The Bible is generally not seen as a funny book. Most of it isn't, but then there's 1 Samuel 1:9-18. It may just be my twisted sense of humor, but this passage cracks me up everytime I read it.
That passage focuses on Hannah, one of Elkanah's two wives. Elkanah loved Hannah more than his other wife, Peninnah. Peninnah responded to this troubling state of affairs by making constantly fun of Hannah for not having any children.
The two wives' bickering was at its worse each year when the family would take a pilgrimmage to the Lord's Temple at Shiloh. Once there, Elkanah would make a big scene of honoring Hannah in his sacrifices. Peninnah responded to this affront to her honor, by especially humiliate Hannah. Then Hannah would weep and refuse to eat.
One night after the taunts had become too much, Hannah left the family meal and went to the Temple. Hannah prayed furiously asking the Lord to give her a son and promising that she would give the son over to God. Hannah wept through the prayers. Her lips moved, but no words came out.
The reader of 1 Samuel is following Hannah's moving prayers and her passionate vow the Lord. We are fully expecting a burst of sunlight shooting through the clouds to mark God's ascent or maybe an earthquake. Something dramatic to make it clear that this woman's prayers have been heard and her suffering is coming to an end.
Instead of that glorious revelation, the head Temple priest thinks that Hannah is drunk and comes up to rebuke her. He says, "How long will you make a drunken show of yourself? Sober up from your wine!" 1 Samuel 14.
Hannah explains herself and the head priest eventually tells her,"Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you asked of him."
Hannah's prayer was answered and she did dedicate her son, Samuel, to God. Samuel would become a great prophet. 1 Samuel 20. He was even tasked by the Lord to annoint was the one that the Lord tasked with annointing Saul and David as Kings of Israel.
There are a bounty of stories and lessons from Samuel's life, but I still can't get over the image of his plaintive, praying mother being accused by the head priest of being drunk. She'd fled the belittling remarks of Peninnah only to be further belittled in the Temple.
I enjoy irony too much not to laugh at that story every time that I hear it, especially since Samuel's first task from God was to tell that head priest he was finished. There's a lesson in there not expecting prayers to be answered in the way that we think they should, but I think the more powerful lesson is in how Hannah responded to the head priest.
Hannah was already at the end of her rope. Peninnah's hurtful taunts had driven her away from the family. She's come to the Lord for sanctuary only to have one of His servants rebuke her. Hannah could have stormed out of the Temple and said that was the last time she was going there to pray. How many people have done something similar after a priest, pastor, or rabbi have said something challenging or hurtful?
Hannah didn't. She corrected the head priest. Hannah told him what she was doing there and what she was asking of God. She left with the head priest's blessing, not because he was a great head priest; but because she made him a better priest.
Hannah's lesson is that we cannot allow the failings of some of the practitioners of organized religion to become a barrier that prevents us from accessing the Divine. As long as our churches and temples are manned by people, they will do things either on accident or even intentionally that will make us want to quit going.
It's up to us not to let that happen.
That passage focuses on Hannah, one of Elkanah's two wives. Elkanah loved Hannah more than his other wife, Peninnah. Peninnah responded to this troubling state of affairs by making constantly fun of Hannah for not having any children.
The two wives' bickering was at its worse each year when the family would take a pilgrimmage to the Lord's Temple at Shiloh. Once there, Elkanah would make a big scene of honoring Hannah in his sacrifices. Peninnah responded to this affront to her honor, by especially humiliate Hannah. Then Hannah would weep and refuse to eat.
One night after the taunts had become too much, Hannah left the family meal and went to the Temple. Hannah prayed furiously asking the Lord to give her a son and promising that she would give the son over to God. Hannah wept through the prayers. Her lips moved, but no words came out.
The reader of 1 Samuel is following Hannah's moving prayers and her passionate vow the Lord. We are fully expecting a burst of sunlight shooting through the clouds to mark God's ascent or maybe an earthquake. Something dramatic to make it clear that this woman's prayers have been heard and her suffering is coming to an end.
Instead of that glorious revelation, the head Temple priest thinks that Hannah is drunk and comes up to rebuke her. He says, "How long will you make a drunken show of yourself? Sober up from your wine!" 1 Samuel 14.
Hannah explains herself and the head priest eventually tells her,"Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you asked of him."
Hannah's prayer was answered and she did dedicate her son, Samuel, to God. Samuel would become a great prophet. 1 Samuel 20. He was even tasked by the Lord to annoint was the one that the Lord tasked with annointing Saul and David as Kings of Israel.
There are a bounty of stories and lessons from Samuel's life, but I still can't get over the image of his plaintive, praying mother being accused by the head priest of being drunk. She'd fled the belittling remarks of Peninnah only to be further belittled in the Temple.
I enjoy irony too much not to laugh at that story every time that I hear it, especially since Samuel's first task from God was to tell that head priest he was finished. There's a lesson in there not expecting prayers to be answered in the way that we think they should, but I think the more powerful lesson is in how Hannah responded to the head priest.
Hannah was already at the end of her rope. Peninnah's hurtful taunts had driven her away from the family. She's come to the Lord for sanctuary only to have one of His servants rebuke her. Hannah could have stormed out of the Temple and said that was the last time she was going there to pray. How many people have done something similar after a priest, pastor, or rabbi have said something challenging or hurtful?
Hannah didn't. She corrected the head priest. Hannah told him what she was doing there and what she was asking of God. She left with the head priest's blessing, not because he was a great head priest; but because she made him a better priest.
Hannah's lesson is that we cannot allow the failings of some of the practitioners of organized religion to become a barrier that prevents us from accessing the Divine. As long as our churches and temples are manned by people, they will do things either on accident or even intentionally that will make us want to quit going.
It's up to us not to let that happen.
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