Sermon – 12-29-24 – Christmas 1 – Cycle C
Scripture: 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26; Psalm 148; Colossians 3:12-17; Luke 2:41-52
Sermon Title: “Eli and Joseph: Samuel and Baby Jesus”

Stepfathers. Some of you may be stepfathers or you have or had stepfathers. The relationships may have been good or not so good or worse. Today we meet a stepfather-of-sorts named Eli. We also realize that Joseph, husband of Mary, is the stepfather of Jesus.

God the Father, in his mysterious ways, sends the Holy Spirit to bring alive a baby in Mary’s womb. This baby is therefore a holy baby, a divine baby. This baby is meant to change the world. How is that working so far? You may be ready to say, ‘Not so good!” But, of course, I say my usual “Wait!” This baby was born 2024 years ago give or take 4 or 6 years. Science was slightly primitive at that time so miscalculations seem to have occurred. But the point is, the faith, called Christianity – followers of Jesus Christ, has endured some 2024 years. Not so shabby!

If we acknowledge that the life of Jesus is based on 2000 years of recorded history before Baby Jesus was sent to earth by God the Father, we have vaguely 4000 years plus of belief in one God, albeit a God of three persons. It’s not like we worship one god who controls the sun and another god who controls the moons and another god who supposedly brings safety while we drive our cars.

Our Old Testament reading today is about a stepfather-of-sorts, named Eli. “Eli in the Bible is a Jewish priest living in the days of the judges and serving God at the tabernacle in Shiloh, a city near the hill country of Ephraim (1 Samuel 1:1, 3). Eli is best remembered for his blessing on Samuel’s mother and for his part in Samuel’s first prophecy.”

Let’s get to the heart of this story. Hannah, the mother, and Samuel the future baby. What is a future baby? Well, Hannah does not have any children yet and she is beyond the normal age to have a baby. Other women look down on Hannah and make fun of her. It is not funny to Hannah. She oames to the temple in Jerusalem once a year to pray earnestly for a son. One year she prays more fervently than in earlier visits. Eli the priest overhears Hannah and tells her to go home, that God will grant her desire to have a son.

Lo and behold, Hannah and her husband Elkanah, have a baby son that year. A real blessing, a reward for Hannah’s steadfast faith. So if Elkanah is the father, what is this about a stepfather?
Well, Hannah in her fervent praying promises God that if God provides a son for her, she will dedicate the son to the service of the Lord. She is really serious and when Samuel is able to eat whole food, she brings Samuel to Eli the priest to raise Samuel in the temple and teach Samuel about the history of God’s activity that is recorded in the Bible and in secular writings.

Do you realize that Samuel is very young when Eli is entrusted with this child? I suspect that Eli is not the only adult serving God in the temple on a permanent all-day-all-night basis. I suspect there is at least one woman who cooks and cleans and does the laundry and in this case, may have needed change diapers. But Eli is responsible for the upbringing, the nurture, the instruction and guidance that this child needs on his way to becoming a great prophet and a great intermediary with kings. Eli is a stepfather.

Moving to Joseph, husband of Mary, mother of Baby Jesus. First an angel comes to Mary in person, face-to-face. Then an angel comes to Joseph in a dream. It is official. Mary is expecting a baby and Joseph shall be the stepfather. God has this all calculated very well. Joseph has the right lineage. We can find the lineage in Matthew, chapter one. A subject for another day is that the lineage in Luke is the lineage of Mary’s family. Joseph’s ancestor is Solomon, son of King David. Mary’s ancestor is Nathan, son of King David.

Do you know what is more important than the lineage? The personality and talent of this Joseph, stepfather of Jesus. According to all accounts, Joseph is kind and loving, gentle, and has excellent carpentry skills. He passes his personality and skills to Jesus – remember, not inherited personality – but learned personality – personality by osmosis. You probably want to remind me that Jesus already has a divine personality. We can be glad that this divine personality did not include the wrath of God the Father as we know it from Old Testament readings.

I find this interesting as I write. Samuel’s stepfather, Eli, has problems with his own biological sons and therefore comes under severe judgement by God the Father. In the case of God the Father being the divine father of Jesus, God the Father’s wrath must have caused Jesus some disappointment and displeasure. If I have been able to state this case clearly and accurately enough, we see two sons – Samuel and Jesus – who pleased the stepfathers who are Eli and Joseph. But, going backward, we find all sorts of problematic people. Going forward we come to ourselves, surely not perfect.

Yet, we personally experience the salvation that has found its way to us – not through these interesting ancestors – but directly through Jesus, himself. No matter the ancestors, no matter the descendants, because the salvation of Jesus comes directly to each person who repents and asks for forgiveness. In thankfulness for this personal salvation, we are expected to share this good news with our descendants and to the people with whom we share space every day.