"A Mother’s Gift"
1 Samuel 1
A teacher gave her class of second graders a lesson on the magnet
and what it does. The next day in a written test, she included
this question: "My full name has six letters. The first one is
M. I pick up things. What am I?" When the test papers were
turned in, the teacher was astonished to find that almost 50
percent of the students answered the question with the word
Mother.
- A four-year-old and a six-year-old presented their Mom with a houseplant. They had used their own money and she was thrilled. The older of them said with a sad face, "There was a bouquet that we wanted to give you at the flower shop. It was real pretty, but it was too expensive. It had a ribbon on it that said, ’Rest In Peace,’ and we thought it would be just perfect since you are always asking for a little peace so that you can rest."
- Today we come together to honor our mothers. Since Eve gave birth to Cain, the role of the mother has taken a central place in our world. A mother’s influence on her children, her husband, and her world is often miscalculated. Bill Cosby laments that even though it is the dad who takes his small son and builds him up to be the tough, mean football hero of his young adulthood, when the son is in the big game playing before 100,000 fans and a national television audience, and the television camera after scoring big play he always says "HI, MOM!" You see, though a father may try to build a good relationship with his children and be a terrific dad, it is mom who is there during the child’s early years to answer the never-ending string of questions and shape the child’s interpretation of life. It is mom who has changed the diapers, held him when he had colic, helped him take his first step. It was mom who chose to make his first grade art project the centerpiece of the refrigerator door.
Note: A teacher asked a boy this question: "Suppose your mother baked a pie and there were seven of you--your parents and five children. What part of the pie would you get?" "A sixth," replied the boy. "I’m afraid you don’t know your fractions," said the teacher. "Remember, there are seven of you." "Yes, teacher," said the boy, "but you don’t know my mother. Mother would say she didn’t want any pie."Bits and Pieces, June, 1990, p. 10 Because it is in a mother’s heart to give with no thought of return.
So it is mothers that we have come to honor mothers this morning.
As we look at the story of Hannah, the mother of Samuel, we find many qualities of motherhood that are great examples to us.
I. A MOTHER’S DESIRE - TO LOVE HER CHILDREN (1-9)
Note: Girls begin to show that innate need to be a mother even at an early age.
A. She had no children
B. This was a great source of shame in that society
1. Could not continue the lineage of the father
2. Could not contribute to society
3. Often needed children to help her in her older years.
4. Generally considered punishment from God.
Note: This is illustrated by how Peninnah treated her.
C. For Hannah, nothing could satisfy that God-given need to hold and nurture her own child.
Note: Elkanah’s plea of “Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
Note: How difficult it is when a mother does NOT have that desire, but is abusive. Mother’s day is a hard time for many, especially when their mother failed in the foundational task of love.
II. A MOTHER’S FAITH - TO PRAY - 10
A. "greatly distressed" = "bitter of soul"
Note: God best answers those prayers made in desperation. Part of Hanna’s willingness to give Samuel to the Lord was the pain of years asking for his birth.
B. "prayed and wept"
I cannot tell how much I owe to the prayers of my good mother..I remember her once praying, "Now Lord, if my children go on in sin it will not be from ignorance that they perish, and my soul must bear swift witness against them at the day of judgment if they lay not hold on Christ and claim Him as their personal Savior."
Charles Spurgeon
Note: TRUE STORY:
This past Sunday, a dead man joined the church.
About two months ago the 18-year-old son of a single mother (who had only recently become a Christian), OD’ed on drugs. His mother, was called to the hospital, "to make some difficult ethical decisions". But she requested that the church pray that her son would regain enough mental facilities before he died to accept Christ.
However, he did not improve, and was declared brain dead. He was taken off life support; but his mother requested that the church continue to pray that he would regain consciousness enough to make a decision. The hospital staff thought she was crazy.
Taken off life support, he continued to breathe. He even moved a little. But this is not that unusual. Then, on Mother’s Day, he opened his eyes and suddenly told his mother that he loved her.
He continued to improve and was later moved to an extended care facility. While there, Brent accepted Christ.
On June 11, 2000 , during the 11:00 service, Brent was wheeled down the aisle in his wheelchair to make public his recent decision. His fiancée also made a profession of faith at the same time. [It’s not every day a dead man joins the church!]
Shelby Ennis w8wn@arrl.net (Received on Thursday June 15, 2000)
Note: How many mothers have prayed and wept their children to cross! How we need mothers who would today be willing to bear the cost of praying with such brokenness for their children.
C. Hannah chose to live by the principle of Faith
1. Her barrenness was from the Lord
2. So would be her children
D. She prayed for her child even before it was conceived.
Illust: James Dobson’s grandfather praying for his yet unborn children and grandchildren. All became preachers but one -- James.
E. Vowed to dedicate her child to God - 11
1. Note the characteristics of the vow
a. “If you will . . . give me a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life.”
b. “and a razor shall never come on his head.”
2. The Nazarite vow, which Hannah intended here, was normally from age 20 to 50 – Not “all the days of his life.”
3. It showed both the desperation of her cry and the dedication of her heart.
III. A MOTHER’S CHARACTER - FAITHFUL - 24
A. Sometimes we find it easy to bargain with God but hard to deliver -- Not so with Hannah
B. Every day little Samuel grew, she knew to be one day closer to when she must say good-by.
1. No doubt she spent every moment with him
2. She taught him all that he could possibly learn at such a young age.
3. She knew that she had just a few short years to instill into him the character traits he would need for life.
Note: A little boy forgot his lines in a Sunday school presentation. His mother was in the front row to prompt him. She gestured and formed the words silently with her lips, but it did not help. Her son’s memory was blank. Finally, she leaned forward and whispered the cue, "I am the light of the world." The child beamed and with great feeling and a loud clear voice said, "My mother is the light of the world." - Bits and Pieces, August, 1989 So are all mothers who instill faith in their children.
Note: A Spanish proverb reads "An ounce of mother is worth a ton of priest."
C. No doubt it was very difficult to give him up.
D. Hannah’s greatest gift to Samuel, though, was the character of her faith.
E. It allowed him to see that his relationship with God was of 1st priority.
When Robert Ingersoll, the notorious skeptic, was in his heyday, two college students went to hear him lecture. As they walked down the street after the lecture, one said to the other, “Well, I guess he knocked the props out from under Christianity, didn’t he?” The other said, “No, I don’t think he did. Ingersoll did not explain my mother’s life, and until he can explain my mother’s life I will stand by my mother’s God.”
James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, Tyndale, 1972, p. 381
Conclusion:
"as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord" -- the faith and character of Hanna was steadfast. Oh how children today need moms and grandmothers and women who are willing to be role models of consistent faith - to model true righteousness.
The end result is that "he worshipped the Lord there". Hannah’s gift of faith was born anew in her son.
One day God would call Samuel by name, and he would be ready to answer the call -- because his mother’s faith and obedience had shaped his heart.
A Mother’s Influence
I took a piece of plastic clay
And idly fashioned it one day;
And as my fingers pressed it still
It moved and yielded at my will.
I came again when days were past,
The form I gave it still it bore,
And as my fingers pressed it still,
I could change that form no more.
I took a piece of living clay,
And gently formed it day by day,
And molded with my power and art,
A young child’s soft and yielding heart.
I came again when days were gone;
It was a man I looked upon,
He still that early impress bore,
And I could change it never more.
Unknown
Morning Glory, January 8, 1994 .
How well are you forming your children? Are you forming them in the image of Christ?
It’s not too late to begin today to be the image of Christ to your children. It’s not too late to dedicate them to the Lord.
