Month: January 2018

Even to the Weirdos

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality BlogLeave a comment

Epiphany

In many ways, I’m just a common ordinary Tim.  The only thing uncommon about me is my own crazy weirdness.  Which is why I am always amazed (even after 32 years of marriage) that I have such an uncommonly wonderful wife.  It makes me feel rather privileged!  Once she made an appearance in my life, I’ve never been quite the same.

And, yet, as privileged and as special as I feel being with my wife, there is an even greater light which causes me to say “eureka!” and “hallelujah!”

No matter who you are, your station in life, your background, your intellect or lack thereof, your creed, your ethnicity, your gender, your race, or anything else – the good news has come to you.

Each year on January 6, after the 12 days of Christmas, is the celebration in Christianity known as Epiphany.  Christ’s coming to this earth as a child and becoming like us is much more than a baby in a manger.  The day and the season known in the Christian Year as Epiphany lets you in on an incredible vision and greater understanding of God’s glory – to all kinds of people of the world.

Epiphany means “manifestation” or “appearance.”  The event most closely associated with this Christian season is the visit of the Magi, or the wise men, to Jesus.  Included in this time of the year between the seasons of Christmas and Lent is a special emphasis on the teaching and healing ministry of Jesus.  The great celebration and focus of these weeks is that:

Deliverance from the power of sin, spiritual healing, and the freedom to live a new life is not limited to Israel and the Jews, but extends, as well, to the Gentiles – to you, my friend, to all of us common ordinary non-descript, even weird people.

Every season in the Christian Year has its unique perspective on grace.  With Epiphany, you see that one of the most scandalous truths of Christianity is that God graces common ordinary people who seem far from God with the gift of Jesus.  God grants repentance that leads to life for all kinds of people no matter what their race, ethnicity, class, or background.  It is a wondrous and astounding spiritual truth that God’s gracious concern is not limited to a certain type of person or an elite group of persons, or even nice people who aren’t weird at all.

Epiphany teaches us that grace is and ought to be the guiding factor in how you and I interact with people.

Losing sight of grace leads to being critical and defensive.  Like King Herod of old, a graceless person becomes enamored with earthly power and control.  But embracing grace leads to the humility to see the image of God in people very different from ourselves.

Like the Apostle Peter, who learned in a vision to bring the gospel to non-Jews, old legalisms begin to be worn away so that people from all walks of life can have access to Jesus and his gracious saving and healing ministry.  Grace brings down barriers and causes us to do away with unnecessary distinctions between others.  Our appropriate response to such a grace is to glorify God for his marvelous and amazing work.

It is a gracious and merciful reality that the Magi, or Wise Men, who were pagan astrologers, were directed to the Messiah.  A light was provided to lead them to Jesus.  Apart from God’s care and intervention they would have remained in darkness.  And it is no less true for people today.  This old broken world is wrapped in darkness.  All kinds of people have no light at the end of the tunnel of their lives for hope and new life.  But the gospel of Jesus Christ brings that light to those walking around with no ability to see.  Jesus, in his teaching ministry in the Sermon on the Mount, exhorted his followers not to hide their light but to let it shine for all to see.

Sometimes, maybe oftentimes, the best way to bring resolution to your own troubles and problems is through helping others make sense of their lives through the gracious light of Christ so that they can see an appearance, an epiphany, of what their lives can be in the gracious rule of the kingdom of God.

Celebrate, my friend, the day and the season of Epiphany.  Journey with Jesus through his earthly upbringing and into his gracious ministry to people.  Keep vigilant to not let your light grow dim.  Instead, hunger and thirst after Christ’s righteousness so that your joy becomes full and your light is bright.

For a star in the east is shining, and even us weirdos can see it.

Jesus Is Speaking to You Now Through Time

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality BlogLeave a comment

cross clock

There is a time for everything.  Everything in your life has its own time and its own season.  There is a time you were born, and a time when you will die.  There are times for crying, and times for laughing – for weeping, even wailing, and a time for some sick dance moves.  There is a time to be active, and a time to be still.  There is a time to receive, and a time to give.  Your life is lived with the inevitable, inescapable, sometimes insufferable, but always interesting march forward of times and seasons (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).

It is cold this morning.  I arose and took the dog outside for his early jaunt.  Its winter.  -10 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of -20 degrees welcomed me like a stiff slap in the face.  But I know it won’t always be this way.  Not every morning will receive me with a bite.

Imagine if it were always winter… or summer… or spring… or fall.  Yes, we all have our favorite seasons, and we might wish that the blooming green of Spring or the Indian summer of Fall might last forever.  But you know that life is lived in a rhythm.  All good things on this earth will not last forever; and, all the ill things will eventually pass away.  My grandson will not always be 8 years old with that smile which swallows his face, and that curious way of a boy discovering the world through wonderfully childish eyes.  But neither will he live in perpetuity with the scourge of epileptic seizures, because these, too, will eventually see their end, even if it isn’t until Christ returns.

If you will allow yourself to flow with the rhythm of time, and ebb with the coming and going of the seasons –  then healing, health, and wholeness is there to weather you through the experiences of pain and sorrow, and move you to peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

For the believer in Jesus Christ, an observance of the Christian Calendar or the Church Year is helpful, beneficial, even necessary.  Maybe I have lost you at this point.  Perhaps I’m moving too “liturgically” for you.  Out of all the things I could say to be helpful, you bring up an observance of the Christian Year?  Really?

Consider this truth: Jesus Christ is Lord over all – including time.  But the nasty little secret you hold is that your time is your own, kept and held onto like an addict.  You use it like an alcoholic, consuming more and more of it and insisting in your denial that you can control your use of it anytime you want.  If you’re looking for miracles, those typically come in the mundane of life – the kind of banal living that comes from a slow patient observance of the Year.

Not openly acknowledging Jesus as the Lord of time gives you the rationalization that you can use and abuse your days on earth.  Never mind that you hide minutes from others, and have hours that you cannot account for.  Your time is marked more with the wild swings from careless procrastination to sudden impetuous acts without thinking.  It is high “time” that you come back to allowing the Lord of the seasons to rule your time.

Life is a journey through time.  It is marked by events and seasons.  The Christian Year is nothing more and nothing less than a journey with the life of Jesus Christ.  If our lives are to center in him, our time is not our own.  Allowing ourselves to move in the rhythm of God’s time sets a counter-cultural and subversive tone to the marking of time with the world.  It is a declaration and witness that Jesus is Lord of all, including time.

In a future post I will list and briefly define each season, but for now it is good for us to consider what the state of our lives is concerning time.  Notice that we tend to refer to it as “our” time or “my” time.  But it is all God’s time, not mine.

You might be stuck in a difficult season of life.  Fear not.  Jesus is Lord over that season, and his time will overwhelm your situation.  You might be in an enjoyable season.  Be aware that Jesus is also Lord of that season, and he wants his life to dwell in you through his own good time.

Seasons come, and seasons go.  Everything has its time.  But the end of the matter, as the Teacher says in the book of Ecclesiastes:

“Respect and obey God! This is what life is all about.  God will judge everything we do, even what is done in secret, whether good or bad.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, CEV).

There is often a great discrepancy between the way you spend your time and the way you think you spend your time. A time audit helps you look at exactly how your time is being used so you can better understand where your time is going.  If you have never done a time audit, look at your calendar and choose an upcoming two-week period to do so.

Again, for now, don’t think too much about this (unless you want to get right to it, go for it).  It is enough to think the thought that Jesus is Lord over your time and have a conversation with him about it.

What does this really mean for my life?

What is the Holy Spirit trying to say to me through seasons and time?

What kind of season are you in right now?

How might Jesus as the Lord of time impact that season?

Words Aren’t Everything

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality BlogLeave a comment

“Compel yourselves in silence, the mother of all godly virtues. Keep silent, in order to say the Prayer; for, when someone speaks, how is he able to escape idle talk, from which comes every evil word, which weighs the soul down by the responsibility for it.” –Ephraim of Philotheou

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                Since I am a preacher and a pastor, I traffic a lot in words.  Maybe because of that, many people have commented to me over the years that they have a hard time being articulate.  Perhaps you often struggle to put into words what you think or feel.  You are not alone.  But I have good news for you.

God does not accept us based upon our many words.

He approves of us because of his grace and the state of our hearts.  He delights in our awkward efforts toward a relationship with Jesus.  He sees your real lived experience of hearing the Master’s words and the effort of putting them into practice.

Oh, don’t get me wrong.  Words are very much important.  They are powerful.  As an avid reader, I have had my life changed by other’s words.  Yet, you and I need to be honest with the truth that words have limits.  If you think about it, words are not themselves real at all.  Words are only letters put together like a jigsaw puzzle.  They are merely signs and symbols that point to reality.

Ideally, carefully crafted words are transmitted from one person to another, carefully internalized, and faithfully translated into actual real live experience.  And if you did not follow a thing I just said, then I have just demonstrated the crazy limitations of words.

How about if you picture this: You want to learn a different language.  What will you do?  Well, you will most definitely work with words.  But in what way?  Yes, you will do rote exercises in memorizing words and learning grammar and syntax and all the language stuff there is to do.  But that will not get you to really learning the language, because language is not all about words.

Language is far more dynamic.  It is a stimulating and exciting exchange of ideas and thoughts.  We call this “relationship.” Ah, now you are getting somewhere!  There is no substitute for the actual struggle to communicate with another person, whether it is with a person in a foreign language, or your spouse, or your kids, or your boss, or that crazy fundamentalist nut at church.

talking to each other

You see, it is the loving person who enters the struggle.  You seek to reach out and touch another.  You crave connection and to care.  Jesus, the most loving person who ever lived, told us with his words and with his actions that we must love one another through compassionate acts of service (John 13:1-20).

You will find nowhere in Holy Scripture where you have been called to be a talker.  Instead, you will find a lot of references on the calling to be a servant.

In fact, the people who talked the most in the New Testament were the Pharisees.  I’m not sure you want to be in their company of constant words.  It doesn’t get any more plain-speaking than this from Jesus:

“When you pray, don’t talk on and on as people who don’t know God.  They think God likes to hear long prayers.  Don’t be like them” (Matthew 6:7-8).

What a concept!  God is not looking for you to be an eloquent talker.  God is looking for you to be silent (yay! introverts!).  Perhaps God wants you to come to Him and just be still and silent, so that He can get a listening (yay! Holy Spirit!).  Maybe your spouse wants you to put a piece of duct-tape on your mouth, so that he/she can get a word in edgewise (yay! Red Green!).  You know the kids want the lecture of many words to stop, so that they can approach you in the future without fear and/or boredom (yay! Jesus! let the children come to me!).

I like being both a consumer and a producer of words.  But God doesn’t like me because of that.  He likes you and me when we are quiet and listen closely to Him.  Words are important, but are overrated:

“Too much talk leads to sin.  Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.” (Proverbs 10:19)

You don’t need to get God’s attention; you already have it.

But, does He have your attention?  Practice just 5 minutes of silence today.  Find a secluded spot, and, simply say, “Speak, Lord, for I am listening.”  And be silent.  The next day, go for 10 minutes, beginning with the simple phrase to God.  Eventually, and over time, work up to 30 minutes, even an hour.  If your thoughts distract you, keep a notepad handy and jot the thought down and keep up the silence.  I would suggest using an old school kitchen timer until silence becomes a regular part of your life.

You can do this (yay! extroverts! I believe in you!).  You will find that this is such a rewarding practice, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without it.  Ready… set… stop talking….

Nothing Happens If You Don’t Do Something

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality BlogLeave a comment

Calvin-Coolidge-work-quotes

Politicians know it.  You’ve got to work the base and reach out to get elected and make a difference crafting policy.  Farmers know it maybe better than anybody.  Either work the soil, or people will go hungry.  Heck, even Scooby-Doo knows it.  The gang must work to find the clues so that they can solve the mystery and hear the bad guy lament his capture: “I’d have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn’t been for you kids and that meddling mutt!”

We instinctively know that it takes work to get anything done.  That isn’t so much the issue.  The problem is getting going by transcending our fears, facing-down our inner demons, and having some faith that what I’m doing is going to bear some lasting fruit.

Sometimes we don’t act because we subscribe to the Beaver Cleaver philosophy of life (I’m really dating myself with these TV references): “Gee, Wally, I just thought the bully would go away if I did nothing.”  Leaning into life and dealing with it sometimes seems too overwhelming, so we avoid activity.

I’m talking to myself here as much or more than you:  Nothing happens if I don’t do something.

Ah, the perfectionist in me chimes in now: “But it needs to be done right.”  Yes, it does.  But that doesn’t mean to obsess over it by researching the proposed action to death before you get around to do anything at all.  Isaac Newton was an English scientist, mathematician, astronomer, physicist, and something of a dedicated theologian.  The guy was the poster boy for research.  But even Newton knew the absolute importance of activity.  His first law of motion is this:

An object at rest will tend to stay at rest, unless acted upon by an external force.

Newton’s axiom is also referred to as the law of inertia because it takes force or inertia to get something moving that isn’t moving.

Unless you and I do something different than what we are already doing, nothing is going to be different.  That is a law as strong as gravity (which brings Newton into the equation yet again).  If I want to experience a certain reality, then I need to do some activity to make things different.

If you don’t like the results of what you’re getting, you’ll need to do an activity that you haven’t done before.  If sending out mailings isn’t getting the politician elected, then she’d better do something different.  If the farmer isn’t getting any kernels on his ears of corn, he’d better rethink what he did and do something different.  If Scooby-Doo isn’t finding any clues, the gang better get in the Mystery Machine so he can sniff somewhere else.  Something has got to change!

Scooby Doo

If you don’t like the state of your soul; if you don’t like how your relationships are going (including with God); or, if you don’t like where you are in life, you’re going to need to do something different than what you’re currently doing.

People who enjoy good healthy relationships with God and others, good healthy careers, a good healthy body, mind, and spirit, work their ever-living tails off doing the things that make for those good realities.

It’s cliché, but if the get-rich-quick scheme seems too good to be true because it involves no change of activity, it probably is.  If the diet plan includes no exercise and no life-style changes, it’s a scam.  And, to think that you can have a wonderful relationship with God without the effort of carving-out time and connecting with the Holy Trinity each day with tried and true spiritual disciplines is total bunk.

If you looked down at the bottom of this post to get to the bottom line (so you didn’t have to do the activity of reading the entire thing), I’ll give it to you straight:

If there is something you don’t like about your life, it is your responsibility to get active and put the work and effort into changing your attitude, your narrative, and your activity. 

Nobody can do your work for you.  It’s up to you.

Like I said, I’m giving myself a pep talk as much, probably more, than I’m talking to you.  I need the constant reminder that I’ve got to put the work in every day to do what is most important to me:  Cultivating my relationship with Jesus Christ; spending time with my wife talking and working with her; doing the jobs I need to do to make money; pastoring, mentoring, and blessing others by teaching them the words and ways of Christ.

So, consider these words from the Lord Jesus and put them into practice today so that they frame your life:

“Ask, and you will receive.  Search, and you will find.  Knock, and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives.  Whoever seeks, finds.  And to everyone who knocks, the door is opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).