November 16, 2003

On November 2nd in Durham, New Hampshire, the Rev. Gene Robinson was consecrated as the new Bishop of the diocese of New Hampshire. In front of a crowd of 2,500 people during a three-hour ceremony on the indoor ice hockey rink of UNH there was a welcoming celebration for this man who has served in the diocese for 28 years. But this was a day of mixed blessings for this 56-year-old pastor; as the first openly gay Episcopal Bishop, Gene Robinson stands squarely in the eye of a storm of controversy. Few doubt that he is a man of faith, and that he has had a long and successful career in ministry. What they doubt is that this man of faith can serve a deeply divided denomination because of his sexual orientation. While there were many supporters inside the rink, including Gene's family and partner of 14 years, outside there are protesters with signs that read simply "God hates fags." This is not a new controversy but what makes this particularly intense is that the Episcopal church has elevated a gay man to this level of leadership, and that his very presence will polarize a denomination. When Gene Robinson prays to God for strength and courage, he also knows that his presence may be the catalyst for the fracture in his denomination that he loves and serves. What does Gene Robinson desire? He desires for his denomination to stay together; he desires to serve all 16,474 members of the NH diocese; and he desires to love all those who are both excited and pained by his consecration. Clearly, the Episcopalian Church has been wrestling with this larger issue quietly for some time. With the appointment of Gene, the movement of the Episcopal church towards full acceptance of Gay and Lesbian folks has taken a great leap. Openly gay and lesbian clergy are serving churches but in this one man the battle lines are clearly drawn about issues of sexual morality and interpretation of scripture. Gene Robinson can only hope that to accept this new role is to bring a witness to the need to include those who stand on the margins of society, whatever their marginalization is. The jury is still out for the Episcopal Church. One can only hope that Gene Robinson will not be personally destroyed by the attention and controversy that his very being brings to this time in history. Is this man strong enough to endure this intense scrutiny?

A second person has been brought to the forefront of the media recently, for very different reasons. We have all been barraged by the story of Jessica Lynch, the young soldier who was rescued from an Iraqi hospital by American soldiers. We have seen the rescue tape, many people watched the emotional t.V. drama this past weekend, and now Jessica Lynch is about to release her book "I am a Soldier, Too." Hailed as a hero, criticized as a public-relations pawn by the military (LA Times Nov. 14,2003, p. 1A), one must dig to get at the authentic young woman amidst the media flurry. In her moving words in both her book and in the newspaper, this young woman says that it is her desire to regain her life: to learn how to walk again, regain control over her bodily functions, to tell the truth of what she experienced. As she said about herself, "I'm a survivor, not a hero." She goes on to say that she co-wrote a book because it was something that she could have control over. What she really wants is to get better, be able to walk, go to God. When the Ark was captured by the Philistines, it was never returned to Shiloh and Shiloh subsequently lost its prestige. Eventually Solomon's Temple was built in Jerusalem and that became the center of worship in Israel.

On this particular occasion, the story tells us that the whole family journeyed to Shiloh to make offerings to God. Elkanah, Hannah's husband gives a special portion ofthe feast meat to Hannah because he loved her and knew of her despair. But Hannah couldn't get past the other wife who continued to provoke her. Hannah was not to be consoled by her husband. We need to recall that barrenness was looked upon in unfavorable terms. Motherhood was the primary role for women to fulfill and it was a significant measure of the status and power that a woman could achieve. Plus, I would imagine on a personal note, that it was rewarding to have children if you desire them. For all these reasons, Hannah was troubled - and then you add a second wife who is bearing children and you can only imagine Hannah's distress. But Hannah has a plan. She refuses to eat much of anything and then Hannah walks past Eli the priest, into the area set aside for worship and pours out her soul to God. "O God, Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to God for all the days of his life..." Hannah continues to pray silently, moving her lips and praying with her whole heart. When she is questioned about her drunken-like behavior by Eli, she tells him the truth--she is not drunk; she is pouring out her heart and soul to God and asking for what she desperately wants from God. Eli looks at her, listens to her and then bids her to go in peace with the hope that God may grant her request.

Well, that could have been the end of the story of Hannah, except that a miracle occurred. Hannah, full of conviction, turns away and has already determined that she is going to win her heart's desire - the text tells us that she goes and has something to eat and her "face is no longer downcast" (I Samuel 1:18). Notice this with me - Hannah has already decided to be hopeful.

She doesn't know if she will get pregnant!

She doesn't know that she will give birth to a healthy son!

She doesn't know if he will grow up to be a wise man who will serve God!

But Hannah chooses to believe already. And I think she influences the outcome! I don't exactly know how. It is sort of like all those studies that they do to try and figure out why prayer works. They can't tell you why, but they can tell you that if one person has a circle of people praying for them, they do better than those who don't pray and don't have others praying for them!

Hannah, who holds a very small role in the history onsrael is named and known because she had the gall to publicly ask God for what she wanted, and then to believe that her cries would be heard. Hannah refused to be a victim and refused to give in to her despair. Well, the story is told that Hannah did indeed become pregnant, she bore a son and named him Samuel and then after she weaned him she offered him to the service of God under the tutelage of priest Eli. Now, I must be honest. I cannot imagine leaving my 4-5-year-old son in the care of a priest, but I also cannot imagine a lot of things that were part of the life and customs of people who lived in ancient Palestine--starting with the second college, become a teacher, and see other parts of the country and world. She stands in the fire of what the true story really is and, in the larger picture, what people think about war, women in the military and our country's role in the rebuilding oflraq. She represents one of many lives that are on the line and urge us to evaluate our feelings about our presence in Iraq.

Both of these people are trying to live their lives with integrity and yet they both represent issues larger than themselves and may have impact on the world much larger than their current lives. In thinking about people who are lifted into the limelight and held up to societal scrutiny, we realize how important our individual decisions and actions truly are. Neither one of these people sought fame or fortune but they will be known forever in the public eye, whatever the outcome in the Episcopal Church or the American military in Iraq.

Individual people sometimes become pivotal figures for how we view the world and decide to make our way in the world. In both these cases, these people are working hard to remain who they are amidst the fame and opinions ofthose outside of them. Both are role models for us as they seek to steer the course of their futures from their own perspectives.

I'd like to contrast them with an ancient figure from the Hebrew Bible, whom we read about today--Hannah. In many ways it is a difficult comparison to make, for Hannah's story has long since been told and re-told and edited in light of the history of her son Samuel. Words have been attributed to her that we may never know whether or not she truly spoke them. But in other ways, the memory and reputation of Hannah is helpful because she reminds us to stay true to our convictions, to write and tell our own stories, and to be hopeful even when our lives are far from what we had hoped they would be.

Let me put Hannah in context for us. Hannah lived in the historical time approximately in the 11th century B.C. Her son Samuel was the last judge in ancient Israel who reluctantly anointed the fIrst king of lsrael. The stories that we read about Hannah and Samuel were fmally edited between the 7th and 6th centuries B.C. What we know is that Hannah was married to Elkanah and they had no children. Elkanah had another wife who did have children and apparently this wife would irritate and hassle Hannah because of her infertility. They must have been a religious family because we are told that they went to the holy shrine at Shiloh each year to offer worship and sacrifice to God. Shiloh was an important religious center in Israel, located northeast of Jerusalem. It was the administrative and religious center for the Israelite tribes during the 12th century of early settlement. The tabernacle of God was positioned there and the twelve tribes received their land allotments at Shiloh. The Ark of the Covenant was kept at Shiloh unless it was out with the Israelites during a battle to give them strength. You will remember that the Ark of the Covenant was an ornate box made out of acacia wood and gold and carved cherubs. The sacred box held a copy ofthe Law and was placed behind a curtain in the tabernacle, a large tent the size of half a tennis court. (From Bruce Feiler's Walking the Bible, p. 265) The seat of the priesthood was also in the Shiloh sanctuary and Eli was the chief priest there. People made pilgrimages to Shiloh to offer prayers and sacrifices to wife! Yet, that doesn't get in the way of me admiring this woman for her determination not to be a victim and to demand from God the desire of her heart.

Each one of us has desires. I truly believe that the deepest and most honest desires are put into our hearts by God, so we shouldn't be ashamed of wanting the miracles that we pray for! But part of living in a faithful way is opening ourselves to the miracle; believing before we can see; trusting before we have proof That is what Hannah teaches me. That is what I hope Gene Robinson and Jessica Lynch will hold onto. We may be a minor player on the historical stage or we may be thrust into the limelight from utter obscurity. Either way, we have desires and dreams and integrity to keep intact and we need to cultivate the hope for our dreams to become a reality. So the message from scripture today is to name what your desire is, and to lay claim to the possibility that God may give you your portion. Amen.