I am a big fan of preaching themed sermons on major holidays. Some aren’t and that’s fine. There is so often, though, a rich application to whatever cultural celebration it is in our lives. Added to that, our minds are already focused on whatever cause it is we’re celebrating and that can usually multiply the meaning in our lives. One of the most revered holidays in our country is Mother’s Day, and with good reason. It has been generally recognized since the end of the nineteenth century and has been an official US holiday since 1914. In fact, in the United States “Mother’s Day remains one of the biggest days for sales of flowers, greeting cards, and the like; it is also the biggest holiday for long-distance telephone calls. Moreover, churchgoing is also popular, yielding the highest church attendance after Christmas Eve and Easter” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_day#United_States). However, long before man started celebrating the value of good mothers God celebrated them. He has always had high expectations and lauding praises for godly mothers who encouraged righteousness in the home. For that reason we should too. The following is a Mother’s Day sermon I preached in 2010 highlighting an unusual reason for exalting one mother in the Bible.
Title: The Mother Who Gave Him Up
Text: 1 Samuel 1:20-22
Main Point: We often associate the ideal mother with being a close companion, confidant, and friend. We turned mainly to mother when times were trying or we hurt for some reason. Motherhood is an opportunity for which loving women seek. They want children, have children, and care dutifully for their children. Yet, around the country there are specially designated locations where mothers can go and drop off their children for good and face no consequences for abandonment. Such is sickening and discouraging because of the lack of love displayed. However, in the Bible we read of a mother who gave up her son and was fully justified because of her intention. No she did not abandon her son, but gave him up to God’s service, sacrificing a significant portion of the time they would have enjoyed together. But she had an eternally important purpose in mind…
Discussion Points:
§ She Gave Him Up For Thanks – The background of this arrangement is of the utmost importance (1 Samuel 1:1-18). Hannah was barren but wanted a son desperately. She vowed to God that if she could bear one she would return him in service back to God. She knew only God could bless her in such a way, so when she turned Samuel back to God it was a sign of her eternal thanks. She realized that Samuel truly belong to God. Psalm 127:3 – children are an heritage (gift) from God, one of which we are merely stewards. Such demands that we do not handle them according to nothing more than personal desire or ambition, they must be tended to with the Master’s care (1 Corinthians 4:2). Thank God for mothers who demand excellence of their children by returning their lives back to God. Hannah proved to be a true and faithful steward of Samuel, giving him back out of thanks.
§ She Gave Him Up For Training – The foremost responsibility of a parent is to bring their children up in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). This has been true throughout history (Deuteronomy 6:4-8). Hannah recognized this responsibility and prepared Samuel for the greatest spiritual training available at that day – tutelage under the high priest. Not only would he be trained under Eli (the high priest) but he would also be a Nazarite (1 Samuel 1:11b; Numbers 6:5). This mother was assuring the devotion of her son because she was concerned for his soul. No greater compliment could be paid to a mother than to say she was concerned for the souls of her children.
§ She Gave Him Up For Testimony – Hannah’s willingness to give her son back to the Lord served as testimony to her spirituality. Hannah was willing to sacrifice the memories she could make in his childhood by keeping him only until he was weaned and then giving him up. This was not a temporary arrangement either. He would remain in Jerusalem the remainder of his life (1 Samuel 1:22) meaning she only saw him on rare occasions. But what a testimony to her spirituality. She was willing to sacrifice her joys of motherhood to ensure his spiritual well-being. Parents too often try to be friends with their children above being fathers and mothers. We should hope to be friends to our children, but having a friendship is secondary to the parenting responsibility. Hannah proved to first and foremost be a mother. It was that motherly love that caused her to give him up, knowing that what time together they might lose in this life they would more than make up for in eternity among the saved of God.
Under any other condition, a mother who willingly gives up her child would be depicted as a heretic. But Hannah, because of the conditions, proved to be a hero. What a mother who loved her child enough to commit him to God’s service. We must commit our children to God’s service regardless of the price we must pay because in the end heaven will surely be worth it all.
-Andy Brewer
