Flight into Egypt Fra Angelico (1387-1455, Italian)

Well, it is New Year’s Day, and the first Sunday after Christmas. In much of the country it was simply awful yesterday. The usual celebrations were cancelled — as Neil Reid reports:

In a year blighted by natural disasters, mother nature was unrelenting to the end, with several New Year’s Eve celebrations cancelled as rain lashed the country.

Campsites were flooded and rain contributed to carnage on the roads. There was also a near-miss for two people whose car was swept into a river near Whangamata.

However, it was fine in Dunedin. I had to break out the Tilley Hat: something I avoid because the thing is ugly, but I needed the shade when walking. In the forests above Dunedin. Besides this, there is some good news in the papers this morning: the suicide rate went down and this is attributed by a worker to increased social cohesion during the rugby world cup and christchurch earthquakes. As a researcher, I’d need to look at the data (for there is a secular trend in NZ that is decreasing suicide rates anyway. As a clinician, I am just happy. For every suicide is a tragedy.

Another bit of good news, from my point of view, is that my favourite left radical had but one of then of his wishes from last year fulfilled. I wish Matt well: he was extremely sick last year and I hope he is able to write a similar column next year.

This is a Sunday, and thus there are two sets of readings. This is from the standard set:

1 Samuel 1:1-2, 7b-28

1There was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2He had two wives; the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

7bTherefore Hannah wept and would not eat. 8Her husband Elkanah said to her, “‘Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”

9After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the Lord. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. 10She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord, and wept bitterly. 11She made this vow: “O Lord of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head.”

12As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13Hannah was praying silently; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard; therefore Eli thought she was drunk. 14So Eli said to her, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine.” 15But Hannah answered, “No, 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. 16Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time.” 17Then Eli answered, “Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him.” 18And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your sight.” Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.

19They rose early in the morning and worshipped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. Elkanah knew his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. 20In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I have asked him of the Lord.”

21The man Elkanah and all his household went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and to pay his vow. 22But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, that he may appear in the presence of the Lord, and remain there for ever; I will offer him as a nazirite for all time.” 23Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Do what seems best to you, wait until you have weaned him; only — may the Lord establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son, until she weaned him. 24When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh; and the child was young. 25Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. 26And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. 27For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him. 28Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the LORD.“

Many, many sermons have been written about Hannah. But not much is said about Elkanah. For he was her husband, and the father of the last and greatest of the judges, Samuel. We are aware that he was a man of the LORD. He did not worship other Gods, and he kept the law. We are also aware that he loved his wife. He did not despise her because Hannah did not have children (though her sister-wife did). He was a man of wealth: the sacrifices he gave were not the minimal. Compare this to what Mary ahd Joseph offered when they (as people who followed the Law) went to dedicate Jesus

Luke 2:22-24

22When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23(as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), 24and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.”

And… he allowed Hannah’s vow to stand. The Law was clear on this: A husband could disavow the vow of his wife. The child needed to be dedicated to the LORD, true, because he was the first born. But this did not mean that the child served in the temple for most. Jesus did not: he went and learnt a trade from his father. Hannah made two vows — they were in addition to the usual — that her child would serve at the temple and that he would be a Nazirite (a vow that is allowed in the Law for a period of specail devotion and purity) from birth. Elkanah let this stand. And once they had agreed to this course of action, Elkahah and Hannah did what they had promised.

Now, what should we take from this? Three suggestions.

1. Firstly, we should respect the fervour of women. This does not mean that we should be ruled by it. The priest was correct to question what Hannah was doing. We do not want drunken promises, out of control worship, or people to be ruled by their emotions. But the prayers of women, particularly for their children, are not to be despised. There is a risk for us men here, for there are a large number of  very silly and misguided women out there — many now in positions of leadership or influence — who do not think things through in a rational way, follow their instincts (when we should modifiy our behaviour so we neither damage ourselves or others(. We then discount the women of faith. And that has always been an error.
2. We need to honour our word, and keep frame. I better explain this a little. The term  comes from supportive therapy. You set up a contract that you will be available at appointed times — and during that time you will listen. You will not act, and you won’t put your stuff (technially, project your conter transference) onto the client. It is a professional relationship with fairly strong rules around it. For some it is a secular ritual. But, as a therapist, you do not change. You are there. You hold the anxiety, fear, hatred, love, loathing and despair the person has and you do not act on it. The second that you appear to be fearful and out of control the entire experience of therapy becomes unsafe. Elkanah. held frame. He loved his wife, not because she had given him ten sons (I love the hyperbole) but because he had chosen to love her. When she would not eat and cried, he still loved her. And when she made the vow, he listened, decided it was right, and then bent the habits and rituals of the family for that period — and only for that reason. Elkanah is an example of male leadership within the family. This allowed Hannah to grieve, to experience joy: for Elkanah made it safe for her.
3. Thirdly, all three adults in the family (Hannah, Peninnah and Elkanah) worshipped the LORD in a planned manner. They did not wait for the spirit to spontenously arrive. Here I think Barna is making an error in his criticism of the methods of worship we have.  The very structure of worship (and he is correct, the protestant service is a modification of a late medieval mass: we spend too much money on churches when we should hire halls: and scripture has but some very simple rules on worship). allows us to work through the task of worship in a planned manner.

There is a reason that I use the lectionary and daily readings here. It is not because I have taken a vow to read the missal, or to do morning and evening prayers. For many years I did not do this: I read the bible, chapters at a time.  But the structure of the lectionary is useful. The structure of our services is useful.

So what am I wishing for those who read this? Well, again, I am borrowing from the lectionary.

Colossians 1:9-20W

9 For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. 11May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Happy and blessed new year everyone, May you keep your covenants and vows, and may this year be one of joy and growth.