Scripture: Romans 6.22
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

Reflection: A Sure Hold on the Eternal
By John Tillman

When we struggle in the day to day temporal world, we seldom connect our difficulty to our loss of connection to the eternal. Practicality demands that we live in the “real” world, but certainly our practical minds can recognize that the tangibles that we obsess over are destined to be dust. When they are gone the only “real” world will be the one we tend to put off until later—the eternal. Anchoring our life in spiritual practice then, in the end, is most practical. It is our hold on the eternal that gives us steadiness and strength to cope with the temporal.

By Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941)

The people of our time are helpless, distracted, and rebellious, unable to interpret what is happening, and full of apprehension about what is to come, largely because they have lost this sure hold on the eternal, which gives to each life meaning and direction, and with meaning and direction gives steadiness.

I do not mean by this a mere escape from our problems and dangers, a slinking away from the actual to enjoy the eternal. I mean an acceptance and living out of the actual, in its homeliest details and its utmost demands, in the light of the eternal; and with that peculiar sense of ultimate security that only a hold on the eternal brings. When the vivid reality represented by these rather abstract words is truly possessed by us, when what is unchanging in ourselves is given its chance, and emerges from the stream of succession to recognize its true home and goal, which is God— then, though much suffering may, indeed will, remain apprehension, confusion, instability and despair will cease.

For a spiritual life is simply a life in which all that we do comes from the center, where we are anchored in God: a life soaked through and through by a sense of His reality and claim, and self-given to the great movement of His will.

*Quoted in the introduction to Communion, Community, Commonweal edited by John S. Mogabgab

A Reading
Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it. For where your treasure is, there is where your heart will be too. — Luke 12.33-34

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
1 Samuel 7-8 (Listen – 5:34)
Romans 6 (Listen – 3:53)

Scripture: Romans 5.1-2
We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.

Reflection: What Prayer Delivers
By John Tillman

We have often written, and discussed in our community that prayer is not a grocery list for God. That’s not what it means for God to be our Deliverer. Those who treat prayer so, will continually be disappointed at what must seem a very poor return on investment.

Some in the church have set prayer up to fail with this kind of teaching—attempting to create a longing for prayer through a materialistic longing for a better job, or positive, tangible outcomes in life. Teaching such as this short-circuits the real and actual longing for prayer that already exists in each person. Roberta C. Bondi discusses this in her essay, The Paradox of Prayer.

There is a deeper reason for our longing for prayer. We are so made that we cannot live fully without it. Prayer is central to the Christian life. It joins us to God, and it leads us to ourselves in God.

Prayer is something far deeper in the human soul than a list of materialistic items. It comes from longings that each person feels—a longing for identity, a longing for connection, a longing for purpose.

In prayer we find things that are more valuable than what a “deliverer god” (lowercase) might pick up at the shop on the way over. We discover who we are, who loves us, and to whom we are to carry that love—for we are God’s delivery system, not the other way around.

Prayer connects us to God, to our true selves, and to our true purpose. Bondi continues:

It is the place where we can be completely ourselves. In prayer we can see ourselves as we are and be truthful about what we see. We can enjoy our own gifts and wonder at all we have been given. We can argue with God about who we are and who we have been. We can acknowledge our mistakes and set them aside. Most important, we can learn to love God, ourselves as belonging to God, and other people as images of God, because we are shaped at our very deepest levels by our prayer.

*Quotes from Roberta C. Bondi’s essay, The Paradox of Prayer, in Communion, Community, Commonweal, edited by John S. Mogabgab.

The Request for Presence
Bow down your ear, O Lord, and answer me… Keep watch over my life, for I am faithful. — Psalm 86.1-2

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
1 Samuel 5-6 (Listen – 5:03)
Romans 5 (Listen – 3:53)

Scripture: 1 Samuel 2.12
Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord.

I have suffered grievously in my life from stupid, tired, dimmed, and even bad priests. — JRR Tolkien

Reflection: Where Judgment Falls
By John Tillman

Eli’s sons were corrupt in the extreme. They stole from the offerings of the people, committing financial sins and threatening violence toward those who objected. They used their spiritual positions of power to manipulate and pressure women at the tabernacle for sexual favors. The Bible says Eli and his sons grew fat off of the offerings of the people. They are a textbook case of spiritual abuse and financial malfeasance in the name of ministry.

Anyone, even unbelievers, can name a pastor or church they consider to be a Hophni or a Phinehas. Among non-believers and those leaving the church, some common reasons are corrupt, abusive, or just plain bad leadership.

Ministers who are corrupt or simply incompetent and foolish are nothing new to Christianity. JRR Tolkien wrote to his son concerning this issue.

I think I am as sensitive as you (or any other Christian) to the ‘scandals’, both of clergy and laity. I have suffered grievously in my life from stupid, tired, dimmed, and even bad priests; but I now know enough about myself to be aware that I should not leave the Church for any such reasons…Our love may be chilled and our will eroded by the spectacle of the shortcomings, folly, and even sins of the Church and its ministers, but I do not think that one who has once had faith goes back over the line for these reasons (least of all anyone with any historical knowledge).

It can be difficult to worship God under corrupt leaders and it can even be difficult to celebrate their good moments. Hannah received her prophecy and blessing of Samuel’s birth through the tainted ministry of Eli and his sons, but rather than redeeming their ministry, it was the first step in God wiping them out.

Samuel comes to remind us that judgment is coming for the Hophni’s, Phinehas’s, and Eli’s of the world, and for us as well. That judgment has fallen on Christ, and we all receive his same mercy.

The Request for Presence
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; let the whole earth tremble before him. — Psalm 96.9

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
1 Samuel 4 (Listen – 3:56)
Romans 4 (Listen – 4:08)

Scripture: 1 Samuel 1.13-14
Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.”

Reflection: Room For Hannah
By John Tillman

Eli’s judgmental and graceless confrontation of Hannah is ironic given that he had trouble confronting and dealing with the corruption of his own sons who served in the Tabernacle.

Hannah’s emotional distress, rather than bringing compassion, brought judgment and harsh words. In the intervening millennia, churches and ministers haven’t gotten much better at receiving with grace those who are in emotional distress.

At times, we do a better job of accepting the exuberant dancing of King David than the distraught expressions of Hannah. (And some churches don’t accept either) Church staff and attendees often reflect an unspoken belief that Christian Life has no place for sadness.

Churches are under a lot of pressure, after all, to be friendly, welcoming, life-affirming places. But if we fail to affirm life in its full spectrum of emotions we aren’t affirming life in total — merely positively charged life. As Christians, to address people in emotional distress as Jesus addressed those he ministered to, we must love them before they are healed, and even if they never are.

We need to show love to those suffering from the very real hurts and disfigurements of the soul that are caused by emotional distress. We need to approach these people and love them as the Savior did — touching them, giving them our attention, and reminding all those who are gathered that these people are a part of our community.

When someone is part of your community, you make space for them. You don’t force them to make do. We need to clear out some space for people in emotional distress — theological space, physical space, and liturgical space.

The only way for the church to become a counter-cultural, welcoming place when it comes to aiding those in emotional distress is if we, the members, do so. May we observe, see, and move to aid the hurting around us with the assistance of the Holy Spirit.

– Parts of this devotional were previously published on Ministry Accelerator’s blog.

– September is Suicide Prevention month. September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day. You can pledge, as an individual or organization to participate in National Day of Prayer for Faith Hope and Life, by following this link.

The Greeting
Restore us, O God of hosts; show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved. — Psalm 80.3

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
1 Samuel 1 (Listen – 4:13)
Romans 1 (Listen – 5:02)

This Weekend’s Readings
1 Samuel 2 (Listen – 6:09) Romans 2 (Listen – 4:13)
1 Samuel 3 (Listen – 3:03) Romans 3 (Listen – 4:30)