Loving God For Life (Dennison)
Celebrating Mother's Day, Jim Dennison opens this sermon at http://www.pcbc.org/audio (they only post the last 5 sermons) with a note on his age. Coming home, Jim found his AARP card. "How do they know?" His wife kiddingly circled his name saying he was really old now (he's 50). But decade birthdays call us to reflect on life, which raises, among other questions, "why did God make us parents?" The 1 Samuel story is during a time when woman were expected to have and raise children. But Hannah couldn't, was scorned for it and she "wept much and prayed to the Lord". Her fervency to the Lord was so intense that Eli thought she was drunk. In our troubles, she did what we could and should do. She asked why the Lord was putting her through this. She wanted so bad to have a child that she made a "Nazarite vow" saying she would give her child to the Lord. These vows were composed of 4 parts consisting of not cutting hair, not touching a dead animal, not touching anything from the vine or not eating unclean food, often given for 30 or 60 days. But Hannah was going to give her son to God for Life. Reading forward, at the coming of age, from the time he was three years of age forward, she gave her child completely to the temple of Shiloh. What became of this child? Samuel, the son, became the last of the Judges (leaders of Israel) and he was the very first prophet!! He would annoint Saul and David, becoming one of the three or four most important people in Biblical history. What would Hannah say if we could interview her today as to why she gave her son to God? She would probably say that God could raise the child better than she could. Breaking off, of the 69 kings of France, only 8 were considered good kings. Ironically, these 8 were raised a loving godly mother. Sir Walter Scott's mother was a person of scholarship, George Washington's mother was known for her integrity and John and Charles Wesley's mother was a theologian according to her sons. What would it be like if we dedicated our children to God? If we demonstrated for them the behavior of going to church regularly on Sundays and Wednesdays, if we prayed regularly and studied scripture, what would that mean to them? What next steps can we take to show our children that God is first? Certainly, it can be so hard to place a priority on God because we can't see Him, but could God have made it easier for us to worship Him? He blessed us with the beauty of life and this world, sent His son and gave us freedom. Closing, Jim gives two parables; one about a man that wanted to build a mansion, so he hired a friend to do it. But unfortunately, the friend saw this as a chance to get ahead and make some extra money. As a result, the friend cut corners and used cheaper materials every chance he got. Upon finishing, the owner gives his friend the keys saying he wants to give the mansion to him!! The second parable is one by C.S. Lewis, quoting George McDaunt. Jesus comes to live in your house. You wake one day to see him rearranging the furniture, cleaning gutters, taking out walls, extending rooms and making improvements. Jesus makes a mansion in our house because he wants to live in our homes forever.
