WEBVTT 00:01.000 --> 00:01.900 What a mess? 00:04.000 --> 00:07.700 That's what Eli was thinking as he looked at Hannah. 00:08.600 --> 00:12.800 We aren't told exactly how she looked, but she was distraught and 00:12.800 --> 00:14.300 probably disheveled. 00:14.800 --> 00:19.900 She hadn't been eating or sleeping. At any rate when Eli sees her lips 00:19.900 --> 00:20.200 moving 00:20.200 --> 00:22.300 but can't hear any words come out. 00:23.000 --> 00:26.900 It's not too big a leap for him to assume that she's a drunk. 00:28.100 --> 00:29.500 He's wrong about that. 00:30.200 --> 00:31.600 But right about the mess. 00:32.900 --> 00:34.300 Hannah's life is a mess. 00:35.700 --> 00:40.500 She's childless and feels the pain of that more keenly, because of her 00:40.500 --> 00:46.100 family situation. Her husband has told her that he loves her, but 00:46.100 --> 00:48.400 Hannah can't be content with that. 00:50.100 --> 00:53.000 He has again as he always does 00:53.600 --> 00:57.100 given her more than her fair share of food at the feast. 00:58.200 --> 01:02.600 But that arouses, the jealousy of his other wife who has children and 01:02.600 --> 01:04.599 feels that she's being slighted. 01:05.500 --> 01:07.100 She takes it out on Hannah. 01:08.500 --> 01:09.400 It's a mess. 01:10.700 --> 01:10.900 Hannah 01:10.900 --> 01:15.900 can't take it anymore and pours, her soul out to the Lord, in prayer, 01:16.100 --> 01:17.200 in the Tabernacle. 01:20.300 --> 01:24.500 This story is often referred to as Hannah's Prayer, yet 01:24.500 --> 01:27.800 there's nothing remarkable about the prayer itself. 01:28.800 --> 01:32.900 This is no magical formula for couples who want a child. 01:34.200 --> 01:37.900 This story isn't really about Hannah's Prayer, but about God's answer. 01:39.500 --> 01:45.200 God reached into the mass of Hannah's life and worked to raise up a man 01:45.200 --> 01:47.500 who would speak his word to Israel, 01:47.900 --> 01:49.200 the prophet Samuel. 01:51.200 --> 01:53.200 God spoke his promise to Hannah 01:53.200 --> 01:56.600 through Eli's words go in peace and the God of Israel 01:56.600 --> 01:58.900 grant your petition that you have made to him. 02:00.700 --> 02:01.600 And it was done. 02:02.700 --> 02:08.199 Hannah had a son and named him Samuel because she explained, I have 02:08.199 --> 02:10.500 asked for him from the Lord. 02:13.300 --> 02:18.400 Hannah knew that Samuel's birth was about God's faithfulness rather 02:18.400 --> 02:19.400 than her prayer. 02:20.900 --> 02:22.900 Chapter 2 of 1st Samuel records 02:22.900 --> 02:24.200 another one of Hannah's prayers 02:24.200 --> 02:25.400 that makes this clear. 02:26.000 --> 02:27.900 Here's just a small portion of it. 02:28.600 --> 02:33.900 My heart exults in the Lord, those who were full have hired themselves 02:33.900 --> 02:37.400 out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. 02:38.400 --> 02:40.800 He raises up the poor from the dust. 02:40.800 --> 02:45.500 He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and 02:45.500 --> 02:46.800 inherit a seat of honor. 02:49.200 --> 02:55.100 The words of this prayer, echo through, scripture in Psalms by David 02:55.100 --> 02:57.700 and others in The Magnificat 02:58.800 --> 02:59.800 and in Zechariah's 03:00.000 --> 03:00.800 Benedictus. 03:05.800 --> 03:12.000 What a mess. That describes Herod's Kingdom during the reign of Caesar 03:12.000 --> 03:18.000 Augustus. Herod is Caesar's client King ruling over a buffer state of 03:18.000 --> 03:19.600 the mighty Roman Empire. 03:21.300 --> 03:27.700 Harrod's people are oppressed, harassed, overtaxed, and underemploye 03:28.600 --> 03:30.200 Government is corrupt 03:30.700 --> 03:32.200 justice is unequal. 03:33.500 --> 03:35.700 The people are impoverished and hopeless. 03:36.400 --> 03:41.200 It seems so far removed from the Glory Days of David and Solomon. 03:42.800 --> 03:48.000 Yet, this is the time and place for God to work. When the fullness of 03:48.000 --> 03:51.900 time had come Galatians tells us God sent forth his Son. 03:54.500 --> 03:57.600 The announcement of this birth was celebrated with words that, as I 03:57.600 --> 04:01.900 just mentioned, echo Hannah's. My soul, magnifies the Lord 04:01.900 --> 04:06.800 and my spirit rejoices in God, my savior. He has brought down the 04:06.800 --> 04:09.100 mighty from their thrones and exalted 04:09.100 --> 04:13.200 those of humble estate. He has filled the hungry with good things and 04:13.200 --> 04:14.900 the rich he has sent away empty. 04:16.800 --> 04:24.100 In the middle of Harrod's mess, it was the time and place for God to 04:24.100 --> 04:29.700 send forth his son, Jesus, to accomplish all that had been promised 04:29.700 --> 04:31.300 for the world's salvation. 04:36.000 --> 04:37.000 What a mess? 04:38.500 --> 04:41.900 Maybe that's what you're thinking about yourself and your situation 04:41.900 --> 04:46.700 this morning. You might be sitting there staring at more years of 04:46.700 --> 04:50.700 higher education and wondering if you can handle it. 04:52.700 --> 04:55.900 Or maybe you've been here a while and you've got the school thing 04:55.900 --> 04:56.900 figured out. 04:58.100 --> 05:00.300 But you're wondering if you can really do ministry. 05:03.400 --> 05:05.200 Your wife may not be keen on 05:05.200 --> 05:06.000 moving to St. 05:06.000 --> 05:06.500 Louis 05:07.800 --> 05:10.000 and then moving again and then coming back 05:10.000 --> 05:11.200 and then moving again. 05:14.500 --> 05:18.600 Maybe your parents wish you had chosen a more fiscally viable career. 05:20.900 --> 05:22.500 Maybe you're sitting there just excited 05:22.500 --> 05:26.200 you can't get, wait, you can't wait to go out and vicarage or an 05:26.200 --> 05:27.200 internship. 05:29.300 --> 05:34.600 And the time in class seems to go by slowly and yet somehow quickly, 05:34.900 --> 05:41.400 at the same time. Maybe you just got back from a vicarage and you're 05:41.400 --> 05:46.800 sitting there thinking, wow, that really did not go the way I planned. 05:48.100 --> 05:50.400 And you might be doubting your own abilities. 05:53.500 --> 05:57.200 Or maybe vicarage was great and you're sitting there and you can't 05:57.200 --> 05:59.500 wait to take a call and get out. 06:01.400 --> 06:06.500 And yet, there's still a certain amount of uncertainty and anxiety 06:06.600 --> 06:12.000 surrounding Call Day. You get the picture. 06:13.000 --> 06:17.800 And I haven't even gotten to faculty and staff yet, but trust me, you 06:17.800 --> 06:19.100 folks are a mess too. 06:22.400 --> 06:26.400 The messes and potential messes are as varied as each one of us but 06:26.400 --> 06:28.200 they have one thing in common 06:28.200 --> 06:31.300 for those of us here this morning, God is at work in them. 06:33.400 --> 06:37.000 Hannah's story, it would seem worked out exactly the way she hoped, when 06:37.000 --> 06:41.900 God intervened. But we know that God's work in our life 06:41.900 --> 06:44.100 doesn't always conform to our plans. 06:45.800 --> 06:49.700 We might hope for a smooth path on our way to serving God. 06:51.000 --> 06:56.200 But often It's the hard road that produces great faith as the Apostle 06:56.200 --> 06:57.400 Paul could tell you. 06:59.700 --> 07:04.400 We might pray for absolute certainty in all things, but often it's 07:04.400 --> 07:06.100 nagging doubt the confers 07:06.100 --> 07:09.700 the ability to understand others and bring Christ to them where they 07:09.700 --> 07:12.200 are, as Martin Luther could tell you. 07:14.700 --> 07:19.600 Wherever you find yourself this morning, whatever mess, you might be 07:19.600 --> 07:21.400 in or whatever mess 07:21.400 --> 07:25.600 you're dreading know that God is at work. 07:27.000 --> 07:31.800 Messes won't stop God from using your life and your service in his 07:31.800 --> 07:34.500 kingdom according to his plans. 07:36.300 --> 07:42.400 Jesus has come and is present among us. He's with you right in the 07:42.400 --> 07:43.200 thick of it. 07:44.200 --> 07:44.700 Amen.