,
an Ephraimite. He had two wives. The name of the one
was Hannah and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but
Hannah had no children.”
D. What
made Hannah such a great example for godly women of motherhood?
DISCUSSION:
ΠHannah is such a great example of motherhood because SHE
WANTED TO BE A MOTHER!
A. Her
sadness, longing and sense of loss brought her to tears and loss of appetite:
1. V 8. “And Elkanah, her husband, said to her,
‘Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am
I not more to you than ten sons?’”
a. Typical, insensitive man!
B. What
a stark contrast to so many in our “Abortion-Mill” culture!
1. David
talked of the glory of what was made in the womb of a woman as being the
handiwork of the Almighty:
a. Psa 139:13-16. “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s
womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your
works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was
being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. You eyes
saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the
days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.’
2. Back
in the mid-70’s when Sue and I lived in
a. But
someone observed—rightly—in the Shreveport
Times that priorities had gotten all messed up when people were ready to
march on city hall over the kittens clubbed to death, and wouldn’t even raise
an eyebrow over a newly started Abortion
clinic and the hundreds of babies that would be tortured and killed!!
C. Hannah
wanted to be a mother not after she
had fulfilled herself, but in order to
fulfill herself!
1 Oh!
How we need a revival of the primary role of woman as wife and mother!!!
“God sought to give the sweetest thing,
In his Almighty
power to earth,
And deeply
pondering what it should be,
One hour in fondest joy and love of
heart,
outweighing any other,
He moved the gates of heaven apart,
And gave to earth, a mother.”
¨ Hannah was a great example of motherhood because SHE TOOK
HER BURDENS TO THE LORD.
A. Hannah
not only was unable to bear children, but the other wife of Elkinah,
rubbed salt in the wound:
1. V 6,7. “…her rival (Peninnah) used to provoke her grievously to irritate
her, because the Lord closed her womb. So it went on year by year. As often as
she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah
wept and would not eat.”
B. But notice her spirituality:
1. V 10. “She was deeply distressed and prayed
to the Lord and wept bitterly…”
a. I Tim 5:16. “The prayer of a righteous person has great power in its working.”
b. I John 5:14,15. “And this is the confidence that we have
toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if
we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests
that we have asked of him.”
c. Matt
C. Now,
notice! Hannah did this year after year!!
1. Hannah
was not a “foxhole” believer! It was a regular practice to God up to the house
of God to worship!
D. But
after God had blessed her with a son, the text says, “Hannah prayed and said…”
1. Let’s
read together her beautiful and powerful words:
a. 2:1b-10.
Ž Hannah was a great example of motherhood because SHE DEDICATED
SAMUEL TO THE SERVICE OF GOD’S HOUSE EVEN BEFORE HE WAS BORN.
A. She had a plan for his spiritual life!
1. He
was her firstborn, and rather than redeeming him with money, that she might
selfishly have him with her, she devoted him to his task for God!
a. She had prayed:
1) “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look in
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.”
2. She
must have told him many times what his life was to be in the service of God!
3. After
he was weaned, when the time came she took him to the house of God in
a. Vs 26-28. “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your
presence, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord has
granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the
Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.”
b. What
a difficult day that must have been to put God’s will before her own feelings!
B. Did
you have a spiritual plan for your children before they were born? Do you have
one now? Are you actively pursuing that plan?
1. Hannah
did more than just wish she committed herself and then acted on that commitment!
CONCLUSION:
“Search the long annals of proud
The tombs of war, and the chronicles of peace;
Ransack the old and modern rolls of fame,
To fit the brightest splendor on a name…
The name above all other names is MOTHER…”