When Thanksgiving Isn’t Enough

Delivered November 18, 2012

1 Samuel 1:4-20; 2:1-10

Sometimes Thanksgiving isn’t enough. I am not talking about the food. Thanksgiving dinner is always more than enough! Indeed it is always too much! I am talking about giving thanks. That might also sound like a strange thing for a preacher to say on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. What I mean is that just giving thanks is not enough. Do not misunderstand me. We can’t give too much thanks to God. Everything is a gift from God, and we could give thanks from now until the day we die and not give thanks enough. I am saying that we need to do more than give thanks … even at Thanksgiving. The story of Hannah in the OT book of I Samuel illustrates this. Let me tell you the story of Hannah.

Hannah was the mother of the prophet Samuel, who was a very important figure in OT history. Samuel lived around 1000 BC according to traditional dating – over 3000 years ago. He was the person who transitioned Israel from a loose confederation of 12 Hebrew tribes living in the Holy Land to a unified nation under a monarchy. He was the last of the so-called judges of the OT. These were not judges in the way we think of purely judicial figures, although they also fulfilled that function. These were charismatic leaders of the various Hebrew tribes – people like Gideon, Samson and Deborah. Samuel was the last of these inspired tribal leaders. As the last of the judges, Samuel appointed the first of the kings who would rule Israel for the rest of the ancient history of Israel. He appointed Saul to be the first king and then David to be the second. Our scripture lesson this morning is about the events leading up to Samuel’s birth.

A man named Elkanah had two wives. This was a time when polygamy was practiced by the ancient Hebrews. Mormons get a lot of attention for their controversial practice of polygamy in the US back in the 19^th century, but they were just following an OT pattern. Elkanah had two wives back in biblical times and no one thought it strange. The book of I Samuel opens with these words: “Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah …. And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.” That sets the scene for our story. It was very important to have children in those days. Childbearing was seen as the primary function of women in ancient Hebrew society. Only the exceptional woman would have a career or become a leader in society outside the home. There were such women, but they were very rare. Consequently not to have children was seen to be a disaster. Hannah was looked down upon by the other wife of Elkanah because of her childlessness. The story says: “And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb.”

Elkanah was an enlightened polygamist for his day. It didn’t matter to him if Hannah had children or not. He still loved her. Indeed he seemed to love her even more than his other wife, the mother of his children. The passage says that he loved Hannah and used to give her gifts – more than to his other wife, which probably made the other wife Peninnah even more angry, and caused her to take it out on Hannah. Bullying is not a modern phenomenon; it happened right here in this story. And Hannah was miserable as a result. Verse 7-8 says, “So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat. Then Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? And why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?” For Hannah giving thanks for what she had was not enough. This brings me to my first point.

I. Thanksgiving is not settling for the status quo. Hannah could have been satisfied with what she had. That is what her husband was suggesting she do. She could have taken his advice and thanked God for the blessings that she enjoyed and not concentrate on what she didn’t have. She had a good husband who loved her very much and treated her well in a time and age when that was not always the case. Elkanah provided for her and the household; she was not hurting financially. She was healthy. Why not focus on these good things?

I saw an interview with Joni Eareckson recently. She is the well-known Christian woman who has been a quadriplegic for over forty years due to a diving accident in her youth. In spite of her physical limitations, she sees her life as blessed. She has lived far longer than most people do in her condition; she has had a successful career and helped many people. She has a devoted husband, and she is a well-known artist and an author of inspirational books; she speaks around the world to churches and Christian groups. She has a very positive attitude toward life. She is one of those people who focus on the good in life and not the bad. Now on top of all her ongoing physical problems, she was recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. She had surgery and chemotherapy, but cannot tolerate the recommended radiation because of her frail body. So she is not cancer free. But her attitude toward the prognosis is that this cancer is her “ticket to heaven.” She said, “Lord, is this cancer my ticket to heaven? Because I sure am tired of sitting in a wheelchair and my body is aching. And I’m so weary. Could this be my ticket to heaven?” But she didn’t give up. Tada says her Christian faith has given her the strength to fight. She says, “I decided to not let cancer overwhelm me, I decided to overwhelm cancer with a shoring up of an attitude that would trust God in the midst of this and not doubt Him.” What an attitude! Both to see cancer as a blessing in the form of a ticket to heaven, if that is God’s will, but not surrender to the disease – to also be willing to fight the cancer, if that is God’s will.

In our story Hannah was all fight. She was not surrendering to childlessness. From out perspective we would say that if for some reason it was biologically impossible for her to have kids, she could still have a good life. But for her this wasn’t enough. She wouldn’t quit. She wouldn’t compromise with the limitations of her body. In verse 8 her husband seeks to comfort her in her sorrow and says, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? And why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?” And Hannah’s unspoken answer is “No.” “I love you, but I want the ten sons too! Or at least one son.” She loved her husband, but she wanted kids and would not settle for a “No” not even from God.

She reminds me of the women in the parables of Jesus in Luke 18. “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’” This is the type of attitude Hannah had. And it is the type of attitude I want to highlight this Thanksgiving Sunday. To thank God does not mean to settle.

One of the classic texts used on Thanksgiving Sunday is often I Thessalonians 5:18 “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” And it is a great verse and I have preached it a number of times at Thanksgiving time. But it does not mean that you have to accept the way things are. It does not mean that the will of God is for things to stay the way they are. You can thank God and still work and pray fervently for things to change. In fact I think we have to do both.

II. This brings me to my second point. Thanksgiving prayer is pouring out your soul to God. That is what Hannah did. In the story she is at the House of God at Shiloh. She had offered her sacrifice to God and participated in the sacred meal. But she lingered in the tabernacle praying after the meal. She had some things on her mind that she wanted to talk over with the Lord. Verse 10 says, “And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish.” The next verse tells us what she was praying about; she was asking for a son. Meanwhile the high priest Eli sat nearby watching Hannah pray. She was praying silently but fervently with great emotion. Eli, not used to seeing the fervent prayer of a righteous person (to use the apostle James words) thought she was drunk on wine. Verse 14f says, “14 So Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!”15 But Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. 16 “Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now.”

She is pouring out her soul before the Lord. That is true prayer. On Thanksgiving Sunday preachers tend to talk a lot about prayer, especially offering prayers of thanks. This is good, but they can sometimes be not very intense prayers. The prayer of Hannah was pouring out one’s soul before the Lord. Real prayer is not the half-hearted utterances. It is not the trivialized formality that is so often voiced over the Thanksgiving table, if indeed there is any type of prayer at all offered over Thanksgiving dinner. I don’t even like to think about how many Thanksgiving dinners will be served this week across this nation where there will be no prayer at all offered before the meal. If you are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner, even if you have relatives who do not believe in God and scoff at religion, I encourage you to give those nonreligious family members a sample of prayer at the Thanksgiving dinner along with their potato and gravy. Give them the opportunity at least at one meal in the year to hear the name of God uttered in genuine reverence. But I also encourage you to go beyond table grace this Thanksgiving and spend some time alone in prayer that Thanksgiving Day. Take a good chunk of time to pray like Hannah and pour out your soul.

Hannah’s prayer was an emotional prayer. Verse 10 says that” she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish.” Verse 16 says, “out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken….” I don’t suggest you make that your table grace into  a prayer of “bitterness of soul” and weeping in anguish” or you might not get an invitation to Thanksgiving dinner next year. But it is certainly appropriate to pray in private on Thanksgiving morning or Thanksgiving evening or even Thanksgiving eve. Thanksgiving prayer is pouring out one’s soul to God.

III. Third, Thanksgiving prayer brings peace. Verses 17-18 “17 Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him.” 18 And she said, “Let your maidservant find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.” There is a peace that descends on us when we pray. The old hymn says: “O what peace we often forfeit. O what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”  Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” In our story Hannah said her piece and then in return received a word of peace from Eli and the peace of God within her heart. 

IV. Fourth and finally, Thanksgiving sees prayer answered. Traditional prayers of thanksgiving ask for nothing from God. That is good. In fact that is said that praise and thanksgiving are the purest for s of prayer. Too often our prayer is all about what we want God to do. It is shopping list, or even worse it is a complaint list. When we give thanks we are not asking for anything. We are thanking God for what God has already given to us. There is a certain sense of freedom and liberation in that type of praying. That is how our story ends.

It begins with Hannah asking for something – in this case a son. And it ends in praise and thanksgiving for answered prayer. Hannah receives a son, and in return she thanks God.  is theme of Chapter 2, which is Hannah’s prayer. I am not going to read the whole prayer  for you again, but I want to read how it starts off:

“My heart rejoices in the Lord;
My horn (strength) is exalted in the Lord.
I smile at my enemies,
Because I rejoice in Your salvation.

² “No one is holy like the Lord,
For there is none besides You,
Nor is there any rock like our God.

Thanksgiving is a response to answered prayers. It is not just thanking God for all his gifts that come unasked to us. It is also – and perhaps especially – a response to answered prayer. We are quick to ask for something from God when we are in need – when an emergency arises and we cry out to God in pain and anguish – like Hannah did. But what about afterwards?  So many times I have prayed with people for help in all sorts of trouble. And so many times those prayers are answered. But also so many times those these answered prayers are not followed up with thanksgiving prayers. Let’s remedy that today and this Thanksgiving week. Take time to bring to mind the times in your lives when you have asked God for help and God answered you. It is a very helpful exercise to do. Then thank God for all the answered prayers. Like Hannah, pray a prayer of thanksgiving. That will be enough this Thanksgiving.