| Wednesday, September 21, 2011 |
| 1 Samuel 1:1-20 and the vow of Hannah. |
I will admit, this story on its surface is a bit strange. It is strange because so much of the historical context is different from our own world today. A man with multiple wives, jealousy among wives, temples, priests, etc. There is a tendency with OT stories to leave them so far within their context that they almost seem like little more than ancient parables from a time long ago. They can lose their reality, and have no place in our life today.
I don't think this is OK. And the more I read this story, the more I see that it wasn't just a antiquated metaphor...a nice proverbial story...it is a real human story that points to the real human condition. Hannah is just like you and I. Of course our contexts are different, but aren't all of us wanting something, hurting for something...reaching for something? If we don't feel this now, we have and we will. The feeling that we know life is supposed to be more. The recognition of a desire so deep within us that we literally hurt for it to become a reality.
Hannah reached for her desire by coming to God...and coming to him with a vow. For many of us vows are the language of fox holes and cancer beds. "God if you can get me out of this I will never act like that again." We make vows the tools for escaping our situations, quickly forgetting the vow when the waters have calmed. Hannah is not doing this. Hannah's vow is something different, true, and pure. Hannah's vow is one of dedication. "Lord if you will only look on your child's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head".
This vow wasn't grown from the desperation of someone trying to escape the consequences of their own actions. This was the vow of a child reaching toward her father, expressing a desire that had been such a part of her that at times it probably drove all of her thoughts, until now, when she decided to give her desire and its outcome over totally.
This story reminds me of the oft quoted scripture among Christian folk, Psalm 37:4. The problem with the way we have quoted this scripture is that we take a piece of the scripture and forget the surrounding language. "He will give you the desires of your heart" is used to give us confidence that God is waiting to bless any of our ideas for success as if he is a cosmic bell hop, all the while we tend to ignore the surrounding verses. In this Psalm we see surrounding the popular piece, some more unpopular ideas. "Trust in the Lord and do what is good" - "Take delight in the Lord" - "Commit your way to the Lord".
Hannah had come to a place where she was not going to allow her desire for anything, including a son, which was not a wrong desire, to get in the way of her desire for God. She made a vow...that even this thing that I want so much, if you give to me, I will give it right back to you."
Am I ready to do this? Am I ready to pour my heart out to God in a way that says, "God you can have everything, including my deepest desires"? Maybe what is standing if the way of our receiving the things we desire so much is the fact that we desire them more than we desire God. Maybe God is calling us to come to a point of making a "Hannah" type vow. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Samuel+1%3A1-20&version=NIV |
posted by Unknown @ 9:57 AM   |
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