Sermon for the 3rd Sunday after Easter, 2020

Homily for 3rd Sunday After Easter

Fr. Tony Melton

5/2/20

“The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens…He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children.”

Christ will be born in you.

One of my favorite memories while teaching in Dallas, TX, was the year that I took my Middle School students through the Pentateuch and into the time of the Judges. We were just reading thoughtfully through the story of the Bible, nor moralizing too much, just enjoying the narrative. I was trying to teach them to notice things like type/antitype—why does Melchizedek bring out wine and bread? Why are the Hebrews in Egypt to put the blood of the Paschal Lamb on the top of the door so that it drips on the floor, and then on the left doorpost, and then the right doorpost? Why is there a serpent in the beginning of the Bible and a dragon in the end? Why does the Bible begin with a Tree and end with a Tree?

The Bible is full of these narrative arcs that tie the whole thing together. But the feature of the Old Testament that they most easily noticed, and this pleased me greatly, was they saw the repetition of the narrative. Perhaps you’ve noticed how many of the stories in the Pentateuch seem to be strangly similar. Seriously, how many times will brothers try to kill each other in the book of Genesis? How many times will God’s people leave their land due to a threat, and come back extremely blessed. The repetitions in Scripture are echoes of the central themes in salvation history.

The repetition that the students noticed most was all the barren woman. They noticed that often the barren woman would be scorned by another woman who was fertile. First, Sarah and Hagar, then Rachel and Leah, and there is also Hannah and Penninah.

The song of Hannah is selected for our   Old Testament lesson. You remember the story. Hannah was one of two wives of a godly man named Elkanah. They lived in Israel during the time of the Judges, under the high priest, Eli. Elkanah loved Hannah very much, but Hannah was sad because the Lord had closed her womb. What made matters worse was that Peninnah, the other wife, gloated and mocked Hannah for being childless. As is was, Penninah had several children. On their yearly trip to the tabernacle to offer sacrifices, Hannah fasted and prayed and wept before the Lord, asking for a child, promising that she would give the child to the Lord as a Nazarite and an apprentice at the Tabernacle. Eli thought she was drunk and rebuked her, but she explained herself and the high priest prayed that she might receive what she asked for. Nine months later, Samuel was born! After he was weaned, she took him to the Tabernacle as she had promised, and before giving her only son to the service of the Lord, she sang her song, a song which the Blessed Virgin took up when she received her son. She sang, “And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.

2 There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.

3 Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.

4 The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.

5 They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.

6 The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.

7 The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.

8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them.

9 He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.

10 The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

Barrenness is a huge repetition and theme in Scripture. In addition to Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah, there are also Samson’s mother and Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, who were also barren. In the parts of Scripture that are appointed for this Sunday, there are at least three references to the giving of a child to a barren woman. The first we see in the story of Hannah. The second is in our Psalm for this morning. “The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens…He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children.” And finally, Jesus in the Gospel describes the His resurrection as the birth of the promised Son to the barren world. The question we will first occupy ourselves with is this: Why are stories of barrenness so common in the Scripture? Why is the giving of a child related to the salvation of God, as it is in 3 of our passages this morning: Hannah’s song, Psalm 113, and our Gospel for the day, John 16. And even if we can find the reason for this theme in Scripture, why are these passages appointed for Eastertide?

To understand why barrenness is such a theme in Scripture, and why the birth of a son is so closely tied with salvation, we must first go back to the beginning of the story. When God was pronouncing His curses over the serpent, the woman and the man, He says to the woman in Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; [her seed] shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” The Church Fathers was called the protoeuangelion, or “first Gospel”, and Eve took it as just that, a promise of redemption. We know that she did because of how she names her sons and that the Bible records her exclamations upon having a son, just like it does with Hannah and Mary. Eve says when she bears Cain, “I have gotten a man from the Lord!” Meaning, “He will be the Seed to conquer the Serpent!” And when she bears Seth, she says, “For God hath appointed me another (not son, but…) Seed.” She was saying, “This must be the One!” Because salvation would come through the birth of a son, Hebrew women have always deeply lamented barrenness, and the Bible showcases these stories. Barrenness in the Scriptures isn’t just a trial of faith, it is THE trial of Faith for the human race. The question on the mind of every believing person since Eve is, “Has God left us? Am I unworthy of salvation? Will the Promised Child be born? Will we be barren forever?”

The fear of being barren is one of the central human fears. It afflicts men and women alike. Childlessness is the most common form. But there are other forms of barrenness, too. We know several families who have waited a long time for God to send a child. Some are still waiting! I’m sure you know people who are. Vandi and I had our own period of waiting early in our marriage, and the waiting was made tougher by a miscarriage. It was really hard, and we feared that we would be able to have children. Whenever you want something from the LORD and are waiting and hoping for it, the fear can creep in. And since Faith is the patient and hopeful waiting on whatever God will do, faith is contrary to a fear of barrenness.

But look at what the Psalm says, “The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens…He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children.” Which is to say, “Our God does not leave His people barren.” Not truly barren. He might withhold children from some, and this is very painful, no doubt. But every human desire will be fulfilled by God, whether in this life or the next—the desire to love and be loved, to have an adventure, to feel joy, to have meaning, to see justice, to be overwhelmed by beauty, to enjoy peace. We have these stories that you might be filled with faith that we serve a good God, who keeps His promises, who will provide a Seed for Eve to crush the head of the serpent, and who will cause every true human longing, like eggs in the womb of our soul, to be born in the Kingdom of God.

Why go into this? We are in Eastertide. Hasn’t the Promised Christ already been born, even from the dead? Yes, we are. Christ is risen! Alleluia! We absolutely are. And in one sense, being on this side of the promise, we do have a joy that no man can take from us, for as Jesus says of His resurrection, “a man has been born into the world.”

But in another sense, we are very much in the company of women in the long story of the Scriptures. We are like Hannah, whose song we heard. The world rejoices scornfully over our seemingly futile efforts at holiness, while we have sorrow and waiting. Waiting for what? “Christ is risen from the dead! He is already born into the world.” Yes, but Christ must be born in us! It is here that many are yet barren. We wait. We travail. We hope. We are told, and we believe, that in our Baptism Christ is planted in us, in the womb of our soul. But are we showing yet? Is it a miscarriage? We, like Sarah, are given the promise of a child, but bear the scorn of the world because though we have Christ within us, we are still sinners. We are hypocrites in the eyes of the world! When will we be fully delivered from the bands of sin?

I hope you can begin to see why these stories of barren women are appointed for the 3rd Sunday After Easter. The crisis of faith is the same for us as it was for the barren women. Doubt creeps upon us when we think that the Seed is dead in us, that Christ is dead in us. That He will not rise again in us. And in this, we join the disciples who feared that their Messiah would not rise for them. For most Christians, doubt is not questioning the reality of God. Doubt is despondency. It is questioning whether Christ is actually alive in us. “How many times have I fallen into the same sin? How many days or weeks have I gone without feeling the little tap of His Spirit within the womb of my soul? Is the Spirit of the Living God a stillborn in me?” [SLOW] Our soul can be a tomb or a womb, and too often in the history of world, the womb is a tomb. But Christ has been born from both of these, and you will not be left barren.

If you are baptized, then Christ is in you. If Christ is in you, then do not lose Faith. Do not be despondent. Christ will be born in you, and He will take away your sin and your shame. The only thing that aborts the life of God in you is consistent unbelief. So you can join with Hannah and sing, and join with Mary’s song. Because where there is Faith and Love of God, there is the Christ child, the seed of Eve, the Risen Christ, in the womb of your soul, and you are not barren. Amen.