Heart Over Hype: 1 Samuel 2:12-36

Use this curriculum to help you further engage with the sermon, the scriptures, and each other. Allow the Holy Spirit to bring things up to encourage and guide you so that you are always growing in your faith. If the Spirit leads you away from these questions and into conversation and prayer that encourages and points you to Jesus, go for it.

scripture

Read the following scriptures together: 1 Samuel 2:12-36.

overview

In the first chapter, Eli the priest was unable to recognize the grieving prayers of Hannah, supposing that she was drunk and falsely implying that she was a “wicked” woman (1 Samuel 1:16), when in fact her heart was pure. But here in our passage this week, we see the same Hebrew word being used to describe the actual condition of Eli’s own sons (“scoundrels” in the NIV), even while Eli himself is unwilling to face and put an end to their wickedness by removing them from the priesthood. It seems that Eli’s blindness towards the wickedness of his sons was occurring while he was also simultaneously falsely accusing others.

question 1

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt quick to accuse others of a particular sin, while you yourself were guilty of the same sin in your own heart?

discussion

Rather than casting stones at others for their sins or pointing out the plank that we think we see in their eyes, God’s Spirit is constantly inviting us to face our own sin and to offer up those areas in our heart that still need to be healed. In the letter of 1 John, the author writes many words of encouragement to the early Christians (and to us today) “so that [we] will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2).

question 2

In your life of following Jesus, what is one area of your heart that God has transformed?

Paul writes to the church in Corinth: “Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?” (1 Corinthians 5:6). The unseen leaven of selfish desires and pride eventually shows up in our actions if left unchecked, as we saw with Eli’s sons. And yet, at the exact same time that priestly corruption and sin was growing, God’s own kingdom was also quietly growing behind the scenes. Verse 21 tells us about young Samuel in his linen ephod and his little homemade robes who “grew up in the presence of the Lord” despite all the chaos of Eli’s household. And just a few verses later, we read that “the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people” (1 Samuel 2:26).

question 3

On Saturday, Andrew pointed out that “we’re always becoming something in time; we’re never static.” What is growing quietly in your life?

weekly application

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus uses the same yeast metaphor to talk about the spreading of God’s kingdom, saying that “the kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough” (Matthew 13:33). In other words, the unseen and quiet growth of God’s kingdom is more powerful than the yeasts of sin, selfish desire, and human pride. No matter how chaotic our life may feel for a season, let’s praise God for the way his kingdom overcomes evil with good.