Sermon Cloud

Bill & Ann had been married for ten years, and were having trouble getting pregnant. They went through all the tests, and tried all kinds of scientific methods, but because of the cost, and the disappointments, they almost gave up. They went to their pastor and she talked with them a bout stories in the Bible like Sarah and Rachel and Hannah: women who were unable to have children, but prayed and God granted their prayers.

Believing that only God could work the miracle of giving them a child, they prayed together in the pastor’s study. Relieved that it was now in God’s hands, and ready to accept that perhaps God’s plan for them was to not have kids, Bill & Ann went home feeling better about their situation.

About 7 weeks later, Ann called the pastor with an excitement in her voice, that she had not heard in a long time. Ann was pregnant finally. So again, they prayed together right there over the phone, that God would bless her pregnancy and help her child to grow healthfully.

Ann gave birth about nine months later, to a bouncing baby boy, and she could not have been more  thrilled or more thankful to God. So they named their son, Samuel. She was able to take her baby home two days later. And again she called her pastor. She said, I want to arrange for my baby’s baptism, but I want somehow to do more than that. I want to dedicate him to the Lord, in thanksgiving for God’s giving me this precious gift and for answering my prayers. Together they talked about what Ann and Bill wanted and a few weeks later, a special worship celebration was held.

Ann and Bill raised their son to have a consciousness that he was a special gift from God, and that he would someday grow up to be a great servant of God. When they would read stories at night, Ann would talk about God’s love for him. When they would go to church and take him to Sunday School, they always talked afterward about what he learned. Bill & Ann immersed Samuel in an understanding of God’s love, and he grew up with a special awareness that God had great plans for him. He was wise beyond his years. He was generous and thoughtful, and as he grew you could almost see the hand of God shaping his life. Bill & Ann were filled with joy and pride, and they were excited to see what Samuel would become.

So here is a question you may want to ponder: How would your life be different, if it had been dedicated to the Lord from birth? How differently would you parent, if you had offered your child as a dedication to the Lord?

Hannah, had been unable to have children. Yet her husband’s other wife was able to have all kinds of children. She felt unloved and unfulfilled, and she pleaded with God to grant her prayer and give her a son.

Well, we all know that God granted her prayer, and she dedicated Samuel to the Lord, and as soon as he was weaned, she brought him to the temple to serve under the guidance of Eli, the prophet.

Samuel was still a young lad, perhaps only 8 or 10 years old, when God called him to become a mighty prophet.

To me this shows us two things. One, you can never be too young to serve the Lord, and to be called to accomplish some pretty amazing things in life.

There are more and more stories these days and perhaps there is something about this new generation, but one hears about children organizing, or sacrificing, or working to raise awareness and funds to help some pretty significant concerns. Take Zach Bonner, the 11-year old, who walked pulling his little red wagon on a 1225-mile trek from his home in Tampa all the way to Washington, DC. Zach started out, just asking if his family could donate their water bottles to the homeless. His parents gave him what they had. He then went to the neighbors, and pulling his little red wagon, he filled it with water bottle donations, and some people even gave him money. His little project began to grow and soon he formed The Little Red Wagon Foundation. His concern for children and youth among the homeless population blossomed, into a nationally recognized non-profit providing resources and supplies for many organizations that serve the homeless. You may remember when he was in the news here recently.

Talia Leman, a 12-year old girl, founded an organization called Random Kid. She started out by organizing a few friends to go Trick or Treating on Halloween 2005 to collect coins to raise funds for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. She then began to catalog and tally all the money given by children through schools and community organizations and discovered that children had donated over $10 million. As she began to share the news of how much children had raised or given, she began to get support from growing numbers of individuals, companies and other organizations.

The second thing this shows me, is that it doesn’t matter when you start serving the Lord. We can dedicate our lives to the Lord at any age, and make a significant difference in the lives of people around us.

Every Monday morning I host a little discussion group at the Starbucks next door. One of the guys who comes regularly, is a retired gentleman by the name of Jack. Jack volunteers a lot of his time teaching adults how to read. He cares very much about adult literacy, and he both tutors reading to adults, and teaches others how to work with adults to teach them how to read. Jack may feel like he is just one man doing a little volunteering but, he is making a huge difference in the lives of people who are having their horizons opened to a whole new world through reading. And not just books and newspapers, but to be able to read sufficiently to work at better jobs, to be able to earn a diploma, or even get a degree.

Every one of us was put on this planet to make a difference in the lives of others. We get the greatest sense of purpose and fulfillment when we are helping others. God did not put us on this earth merely to consume resources and entertain ourselves. God put us here to be a blessing to others, and perhaps to a whole lot of people. Small beginnings, simple ideas, and early steps can lead a child, a youth, an adult, or a retiree, to a fantastic world of service and caring, that will change people’s lives.

The call of Samuel, reminds us that when we dedicate ourselves to serving and pleasing God, God can use us to touch the lives of thousands, and to live lives that are blessings to others, and to ourselves. We get to choose how we will respond. We get to choose,  whether to say to God, “Yes, Lord, your servant is listening,” or whether to close our ears and roll over in our beds. We get to choose to be selfish and self absorbed, or benevolent and caring. We get to choose whether we will trust and believe in God, or go through our lives completely on our own. We can choose to use our simple gifts and uncertain efforts to make a difference, and then watch as God multiplies our work to accomplish something great. All we have to do is put our lives in God’s hands and say, “Here Am I, send me.” Let us pray ...

Loving heavenly Father, we thank you that you think so highly of us, and that you have gifted each one of us so that we may do your will. Help us always to listen to your voice, and to always say, “Here I am, Lord, your servant is listening.” Amen.