Month: October 2017

Scripture: 1 Timothy 2.1-2
I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

Prayer is not a passive, calm, quiet practice. — Tim Keller

Reflection: Thoughts and Prayers
by John Tillman

In our world, there is now pushback against even saying that we will pray over a situation. Thoughts and prayers as a hashtag has become a philosophical battlefield where people of faith and people frustrated by people of faith clash about the efficacy of prayer and the pointlessness of faith without works. (The language is, of course, not that academic.)

This pushback is based on a cultural assumption about prayer and an assumption about those who say they will pray. The first is that prayer is pointless and can’t help any situation. The second is that those who say they will pray, will not actually pray, and worse than that, will not follow through with any actions at all.

The cultural version of this type of empty prayer is engaging in the equally empty gesture of clicktivism—liking or sharing a post about an issue, but doing nothing substantive to address it. In a way, those who are decrying thoughts and prayers are praying unknowingly—they are calling out, they know not to whom, for real, tangible change and action.

The culture Paul was in prayed a lot. Prayer was everywhere. But in no religion was it so personal and direct as in Christianity. The type of prayer that Paul practiced and taught confronted both modern and ancient cultural assumptions and was attractive, not repulsive, to his culture. How?

One reason we see is that the kind of prayer that Paul engages in is fruitful in creating action—good desires and the deeds that follow. Paul’s prayers were not just words, but will and work. According to Paul deeds are prompted by faith, and faith is fueled by prayer life.

It is our actions, growing directly from the cultivated soil of prayer, that bear fruit that our world will gladly partake of.

When we follow the lead of godly, broken-hearted prayer, we will find ourselves acting in undeniably loving ways (against which there is no law), seeking out the lost, marginalized, and broken with Christ’s love, and suddenly realizing that people are no longer repelled by our thoughts and our prayers.

The Greeting
Seven times a day do I praise you, because of your righteous judgments. — Psalm 119.164

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
2 Kings 5 (Listen – 6:17)
1 Timothy 2 (Listen – 1:38)

Scripture: 1 Timothy 1.15-16
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.

Reflection: A True Example of Repentance
by John Tillman

Since Paul wrote 1 Timothy, a parade of feigned repentants has damaged our understanding of repentance and mercy. We often see repentance as a trick, even if we initially can’t resist being pulled in by it.

There’s one thing they can never resist and that’s a reformed sinner. — Billy Flynn, Chicago

Reporter, Maurine Watkins, famously based Billy Flynn on the real-life law partners, W. W. O’Brien and William Scott Stewart, who defended and gained acquittal for Belva Gaertner and Beulah Annan, the real-life women upon whom Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart were based. Watkins’ barely fictional play, after her death, was sold and adapted. Broadway and Hollywood made Chicago a cultural touchstone.

What Chicago touches on—perhaps “shoots for” is a better metaphor—is our culture’s deep cynicism of repentance. The repentant politician, the repentant serial adulterer, the repentant murderer, the repentant addict—they are a syndicated show we’ve seen before; the reruns of a cynical joke we are in on even when the joke is on us.

Individuals, companies, leaders, and even industries wish to cheaply replicate the public relations (and sometimes legal) benefits of repentance without the moral investment of altering a single action or outcome. We want the caché of repentance without the change it brings.

Not only that, but when it comes time to grant mercy to a repentant, we are stingy. As permissive as our supposedly modern culture is, we are remarkably tribal about mercy. Members of our own tribes, whether religious, political, or racial are more likely to be shown mercy than those of tribes we’d rather continue to point fingers at.

Paul, however, demonstrates the power of true repentance that goes beyond a surface-level, placating facade; he teaches us about mercy beyond any that culture is willing to grant—even to allies.

The repentance Paul exemplifies and teaches is destructive to pride, selfishness, and our very way of thinking and living. This Gospel repentance is more than remorse, but reconstruction. It is fueled not by our own inner strength, but is activated when we admit openly our inner weakness.

We cannot fathom the mercy of God, until we experience repentance. We cannot truly experience repentance, until we see ourselves as Paul saw himself—chief of sinners. If our culture is cynical about repentance and doesn’t understand mercy, it’s probably because they need to see the real thing up close from us.

The Greeting
Show me your ways, O Lord, and teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; in you have I trusted all the day long. — Psalm 25.3-4

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
2 Kings 4 (Listen – 6:17)
1 Timothy 1 (Listen – 2:59)