Dr. Roger W. Thomas, Preaching Minister
First Christian Church, Vandalia, MO
Here We Raise Our Ebenezer
1 Samuel 7:12
Introduction: I recently saw a production of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol.” The play reminded me how much of an impression the classic Christmas tale has had on all of us. The very name of the chief character has become a part of our vocabulary. Anyone who is a stingy, sour-puss at Christmas is known as a “scrooge.” On the other hand, how many boys do you know named Ebenezer?
Despite the Scrooge legacy, the name Ebenezer has a glorious legacy. In fact, one of my favorite hymns uses that term in a strange line that practically nobody understands. Perhaps, you have sung the song “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and wondered about the line. The first verse reads, “Come thou fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount--I’m fixed upon it--Mount of thy redeeming love. Here I raise mine Ebenezer; Hither by thy help I’m come. And I hope by thy good pleasure Safely to arrive at home.”
That line from the hymn, the name Ebenezer, and the lesson we need today all come from a single Old Testament verse. I hope that after today, whenever you are overwhelmed by life or tempted to give up in discouragement, you will repeat this strange word to yourself—Ebenezer! People may think you are crazy, but I guarantee if you can say Ebenezer with meaning you will never be the same.
Let me read the Old Testament verse, explain a bit of the story behind it, and then show what it so important about it for us today. 1 Samuel 7:12, “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far has the LORD helped us.”
It was over eleven hundred years before the time of Jesus. The people of Israel had conquered much of the Promised Land, but it hadn’t been easy. The infant nation was still surrounded by many powerful enemies. In fact, twenty years before the event in this text, one of the darkest days in ancient Israel happened. In a single day, Israel not only suffered a terrible military defeat but also lost the Ark of the Covenant into enemy hands. The Ark was the symbol of God’s presence among them. It was the worst disaster imaginable. Israel soon regained the ark. But nothing was the same again. The terrible memory of that day would continue to discourage the nation for a generation.
Twenty years later, Samuel, the great prophet of the nation, calls a meeting of the nation’s leaders. He tells them that if they want to experience the blessings of God, they need to return to their faith in him. Times had been hard. But they would never be any better until they turned to God. The entire nation responded positively. At Mizpah, the nation gathered in prayer to seek God’s blessing again. Just at that moment, the Philistine army, the dreaded enemy, saw an opportunity to attack while Israel’s warriors were in prayer. But Samuel learns of the treachery. The soldiers form battle lines. The Philistines are turned back in defeat. A great victory for Israel!
To mark the occasion of the great military victory and the day of their great return to faith, Samuel raises a memorial marker. From that day on, whoever saw the marker would be reminded of the great events of the day. Samuel gave the marker a name. He called it Ebenezer, a term that meant “the help of the Lord.” “Thus far has the LORD helped us,” he said.
Like ancient Israel, we are assembled here today in a memorial service. We are not going to raise stone pillars or monuments. But many of you are going to place small memorial symbols on this Christmas tree. We haven’t come through twenty years of spiritual despair or survived a great military battle. But many of you have been through your share of hard days and long nights.
Today we could use a memorial like Samuel’s. It wasn’t a memorial of their hard times or of their more recent victories. It was a memorial to God’s faithfulness. Here we raise our Ebenezer because “Thus far has the Lord helped us.” That’s a reminder we could always use!
Israel didn’t need a memorial to the tough times they had been through. After all, they had experienced them. You don’t need a memorial to your loss and grief. Some things you never forget. Those ancient Israelites weren’t likely to forget the twenty years of discouragement.
Memory is an amazing thing. Psychologists tell us that we never really forget anything. Every experience good and bad is filed securely in our mental memory banks. Sometimes we forget where we put it, but it is still there.
Many of us who are getting some snow on our roofs are a lot like the little old lady who was visiting with her minister. He reminded her that at her age it was important to start thinking about the here after. “Oh, I do,” she assured him, “I think about it all the time. Why just this morning, I went down to the basement. No sooner did I get down there than I said to myself, “What am I here after?”
It is good that we forget some things. That a part of our created survival mechanism. Doctors say that Private Jessica Lynch, the young soldier who was wounded, captured, and abused during the early days of the Iraqi War, has no recollection of the time between her capture and her rescue. That’s good. That’s probably very good. It is a gift of God that some of the memories of our hardest times fade so quickly.
But we never forget most of the really important things in life. Even when the memories start to grow dim, there are always lots of memorials to bring back our recall. That’s what we discover about the passing of our loved ones. We forget some of the difficult days. The grief may not be as deep or the tears as heavy as they once were. But we don’t forget. We don’t want to. We shouldn’t. We never will.
We have plenty of memorials to remind us of the one we loved so deeply and who was gone before we were ready. Of course, there is the cemetery marker. It may be a simple stone monument with a few ordinary words. But it is a memorial to something far greater. A life lived. Memories shared. Love that will last forever.
But the stone monument pales in comparison to the other memorials. The place of our last conversation or our last embrace will forever be etched in our memories. The hospital room, the bedroom, or that other last resting-place has taken on sacred proportions because of those special memories. Even this or another place where the funeral service was held brings backs many memories of tears shed, encouragement received, and comfort extended.
Our memorials are not all about the places of grief. Most of them are the living places. Our homes, our cars, our living rooms—all those places where we spent so much time with our loved one jogs our memories. Special days are never forgotten. Birthdays, anniversaries, all kinds of events will never again just be days on the calendar. They are memorials to a life shared.
The people and friends that were a part of our loved one’s life become memorials. The best friend, the co-worker, the doctor or nurse who gave a special measure of care, the neighbors who brought food or flowers, or who were just there! All of these important people bring back memories of good things that happened even in the midst of one of the worst times we have ever experienced. They too are memorials.
Israel didn’t need a memorial to remind them of what they had been through, anymore than you need a memorial to remind you of your loved one and the loss you still remember all too well. But they did need a special reminder of something that can too easily get lost in the darkness. That was the memorial that Samuel raised before them that day. The song says it well. “Here I raise my Ebenezer Hither by thy help I’ve come.”
The memories of the hard times remain. So can the memory of God’s faithfulness. That was Samuel’s challenge. He wanted his people to not only remember what they had been through. He wanted them to never forget the Lord who had seen them through it. That’s my call to you today. May our memorials today not just be to a loved one who is missed but also to a God whose greatness and goodness sustained us every step of the way. And will in the future! That was why that memorial was named Ebenezer, Thus far has the Lord helped us.
God has helped you. He was helping you in the good times. Those good times, those good memories, those days and years shared with your loved one were all a gift of God. He gave them to you. He granted the laughter and joy. He was helping you share those good times. He helps you remember them.
He was with you in the hard times. Oh, how hard those dark days would have been if he had not been there lifting you up. He was the one who sent the neighbors and friends with the kind words and warm embrace. He gave you the strength you needed when you needed it. He was there even when you didn’t think you could handle another disappointment. But you did. Because he helped you! Here we raise our Ebenezer. Thus far God has helped us.
Robert Louis Stevenson in one of his stories tells of a passenger ship crossing the Atlantic. It encountered a harsh storm that threatened to overwhelm the ship. The captain ordered the passengers below while the crew battled the storm above. At one point, the passengers grew impatient. They hadn’t heard a word from the bridge in the longest time. Finally, a volunteer ventured out to see how things were going. A short time later, the man returned to the huddled passengers. “Did you see the captain? What did he say? Are we going to make it?” The messenger responded, ‘I didn’t talk to the captain. But I saw him. He looked at me and smiled. All is well!” And that was enough!
In the midst of your heartache and loss, the God of heaven smiled. The storm still raged, but your Captain smiled. All is well. Here we raise our Ebenezer. Thus far, the Lord has helped us.
The Old Testament Psalm sang of this help. “I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you—the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” (Psalm 121)
Poet Annie Johnson Flint worded this truth, “God hath not promised skies always blue, flower-strewn pathways all our lives through; God hath not promised sun without rain, joy without sorrow, peace without pain. But God has promised strength for the day, rest for the labor; light for the way, grace for the trials, help from above, unfailing sympathy, undying love.”
Here we raise our Ebenezer. Thus far, the Lord has helped us!
Those who served in the military and even those who haven’t are familiar with the quiet notes of “Taps.” Each day the melody of the bugler brings even the most chaotic day to a calm close. Fittingly, the same melody is sounded over the final resting-place of a fallen soldier. We know the melody, but few of us know the words to “Taps.” “Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lakes, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh.”
That’s the memorial we need. God is nigh! He has not abandoned us. He was with us in the valley of the shadow of death. He will be with us whatever the future brings. That’s a truth we must never forget. That’s a precious promise that we must memorialize for the next generation and the one after that!
Here we raise our Ebenezer! Thus far, the Lord has helped us!
Conclusion: Today we gather toward the end of another year. We gather to remember. We recall some things we will never forget. We mark the memory of a loved one and a life shared. We also gather to mark another memory.
Here we raise our Ebenezer!
Today, in this place, all of us can recall together: Thus far, God has helped us!
***Dr. Roger W. Thomas is the preaching minister at First Christian Church, 205 W. Park St., Vandalia, MO 63382 and an adjunct professor of Bible and Preaching at Central Christian College of the Bible, 911 E. Urbandale, Moberly, MO. He is a graduate of Lincoln Christian College (BA) and Lincoln Christian Seminary (MA, MDiv), and Northern Baptist Theological Seminary (DMin).
