Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army 03 Mar 2013
by Captain Michael Ramsay
To read a more in-depth version, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2012/09/1-samuel-1-re-dedication.html
In returning this child into your care, I charge you to care for her in the name of the Lord, and keep the promises that you have made concerning her.
At this time I will take a few moments to explain for us gathered today the full implications of this wonderful event.
Remember what we read from the Bible, where the prophet Samuel was dedicated by his parents to the Lord, well this is actually based on quite an extreme situation. It is even quite extreme for today’s world.
You see, Hanna, Samuel’s mother, has been praying for a child for a long time. Now this is significant and that the Lord answered this prayer is wonderful and I have heard testimonies from others about how the LORD has blessed parents after many years of prayer with a child. There are many people who have not been able to have children and then when they have almost given up the Lord miraculously provides. This is the grace and wonder of God, of course, but there is even more to the story of the baby Samuel here.
Hanna and Elkanah - Samuel’s parents to be- they loved each other very much and they really wanted to have a child and, for the record, having a child was even more important to families 3000 years ago in Israel, when this story takes place, than it even is today. And that relates to, among other things, one’s retirement. In those days there were no senior’s cruises, no senior’s discounts at the stores, no old age pensions, no RRSPs, and no retirement homes; really if you did not have someone to look after you in your twilight years, then you were alone and you were hungry and you may not even survive. Having a child really was your retirement plan. He was your life savings and Hanna and Elkana had no child.
Because one’s life depended this much on having a child and because, even though they were hoping and praying for a child, they were unable to have a child, Hanna and Elkanah decided he should have a second wife – Peninnah.[1] (cf. the actions of Sarai, Gen 16:2; Rachel, 30:3; and Leah, 30:9).
Now this did solve the problem of getting a child but - as you can well imagine - one husband with two wives brought its own problems with it. Particularly since Hanna, who loves her husband very much, is now not only without a child but now has to deal with another woman and her husband’s children all in the SAME house. Can you imagine? Sounds like it could be a reality TV show or something.
So then with all this turmoil going on and the other woman and the other woman’s kids all living in the same house, Elkana, in the full perception of a modern TV husband, comes up to his wife and says, you look sad. Is there anything wrong? Can you imagine?
It is in this state. It is in this time that Hanna goes to the church[2] and she is truly begging and pleading with God. She promises the LORD, “please, if you give me a son, I will give him back to you to serve you all the days of his life.”
And He does. And she does. God blesses Hanna with Samuel and she offers the child to the Lord to serve Him forever. This is a true story and Elkana and Hanna have many more children after that and Samuel, the baby, grows up serving God, and actually becomes the last pre-king ruler of Israel. That’s pretty good.
This story as extreme as it is has some things in common actually with what we are doing today. Today, as God has given them this wonderful son, mother and father are offering their son up to the LORD. Mom and dad are here are making some promises to God that are every bit as significant as Hanna and Elkana’s.
We are thankful for the Lord’s provision just as Hanna and Elkhana were. Today Shauna and James have pledged to raise their son in a Christian home so that as Kaiden grows up, he will come to know the Lord. Now there are many trials and temptations that children face in this world today but there is also the miraculous salvation from these temptations that only the Lord can provide.
So it is to this end then – salvation – that we are gathered here today, in the presence of God, as these parents have dedicated their child to the Lord. And it really is an honour that each of us here are present to be a part of this very significant day.
Let us pray: Dear God, thank you for all that you have done in our lives. Thank you for this new life and the eagerness of his mom and dad to promise to raise their son to serve you. We pray that they will always rely on you and that all those present today, as we are led, will continue in prayer, upholding this family in the promises they have made today.
Thank-you. Amen.
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[1] Ronald F Youngblood in The Expositor's Bible Commentary, CD-ROM: The birth and dedication of Samuel (1:1-28)
[2] To Shilo actually to make a sacrifice unto the Lord. The Temple, of course, was not build yet. This was the location of the Ark of the covenant and the priests for some time in Israel’s history. Cf. Ronald F Youngblood in The Expositor's Bible Commentary, CD-ROM: The birth and dedication of Samuel (1:1-28)
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