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    Nov 22, 2015

    Why an Ebenezer?

    Why an Ebenezer?

    Passage: 1 Samuel 7:2-12

    Speaker: Rev. Vivian McCarthy, Pastor

    Category: Discipleship, Hope, Grace, Thanksgiving

    Keywords: faith, idolatry, thanksgiving

    When the Israelites gave up their "foreign gods" and recommitted to Yahweh, they found that they were able to do far more than they thought they could. Samuel led them to build a monument of thanksgiving to God.

    While we were in Florida, we made great use of the beautiful pool at our condo – especially Tommy!  I’m one of those little-at-a-time pool people.  I have to get in gradually.  It wasn’t cold – I just can’t seem to dive right in – can’t seem to commit all the way.  It takes me awhile.

    Samuel’s message to the Israelites in this story reminds me of making shallow commitments, and his message to the Israelites is – you have to commit to the One God all the way – no more foreign gods, no matter how great they look on the surface, no matter what kinds of things our neighbors have.  It’s time to dive deep!

     I can almost hear them thinking:  well, hedging our bets with all those other gods hasn’t worked out so well, so maybe we’d better listen this time.  So they once again gave up the foreign or false gods and re-committed their lives to Yahweh.

     And for the first time in a long time, they were victorious in a battle with the Philistines.  They were over the moon! 

     Did God make them win?  I don’t know whether God really works like that.  But what I do know is that whatever God did or didn’t actually DO, the Israelites understood that their new-found commitment to God affected their lives on that day in such a way that they knew that they could not have won that victory without God’s help.

     My call to ministry is like that.  There have been many days when I know that, without the presence and grace of God, there is no way that I could do this.  God called me??  God trusts me to lead a congregation?  To preach?  To sit at bedsides?  To teach God’s word?  No way!  I’ve shared with you before that I don’t usually hear God speak to me directly.  But through scripture, life, and the faith community God has shaped me over and over again – every day.

    Without any doubt in my mind whatsoever, I know that without God’s help, I could not be a pastor.  I could have continued as a teacher and been very happy – and safe – and life would have not been quite so complicated.  But God led – God helped – and I came to understand that God expected something different from me.  Every day, God helps.

    This story includes an image that most of us may not understand – a word that we sure don’t use every day or probably even in any given decade!  Ebenezer.  That is, if we have happened to sing Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing!  Verse 2 begins, “Here I raise mine Ebenezer.  Hither by thy help I’m come.”  An Ebenezer is literally translated as a “stone of help.”  It’s more or less a monument placed to commemorate something important – a time when God helped.  In our text today, Samuel put up a stone in Mizpah to mark the occasion of God’s helping the Israelites win that battle.

    Today, we are going to build our own Ebenezer right here in the sanctuary.  The ushers are going to give each of you a stone, and in your pew you will find several Sharpie pens.  We are going to remain seated as we sing Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing – as a time for reflection.  Ask yourself: 

    • What has God done for me that would not have happened without God’s help?
    • What have I been able to do that was far beyond your wildest dreams – something that God’s help made possible?
    • When have I known the help of God – surprising or powerful or merciful?

     I’ve asked Kelly to play a few minutes after we finish singing to give you time to write a word or a phrase or brief sentence thanking God for that help in your life.  Hold on to it for a little while, and then when you are invited to the communion table, bring it to create our congregational Ebenezer.