Crying out reminds us of our dependence. Weeping leads us to
reconnect with God. Our tears are sacred. They water the ground around our
feet so new things can grow--p. 53.
Because it's when we're fully present in our pain, when we're willing to sit in our tears, that we are ready to imagine a different kind of tomorrow--p.54.
It also reminded me of some reading I have been doing in 1 Samuel in preparation for a sermon on June 14. Hannah, who is barren, cries so hard in pray at the temple in Shiloh that the priest think she is drunk. The book starts with the contrast of the lush fruitful hill country of Ephraim and the barrenness of Hannah. Hannah in a real sense is in exile. She is socially/economically ostracized because she does not give her husband offspring, especially a son. She is exiled from her family in a sense, as her husband takes another wife Penninah to give him the children he needs. She is emotionally exiled as Penninah constantly makes fun of her barren condition and she cannot fully accept the tender love her husband shows her.
Hannah cries out and laments to God. In Hannah's barren exiled condition she imagines something new, a new life for herself with a son, from the God who orders chaos, creates life from nothing (barrenness), a God who leads and has lead his people out of exile and bondage. God hears her cry and remembers her--just like he did for the Israelites in their bondage in Egypt. Here we see a New Exodus to New Life!
And from this new life (Samuel) Hannah receives from God--God is magnified, praised and glorified-and her rescue from exile/barrenness is widened as all who are oppressed and in exile are envisioned as being rescued by the God who has rescued her-1 Samuel 2--Hannah's Song/Prayer. If you interested, you can read my comments on 1 Samuel 2 below to see who I arrive at this conclusion, but here are some questions to think about.
- What are you going thru that makes you want to cry out to God for help?
- Are you willing to be present in your pain/to dwell in it long enough to God to cry out to him, or do you try to cover up your pain with business, pleasure,...etc.
- How do you mask or try to cover up your pain?
- What is the connection between the Resurrection of the individual to a new life Christ and the pain of this world?
- Do you long for the institutions of this world (politics, economy, family, church...etc.) care about the things God cares about? Give some examples.
- Is the church in exile--not respected as it once was by the world?
- If the church is in exile--what should its response be?
- If the church is in exile--how does this passage demonstrate how it should envision a new future?
Vs. 1--My heart, My horn, My mouth, My Deliverance--Hannah has experienced God personally as God hears, remembers, ans answers her prayer.
Vs. 2--There is no one holy like the Lord...etc.--Hannah personal experience is immediately turned to praise/worship/recognition of the God that brings life from barrenness, orders chaos, liberates from bondage, and returns people from exile.
Vs. 3--Don't talk proudly...etc.--Hannah recognizes who she really amidst her new recognition of God
Vss. 4-5--Bows of warriors broken, those who stumble given strength; full become hungry, hungry full; others who are barren become fruitful...etc.--Hannah's prayer has moved from particular/personal/individual rescue from exile/bondage to universal.
Vss. 6-9--The highpoint of the song/prayer--mentions Resurrection (raises up, raises, lifts). Hannah has been resurrected (given life)because she recognizes who she is and her need for who God is. Additionally she prays that all humanity that is in exile/bondage/barren /oppressed will be resurrected to a full life while the oppressors will be humiliated at God's hand. A new exodus is envisioned here. An exodus from the oppression of fallen humanity and its institutions. Here we see not just the restoration of Hannah but the restoration/resurrection of all humanity and its institutions (politics, economy, family...etc.) thru the Lord who will reveal himself in the New Testament as the resurrected Christ.
Vs. 8b--The foundations of the earth are the Lord's--Creation provides the structure upon which the work of salvation (that will be accomplished in the resurrected Christ) is worked out. It is not just the individual who is redeemed and resurrected to new life but all creation!
Vss. 9b-10--It is not by strength that one prevails--Here the writer is foreshadowing the King Saul. God was to be the King for Israel. Saul is pictured as having it altogether--looks, strength, power...etc. But King Saul will not rely on God. Instead, he relies on himself. King Saul never really cries out to God. Then King David, although a man after God's own heart, doesn't fully rely on God as well. Although David is really the hero of 1 and 2 Samuel, he is the hero--not because of his strength; rather, it is because he recognizes his weakness. He cries out to God when he is exiled from him in his sin. Israel's King David recognizes his need for another King, a king that will not rely on his tremendous strength, rather on God's. That King is Jesus.
Vs. 10a--Those who oppose the Lord will be shattered. King Saul--shattered. David--shattered then resurrected to new life as he recognizes his need. His kingdom is exalted--the low (a shepherd boy) has been raised up. But David's sin eventually shatters this Kingdom. His offspring King Solomon starts in recognition of his lowly position compared to God, recognizes the need for God. But eventually relies on self, doesn't follow God's way, oppresses the people, and the kingdom is shattered and divided. Hannah's prayer isn't realized in King Saul, King David, or King Solomon. It looks forward to another Son of David--Jesus Christ. It
is only in this King individuals, humanity, and humanities institutions can be resurrected to new life.
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