This sermon is the third in the giving series. The first week was about giving your best to your family. Last week was giving your worries over to God. This week is giving your best to God. The scripture is from 1 Samuel 1. It is the story of Hannah. Hannah wanted a son more than anything in her life. She was barren and could not have any children. A future son would be her “first fruit,” but there wasn’t any hope that she’d have children. She was getting older. Her friends and her husband’s other wife were having lots of kids.
Hannah’s husband was Elkanah (el-KAY-nuh). Elkanah had two wives. Life was tough for Hannah because the other wife, Peninnah (pee-NIHN-uh), had a lot of children. Peninnah bragged that she had children and Hannah did not. Peninnah did everything she could to hurt Hannah’s feelings. She loved to tell Hannah that she had plenty of kids and Hannah had no children at all.
1 Samuel 1:1-2 tells us “1 There was a certain man from Ramathaim (ray-muh-THAY-ihm), a Zuphite (ZUHF-ait) from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu (ee-LAI-hyoo), the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah (pee-NIHN-uh). Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.”
This story talks about the ritual of going to the Jewish temple to sacrifice offerings to God. Leviticus 7 explains the fellowship offering that was being given in this story. It was really complicated to understand what should be sacrificed for different events in your life. There were different rules and laws that required them to sacrifice at the temple to atone for their sins and to celebrate events like a new baby. God changed all of that when he gave us Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for our sins.
1 Samuel 1:3-8 continues “3 Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni (HAHF-nai) and Phinehas (FEHN-ee-uhs), the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD. 4 Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the LORD had closed her womb. 6 And because the LORD had closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. 7 This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. 8 Elkanah her husband would say to her, "Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?"
A future son would be the most precious thing that Hannah could ever dream or imagine. A son would be her priceless treasure. She decided that she would give her son back to God if God would give her a son. Hannah gave her precious treasure to God BEFORE she received it. Hannah didn’t even have one child at the time that she made the decision that her treasure belonged to God.
Would you give to God the very thing that you’ve dreamed about your entire life? What do you dream about? What if your dream was impossible to obtain? What dream or treasure is out of your reach, but you really can’t get it out of your mind? For Hannah, her impossible dream was having a son.
Let’s read the scripture to get a better idea what is happening to Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:10-11 “10 In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD. 11 And she made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head."
Hannah did a few key things in these verses. She turned to prayer when she was crying and in pain. She also pledged to give her first born son to God. She pledged that he would be a priest. That is what the “no razor” verse means. Certain kinds of priests like John the Baptist did not ever cut their hair. She was giving to God the impossible gift or treasure that she did not even possess.
Hannah had the wisdom to understand that a son was God’s gift to her in the first place. Hannah is a powerful example of someone who gave her most precious treasure to God BEFORE she received it. It would’ve been easy for Hannah to give a son if she already had ten sons, but she was barren when she gave Samuel to God.
Hannah had faith to see the possibility of having a son. She realized that God could do the impossible. She also realized that the impossible is only possible with God’s answer to prayer. Hannah prayed with faith. Hannah also took action before the unseen became visible. She didn’t even have a pregnancy test to prove that she was even pregnant. Hannah just believed in God.
It gets better than just believing that Hannah was going to have a child. Hannah believed that if she gave that child to God that her son, Samuel, would become a mighty man of God. Hannah was living in a time very much like our own where the country had moved away from God.
Even the priests did not have a strong relationship with God. The country needed someone who could make a big difference in the faith of the people. Hannah believed that the son that she did not have could be that man of faith to touch the people of an entire nation. Now, that is faith!
1 Samuel 1:19-20 tells about God’s answer to Hannah’s pray: “19 Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the LORD and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah lay with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. 20 So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the LORD for him."”
1 Samuel 1:24-28 tells the story of what Hannah does after God made the impossible come true. Hannah was not able to have children for many years. She agreed that she would give back to God her most precious gift in life. Hannah was giving her son, Samuel, to God as soon as he was weaned as a baby. She wasn’t even holding on to her only son until he grew up to give him up to God. “24 After Samuel was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. 25 When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli, 26 and she said to him, "As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. 27 I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there.”
Eli was a priest at the temple. Hannah took Samuel as a infant to the temple for Eli to teach and mentor. I love reading the Bible because there are so many wonderful stories of faith coming out of despair.
There were no logical reasons why Hannah should believe that she could have a baby. Modern medicine would have concluded that she would not be able to bear children. Hannah also had the “other wife” telling her that it was impossible for her to have children. Hannah’s doctors and Peninnah (pee-NIHN-uh) were eager to tell her that having a child was impossible. Hannah believed “All things are possible for those who love the Lord.”
Hebrews 10:15 says “The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16"This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." The Lord wrote on Hannah’s mind that she was a woman of God. She had God in her heart and her mind.
Now, it is time to discuss what Hannah did right. Hannah did not have anything to give to God as an offering. She did not have a family to offer to God so she asked God for a son. Hannah also promised that her son would be a man of God. Hannah also promised that Samuel would be given to God as infant. We may believe that we don’t have anything to offer God, but that is not true. Hannah did not have anything to give to God except for her belief that God could make a barren woman bear a faithful son.
She was living Matthew 7:7-11 which says: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
Hannah asked God for a son. Hannah was seeking God by going to church. Hannah was seeking God by praying to God and worshipping God. Hannah knocked on God’s door by going to church and praying with faith that God would answer her prayer. God opened the door for Hannah to have a baby. God gave Hannah the good gift of a mighty man of faith. She just had to ask God for a son who would be faithful and lead many generations of people to worship God. Hannah asked God for the impossible gift of a son. She looked for God all of the time and she knocked on God’s door.
The next thing Hannah did was stay connected to God as if she was part of God’s vine. In John 15:5-9 Jesus says “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”
Hannah was able to grow in her faith because she was always connected to God by being part of his vine. Her branch grew because she was always looking for a way to serve and give back to God. Hannah believed she had something to give to God even when there was nothing visible in her life that she had something to give. Hannah knew that she could give an offering to God even if she did not have anything to give. Hannah believed that if she prayed and asked God for a child that God would answer her prayer. Hannah was also willing to give her most precious gift to God. Samuel was her firstborn son. He was her first fruit. We can’t out give God. God blessed Hannah with other children. God also blessed Hannah with the knowledge that Samuel would serve a nation who needed a man of God who could listen when God called him.
We must give our best to God today and every day. Let us look to the gifts that God can provide when we are looking for ways to give back to God. The birth of Samuel was a gift from God. We must acknowledge that our family is a gift from God as well. The best way to bless our family is to offer them up to God as our gift to him.
Turn your eyes up to God. God will give us good gifts if we just ask, seek, and knock at his door. Next, consider giving the impossible dream to God and see how he answers your dream. Give your best to God. Give your best to God and see what God does with your gift. Hannah gave her first son to God and God turned Samuel into an amazing man of God who touched a nation. What is the best that you have to give to God? Don’t forget to use your imagination when you are giving your best to God. Go out today and starting dreaming the impossible dream. Connect to the love of Jesus Christ by being connected with his vine and allow God to shape your dream into something greater than we could ever see or imagine!
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