1 Samuel1:1-28 There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah in the region of Zuph in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, of Ephraim. Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not.
Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies at the Tabernacle. The priests of the Lord at that time were the two sons of Eli—Hophni and Phinehas. On the days Elkanah presented his sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to Peninnah and each of her children. And though he loved Hannah, he would give her only one choice portion because the Lord had given her no children. So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the Lord had kept her from having children. Year after year it was the same—Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat.
“Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me—isn’t that better than having ten sons?”
Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle. Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. And she made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut.”
As she was praying to the Lord, Eli watched her. Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking. “Must you come here drunk?” he demanded. “Throw away your wine!”
“Oh no, sir!” she replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.”
“In that case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.”
“Oh, thank you, sir!” she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad.
The entire family got up early the next morning and went to worship the Lord once more. Then they returned home to Ramah. When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the Lord remembered her plea, and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked the Lord for him.”
The next year Elkanah and his family went on their annual trip to offer a sacrifice to the Lord and to keep his vow. But Hannah did not go. She told her husband, “Wait until the boy is weaned. Then I will take him to the Tabernacle and leave him there with the Lord permanently.”
“Whatever you think is best,” Elkanah agreed. “Stay here for now, and may the Lord help you keep your promise.” So she stayed home and nursed the boy until he was weaned.
When the child was weaned, Hannah took him to the Tabernacle in Shiloh. They brought along a three-year-old bull for the sacrifice and a basket of flour and some wine. After sacrificing the bull, they brought the boy to Eli. “Sir, do you remember me?” Hannah asked. “I am the very woman who stood here several years ago praying to the Lord. I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life.” And they worshiped the Lord there.
It is from this Old Testament story that we have devised the Children’s Dedication Ceremony. Being created in the image of God, we, like Hannah, desire to create life from within ourselves. Like Hannah until we do there seems to be an empty void that only creating a life to love and be loved by can fill.
And like Hannah, today we have two sets of parents that have come to give their child symbolically back to God. But unlike Hannah, you have my permission to take them with you when you leave.
There are five aspects about your child and yourselves that you need to recognize today. These five instructions will assist you in giving God a child truly dedicated to him. In fact, these instructions are also important for the grandparents and church body to heed.
1) Recognize the gift that has been given to you.
Psalm 127:3
“Children are a gift from the Lord;
they are a reward from him.”
You were selected to receive a special offering from the Lord. Each time you hold your child and look into their eyes, realize what an honor it is for you to hold this precious gift. He has entrusted you with their care and He has shown his faith in you by rewarding you with this little one.
I came across this humorous story on the internet recently: Little Johnny had been misbehaving and was sent to his room. He emerged a couple minutes later and informed his mother that he had thought things over and had even said a little prayer. The mother was very happy and said, “If you asked God to help you not misbehave, He will help you.” To which Johnny replied, “Oh, I didn’t ask Him for help with that, I asked Him to help you put up with me.”
There will be trying times with your gift, but they are your gift none the less.
2) Respond always with unconditional love.
Proverbs 17:9 “Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.”
There will be times when your child will be in open rebellion against you. They will test your limits. They will test your boundaries.
Columnist Erma Bombeck wrote this in her column. “For the first 4 or 5 years after I had children, I considered motherhood a temporary condition -- not a calling. It was a time of my life set aside for exhaustion and long hours. It would pass. Then one afternoon, with 3 kids in tow, I came out of a supermarket pushing a cart (with four wheels that went in opposite directions) when my toddler son got away from me. Just outside the door, he ran toward a machine holding bubble gum in a glass dome. In a voice that shattered glass he shouted, "Gimme! Gimme!" I told him I would give him what for if he didn’t stop shouting and get in the car.
As I physically tried to pry his body from around the bubble gum machine, he pulled the entire thing over. Glass and balls of bubble gum went all over the parking lot. We had now attracted a sizable crowd.
I told him he would never see a cartoon as long as he lived, and if he didn’t control his temper, he was going to be making license plates for the state.
He tried to stifle his sobs as he looked around at the staring crowd. Then he did something that I was to remember for the rest of my life. In his helpless quest for comfort, he turned to the only one he trusted his emotions with -- me. He threw his arms around my knees and held on for dear life.
I had humiliated him, chastised him, and berated him, but I was still all he had. That single incident defined my role. I was a major force in this child’s life.
Sometimes we forget how important stability is to a child. I’ve always told mine, "The easiest part of being a mother is giving birth.... the hardest part is showing up for it each day..."
Love your child as God, your heavenly Father, loves you. Love them with patience, grace, and unconditional love. Never allow your child to think that your love is conditional to their behavior.
3) Respect your child’s individuality.
Psalm 139:13-14
“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.”
Just as there are no two people in the world exactly alike, so no one is like your child. God knit them together, made them wonderfully complex and different, and threw away the blueprint.
They will not always be what you want them to be. They may not have the talents that you want them to have. But they are marvelous works of God. Your child will develop their own tendencies, some good, some bad. Remember though, it is these basic tendencies that make your child unique. Don’t try to force your child to be anything other than what God designed them to be.
4) Rebuke when necessary.
Proverbs 13:24
“Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them.”
Some parents cringe at this verse. God is not telling you to beat your child. The rod is a walking stick that assists those using it to steady themselves. You are to assist your child in walking the right path.
The Houston, Texas police department came up with a list of twelve things that will guarantee you will have a problem child.
1. Give them everything they want so they will grow up believing the world owes them a living.
2. Laugh at their bad words so they will think it’s cute.
3. Do not give them spiritual training so they can decide when they turn 21 what they believe.
4. Never tell them they are wrong. It may develop a guilt complex. That way when they break the law they can blame society for being against them.
5. Pick up after them so they will be experienced in throwing responsibility on others.
6. Let them read and watch anything. Make sure their drinking glasses are clean but don’t worry about their mind.
7. Yell and scream at each other so they will be prepared should your marriage fail.
8. Give them money. Never make them earn it.
9. Satisfy all their desires. Make sure they have the best, regardless of the cost.
10. Take their side on every issue against everybody. Then they will recognize the prejudice against them from society.
11. When they get trouble use the excuse “I could never do anything with them.”
12. Prepare for a life of grief.
God declares that if you love your children you will discipline them. But never do it in anger, pick the best time and place to discipline, preferably some place private.
Realize that your child will need to express their anger from time to time. Give them that freedom without relinquishing to their demands.
Pick your battles. Not everything is worth fighting for.
Choose your words carefully. Speak in a soft, calm voice. Remember Proverbs 15:1
“A gentle answer deflects anger,
but harsh words make tempers flare.”
5) Reveal your mistakes.
James 5:16
“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”
This applies not only to the church but to all relationships, including that between parent and child. When you blow a gasket and say harmful things or use an inappropriate tone, admit you were wrong. Explain why you did what you did so your child will understand. In seeing and hearing you admit to your mistakes, it will make it easier for them to recognize and admit to their own mistakes in life.
Proverbs 22:6
“Direct your children onto the right path,
and when they are older, they will not leave it.”
I would love to tell you that this passage was a guarantee but it’s not. The idea that good parents always produce good children and bad parents always produce bad children is just not true. We all know families where the parents were a walking disaster, yet their children turned out to be very decent people, good citizens and responsible adults. By the same token we’ve all seen godly parents who sought to raise their children up to know the Lord, yet one or more or those children ended up in serious trouble. Scripture gives us governing principles for training our children, not guarantees. Parents who apply these principles are far more likely to produce godly children than those who do not.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 instructs us in this area. “And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.”
The bottom line is to know God’s word, use it, trust it, share it with your child, pray consistently for your ability as a parent and for your children, love them deeply, take nothing for granted and cling to the Lord.
