One year there was a terrible flood that deluged a small mid-western town located in a valley between two rivers. Both rivers had overflowed their banks and the rains continued to fall day and night. There was no relief in sight as the town slowly flooded. Everyone was evacuated, except for one old man who refused to leave his house—which would soon become completely submerged.
“I have faith that God will save me,” the old man shouted at everyone who implored him to leave and flee to higher ground. The man believed in the power of prayer, and he trusted that God would somehow save him.
As the water covered the roads, making them impassable for cars, a man in a four-wheel-drive truck stopped at the old man’s house and banged on the door. “Hurry,” he cried out. “Come with me and I’ll drive you to safety! You haven’t much time!” But the old man continued to pray. He would not leave his house.
Within hours, the water had risen several feet, completely flooding his home. The rain continued. The old man climbed up on the kitchen table and continued to pray. As the water was lapping at his heels, a man in a rowboat paddled up to the old man’s kitchen window and shouted, “Sir, get in my boat! I’ll take you to safety!”
“No,” the old man shouted back. “God will deliver me from this flood!”
The water got deeper and soon the old man had no choice but to climb up on his roof. The torrential rains persisted. While he was praying, he heard the chop-chop-chop of a helicopter in the sky. He looked up and saw the helicopter hovering over his house. A ladder had been lowered for him to climb.
“Go away,” yelled the man at the helicopter. “You will blow me off my roof! God is going to save me! You go save someone else!”
The helicopter couldn’t wait forever, so it left the old man on his rooftop, still praying. Eventually, the water engulfed the house and the old man perished in the flood.
When the old man arrived at the gates of heaven, he asked Saint Peter if he could have a talk with God. Peter took him to the throne of grace.
“Oh Lord, I prayed earnestly for the rains to stop and for your deliverance from the flood. But you left me there to drown. I don’t understand!”
“My child, I heard your prayers. I sent you a four-wheel-drive truck, a rowboat, and a helicopter. Why did you send them away?”
Good stewards have faith and trust in God because they recognize his activity in their circumstances, regardless of how hopeless they seem. In our eyes, things may look like they are getting worse and that God has abandoned us. But God sees the big picture and we can trust that he will never leave us nor forsake us. He is at work, even when we don’t realize it.
Good stewards understand what is required to be a mature disciple of Christ. Our lesson today illustrates for us a mother’s dedication to answered prayer. In getting what her heart desired, Hannah must also give that desire back to God. It’s an account of answered prayer, but prayer that elicits a condition. Hannah, a barren woman, prays fervently for a child. Her Hebrew culture commonly stigmatized childless women, and Hannah’s husband’s other wife, Peninnah, taunts Hannah without mercy. Hannah even bargins to dedicate her child to the Lord’s service should she have one; in time she conceives and bears a son whom she names Samuel.[1]
As a parent, I find Hannah’s story a remarkable one. She made a deal with God, one I would have trouble fulfilling if I was in her shoes. When Michael and Marissa were born, I made mental lists of things I would want to experience with them: learning to walk and talk, celebrating their birthdays, their first day of kindergarten, sharing life’s trials and celebrations together and so much more. What parent doesn’t want to see their child’s first steps?
Hannah doesn’t. She knows that each day brings her closer to fulfilling her promise to God. After weaning baby Samuel, Hannah offers him to Eli the priest at Shiloh.
My wife, D’Anna, noticed the title for today’s sermon was about parenting. She asked, “Are we having a guest preacher Sunday?” Can anyone among us honestly claim to be experts in parenting? I don’t think so. Parenting is the hardest job you’ll ever love. There are moments when I feel the love and there are other moments that try your patience, test your resolve, and push all your buttons. In parenting, even the most capable parents lose their bearings once in a while. Even the most patient parent loses their cool after asking their child for the one millionth time to put their toys away. But when your child gives you that huge bear hug or comes running to meet you at the door or tells you that you are their best friend, the love and joy we feel overrides all the other stuff. It is certainly true that parenting is the hardest job you’ll ever love.
And no matter how our children turn out, we still love them. On the evening news, there is always at least one news story about a young man or woman involved in a shooting that led to someone’s murder. In the interview with the news reporter, you never hear her say, “I’m not surprised by this. He’s been trouble all his life.” Rather, they always say, “He or she is a good kid. Would never hurt anybody. Goes to church and walks with the Lord.” This sentiment makes Hannah’s action to give Samuel to God even more amazing. Her prayer was sincere. When it came to keeping her promise, she lived up to what she pledged she would do: she gave her one and only son to God because God gave him to her in the first place.[2] Would you do the same?
I find it intriguing how easy it is for we parents to commit our children to the secular gods of our day rather than the God of the universe. We sign them up for an exhaustive list of activities, we satisfy their wants and needs, and nurture them with the values of our materialistic world. Then we may commit our children to the God who provides the basis for human wholeness and our salvation. If there is a conflict between a church activity and a non-church activity, which one takes priority over the other? Hannah is modeling for us the better way to go. It is better to commit our children to full time service to the living Christ than to a world of materialism and greed.
Hannah came to understand and believe, as difficult and painstaking as it was, that God was active in her circumstances, regardless of how hopeless it seemed. Samuel was a gift from God. She was so thankful and grateful for what she had received.
Good stewards know how to count the cost of discipleship. Good stewards know how to measure the blessings and gifts of God and respond in faith. Faithful parents grasp that what they do with and for their children is part of their stewardship of God’s gifts. God offers us children with the knowledge that we will give them back to God. This is the Good News! Amen.
[1] The Stewardship Companion: Lectionary Resources for Preaching, by David N. Mosser (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007) p. 158-159.
[2] Ibid.
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