Lent
1 Samuel 1:27 "For this child I prayed; and the Lord ihath given me my petition which I asked of him: 28 kTherefore also I have ||lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth ||he shall be lent to the Lord. And he lworshipped the Lord there." [1]
I. Prayed
A. Lord
B. Let
II. Provided
A. Lent
B. Life
III. Purposed
A. Love
B. Lead
Introduction: Most church signs that you see along the highways say something like “Happy Mothers’ Day.” Our particular church sign simply says “Good Mom’s Day.”
To be happy is a state of mind to which a person can and must decide to be in. Nobody else can make you happy if you choose to be unhappy. So to wish someone a happy day is futile.
To be joyful is another thing altogether. Joy comes from a relationship with God alone. There is no joy without a relationship with Jesus. So to wish someone a joyful day means something.
And what is good? Luke 18:18, “ eAnd a certain eeruler asked him, saying, Good fMaster, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.” [2]
So what then does it mean to wish that someone might have a “good mom’s day?” It is a prayer that a mother might attain the faith of a godly mother. People coming by our sign out front might suppose that whoever put it up was too lazy to spell out what others put on their signs. Now you know.
Today we will hear of a mother who was a very good mom. Hannah prayed for a long time to have a child. When God finally answered her prayer she took Samuel to the temple and gave him to God; or so we think when we read the account. Today we will reconsider what a good mother she truly was.
There are many good mothers here with us today. Welcome to you all. The masses are being brainwashed into thinking that what makes you what and who you are is you alone. I have a new word to teach today. Hogwash!
God made us to be what God has for us to be. Mothers and Fathers have a different frame of mind and there is nothing wrong with that. There is everything good about that. We are to be a team and sometimes it is not for us to completely understand the other. If men could completely understand women and women could completely understand men then God would not have created both of us. He said it! There in Genesis everything that God spoke into existence was good until He acknowledged the one thing that was not good.
Genesis 2:18 “And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; mI will make him an help †meet for him.” [3]
Scripture: The scripture today is 1 Samuel 1:27-28. Please stand if you’re able.
Prayer: Let us pray. Be seated.
Message: Look back in your Bible to the beginning of the chapter. Elkanah was like most other clueless men. To make the matter worse he had two wives. One mothered his children and the other one was jealous. Duh! In verse eight he added insult to injury.
1 Samuel 1:8, “Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I jbetter to thee than ten sons?” [4]
There is something about a good mother that no man can understand no matter how hard he might try. We fathers surely do love our children and we would die for them. Fathers want to see the day when the child becomes an adult who contributes to society. They will always be our children and we will always love and pray for them but the relationship is somehow unexplainably different,
The Holy Spirit didn’t hide this understanding from me but somehow it did not become clear until I received this message for this day. The love that a father has for a mature child is different than the love he has for his baby. As the child matures the relationship between and dad and a child grows from one of reliance to one of deliverance. When the child has matured the father considers his role to be of advisor and counselor. Not true with the mother.
Sometimes you might think it’s not a good thing until you finally understand the difference. Look around this sanctuary and you will spot it. The child that belonged to that mother; he/she still belongs to that mother. That kid might be married with a spouse and maybe children of his/her own but that child still really belongs to his/her mother and don’t you forget that!
Sometimes it is humorous as even Jesus knew this to be true. Mary was Jesus’ momma. Don’t forget that! She knew who Jesus was and she was very proud of her little boy. She liked to show Jesus off even when Jesus knew it wasn’t the time or place for her to do it. Jesus even said so but in the end momma was momma.
Look forward to John 2:1-5, "And athe third day there was a marriage in bCana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 2 And both Jesus was called, and chis disciples, to dthe marriage. 3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. 4 Jesus saith unto her, eWoman, fwhat have I to do with thee? gmine hour is not yet come. 5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it." [5] You see; even Jesus knew better than to argue with momma. It is Jesus’ first recorded miracle.
Hannah knew that all things come from the Lord. She knew that if it were God’s will to let her have a child, nobody could or would stop her from having her child. Notice there that I emphatically said her child. She had the kind of faith that is essential faith. Of course she was joyful to be a wife to her husband but God put into her the need to be a mother.
Today we believe that we can do anything we want to do and nobody has any control over any aspect of our lives that we cannot decide for ourselves. Few consider the truth that it is God who lets and God who takes away. Hannah knew. That is why she prayed for her life to be God’s will.
“And the Lord hath given me.” God provided for Hannah what He intended for Hannah. As the guy on TV says, “But wait there’s more!” God provided for Hannah therefore Hannah gave back to the Lord? No! That is not what the scripture says. Hannah didn’t give her son Samuel, she lent her son Samuel. As long as Samuel had life his life would be lent to God but Samuel would always be Hannah’s little boy.
There it is! That is the difference guys! That is what many wives never understand until they become moms themselves and then they still don’t quite understand why an in-law is an outsider whom they have lent their child to. I’m not sure that most mom’s understand that it is going on but here it is. Hannah didn’t give her son; Hannah lent her son for the rest of his life.
You are my baby and there is nothing that you can ever do about that. It is the natural way that God intends mothers to be. We guys can’t get it. God gets it because that is how God feels about you. No matter where you go or what you might do you are God’s baby that you share with that mother who gave you birth. Are mommas special? You better know it!
Indulge me for a minute because there is another profound truth here. Where did Hannah take her little boy? She took him to church to worship. My momma took me to church when Daddy wouldn’t go with us. Many of you are thinking that this preacher is like everybody else. Blaming his childhood for what didn’t happen to him. Not true!
God gave me and my dad a wonderful gift. My mother’s purpose is being fulfilled right here right now. I am finally here. My mother’s purpose is being fulfilled right there in heaven right now. Daddy is right there where He was led to be with momma. That is her purpose. Every time there is a message delivered my mother’s purpose is accomplished.
We have got to back up just a bit and give credit where it is due. Elkanah; remember him? He took his wives and his children to the temple. That was a very good place to start.
Samuel would lead the Israelites even when they did not know they were being led. Hannah was there because she had lent her child to the Lord. Hannah’s love was there because she had lent her baby to the Lord.
You are here because your moms lent your lives to the Lord. So I say again, Good moms’ day!
Prayer: Let us pray
Invitation: One of these days that we do not know when; it will be the day and the time that God does know. Friday afternoon Wayne Kennedy got a preview of the main point of this sermon today. He needed to understand that on that particular time of that particular day the time of being lent will be over. So it will for each of us; one day.
On that particular time of that particular day the lending that was agreed to by your mom will be complete. There and in that place called heaven we will be together with our godly mom and Jesus. Our heavenly Father will be there with the Holy Spirit where we will fall on our knees together and give praise to the one who has given us all.
Moms who love God lend the thing that they prize most in this life to God because they know one day they will receive the prize in heaven for that which they lent to God here. If you have a godly mom, then you know how it feels. Otherwise unfortunately you don’t.
For those who have a godly mom the way to help end the tragedy of this nation in this time is to once again do what God instructed us in His first commandment with promise. Let us love and honor our moms so that every woman will want that honor.
Elkanah thought that he was God’s gift to women. “Why would any woman not be happy to have me as her husband”, he thought. God’s gift to women is God! Our gift to our mothers is God’s love through us. Let us know that and show that on this Mothers’ Day.
Be happy as we sing…
i ver. 17.
k ver. 11, 22.
|| Or, returned him, whom I have obtained by petition, to the Lord.
|| Or, he whom I have obtained by petition shall be returned. So ch. 2:20. See Ex. 3:22. (11:2. & 12:35, 36).
l Gen. 24:26, 52.
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., 1 Sa 1:27–28). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
e To ver. 30, Matt. 19:16–29. Mark 10:17–30.
ee See John 3:1.
f Comp. ch. 10:25–28.
[2] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Lk 18:18–19). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
m 1 Cor. 11:9. Comp. Ecclus. 17:5. & 36:24.
† Heb. as before him.
[3] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ge 2:18). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
j Ruth 4:15.
[4] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., 1 Sa 1:8). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
a Comp. ch. 1:29, 35, 43.
b ver. 11. ch. 4:46. & 21:2.
c ch. 1:40, 42, 43, 45. & 3:22. & 6:3, 67, 70, 71.
d See Matt. 22:2.
e ch. 19:26.
f See 2 Sam. 16:10.
g So ch. 7:6. Comp. ch. 7:30, &c.
[5] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Jn 2:1–5). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
