1 Samuel 2:18-20,26 (26) And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature
and in favor with the Lord and with men.

Believe it or not, here is a text that I have never preached a sermon on.
 I can tell you why.  It's because I am not sure what this text has to do
with Christmas!  Here we are in this important season of the church year
where we are celebrating and highlighting the birth of Jesus and yet into
the mix of readings for the day we have a text that speaks of the young
boy Samuel.
Well, I'm not sure that I still understand it, but I have determined to
finally preach on this text.  The history of Samuel is one of the most
interesting and inspirational histories of Scripture.  It is a text well
worth considering for its lessons.  Let's then consider these words under
the theme: GOD PROVIDES A PROPHET.  1st. Hannah's Prayer.  2nd. A Son is
Given.  3rd. God Works through Samuel.
Do you remember this history from Sunday School?  It is such a
captivating story and I think rather inspirational.  The history goes
like this.  There is a man named Elkanah who has two wives: Peninnah and
Hannah.  Back in those days the Lord allowed more than one wife but in
the days of Jesus God made it clear that we are to have only one wife.
What is also clear in God's Word is the troubles that could arise in such
arrangements.  Peninnah had children and Hannah had none.  This caused
considerable difficulty for 1 Sam. 1:6 says, "And because the Lord had
closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her."
Worse yet, the Scripture goes on to say that this went on year after
year.  Such information doesn't paint a good picture of Elkanah nor of
Peninnah but clearly Hannah is to be admired.
Hannah, through embittered by her rival, doesn't seek revenge or even
appear to want to lash out.  Hannah instead simply takes her troubles to
the Lord.  We are told that she would do this every chance she got,
especially when they were at the Tabernacle located at Shiloh.  On one
occasion while at Shiloh scripture records: "In bitterness of soul Hannah
wept much and prayed to the Lord.  And she made a vow, saying, 'O Lord
Almighty, if you will only look upon your servants misery and remember
me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him
to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used
on his head.'"
Do you recall what happened at this point? Eli the High Priest saw Hannah
praying and because she was not praying out loud but rather in her heart,
Eli assumed the worst.  He assumed she was drunk and chastised her.  But
Hannah spoke to him of her anguish and Eli then blessed her and added his
prayer that God would grant what she was asking.  It is evidently not
long after this that Hannah conceives and gives birth to a Son.  The boy
was named Samuel, a name that means "heard of God."  And so it was that
God blessed Hannah with a son and we learn the importance of taking our
cares and troubles to the Lord.
Needless to say, the history of Samuel doesn't end there.  Do you
remember that vow that Hannah took, the vow where she promised God to
give her son to His service?  Hannah was a woman of her word.  We are
told that when Samuel was about 5 or 6 years old Hannah did just what she
promised she would do.  She took Samuel to the Temple of the Lord.
Here's how Scripture records it.  "They brought the boy to Eli, and she
said to him, 'As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood
here beside you praying to the Lord.  I prayed for this child, and the
Lord has granted me what I asked of him.  So now I give him to the Lord.
For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.'"
I don't know about you but don't you just admire her courage and her
faith?  I'm not sure exactly how far from the Temple they lived but it
was at least 15 miles or so.  Yet here was this woman, giving her son to
the Lord.  Giving this son that she had prayed for so desperately!  How
she must have wrestled with carrying out her promise but she carries out
her promise nonetheless!  From this point on she will see her son only on
occasion.  Scripture records this interesting verse: "Each year his
mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with
her husband to offer the annual sacrifice."  The son she had been given
she gave to the Lord.  What an absolute marvel!  What a beautiful example
of faith in God, a great example of putting trust and confidence in God!
To give your son to the Lord for service!  And just so you know, please
note that Scripture does say that the Lord out of grace blessed her with
three other sons and two daughters.  God's grace and love is awesome.
Now if we just stopped there we could speak of all kinds of different
things.  We could speak of taking our troubles to the Lord or how when we
involve the Lord things just go better.  We could speak of God's
blessings of children and guiding your children to serve the Lord.  But
instead of focusing on us, let's focus all the more on the Lord and why
all of this happened.
It all happened so that God could effect a change among his people, a
change brought about through Samuel.  Here's the rest of the history.
God had a problem.  The problem was with Eli the High Priest and Eli's
two sons, Hophni and Phinehas.  While Eli was a faithful man, he had
failed to teach his sons that same faithfulness.  His sons were wicked
men who despised the Lord's sacrifices and were even committing adultery
with the women who served at the Temple.  Eli did nothing about this.
Into this situation the Lord brought little Samuel.  Little Samuel, who
did what was right.  Little Samuel who served the Lord with his whole
heart!  That's the point of verse 26, "And the boy Samuel continued to
grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with men."  This passage
is letting us know that Samuel, despite all the bad around him, did what
was right and good in the eyes of the Lord.
It is for this reason that the Lord, when Samuel was still a young boy,
came and spoke with Samuel.  You recall that history don't you?  How the
Lord called Samuel and he kept thinking it was Eli and how eventually Eli
realized it was the Lord speaking and told Samuel what to do.  Scripture
makes it clear that God appearing and God speaking with his people was
something very rare in those days.  Until Samuel that is.  The Lord
worked directly with Samuel.  Listen to what chapter 3 reveals.  "The
Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to
the ground.  And all Isreal from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel
was attested as a prophet of the Lord.  The Lord continued to appear at
Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word."
Samuel became the mouthpiece of the Lord.  Once it became clear to
everyone that the Lord was with Samuel the Lord then brought about an end
to Eli and his sons.  Eli's sons were killed in a battle and Eli himself,
when he heard of the death of his sons and the capture of the Ark of the
covenant fell over and broke his neck.  In this way Samuel became the
spiritual leader of God's people.  Samuel lead them back to faithfulness
in the Lord and for the majority of his life kept people faithful to the
Lord.  Samuel is considered a great prophet of God, with perhaps only
Moses being considered greater.  Samuel was God's way of directing and
helping his people.
Now did you notice what I noticed about this history?  I have often
wondered how this history fit into the idea of Christmas and the birth of
Jesus.  It is only in writing this sermon that I think I now understand
why this text is used.  As one studies the life of Samuel one can see
"shadows" of Jesus in that history.
Samuel and Jesus were both born of pious and God-fearing women.  Samuel
was born during a period of spiritual laxity and religious abandonment of
God.  Jesus faced many of the same problems with the people he ministered
among, and indeed, Jesus who was God ended up being abandoned and
rejected by those people.  Samuel was a child given by the Lord and a
child who was given to serve the Lord.  Jesus was the Lord given by the
Father for the sake of serving the people of God.  Samuel as a prophet
led his people in the wonderful truth of God.  Jesus as a prophet was
that truth and showed us all the more the wonder of God and his grace.
Do you remember what I said earlier?  I said, "It all happened so that
God could effect a change among his people, a change brought about
through Samuel."  The greatest point of Samuel is how Samuel lead people
back to God and his truth.  He did that through the Word of God that came
to him.  The same is true of Jesus only on a greater scale.  We could
clearly say, "It all happened so that God could effect a change among his
people, a change brought about by Jesus!"  Need I remind everyone here
that Jesus is the Word!  Samuel through the Word led people back to God
and his truth.  Jesus does the very same thing, except He is the Word.
He came to reveal the Father and his love.  He came to lead us back to
the presence of the Lord, literally opening God's Kingdom of heaven to
each one of us.  Samuel revealed God's grace just as Jesus is the very
revelation of God's grace.  And so in keeping with the spirit of Samuel,
let's wind this sermon down by speaking clearly of Jesus.
Do you recall what our Gospel said of Jesus after he got back with his
parents?  It said, "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor
with God and men."  How those words echo what was said of Samuel, echo it
because as Samuel was a great prophet so we are to understand that Jesus
too, was a great prophet.  Jesus came to reveal and to fulfill all of
God's promises.  Jesus came to be our Savior.  In that he showed us God's
pure grace and love.  In Jesus we understand how heaven and eternal life
become ours.  It is not what we do and accomplish it is what God has
accomplished for us in Jesus.  Jesus who paid for our sins.  Jesus who
was raised from death to declare His victory on our behalf.  In Jesus we
become the heirs of eternal life and salvation.  In Jesus we are God's
children now and forever.
And in that truth is where an important difference is seen between Samuel
and Jesus.  Samuel's history and influence over God's people eventually
came to an end.  Not so with Jesus.  What Jesus is about will never end.
What Jesus has won for us is eternal and forever.  You and I need to put
our hope, confidence and everything into God and his Word.  Jesus is that
Word.  To Him be all glory and honor.  To Him may this history of Samuel
lead so that we may grasp how God moved and acted at all times to reveal
the truth of his love and our eternal salvaion.  Amen.