Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Anger
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Tone of specific sentences
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Anger
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There was this man whose name was ephraim… he had two wives… Peninnah and Hannah, Peninnah had children but Hannah had no children.
To be barren in ancient times was an ultimate tragedy for a married woman.
Her husband’s hopes and dreams depended on her providing him with a son to perpetuate his name and inherit his estate.
Three times a year all Israelite men were required to be a the central, most important sanctuary to offer sacrifices in obervance of the main religious festivals.
Festivals were a time to rejoice in God’s blessings., especially if there was a large harvest.
Elkanah would distribute portions of sacrificial meat to Penninnah and her children.
Family members shared in certain of the sacrificial offerings brought to the Lord.
But he provided Hannah a double portion because of his love for her.
Perhaps Elkanah knew that which only God knew, that in time Hannah would be the mother of a baby.
Peninnah had developed a sibling rivalry of sorts, with Hannah.
She had taken to using the blessing of children as a tool against Hannah to hurt her and irritate her.
The proper readinf of the word provoke in this passage is that she “kept provoking” Hannah.
She didn’t start and do it once, it was an ongoing event for her to harrass Hannah because of her barrenness.
Second, it was the intention, the plan of Peninnah, to irritate her.
The word irritate in this passage can actually mean to “thunder” against someone.
Peninnah meant to thunder against Hannah, resulting in her perpetual irritation.
She wanted to push her buttons… she wanted to get under her skin.
Hannah simply didn’t eat.
It upset her, so she stopped eating.
And she wept.
She was brought to tears by Peninnah’s actions of irritation and torment.
Elkanah…why do you cry?
Why do you not eat?
Why is your heart sad?
Be sure you get this next little tid bit… Elkanah, in asking “Why is your heart sad?” is not asking the obvious.
He knows why Hannah’s heart is sad- she wanted children and didn’t have them.
And she was being tormented about it.
Elkanah is actually asking, “Why are you resentful?”
Why are you sad to the point of bitterness?
Some of the best advice I ever received was “stay sweet”.
I had been in a tough situation and had gotten advice on several levels, but the best advice that has stuck with me all these years was this, “Stay sweet.”
When it was told me, I got it.
One thing I know about pastoral ministry is this- each day is different and trials will always come.
But stay sweet.
The message is that you will have circumstances that are bitter, and they may be trying to make you bitter, but your task is to separate yourself from the bitter- and stay sweet.
I think that is a reflection of Hannah.
She stayed sweet enough in a trying situation… barren, a rival wife slandering her, harassing her, trying to bring her down… and she knew her hope wasn’t in her rival but in her God.
If there were ever a person who should have been bitter it would have been Job… look at these things he said.
Job knew God could handle his anguish.
Job knew he could complain to God from the bitterness of his soul and God could take it.
Job knew that not every complaint of prayer will be answered by God.
He knew his bitterness could be until death.
Job knew that even though his pain was bad, he had to go on living.
There was a purpose to the pain… even if he couldn’t see it when he was living through it.
Hannah vowed a vow on behalf of her son.
It was a vow of separation… a separation to the Lord, a vow of a Nazarite.
It included
Abstaining from the use of grapes
Not shaving the hair on one’s head
Avoiding dead bodies.
The term “nazarite” doesn’t appear in the text, but it is presupposed by the text.
See verse 11 where it says no razor will ever be used on his head.
Hannah recognized that children are a gift from God and that only God could enable conception and childbirth.
Out of her gratitude, if given a son, she would give him back to the Lord.
This really wasn’t anything special, as every Israelite Mother was expected to give her child back to the Lord…
Hannah’s prayer and her praying reveal something about her.
She had a conscious, constant, and intimate relationship with God.
Have you ever identified a Christian without knowing they were a Christian?
At the undisclosed location of my most recent vacation there were two requirements for her and one for me.
A beach and a lazy river.
And bikes.
We went to the lazy river,and the young lifeguard had been there for several days in a row and she obviously had taken the job for the summer.
And she obviously was bored.
After several days I said to her, “you look bored,” and she lit up- yes she was bored but it was her job.
We got in the lazy river and we floated and everytime around she knew we were there, but she looked away… Janice said she’s a Christian, there’s something about her.
Well, when we left, I said “you hang in there, it only gets better from here,” and she responded, “Oh, I know, but you pray for me.
I need it and I believe in it.”
You know, if you watched Hannah pray, and you prayed… you would have understood her circumstance.
You would have instantly knew her situation and something about her.
But strangely enough, Eli, the priest and the representative of the religious establishment misses that point in the case of Hannah.
He sees Hannah praying, and her mouth is moving but no sound is coming out.
How long will you be drunk?
He really misunderstood her.
We’ve gone to bike week many times.
And one of the sad realities of bike week is the number of motorcyclists that get killed that week.
And often the number killed is the result of accidents… but some are the result of drunk driving.
You can see the drunkenness in someone that is drunk.
Eli missed the obvious and misunderstood the important.
Eli didn’t see a praying woman he saw a drunken woman.
And he couldn’t have been more wrong.
Hannah corrected Eli’s thoughts and observances.
Hannah had not been pouring too many drinks.... she had been pouring her soul out to the Lord.
Hannah used an idiom for her praying.
She had been pouring alright.... it was her soul she was pouring out before God.
The priest got it, acknowledged it, and blessed it.
He said, may the God of Israel grant your prayer.
A pivotal moment.
She left, she ate, and she was no longer sad.
Please note… she had not conceived yet, she had not been with her husband yet, she was no longer fasting, and she was no longer sad.
She was walking in a different light and a different confidence.
Hannah now enjoyed worship.
She became a different person.
And the Lord answered her prayer.
Hannah had a baby.
Samuel.
“Name of God”.
The Worth of a Person is Found in the Depth of Their Soul
The worth of any person is found in the depth of their soul not in the appearance of their circumstance.
Visible Circumstances Are No Indicator of Invisible Realities.
(Faith is not a badge) T-shirt from Daytona Bike Week.
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