Jump Start # 1352

1 Samuel 1:13-14 “As for Hannah, she was speaking in her heart, only her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought she was drunk. Then Eli said to her, ‘How long will you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine from you.”

  Last night I drove to hear my dear friend Rickie J. preach. He is so good. His lesson was about judging and the Lord’s reference to the beam in our eyes. Rickie referred to our passage today. I had not thought about it in a long while. The drive home made me think about this.

Hannah was the wife of Elkanah. He actually had two wives. His other wife had children, Hannah didn’t. There was some bitterness between the two women. Elkanah did what he could to make Hannah know that she was loved.

Our passage takes place as Hannah was praying. She was making a deep promise and vow to the Lord. If the Lord would only give her a son, she would give him to the Lord. How she wanted a son. She was praying. The prophet Eli was watching her. He saw her lips moving but he heard nothing. It seemed most strange to him. How can your lips move and you not say something. His conclusion was terrible. He thought the worst. He thought that Hannah was drunk. Worse, he verbally rebuked her for being drunk. He told her to stay away from the wine.

Eli was not even close in his assessment of Hannah. She was not drunk, she was praying. He was thinking the worst and she was doing the best. Without asking her, without finding out for sure, Eli made his conclusions and then charged in with both guns blazing. His conclusions were wrong. His accusations were wrong. What he did would damage most of us. In fact, the Elis today, and they are still at their posts, watching others and trying to keep everyone on the straight and narrow but too often pointing the judgmental finger and much too often, doing more damage than good.

Hannah was innocent. She was not drunk. I have done what Hannah did many times. I have moved my lips in prayer without saying anything. The prayer is coming from the heart as it should. The prayer was between Hannah and God and no one else.  My, we can be quick to destroy. My, we tend to think the worst of a person first. My, we can get all worked up and make a mountain out of a mole hill over nothing. The Elis today often would not have enough courage to go confront a Hannah. Instead, our modern Elis would tell others. They would tell others that Hannah is not the Christian that you think she is. They would say, ‘I saw Hannah drunk.’ Poor Hannah’s reputation and character would be tarnished, destroyed and ruined, often before she even knew it. People would start whispering about her. She would be excluded and avoided. Not knowing why people were treating her this way, she would finally ask someone, who by now has twisted the story into Hannah being a full fledged alcoholic. Shocked and stunned, Hannah today would deny it. The person would say, ‘You’ve been seen drunk.’ She would say, ‘Who? Who saw me drunk and when?’ Then the mystery game begins. ‘It doesn’t matter who saw you, you were drunk. You either need to confess it or you’ll be disciplined.’ Running in fear and not sure what to do, Hannah today, would stop attending. Her denials would not be heard. Her tears would be ignored. A good soul would be ruined because of the speculation and critical judging of the Elis today.

We ought to learn something from this.

First, don’t immediately think the worst about a fellow Christian. Try thinking the best.

Second, if it is something that you feel is wrong, go talk to them. Don’t do what Eli did. He didn’t ask Hannah what was going on. He told her to quit drinking. His mind was already made up. Find out. Get the facts.

Third, put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Maybe there is a problem. Maybe they are weak. Maybe you can help them. Try to restore, not destroy. Maybe there is something that you do not know. Maybe Hannah is praying and not drinking as you thought.

Fourth, don’t tell others, even if it is true. Gossip never is the avenue that helps people.

You and I can be so quick to judge. We love to be the Lord’s watchdog with our radar gun pointed at others. We notice who comes in late. We notice how many times someone leaves the auditorium for the bathroom. We notice who was sleeping. It’s a wonder how we get any worship in with all this watching and maybe that’s a problem right there. We can be so busy watching others that we fail to watch ourselves and we fail to worship.

We can also nit-pic each other to death. Never satisfied we expect more. Parents can be this way. Good grades aren’t enough, should have been Honor Roll. Then, Honor Roll isn’t good enough, should have had straight A’s. Never happy. Never enough. Pick and pick and pick. Some are like that. It wears others out. It makes being with them tense. You just know something negative is going to be said. Something wasn’t right. It’s interesting in the parable of the talents, the master was very happy and very satisfied with the results of the two talent and the five talent person. The Lord was pleased. I think sometimes the Lord is pleased but the brethren aren’t.

One other thought here, God knew about Hannah. He heard her prayer. He knew she wasn’t drunk. He knew that she was pouring her heart out to Him. That’s what we must do when we are walking in Hannah’s shoes. An Eli in our life may be on the sidelines pointing his finger at us, telling us how wrong we are and how we need to change. God knows. It is God that we must please.

Years ago I was preaching somewhere and used a story from a famous author. The author was controversial and many mistrusted him. Great writer. Love his books. So I told the story and never mentioned the book or the author. An Eli came out and blasted me for using the story of a false teacher. He said his piece, pointed his finger, beat me up and went home content that he had straightened out that young preacher. I was smashed. Then I thought, how did he know who the author was? I never referenced that. Then it dawned on me that he must have read that book as well. I couldn’t use the book, but he could? Oh, the Elis today. We must be careful with our finger pointing, our unfounded judgments, our jumping to conclusions and hurting one another. Poor Hannah. Poor Hannah today. I wonder how many have been crushed for things that they never did.

We ought to learn some things from this. It ought to make us slow down and get the full story. It ought to make us be helpful and not hurtful. It ought to make us stand in their shoes for a moment. It ought to make us ask God to forgive us and to be more compassionate like He is.

Thanks, Rickie. Great sermon. It always does my heart well to spend a few moments with you!

Roger