Category: Year A

The Divine Teacher and Leader (Isaiah 48:17-21)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Thus says the Lord,
    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
I am the Lord your God,
    who teaches you how to succeed,
    who leads you in the way you should go.
O that you had paid attention to my commandments!
    Then your prosperity would have been like a river
    and your success like the waves of the sea;
your offspring would have been like the sand
    and your descendants like its grains;
their name would never be cut off
    or destroyed from before me.

Go out from Babylon; flee from Chaldea;
    declare this with a shout of joy; proclaim it;
send it forth to the end of the earth;
    say, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;
    he made water flow for them from the rock;
    he split open the rock, and the water gushed out. (New Revised Standard Version)

A presupposition is something that is assumed in advance or taken for granted. In my own life, I live with the following basic presupposition: Christianity works. It stands behind my faith and confidence, informing everything I do.

I believe in a good God, who genuinely wants people to succeed in life, and will do whatever it takes to help us, doing what is best for us, for our own good.

God is our divine teacher and leader. The Lord is the One who gave Israel the Ten Words (commandments) and the Law to live by. Yahweh is the One who mercifully delivered the ancient Israelites out of Egyptian slavery, protected them in the desert, and led them into the Promised Land.

Furthermore, for the Christian, God the Father is the One who sent God the Son, Jesus, to be with us and amongst us as Teacher and Lord, leading us and saving us. God the Father and God the Son together sent God the Holy Spirit to be with us always – continually teaching us all things, reminding us of Christ’s teaching, and providing needed leadership for our earthly spiritual journey.

Every provision has been given for us to live into a successful life. Yet, in the case of both the Jews who originally heard Isaiah’s prophecy, as well as for many of us as contemporary believers, we have paid scant attention to the divine commandments – nor have we submitted to the divine leadership.

God is teaching and God is leading. We, however, are having difficulty in heeding the instruction and the guidance.

“Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
    O Israel, I will testify against you.
    I am God, your God…

You give your mouth free rein for evil,
    and your tongue frames deceit.
You sit and speak against your kin;
    you slander your own mother’s child.” (Psalm 50:7, 19-20, NRSV)

And God has furthermore stated:

“Hear, O my people, while I admonish you;
    O Israel, if you would but listen to me!…

But my people did not listen to my voice;
    Israel would not submit to me…

O that my people would listen to me,
    that Israel would walk in my ways!” (Psalm 81:8, 11, 13, NRSV)

God desires the best for us and our welfare. The Lord wants us to experience happiness, prosperity, abundance, and blessing. Christianity works. Attention to the spiritual life brings success. Yet we keep working against ourselves through our ignorance of divine teaching and leading.

We could move freely and powerfully like a river – yet we continue to dam up the flow.

We could grow and gain strength like the waves of the ocean – yet we refuse to go out and set sail.

We could reproduce ourselves by making more disciples than the sand on the seashore – yet we are impotent.

We could endure by remembering the name of the Lord – yet there is no future without listening.

What must we do? Go out!

Just as the ancient Israelites went out of Egypt and left their bondage behind, so we are to go out and experience the redemption we have in Jesus Christ.

God is leading us to freedom. The Lord is teaching us how to live in this world as free people. But we must take the step of going out, of leaving, of walking the way of the pilgrim and sojourning into the successful life.

God has our backs. Just as the Israelites were taken care of in the desert with the sustenance of manna and with even water gushing out of a rock, so the Lord will care for you and me out in this scary world of ours.

God does what God does, not based upon what humanity does or doesn’t do, but because of God’s own decision and will. Since the Lord is always good, right, just, and loving, God acts in ways consistent with the divine nature.

Another way of putting the matter is that the spiritual life works, and Christianity works, because it is grounded in nature of God. When we reflect the image of God within us by using our words and our deeds toward mercy, grace, justice, and love, then we are synced with how the universe operates. And success in life is realized.

Even more than that, we are connected with the Creator – which makes all the difference as we try to continually navigate through this earthly life in ways that are right and redemptive.

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Be Careful What You Ask For (Numbers 11:18-23, 31-32)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Now tell the people, ‘Purify yourselves for tomorrow; you will have meat to eat. The Lord has heard you whining and saying that you wished you had some meat and that you were better off in Egypt. Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will have to eat it. You will have to eat it not just for one or two days, or five, or ten, or even twenty days, but for a whole month, until it comes out of your ears, until you are sick of it. This will happen because you have rejected the Lord who is here among you and have complained to him that you should never have left Egypt.’”

Moses said to the Lord, “Here I am leading 600,000 people, and you say that you will give them enough meat for a month? Could enough cattle and sheep be killed to satisfy them? Are all the fish in the sea enough for them?”

“Is there a limit to my power?” the Lord answered. “You will soon see whether what I have said will happen or not!”…

Suddenly the Lord sent a wind that brought quails from the sea, flying three feet above the ground. They settled on the camp and all around it for miles and miles in every direction. So all that day, all night, and all the next day, the people worked catching quails; no one gathered less than fifty bushels. They spread them out to dry all around the camp. (Good News Translation)

I can just imaging the dialogue around the campfire at night with some of the ancient Israelites. Out in the middle of nowhere, delivered from Egyptian slavery, but not yet to the Promised Land, they were feeling the awkward space of being in-between those two places:

“Manna, again!? Geez, are we ever going to get anything else to eat?”

“Doesn’t look like it, does it? Every single day we get up, go out on the desert, collect the manna, eat it all day, go to bed, then get up and do it all over again.”

Do you remember back in Egypt, we had garlic and leeks and stew and meat? Oh, glorious meat! Sometimes I think we were better of there. Dang it, I want meat! Don’t you want meat, too!?”

“Yeah, I’m sick of this manna. Hey, there’s Moses. Get us some meat, Moses! Did you bring us out here to bore us to death with manna!? What are you doing about it? Where are you leading us? Where’s the meat?”…

And on and on it goes, the murmuring about food and conditions in the desert.

When life is topsy-turvy and upside-down, it is so amazingly easy to grumble and complain. The ancient Israelites sometimes didn’t have water to drink. They had a limited diet of manna. They were anxious, nervous, and scared, wondering if things would get better, or not. The people were in a life-and-death sort of situation.

How would you respond?

Complaining, unlike our emotions such as fear, is a volitional response. We choose to grumble. The problem with gripes and complaints is that it sets a person down a dark path. The criticisms and grievances begin easily and are seemingly harmless, that is, at first. They are, however, anything but innocuous or innocent.

The murmuring under the breath did not stop with getting meat to eat. If we look ahead in the story of God’s people in the exodus event, the moaning and complaining quickly returned. The people became so disillusioned with their circumstances that they began longing for the “good old days” back in Egypt when they had plenty to eat and drink, forgetting about their cruel bondage in slavery. (Exodus 16:1-3)

The psychological progression continued with beginning to blame their situation on God, as if the Lord were some mean malevolent deity. From that point, it was inevitable that the people would disobey God and eventually succumb to the idolatry of the golden calf. (Exodus 32:1-8)

Despite the grand celebration of leaving Egypt and experiencing a miraculous deliverance through the Red Sea, the people quickly forgot because of their present mundane circumstance of eating manna every day.

If they were spiritually healthy, they would realize that the mighty God who saved them with incredible acts of power would care for them in a desert. Yet, for many, there was no faith to be found in a new situation they had not faced before.

Failure of faith begins neither with ignorance nor an egregious sin. It begins with grumbling and complaining. And if allowed to run amok, complaints will bear the fruit of discouragement, disobedience, and finally, a disavowal of God.

Sometimes, if you want something bad enough, God will give it to you. And you won’t like it. That’s because the heart has already been attuned to grumbling and murmuring. The heart’s hunger will never be satiated; it’s sick. And it can become so sick that a heart transplant is needed – an altogether new heart. Yet God will even help with that:

And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. (Ezekiel 36:26-27, NLT)

Acceptance means practicing a conscious effort to acknowledge and honor difficult situations and emotions. Fully accepting things as they are, instead of ignoring, avoiding, or wishing the situation were different, can be a critical step in moving through a difficult experience to experiencing more meaning.

Learning to be satisfied and content begins with accepting our current reality and present circumstances. The state of our minds and our hearts will determine whether we will ever be happy or not. When we discover how to synchronize ourselves with the groove of God’s Spirit, then we shall enjoy an abundant life of contentment – no matter the situation.

May we be able to say along with the psalmist:

I will bless the Lord who guides me;
    even at night my heart instructs me.
I know the Lord is always with me.
    I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.

No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice.
    My body rests in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead
    or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.
You will show me the way of life,
    granting me the joy of your presence
    and the pleasures of living with you forever. (Psalm 16:7-11, NLT)

Get Rid of Grumbling (Numbers 11:1-9)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the Lord and the fire died down. So that place was called Taberah because fire from the Lord had burned among them.

The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”

The manna was like coriander seed and looked like resin. The people went around gathering it, and then ground it in a hand mill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into loaves. And it tasted like something made with olive oil. When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down. (New International Version)

Some complaints are a form of lamenting a significant loss and expressing grief. That’s normal, even healthy, and to be expected. Many other complaints come in the form of grumbling, murmuring, and just plain old selfish bellyaching.

The latter type of complaining is clearly what was happening with the ancient Israelites. They were delivered from Egyptian slavery and now free. The people ought to be celebrating. But instead, the minute things are hard, they grumble. When the God-given food became commonplace and too plain for their pallets, the people whined and complained.

And it was the rabble rousers among them who got the whole community up in arms and grumbling.

The Apostle Paul understood that negative people only create more negative people – which is why he offered the church leader Titus some counsel about how to handle such persons: 

After a first and second warning, have nothing more to do with a person who causes conflict, because you know that someone like this is twisted and sinful—so they condemn themselves. (Titus 3:10-11, CEB)

Whenever a passion for power and control prevails over a desire for the common good of all people, then we have an issue of character. Stirring up antagonism against biblically-oriented, Spirit-directed change is demonic – and the real test of it is a constant stream of negativism which is secretive, remains in the shadows, relies on gossip and slander for its fuel, and hates being in the light.

Jesus said to be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves because there are wolves among the sheep (Matthew 10:16). You will know them by their fruit. We are called not to participate in negative influences!  Individuals must be called-out for their chronic negative spirits. So, how do we do it?  How do we shut-out the negative?

Refuse it

Name it. Call it what it is: fighting against the Holy Spirit and attributing evil to the work of God (Matthew 12:30-32). When someone comes to you and wants to dish up a little “sumthin’-sumthin’” on somebody or something, refuse to take the bait. Refuse it and reject it.

Keep a group of friends who are positive, encouraging, helpful, and steer clear of antagonistic attitudes. It is extremely beneficial to both physical and spiritual health. In a study at Stanford University, a pair of researchers reviewed over 200 studies on group therapy and concluded that group members “develop close bonds with the other members and are deeply influenced by their positive acceptance and feedback.” In other words, negative thinking keeps people in bondage, whereas positive encouragement of others brings freedom and life.

Rebuke it

Someone might be speaking to you, start talking around some issue slowly, but eventually comes around to carving up another person like a Thanksgiving turkey. What do you do? Rebuke it. We can say something like, “When you continue to speak with such negativity about ______ I feel upset because I need to be in a place which helps me to spiritually grow. Will you please stop being so negative?”

I once had a person come to me not knowing how to deal with a negative person. I walked him through some biblical ways about confronting the negativity when it comes. He simply hung his head and said he could not do that. But he was miserable, which is why he came and talked to me. And he walked away with that same misery because he was not willing to call out a person on their destructive negativity.

You and I are in control of our own happiness. If another person causes us anger; if some politician drives us nuts; if a television program or radio show is upsetting me; then, it is our responsibility to keep away.

If we have a chronic negative person in our life, and have tried to deal with that person, and they refuse to listen, we can say something like this when they start their rant: “I don’t want to hear it. And if you keep bringing it up and being negative, I will walk out of the room.” The principle here is that we control our own behavior, not somebody else’s.

Redirect it

Satan is the author of negative antagonism. He talked trash about God in the garden to Adam and Eve. So, avoid getting caught up in trying to dialogue with a negative person. Redirect the negativity by calling the person to change their ways, because truth be told, the negativity is really rebellion against God.

If you are wondering, “I could never do that” then you likely have been telling yourself a lot of negative thoughts. God calls us to stamp-out the negativity before it can get started, even within our own brains. In some cases, we need to re-train our minds to focus on the positive, and not the negative.

It takes two to tango. Negativity cannot survive if there is no one to listen to it. We must stop being negative and stop listening to negative people; constant complaining creates divisions and scandals.

If there are people who chronically have negative speech and can never seem to say anything good about someone or something, then stay away from them. Have nothing to do with them. Do not participate in the divisive speech. Refuse it. Rebuke it. Redirect it.

God wants us righteous and robust, holy, and happy – not walking around like a grump who was baptized in pickle juice.

We can choose to fill our minds with gracious good news; pray positively about everything; and find the positive in all things. We can continually choose to cultivate unity, purity, peace, and love. That’s how we enjoy life together.

May it be so, to the glory of God.

Why Not Women? (Romans 16:1-16)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Exploring Church Ministry Blog, Year ALeave a comment

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.

Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.

Greet, also, the church that meets at their house.

Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.

Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you.

Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.

Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.

Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.

Greet Apelles, whose fidelity to Christ has stood the test.

Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.

Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew.

Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.

Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord.

Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.

Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.

Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the other brothers and sisters with them.

Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the Lord’s people who are with them.

Greet one another with a holy kiss.

All the churches of Christ send greetings. (Romans 16:1-16, NIV)

The reason we have the “Captain Obvious” people in our lives, is that they simply point out something that is right under our noses we might miss. I’m playing the role of Captain Obvious. In today’s New Testament lesson are a group of women. Paul names, greets, thanks, and encourages several church leaders, and they are not all men:

  1. Phoebe is a deacon. She’s actually the representative who was sent to take Paul’s letter to the church at Rome and read it to the congregation.
  2. Priscilla is co-equal with her husband Aquila. Together they co-pastored a house church. She helped teach and mentor Apollos in Corinth.
  3. Mary
  4. Junia is an apostle. Paul states that she’s outstanding amongst them, of which also he is one.
  5. Tryphena and Tryphosa
  6. Persis is a dear friend of Paul.
  7. Julia

In the earliest church, within the New Testament Scriptures, women are mentioned as serving in every sort of capacity. And yet, women are the greatest and largest untapped resource in the church today.  

You might wonder why I would say such a thing, being that more women attend church than men. However, still in this day and age – removed 2,000 years from the biblical text – the reality for many churches around the world is that only men can hold positions of authority.  

The reasoning goes something like this: “The Bible says women can’t serve over men, so women can’t hold those positions.” Really?

So, a woman can serve as a CEO of a Fortune 500 company, can be elected as governor of a state, and can manage men on a factory floor, but that same woman cannot serve as an elder in many churches? I once asked a pastor that very question, and he answered with “Yes, because the Bible says so.”

I guess he never read Romans 16.

If you are of the belief that a church office is based on gender instead of the calling and gifting of the Spirit, then, methinks, it behooves us to ask these questions of the biblical text:

  • If women are not to exercise authority over men in the church, how do we account for actual women leaders in the Bible, such as Deborah, Huldah, Philip’s daughters, Priscilla’s role in Apollos’ life, not to mention the list of women leaders in Romans 16?  If our impulse is to say that these are exceptions because there were no men to “step up,” then what does that say about our theology? Is God not big enough to find a man to put into a position of leadership?
  • If we insist that women ought not to teach and be silent based on Paul’s letter to Timothy (1 Timothy 3:11-15) then why do we ignore Paul’s instruction that women are to publicly prophecy and pray? (1 Corinthians 11:5; Acts 21:9)
  • Doesn’t the prominence of women in the ministry of Jesus and Paul suggest something different than just having women tag along to teach children?
  • Just when does a boy become too old for a woman to legitimately teach him?  If women can’t teach men, why in the world would we ever think that they are the best teachers for boys?
  • How can we apply Galatians 3:26-28 (there is no male or female in Christ)? Are women the exception?
  • Does the Reformation doctrine of the priesthood of all believers only apply to men?  Doesn’t the absence of women in church leadership go against this?
  • Isn’t it weird and confusing that women have an equal vote in congregational decisions, even when a male leader is being elected and/or disciplined, when they aren’t supposed to exercise authority?

I could go on, but I think you get the picture; the absence of women in leadership is problematic, at best. It’s a problem because there are actually women leaders in the Bible. So, here is my unabashed, dogmatic, and biblical belief:  

All individuals are equally created in God’s image, and, therefore, have equal worth, privilege, and opportunity in Christ’s Church without any limitation, including gender.

In some churches and Christian denominations today, there are far too many wonderful Christian women who are exhausted and depressed because they are trying to live up to a certain expectation of being someone they are not. They suppress their gifts and calling because they believe they must prop-up the fragile male egos around them.  

They aren’t free to serve in leadership positions; and it’s eating them from the inside-out. These women think there is something wrong with them, but the reality is that there is something wrong with the whole system of male-only authority. And, what’s more, we are missing out on the blessing of God. It is high time we value all women, even those with gifts of leadership, by allowing them to serve without limitation.

I have a wife and three daughters. All of them are more intelligent, more gifted, and better leaders than me, the lone family male. To have them using their superior talents in the church by leading and serving is the least threatening thing to me on this earth. I love it that they can outdo me; it is my joy!  

Even more than that, I believe it is Christ’s joy, as well. We must be proactive in cultivating and nurturing the gifts and calling we see in women. They don’t need to be put in their place; instead, the good-old-boy system of the church needs to be put in its place so that men are practicing a leadership that sacrifices on behalf of making women’s leadership a priority.

Lord God, bless all women who daily strive to bring peace to their communities, their homes and their hearts. Give them strength to continue to turn swords into ploughshares. We pray for all women who face prejudice, inequality and gender disparities. Help us to see and to face the discrimination against women in all the many forms it may take.

Forgive all women and men who let differences breed hate and discrimination. Let your example of valuing all of creation help us to see that we are equal partners in the stewardship of your world. Help us to see the strength and goodness in all women and men. Amen.