Talk
BRO. AUDIE VILLARAZA:
We’re still in our series titled WHO CAN LEAD US? We finished the books of Joshua and the Judges. Now, we’re going to study the book of Samuel.
I want you to picture for a moment the agony of Hannah. Not only did she share her husband with another woman. She also had no children. That’s why the next move of Hannah would shock the world because it was a great act of faith and humility.
God Listens to Hannah
Hannah dedicated her future child — a child that she had no idea if God was going to bless her with, a child that she had not even met.
And she said, “Lord, if you give me a child, this child is going to grow up to be a Nazarite.”
What does it mean? A Nazarite is somebody who never consumes products from a grapevine like plums, jams, raisins, and wine. Back in the day, wine was like water. They used it for celebration.
Hannah said, “This child is not going to indulge in these world things.
This child would not have his hair cut.”
You remember somebody like that? You remember Samson? We studied him last Sunday.
This child would be set apart.
But Hannah was a Levite. Back then, Levites were people who belonged to God. It was as if Hannah took someone who already belonged to God and then gave him back to God in a greater way.
I’ll give you an example. I’m thinking of a couple in our Light Group — Anna Rita and Noel Foronda. They serve here at The Feast. They have a son, an only child, named Theo.
When Theo was 16 years old, he told his parents that he wanted to enroll in a seminary school. He wanted to be a priest.
Usually, some parents would say, “No. We want grandkids. We want you to have a family!”
Noel and Anna did not say that.
Instead, they said, “Who are we to get in the way of God’s plan for our child?”
That’s amazing! Parents, listen: I believe that our job as parents is to dedicate our children to the Lord– whether they become priests, preachers, or missionaries. The truth is we don’t own our children. They’re not our possessions.
Your children are God’s blessings to you. They’re gifts. How you raise your children is your gift to God.
Hannah understood the assignment when she dedicated this child to God, saying, “He’s going to grow up to love You and to serve You.”
That’s exactly what happened. Because of her humility, God listened to Hannah and blessed her with a child.
And he was named Samuel which means God has heard.
God listened to Hannah because God hears the humble.
That’s our message for today. Put your hand over your chest and say:
“Father, we are all here again. Without Your Presence, this is just going to be a pointless gathering– and we don’t want that. We invite you to be part of this. Let your wisdom, healing, and anointing pour out on us. Lord, let revelation pour out but use the Holy Spirit to turn that revelation into relevance so we know exactly what areas of our life we can apply this to.
Lord, make Me humble today. In Jesus’ Name Amen.”
One more time:
Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet And a Light unto my path.
I’m going to divide this talk into three parts. Part 1 is going to be about how God heard Hannah because of her humility. Part 2 is how Samuel heard God because of his humility. Part 3 is about how the sons of Eli could not hear God and God could not hear them because they were proud.
So, this talk is about humility.
PART 1: God Hears the Humble Hannah
Before we walk with Samuel, I believe we need to learn first who Hannah– his mom.
The name Hannah means favor. What’s ironic is that her name means favor but in the beginning of her story, it seems she’s not favored. Why? Because she doesn’t have children.
Back in the day, they believed that if you were married and you did not have kids, you were being rejected and punished by God.
Sadly, some people still believe this today. I want you to know that it’s not true.
God does not punish us.
A Burden or a Blessing?
Going back to Peninnah, did you know that we all have Peninnahs in our lives? They’re like the nosy aunt in your family. We all have one. The one that you avoid every family reunion. Why? Because she’s the one who’s always sarcastic.
She’s the one who says, “You’re 35 and still single?
You are being left behind!”
A Peninnah can also be an uncle who thinks that his job description is to just be blatantly insensitive in your life. You might be married but don’t have kids yet and this uncle tells
your husband, “What happens now? Your eggs may have rotten already!”
But did you know that Peninnahs can also be a blessing? Especially if they lead you closer to God? Just like Peninnah in the story:
I’m glad that the author of Samuel wrote that — simply because he’s showing all of us that this is the right way to do it. When you are in anguish and bitterness, you do not run away from God. Your pain is supposed to lead you closer to God. Don’t hide away just because you’re hurt. Instead, you run to God the Father because He can handle your pain.
So, do it like Hannah did.
When you pour out your hurt and your anguish to the Lord, He gives you a gift called joy.
Isn’t it true that when you pour out your hurt to the Lord, He turns your sorrow into celebration? He turns your sorrow into joy. He turns your mourning into dancing. He turns your grief into gladness.
The next time you’re feeling rejected and feeling down, the first One you must run to is God. Because He’s the first who will understand you.
To add salt to the injury, not only is Hannah barren– she’s sharing her husband with another wife by the name of Peninnah.
This other woman has multiple children– yet she’s mean and arrogant while Hannah, despite being humble, has no children.
I think this is the part where we all ask, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”
Maybe you can even take it from the opposite spectrum: “Why do good things happen to bad people?”
I’ve got a perfect answer for you: I do not know. But one thing I know is that we will never fully understand God’s ways until His plan comes to life.
Isn’t that true?
You’re fighting a battle and you don’t know why. Five years later, you realize God did not mean the setback. He was just setting you up for a victory.
You’ll never really understand God’s ways. All you can do is trust in Him and trust in His plans.
Something Controversial
Before we continue, let me just talk about something that I believe is so important because this is controversial:
Does that mean that it’s okay that Elkanah had two wives?
The author doesn’t say so.
If I’m reading this through modern eyeglasses, I would think having two wives is okay. But when you read the Bible, you cannot use your modern lenses because the Bible is an ancient and highly sophisticated literature that just doesn’t tell you– but it shows you what is good in the eyes of God.
This has happened to me so many times that I like the Lord to spoon-feed me.
Whenever I read Scripture, I just want the Lord to tell me a story with a moral lesson– like what I get from a children’s book.
But the Bible is not like that. Jesus often spoke in parables or short stories because He had this intention to hide the truth from people who did not want to know the truth. He revealed it only to the people who diligently studied Scripture.
He would speak in parables so that the wisdom of God would be available only to those who wanted it. That’s why when you read the Bible, don’t take it for what it is. The Bible is going to show you the dangers.
For instance, what was the fruit of the polygamous marriage of Elkanah?
Hannah was in deep anguish. Peninnah was deeply arrogant. When you’re reading between the lines, it’s simply saying that God is telling me that if I do something wrong, this is what’s going to happen.
He’s not telling us but showing us (the consequence of our actions). The next time you get confused, pray about it, chew it, and digest it.
PART 2: How Samuel Hears God
Samuel is somebody who was dedicated to the Lord because he’s a Nazarite.
He never tasted wine or grapes. He never had his hair cut.
He was set apart for God. When he was young, he was already serving in a sanctuary with a priest named Eli.
Eventually, Samuel became a priest himself.
Here’s a little trivia: Samuel was the last judge in the Old Testament but he was also the first prophet. He was the first king because, after his leadership, the people transitioned from that old style to becoming a monarchy.
After all, eventually, the Israelites would ask for a king and then he would anoint King Saul and then eventually King David.
But in this part of the story, Samuel is young. He’s serving in ministry.
He’s serving under the tutelage and guidance of the priest Eli.
This happened three times. On the third time that it happened, being spiritually sensitive, Eli realized that this might be some other guy speaking.
He told Samuel: “Here’s what you do. Go and lie down again and if someone calls you again you say, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”
Do You Hear God?
God calls Samuel three times and Samuel hears a voice but he doesn’t recognize
the voice. You might say he doesn’t know God but at least he heard the Voice.
How many of you don’t know or don’t hear the Voice of God?
At least, Samuel heard the Voice.
Parents, just because your children are growing up in a godly home, it doesn’t always mean that they’re going to grow up to be good people. We know a lot stories like that.
We’re going to see Samuel being converted little by little– until eventually following God.
My point is that Samuel heard God. Do you want to hear God?
Samuel heard because the truth is God hears those who are humble — but only the humble hear God.
So, if you want to hear God speak to you, be humble. Sometimes, our pride gets in the way and we think that it’s God speaking but it’s not really true.
Jesus said: “My sheep know me, and I know my sheep. They know my voice.”
How well do you know the Voice of Jesus? The only way you’re going to know the Voice of Jesus is through one thing: a relationship. It’s a dialogue.
When you walk with somebody and when you are with somebody for the longest time, you know that person because you are in a relationship.
There’s a dialogue.
But if you’ve never had that chance to be in a relationship with Jesus, you’re never going to know what His Voice sounds like. You can confuse His Voice with other voices in the world.
Samuel heard God because he was humble and God heard him because he was humble. Do you see the pattern that I’m trying to build here?
It’s humility that allows us to hear from God and God also hears from us. But there is a danger…
PART 3: The Proud that Cannot Hear and Cannot Be Heard
We’re now talking about the sons of Eli– Hophni and Phinehas. These pastor’s sons were terrible. This is proof that just because your dad is a priest, it doesn’t mean that you grow up to be the same way. It’s documented in this book. They’re the type of people who would steal food from the offering plate. They would threaten the worshippers, who would complain, with violence. What’s worse is that they would sleep with the young women at the entrance of the temple. That’s how bad they were.
Then, they were at the time when they had become priests and they were just lost in battle. They lost 4,000 good soldiers and they did something so bad.
Listen to this: 
In the time of the Israelites, the Ark of the Covenant was the box that contained the Tablets of The Commandments that God gave to Moses. The cover is supposed to be the seat of God’s throne. It was their religion’s holiest symbol, and they carried the box around in battle. They would worship and use that to tell them that God’s Presence was traveling with them.*
*Background: The Ark of the Covenant is the holiest symbol in their religion, Judaism.
The Ark was the box that contained the Tablets of the Ten Commandments, and the lid of that box was also the seat of God’s throne, with the wings of two angels as backrest.
So, it symbolized God’s Presence.
Why was it called “covenant”? From Britanica.com:
“This covenant, known as the Sinai covenant, was a conditional agreement made at Mount Sinai.
It affirmed the Israelites as God’s chosen people, contingent upon their adherence to certain rules of conduct, starting with the Ten Commandments. These commandments included directives such as worshiping only God, honoring the Sabbath, and prohibitions against murder, theft, and adultery, among others.
The Ark, therefore, symbolized the physical manifestation of this divine agreement, representing God’s presence and the Israelites’ commitment to uphold the laws given to them.” https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ark-of-the-Covenant
Symbols of Our Faith
If you noticed, these two guys said, “Let’s bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from Shiloh.”
Well done and good. It’s good to bring the Presence of God. But the problem was when they started saying, “If we carry it into a battle with us, it will save us from our enemies.”
Do you notice something so problematic about those words? They say that if they bring it, they will be saved. They’re using this object and they are worshiping this thing as though it is the one that will save them–
but that’s not true.
It’s God who will save them. We don’t refer to God as it.
We, Catholics, have a lot of rich traditions in our faith. We have rosaries, scapulars, and crucifixes. You’ve got a St. Benedictine medal for protection.
But those are symbols of our faith. The moment you start worshipping those symbols, that’s the problem. Those symbols will not save you– the Savior will save you. His Name is Jesus. God is God and He is the reason we are saved.
God is the reason we are healed. God is the reason we are blessed.
So, the Israelites lost every battle. When Eli heard the news that his two sons died Eli fell back. He broke his neck and died too. So weird! Now, they lost their priest, they lost the Ark, and they lost their God. Just like Hannah, they’re barren.
Here comes Samuel to save the day.
The prophet Samuel told the Israelites: “Repent! Change your ways!”
Since they were at rock bottom, they had nothing and that’s when they listened.
Sometimes, it’s in a rock-bottom moment that we listen to God. When we’ve got nobody to turn to anymore, we realize in our rock-bottom moment that God is the Rock at the bottom and we start listening to Him.
Don’t reach that part when God has to allow you to reach rock bottom so that He can speak to you.
For the first time in a long, long while, the people listened to Samuel. They repented their ways, and they won a battle against the Philistines– because God hears the humble.
They were humble enough to say, “Lord, we repent and we turn away from our wicked ways.”
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
I’m going to move you now to the New Testament.
Because this is a story on humility, I might as well give you a story of humility in the book of Luke…
There’s a difference between these two persons. The Pharisee says, “I’m not like anyone else. I’m better than everyone.”
The tax collector says the same thing– except a little differently.
He says, “I’m not like everybody else as well. I’m not better than everybody else. I’m worse than everyone else. Lord, the problem is not their sin– but my sin. Lord, I humble myself and I ask You to correct me.”
In his humility, the tax collector was the one who was rewarded by God.
They say that the powerful people will inherit the world. That’s not true.
Jesus says, “Those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
In the Kingdom of God, it’s upside down. Competition starts at the bottom.
The best position in God’s Kingdom is the bottom.
It’s the one who says, “I will be the one to serve. I will be the one to be selfless.
I will be the one to sacrifice. I will be the one to walk the extra mile. I will be the one to wash somebody’s feet.”
People who are humble enough to act accordingly are the ones who are exalted by God.
Politics and Prayer
We live at a time when we realize that we are broken as a nation and as a country. We may be united here in The Feast and our Community. We may be united in our Light Groups or other organizations.
But the moment you bring politics into the room, we discover that we’re broken people. We’ve seen how people have unfriended other people because of pride. And the one thing that I could not take was people mocking one another because they thought that what they believed in was right.
And I was like, it is happening again… I read this in the Bible. I read how people mocked Jesus and I read how people jeered at Him.
I asked, “Lord, how can you heal us as a nation? How can you heal us as a country? Where do we start?”
And the Lord pointed me to a piece of Scripture — in 2 Chronicles. And I pray that you hear this. God says:
What is the way towards healing? It’s humility. I can’t make you humble. I don’t have the power to do that.
All I can do is to humble myself and say, “Lord, my sin is the problem.
Fix me first.”
People are saying, “Run to the streets!”
Instead of running to the streets, let’s run to the Father for mercy. They say that we need “People Power.” But what we need is “Prayer Power.” We need to pray for one another.
Let’s humble ourselves because it starts with me and with you. You cannot force somebody else to do it. You need to be the first to forgive people who have hurt you because, in the end, God is just. We believe that we have not yet seen the Lord’s plan come to life. His ways are still moving. So, we have to trust in God.
Commitment Let me read to you what Jesus did while He was being nailed to a cross:
My goodness, we’re doing the same thing all over again.
But Jesus says, “If my people would humble themselves. If they seek my face, turn to me, and change their ways, I will heal them.
I will forgive their sins and heal their land.”
I’m going to ask you to do something so radical today. I’m going to ask you to run to the Father instead of running to whoever you think will save you.
Jesus is the only One who can save us. He’s our King. He’s our ruler and this is His land.
We’re declaring this as early as now: that our country is for Jesus.
Manila is for Jesus. Alabang is for Jesus. Quezon City is for Jesus.
Visayas is for Jesus. Luzon is for Jesus. Davao is for Jesus. Rizal is for Jesus. Antipolo is for Jesus. Cebu is for Jesus. The Philippines is for Jesus.
Canada is for Jesus. Japan is for Jesus.
We are all the children of God. Let’s humble ourselves before God. Let’s run to Him like the prodigal people that we are. He’s waiting for us and all we have to do is just run back to the Father. He alone can save us.
Lift your hands, Everybody, as an act of humility.
Oh, Father, we are deeply humbled before Your Presence. We know what Your Word says. We know it’s difficult to practice this, that’s why we need Your grace. We cannot do it alone. There is so much temptation, anger, bitterness, envy, and bickering.
But today, we declare that Your grace is going to work for us and not against us. We’re going to walk out of this place completely healed so we can become broken healers.
Lord, use Your son and your daughter today and forever to be vessels of peace and not of war. Use each one to be a person of unity and not division.
We claim in Your Name that in Your perfect time, there will be healing in our land. There will be complete humility in our land. There will be unending joy and love. Because Father, in the end, You, not us, will win the battle.
We run to You and we surrender our lives to You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.