{"id":1957,"date":"2016-07-17T11:51:59","date_gmt":"2016-07-17T01:51:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=1957"},"modified":"2023-03-06T19:38:42","modified_gmt":"2023-03-06T08:38:42","slug":"a-gift-received-a-gift-given-17-07-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=1957","title":{"rendered":"A Gift Received: A Gift Given"},"content":{"rendered":"
A Gift Received: A Gift Given<\/strong><\/span>
\nto receive God\u2019s gift is to pass on God\u2019s gift <\/strong><\/span>
\n1 Samuel 1: 1a, 2 \u2013 28.<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
God\u2019s gifts are to be passed on. They are to be shared until others have as much of the gift as we do. They may even have more of God\u2019s gifts than us in the end.<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This is completely opposite to what we commonly understand about gift giving. You give me a gift and it is mine to do what I wish with it. What is given to me is mine. I might let you share it, but it is to come back to me. The gift received is a gift possessed.\u00a0 A child loves to receive a gift. They reflect our natural instinct. \u2018What is mine is mine\u2019, they say.\u00a0 Nevertheless we encourage them to share.\u00a0 We encourage them to give. When we analyse our gift giving we realise that it comes very close to being an exchange of similar priced goods. When we receive a gift we feel obliged to return a gift.\u00a0 But it is not the same gift. It is same only in proportion to the one received. A larger gift might embarrass our friend. This gift-giving thing is problematic. It\u2019s not wrong,\u00a0 just problematic. We find it hard to accept another\u2019s gift without wanting to do something in return. So on the one hand we treat gifts as ours to keep and do what we like with it, and on the other hand, we find it hard to receive a gift.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The subtle and fundamental difference is that God gives us gifts that we cannot reciprocate with any equality. All God asks of us is to pass the gift on. God wants us to receive the gift and give the gift to others that they might benefit from it as well.\u00a0 As much as our wisdom indicates that it is better to give than receive, we are very good at ensuring others don\u2019t just give but receive back as well. I wonder if we don\u2019t need to learn a little more about just receiving gifts?\u00a0 But let us press the pause button on these musings and turn to our story.<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
She left him there for the LORD. [1 Sam 1: 28]\u00a0 How moving is that? She, Hannah, left him there for the LORD.\u00a0 Yes, it is Hannah who leaves her newly weaned child in the sanctuary with Eli the priest. This is Hannah\u2019s first born. This is Hannah\u2019s first child after years of being childless.\u00a0 God\u2019s gift to her of a child she gives back to God.\u00a0 Of course she had promised that. She is keeping her side of the bargain. This must astound us. Would we do that?<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Let\u2019s us remind ourselves of the story again. Hannah is one of two wives of Elkanah. She is much loved by Elkanah, but is childless. Now for a woman to be childless in those days was a great shame. It lowered her status. A woman in our Western world up until the 19th Century would have had a diminished status outside her father\u2019s or husband\u2019s status and the children she bore. Certainly for the landowners having a son was essential, otherwise the property would go outside the family. How much more in ancient times, as in some parts of the world right now, did a woman\u2019s status depend on her being married with children? Hannah is childless. Naturally the ancient text blames her \u2013 the Lord has closed her womb [v.6]. They knew nothing about the importance of the sperm\u2019s motility or the timing of impregnation.\u00a0 It was not a man\u2019s fault but a woman\u2019s fault that she was barren. But the story has a certain charm. Elkanah says to his disappointed and saddened Hannah, \u201cam I not more to you than ten sons?\u201d [v.8] Elkanah loves Hannah as his double portion given to her to sacrifice at the Shiloh sanctuary indicates.\u00a0 Hannah does not lack her husband\u2019s affection. She lacks the one thing that gives her status and dignity \u2013 a child and in particular a son.\u00a0 As a childless wife she has little worth in the eyes of her society.<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Hannah carries her suffering to God. She bargains with God. \u2018Please give me a son and I will dedicate him solely to you\u2019, she bargains with God. [v.11] This bargaining with God is not uncommon in the Bible. We find Jacob, Abraham and Moses bargaining with God. It is not uncommon with us. Who of us has not asked for something and offered something in return to God. We\u2019ve used the language of \u2018if you give me this I will do that\u2019.\u00a0 Bargaining with God is neither right nor wrong. It is part of the spiritual journey with God. It reflects our desperation and helplessness in the face of great adversity. It reflects the graciousness of God who journeys with us, leading us into God\u2019s future.\u00a0 To bargain with God is not the problem. The problem lies with our integrity with which we approach such bargaining. The wrestling with God is a legitimate part of the spiritual life. The wrestling and the argument with God is what helps us grow in our understanding of self and God. The problem with our wrestling with God is that we are so one sided in how we see things, and so unclear about the nature of God. By all means wrestle with God, but don\u2019t rush to conclusions. Take time to take counsel with those who have gone before you.<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Take Hannah\u2019s example. She enters the sanctuary. She did not absent herself. She knelt and prayed. Her prayers were formed out of her deep pain, embarrassment and sense of loss. She was a loved woman, but in the eyes of her society she was worthless \u2013 a barren woman. She couldn\u2019t really articulate her prayers. We never can when we pray out of deep despair.\u00a0 So she moves her mouth but the words do not come out \u2013 at least not sensibly.<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
She is misunderstood by Eli, the head priest at the sanctuary. He misreads the situation. He interprets her inarticulate mumblings as a sign of drunkenness. Hannah rightfully protests her innocence. \u201cNo, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD.\u00a0 16 Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time.\u201d\u00a0 Eli in hearing her story blesses her. [vv. 12-18]<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
When we listen to each other\u2019s pain we often stop at sympathising with the other. In sympathising we reiterate the situation. That is helpful only to a point. It is the blessing that is important. If we conclude, as Eli did, with God\u2019s blessing and offer our prayers, which we will undertake on their behalf, the person will feel supported and encouraged. Sympathy is good, but not good enough.<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Eli\u2019s blessing transforms the situation. Hannah went away in a better frame of mind. She went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer. [v. 18]\u00a0 Hannah had the priest\u2019s blessing. What\u2019s important is the part the blessing plays in Hannah\u2019s situation, not the psychology of it. We see in this story that our ministry to others involves our blessing. And we have a right and a responsibility to bless others in God\u2019s name. Ironically we may curse others by our silence and the withholding of God\u2019s blessing. To say to someone, \u2018God bless you\u2019, is a gift to the other.<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Hannah bears a son. What joy! She does not return to Shiloh for four years. I say four years because that seems to be the normal period it took to wean a child in those days. It was far healthier to breast feed into third and fourth year of a child\u2019s life in those days.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
So from her breast she takes her son and gives him to God and into the care of Eli. When she had weaned him, \u2026 . She brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh; and the child was young. 26 And she said, \u201cOh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the LORD.\u00a0 27 For this child I prayed; and the LORD has granted me the petition that I made to him.\u00a0 28 Therefore I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he lives, he is given to the LORD.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This story of Hannah is the beginning of the greater story of God\u2019s great priest-prophet, Samuel, who guided God\u2019s people and anointed the first kings of Israel. The great prophet-priest had a great mother. Samuel\u2019s mother, Hannah, had learnt the profound truth that to receive God\u2019s gift is to pass on God\u2019s gift to others.\u00a0 God who is the creator of all things and the giver of all things gives to us blessings and gifts, which we are to return to God by sharing those gifts with others.. The underlying truth is that this world is not ours, but God\u2019s. This world is not ours to take for our pleasure, but to use for the glory of God. If we could only live, even a little by this, we would be a much a richer community \u2013 a much a richer nation.<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
When Hannah gave her son, Samuel, she gave the nation of Israel one of its greatest prophet-priests. She gave God\u2019s gift to her to the people – to the people of Israel and to us. Samuel is part of our story too. Hannah is remembered because she passed God\u2019s gift to her on to others.<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
What are we doing with the gifts God has given us?\u00a0 Are you a little too nervous to ask God for God\u2019s gifts, because you don\u2019t really want to share them?\u00a0 No matter how small God\u2019s gift to you is, once shared it will be a blessing to others.<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
*******<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Peter C Whitaker, Leighmoor UC:\u00a0 17\/07\/2016<\/strong><\/span>
\npgwhitaker@tpg.com.au<\/strong><\/span>
\n\u00a0\/ www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Gift Received: A Gift Given to receive God\u2019s gift is to pass on God\u2019s gift 1 Samuel 1: 1a, 2 \u2013 28. God\u2019s gifts are to be passed on. They are to be shared until others have as much of the gift as we do. They may even have more of God\u2019s gifts than us in the end. This is completely opposite to what we commonly understand about gift giving. You give me a gift and it is mine to do what I wish with it. What is given to me is mine. I might let you share it, but it is to come back to me. The gift received is a gift possessed.\u00a0 A child loves to receive a gift. They reflect our natural instinct. \u2018What is mine is mine\u2019, they say.\u00a0 Nevertheless we encourage them to share.\u00a0 We encourage them to give. When we analyse our gift giving we realise that it comes very close to being an exchange of similar priced goods. When we receive a gift we feel obliged to return a gift.\u00a0 But it is not the same gift. It is same only in proportion to the one received. A larger gift might embarrass our friend. This gift-giving thing is problematic. It\u2019s not wrong,\u00a0 just problematic. We find it hard to accept another\u2019s gift without wanting to do something in return. So on the one hand we treat gifts as ours to keep and do what we like with it, and on the other hand, we find it hard to receive a gift.\u00a0 The subtle and fundamental difference is that God gives us gifts that we cannot reciprocate with any equality. All God asks of us is to pass the gift on. God wants us to receive the gift and give the gift to others that they might benefit from it as well.\u00a0 As much as our wisdom indicates that it is better to give than receive, we are very good at ensuring others don\u2019t just give but receive back as well. I wonder if we don\u2019t need to learn a little more about just receiving gifts?\u00a0 But let us press the pause button on these musings and turn to our story. She left him there for the LORD. [1 Sam 1: 28]\u00a0 How moving is that? She, Hannah, left him there for the LORD.\u00a0 Yes, it is Hannah who leaves her newly weaned child in the sanctuary with Eli the priest. This is Hannah\u2019s first born. This is Hannah\u2019s first child after years of being childless.\u00a0 God\u2019s gift to her of a child she gives back to God.\u00a0 Of course she had promised that. She is keeping her side of the bargain. This must astound us. Would we do that? Let\u2019s us remind ourselves of the story again. Hannah is one of two wives of Elkanah. She is much loved by Elkanah, but is childless. Now for a woman to be childless in those days was a great shame. It lowered her status. A woman in our Western world up until the 19th Century would have had a diminished status outside her father\u2019s or husband\u2019s status and the children she bore. Certainly for the landowners having a son was essential, otherwise the property would go outside the family. How much more in ancient times, as in some parts of the world right now, did a woman\u2019s status depend on her being married with children? Hannah is childless. Naturally the ancient text blames her \u2013 the Lord has closed her womb [v.6]. They knew nothing about the importance of the sperm\u2019s motility or the timing of impregnation.\u00a0 It was not a man\u2019s fault but a woman\u2019s fault that she was barren. But the story has a certain charm. Elkanah says to his disappointed and saddened Hannah, \u201cam I not more to you than ten sons?\u201d [v.8] Elkanah loves Hannah as his double portion given to her to sacrifice at the Shiloh sanctuary indicates.\u00a0 Hannah does not lack her husband\u2019s affection. She lacks the one thing that gives her status and dignity \u2013 a child and in particular a son.\u00a0 As a childless wife she has little worth in the eyes of her society. Hannah carries her suffering to God. She bargains with God. \u2018Please give me a son and I will dedicate him solely to you\u2019, she bargains with God. [v.11] This bargaining with God is not uncommon in the Bible. We find Jacob, Abraham and Moses bargaining with God. It is not uncommon with us. Who of us has not asked for something and offered something in return to God. We\u2019ve used the language of \u2018if you give me this I will do that\u2019.\u00a0 Bargaining with God is neither right nor wrong. It is part of the spiritual journey with God. It reflects our desperation and helplessness in the face of great adversity. It reflects the graciousness of God who journeys with us, leading us into God\u2019s future.\u00a0 To bargain with God is not the problem. The problem lies with our integrity with which we approach such bargaining. The wrestling with God is a legitimate part of the spiritual life. The wrestling and the argument with God is what helps us grow in our understanding of self and God. The problem with our wrestling with God is that we are so one sided in how we see things, and so unclear about the nature of God. By all means wrestle with God, but don\u2019t rush to conclusions. Take time to take counsel with those who have gone before you. Take Hannah\u2019s example. She enters the sanctuary. She did not absent herself. She knelt and prayed. Her prayers were formed out of her deep pain, embarrassment and sense of loss. She was a loved woman, but in the eyes of her society she was worthless \u2013 a barren woman. She couldn\u2019t really articulate her prayers. We never can when we pray out of deep despair.\u00a0 So she moves her mouth but the words<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":5440,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermons"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/outside-view.jpg",2048,1536,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/outside-view.jpg",2048,1536,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/outside-view.jpg",2048,1536,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/outside-view-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/outside-view-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/outside-view-1024x768.jpg",1024,768,true],"news_plugin_small":["https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/outside-view.jpg",700,525,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/outside-view-1536x1152.jpg",1536,1152,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/outside-view.jpg",2048,1536,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Rev Peter Whitaker","author_link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/author\/peter"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Sermons<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"A Gift Received: A Gift Given to receive God\u2019s gift is to pass on God\u2019s gift 1 Samuel 1: 1a, 2 \u2013 28. God\u2019s gifts are to be passed on. They are to be shared until others have as much of the gift as we do. They may even have more of God\u2019s gifts than…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1957"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6951,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1957\/revisions\/6951"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}