Unsung Heroes of the Bible: Lois, Eli, and Naomi

September 14, 2025, homily on Proverbs 17:6 and 2 Timothy 1:5-7 by Pastor Galen

“Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their parents.” – Proverbs 17:6

We live in a world that is incredibly diverse, with many people from many different backgrounds and cultures and ages and religions and ways of life. 

But one thing that everyone in the world has in common is that all of us have grandparents. We may have never known or even met our grandparents, and if we did know them, they may no longer be living, but we all had grandparents. And this is something that we have in common not just with people around the world, but also throughout history! People throughout history, all around the world, all the way back to the grandchildren of Adam and Eve, had grandparents. (In fact, Adam and Eve and their children were the only people throughout history who didn’t have grandparents!)

But while we all have grandparents, only a few select people get the chance to be grandparents. I came across a statistic that says that only about 1 in 5 people in the world are grandparents. So if you are a grandparent, you are part of an elite group! Whether you have grandchildren of your own, or whether you are a grandparent figure to someone else, being a grandparent is a special role. In fact, I would say that in many ways, grandparents are the “unsung heroes” of our society.

And so today, as part of our sermon series on “Unsung Heroes of the Bible,” and in honor of National Grandparents Day, which was last week, we’re going to take a look at 3 grandparents in the Bible, to see how they lived out their faith and how they passed their faith down to the next generations. Each of them was different and lived out their role as a grandparent in different ways. But through their stories, I hope we’ll find something that that will instruct and encourage us, at whatever age or stage of life we are.

Lois

The first grandparent we’re going to look at today is Lois, the grandmother of Timothy, who became a ministry partner of the Apostle Paul.

We don’t know a whole lot about Lois. She is only mentioned once in the Bible, but there’s a lot packed into the verse where she is mentioned. In 2 Timothy 1:5, the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, saying, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” (2 Timothy 1:5).

The word translated “faith” here could be a particular set of religious beliefs — such as faith in God, and it can also mean “faithfulness” or “trustworthiness.” We know from Acts 16:1 that while Timothy’s father was a Gentile, Timothy’s mother Eunice was a Jewish woman who had accepted Jesus as the Messiah. This verse in 2 Timothy suggests that Lois, Timothy’s grandmother, had also come to faith in Christ. We can infer that while Lois had been a devout worshiper of God throughout her life, she was not not stuck in her ways, but was open to learning new ideas and incorporating them into her own faith.

At the same time, she demonstrated faithfulness and trustworthiness, not being swayed by every new idea or conspiracy theory, but carefully weighing everything by what she new to be true about God from Scripture.

We see here, too, that her faith was “sincere.” One of the meanings of the word translated here as “sincere” is “without hypocrisy.” Other translations use the word “genuine.” Lois didn’t just “talk the talk.” She walked the walk. She lived out her faith in a genuine way, and it had a profound impact on Timothy.  

When I think of Lois in the Bible, I’m reminded of Ms. Ginny Martin, a grandmother who attended the church where our family attended for 14 years. She had a deep and sincere faith, and certainly walked the walk. She was also reading and studying her Bible, and I remember one time how she shared with our small group about a new truth she had learned in Scripture. She was deeply grounded in her faith, yet was always open to receiving a fresh word from the Lord. She was a tremendous blessing and encourager not only to her own children and grandchildren, but to Eboni and me and many of the other young adults in our church. 

We learn from grandmother Lois and from Ms. Ginny that what we how we live out our faith matters, and that even more than the words we say, the way we live our lives can have a profound impact on the generations that follow.

Eli

And that brings us to the next grandparent in the Bible that we’re going to look at this morning: Eli. To learn more about Eli, we have to turn all the way back in our Bibles to 1 Samuel, chapter 1. Eli was a priest who lived in Israel before King Solomon built the temple and so he ministered in the tabernacle, which was housed at Shiloh. If you remember, when the people of Israel escaped from slavery in Egypt, they were instructed to build a tabernacle, or tent, where they would go and offer sacrifices to God. They carried this tabernacle with them throughout the wilderness for 40 years, and into the promised land of Canaan, where it was used for another 450+ years until King Solomon built a more permanent temple. 

Eli was one of the priests who ministered at the tabernacle, as were his sons. Actually, 1 Samuel 1:3 identifies Eli’s sons Hophni and Phinehas as the priests at Shiloh, which indicates that by this time Eli was semi-retired. We’re introduced to Eli himself in 1 Samuel 1:9, where it says that he “was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord” (1 Samuel 1:9b.) One commentary suggests that “Eli was perhaps too advanced in years to continue officiating, but he could still serve a public relations function, greeting worshipers at the entrance and offering advice or instructions. The piece of furniture described here could be translated ‘chair’ but in most places refers to a throne or a seat of honor” (IVP Old Testament Bible Background Commentary).

Eli was sitting there on this chair when a woman by the name of Hannah came in to pray in the tabernacle. She was distraught because she had been unable to have children. In fact, she was so distraught that Eli mistakenly thought that she was drunk, but when she told him that she was praying for a child, Eli assured her that God had heard her prayer and would grant her request. 

Sure enough, Hannah did in fact give birth to a child, who she named Samuel, and because she had made a vow to God before he was born that if she gave birth to a son that she would dedicate him to the Lord, when he was still a young child, Hannah brought Samuel to the tabernacle to be mentored by Eli and to serve in the tabernacle. Samuel went on to become a great figure in the history of Israel — he served as the last judge of Israel, anointed the first king of Israel, and lived his remaining years as the first of Israel’s great prophets.

Many of us are familiar with the story of when Samuel was a little boy and he had a dream where God was calling his name. At first, Samuel thought that it was Eli calling for him, but it wasn’t Eli who had called his name, so Eli told Samuel to go back to sleep. After this happened a few times, Eli realized that it must be God calling Samuel’s name, so he told Samuel that if it happened again, he should say, “Speak Lord for your servant is listening.” Samuel followed Eli’s instructions, and from that time forward, Samuel learned to recognize and respond to the voice of the Lord.

When I think of Eli, I’m reminded of my pastor when I was growing up — Harold LeFever, who we called Pastor Harold or Brother Harold. Pastor Harold was a maintenance worker, who, at the age of 41, was ordained to the ministry and planted a church in the city of Harrisburg, which he pastored for over 42 years, to the age of 83! While pastoring, he continued working in the maintenance department at his company until his retirement, after which he dedicated his retirement years to the church — serving not only as the pastor, but also as the janitor!

As Pastor Harold got up in years, he wasn’t able to do as many things around our church facility, so he invited some of us young people to help. But he didn’t just leave us to figure things out on our own — he mentored us, patiently instructing us what to do, and listening to us and talking with us while we worked. Looking back on it, I realize it wasn’t just that Pastor Harold needed help cleaning the gutters and chopping up fallen tree limbs — he also wanted to invest in us young people. Pastor Harold not only taught me how to clean gutters and use a chainsaw — he also taught me how to listen for and respond to the voice of the Lord.

Pastor Harold and Priest Eli teach us that you’re never too old to serve the Lord and invest in the next generation — and that our influence can extend well beyond those who are our biological children and grandchildren.

Naomi

And that brings us to our last grandparent that we’re going to look at this morning: Naomi. Naomi was the Mother-in-law of Ruth, grandmother to Obed, who became the grandfather of King David. Naomi was a refugee who because of a famine was forced to move to a foreign country along with her husband and their sons. While there, her sons got married, and then her husband and both of her sons passed away, leaving her a widow and childless, with two daughters-in-law who were from a completely different culture and background than her. And yet, she treated them as if they were her own children, and looked out for their well-being. After the famine was over, she moved back to her home country, and her daughter-in-law Ruth went with her. Ruth eventually remarried and had a child of her own. In Ruth 4, verse 16, the Bible tells us that Naomi “cared for [her grandson] as if he were her own” (Ruth 4:16).

When I think of Naomi, I’m reminded of Ms. Barbara Belcher, a neighbor of ours when we lived in Southwest Baltimore who attended our church. Ms. Barbara literally adopted her own grandchildren when their mother had to give them up for adoption. Although she was not a person of wealth, she sacrificed greatly to provide a stable and loving home for her grandchildren. 

Ms. Barbara and Naomi remind me that true family is formed not only by blood but also by commitment, compassion, and care. Their lives witness to the power of ordinary people—especially grandparents and caregivers—who step into difficult situations and pour themselves out for the sake of the next generation.

Conclusion

I hope we can see in these examples from Scripture and everyday life that God uses people of every generation to shape the next. Some of them were related by blood, some were not. Some had abundant resources, some had very little. But what they all had in common was that they made themselves available to God, and God used them to bless others. So whether you are a grandparent, a parent, or a young person just starting out, you have a part to play in this great story. You may not always see the impact right away, but your words, your prayers, your encouragement, and your faithfulness can ripple forward into future generations in ways you could never imagine.

So let us give thanks today—for grandparents, for mentors, for spiritual parents and grandparents, and for all those who show us what genuine faith looks like. And let us commit ourselves to be faithful, so that those who come after us may also know the love of Christ and the power of God at work in their lives.

Amen!

Questions for Personal Reflection in Response to Today’s Sermon:

1. Lois passed on a “sincere faith” to her daughter and grandson. How am I living out my faith in a way that is genuine and not just words? What opportunities do I have to model faith for the next generation, whether in my family, church, or community?
2. Eli guided young Samuel to hear God’s voice. Who has served as a mentor or “spiritual grandparent” in my own life? Who in my life right now might God be calling me to invest in, even if they are not related to me?
3. Naomi showed that family is not only about blood but also about commitment, compassion, and care. Where might God be inviting me to widen my definition of family? What sacrifices might I be called to make in order to care for or support others?
4. The sermon reminded us that everyone—young or old—has a part to play in shaping the next generation. In what ways can I use my season of life to bless others? How can I encourage someone in another generation (younger or older) in their walk of faith this week?