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Sermon for I Christmas Year C, 28/12/2003 Based on I Sam 2:18-20, 26
& Lk 2:41-52 By Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson,
pastor of Grace Lutheran Church & chaplain of
the Good Samaritan Society’s South Ridge Village, Medicine Hat, Alberta
A
Rabbi and a Priest were sitting together on a train, and the Rabbi leans over
and asks, “So, how high can you go in your organization?” The Priest says, “If I am
lucky, I guess I could become a Bishop.” “But, could you get any
higher than that?” asks the Rabbi. “I suppose that if my
works are seen in a very good light that I might be made an Archbishop,” said
the Priest a bit cautiously. “Is there any way that you
might go higher than that?” “Now, if all the Saints
should smile, I guess I could be made a Cardinal,” said the Priest. “Could you be anything
higher than a Cardinal?” probed the Rabbi. Hesitating just a little
bit, the Priest said “I suppose that I could be elected Pope, but the odds
there…” So the Rabbi interjects,
“And could you be anything higher than that? What is there higher than the
Pope?” “What!!! I should be the Messiah himself?!!!” The Rabbi leaned back,
smiled, and said, “Well you know, one of our boys made it!” 1
This story
reminds me of the stories of two young boys and their families in our first
lesson and gospel today. Like the story of the Rabbi and Priest, it seems
that, from a Christian point of view, the story of Samuel and his family is
sort of a foreshadowing of the story of Jesus and his family. As I read both
stories and reflected on them, it struck me how many parallels there are in
them. Let’s take a closer look.
First of all, there is the
interesting and tense dynamic between Elkanah and Hannah and Joseph and Mary
before their sons were born. In the case of Hannah, she feels like an outcast in her
home and community; and that the LORD has not blessed her because she is
barren. Her rival, Elkanah’s other wife, Peninnah, constantly puts Hannah
down because of her infertility. In the case of Mary, there is a parallel in
that she finds herself pregnant before she is officially married to
Joseph—hence, there is again the danger of her being regarded as an outcast
in her home and community and a sinner among “religious folk.” Yet, in both
cases, God acts in a miraculous way. In the case of Hannah, God opens her
womb and she is able to give birth to her firstborn son, naming him Samuel,
and giving him to the LORD to be Israel’s last judge and an important priest
and prophet. In the case of Mary, God works through conceiving Jesus
vis-à-vis the Holy Spirit, and he is named Jeshua, the English Jesus, and
meaning, “God is salvation.” Both men, Elkanah and Joseph seem to be caught
in a dilemma, which tests their personal integrity. In the case of Elkanah,
he is given the formidable task of pleasing two wives in a just and loving
manner. He seeks to reassure Hannah of his love for her while struggling with
her infertility. In the case of Joseph, he is face with the decision of
whether or not to remain with Mary as her husband in spite of what the
neighbours and some “religious folk” might think regarding the legitimacy or
illegitimacy of Jesus’ birth. Both Elkanah and Joseph prove to be faithful
and caring towards their wives. In these marriage relationships, surely we too
can be encouraged and inspired to be faithful and caring in our marital
relationships too. Such faithfulness and caring hopefully will be used by God
to be an inspiration and a testimony of the holiness of the marital bond to
others too. Society and the Church need examples of marital faithfulness and
caring to counteract the immorality promoted by the mass media today—contrary
to popular belief, adultery and fornication are not virtues but are sins
against God and one another. May our God help us to continue to be faithful
and caring husbands and wives.
Second, the two stories of Samuel and
Jesus both emphasise the importance of a God-given growing in faith. In both stories, the two
boys are in God’s house. Samuel, under the tutelage of Eli in Shiloh was:
“ministering before the LORD.” Jesus, in dialogue with the teachers in the
Jerusalem temple: “And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and
his answers.” Even in boyhood Samuel and Jesus display incredible
faithfulness by serving God. The Samuel story is woven within a larger
setting of Eli and his sons. The storyteller brings out a stark contrast
between Eli’s sons and Samuel. The former were disobedient, evil and sinful.
Their greed causes them to choose for themselves the best meat left over from
the sacrifices of the people. Their sexual immorality most likely led them to
adopt a Canaanite fertility cult, practicing ritual prostitution. On the
other hand, the storyteller emphasises that: “Now the boy Samuel continued to
grow both in stature and in favour with the LORD and with the people.” In the
larger context of the life of Jesus, the gospel writers also emphasise the
stark contrast of Jesus and his opponents. Jesus’ opponents plot and scheme
and set out to trap him at every possible opportunity; until the plot
thickens and they succeed in orchestrating Christ’s death. It is clear in
this all that those who fall under the powers of evil will stop at nothing to
do away with Jesus. Yet, in spite of all these evil powers, Jesus remained unwaveringly
faithful to God right up to the end. In the lives of both Samuel and Jesus
there was this constant growth, maturity and faithfulness in serving their
God. If we as Christ’s followers are going to be faithful in serving God,
then we too need to continue to grow and mature in our faith and life. We do
this by coming to worship regularly, studying the scriptures, praying, and
sharing the Good News of Jesus with others in our words, thoughts and
actions. May our LORD continue to bless us to help us with this as we
endeavour to fulfill our baptismal covenant.
A third parallel of these two stories
of Samuel and Jesus is that they both ended up serving God as judges, priests
and prophets. In
the Samuel story, we learn that he served God as Israel’s last judge;
functioned as a priest at Shiloh, wearing the symbolic garb of a priest at
the time—a linen ephod and special robe made by his mother each year; he also
functioned as a prophet, warning Israel of the dangers of their quest for a
king and thus becoming like all the other nations. Yet, God employed Samuel
to anoint Israel’s greatest king, David. In this act, Samuel was a
forerunner, preparing the way centuries later for the coming of the Messiah,
Jesus, who was born of the house and lineage of David. On the other hand,
when we Christians speak of Jesus’ role as judge, priest and prophet—we
emphasise that Someone, (namely Jesus), is greater than Samuel or any other
human being. Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords shall one day rule as
Judge over all nations. He is the Perfect Priest who offered God the most,
once-for-all-time, Perfect Sacrifice, atoning for the sin of the world. As
Perfect Priest he bridged the wide gap and removed all barriers and divisions
between human and human and God and humankind. And he is greater than all
other prophets by fulfilling all of their prophecies by his birth, life,
teaching, death and resurrection—in other words, the promised coming one has
now come, he is God-among-us, our Immanuel.
As we move towards the end of one year and the beginning of another, we can thus be reassured with this Good News that God is with us when we feel like everyone else is against us; that God-with-us, Immanuel invites us to enjoy life and make the most of life by continuing to grow and mature in our faith journey; that we can look forward to the future and the New Year, trusting in God-with-us, for in him our lives are made whole, making it possible for us to fulfill our calling as God’s people. Amen. ____________ 1 I thank my friend and colleague, the Rev. Dr. Gary Watts for sharing this story with me.
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