Category: Year C

Christ the King Sunday (Luke 23:33-43)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
The 118 feet high Christ the King statue in Świebodzin, Poland

When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by watching, but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom.” He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (New Revised Standard Version)

I’m glad that the Gospel text on this Christ the King Sunday is the story of Christ on the cross with the two criminals on each side also crucified. Why?

Because our cultural contexts tend to associate power and authority with high level earthly positions. But, in reality, Christianity is a paradoxical religion full of truths which seem antithetical to each other; yet they are not.

Many people (including many Christians) believe that, in order to influence the culture, Christians must have prominent positions in society. This leaves the majority of Christians feeling as if they have nothing to offer the world. After all, they have no important title at their job, in the government, or within the church.

But nothing could be further from the truth. Christ, in the lowest earthly position possible by being nailed to a cross, was a king who had the highest heavenly position in the universe. One will never come to grips with Jesus apart from understanding that Christianity is an inherently paradoxical religion.

The Sanctuary of Christ the King in Almada, Portugal

One of the criminals crucified with Christ discerned this reality well; the other criminal did not understand at all. One demonstrated the reality that humility is the powerful key to all things, whereas the other criminal remained full of himself.

The scene portrayed for us on Golgotha’s hill shows us what the kingly reign of Jesus Christ truly looks like: It is characterized by the power of humility and sacrifice. It highlights Christ’s authority by giving mercy to those hanging on a cross alongside himself.

True power is not found in the halls of earthly political power, but rather in the elevating power of God’s grace and Christ’s self-sacrifice. Therefore, Christians can best demonstrate their own power and authority by extending grace and mercy toward others, even when it’s hard to do.

It can be difficult to wrap both our heads and our hearts around this reality of possessing power without actually having positions and titles of authority in the world and the church.

Many a church pastor bemoans the fact that a number of their parishioners fail to be active servants in the wrongheaded notion that the clergy are supposed to do all the work. The laity may believe that the clergy are the ones with the educational, experiential, and positional power to influence culture and society.

What’s more, it can be even harder for those who once had positions of power to believe they themselves can no longer effectively work for the good, because they are now nobodies. They may ask, “Who would listen to me?”

The answer is: A lot of people. God uses all sorts of persons in all sorts of places and situations. What we all need, whether clergy or laity, is the willingness to be humble and to sacrifice one’s time or talent in showing mercy to another.

Christians must take their cues from the Lord Jesus. In the setting of the interaction between Christ and the other two crucified men in today’s story, Jesus is the innocent one sandwiched between two guilty persons. Christ’s humiliation is on full public display. The crowd of onlookers mock him, along with one of the criminals. Because of the apparent incongruence between being ‘King of the Jews’ yet not freeing himself from his awful situation.

Whereas most of us might avoid being humiliated in public at any cost, Jesus embraced the rejection and the suffering, knowing that he was offering a sacrifice for the benefit of the whole world.

Even though Jesus was extremely vulnerable, and in emotional, spiritual, and physical pain which we can only imagine, he nonetheless chose to use his kingly power and authority on behalf of others – including those who blatantly rejected and mocked him.

Grace and mercy were demonstrated by submitting to an ignominious death, and by willingly acting to be the bridge connecting others to God. Relationship is at the very heart of the divine will; God would do anything to restore broken relations with his fallen people. No one is beyond the reach of grace.

In a contemporary culture of polarized relations and angry vitriol toward one another, the ordinary Christian without earthly title or authority is in the best position to provide basic human kindness by extending mercy to “enemies” and demonstrating humility in all things.

Christ embodied love and forgiveness. He used his power for mercy, not judgment;  and for grace, not revenge.

Jesus demonstrated for us how grace is the greatest operative force in the universe.

To love and forgive another is the best demonstration of power and authority that anyone could ever show.

God’s action in Christ through the cross is what can move us to true acts of love and selflessness. We participate in Christ by giving grace through acts of mercy in comforting, encouraging, and helping others.

The only way we can give grace is to receive grace. It is God’s action in Christ through the Spirit that moves us to true acts of love and selflessness.

Personally, I am encouraged with the image of Christ as King – the One who is both sovereign over all creation, and yet is with me and knows my every need, giving grace and mercy and unconditional love.

For me, the idea of both God’s transcendence and God’s immanence is the perfect lead-in for the Advent season.

Earthly leaders can be capricious, petty, enamored with earthly power, and wield authority only in ways that serve themselves and not the common good of all. No wonder there is so much corruption and injustice in this old fallen world of ours.

Such hateful leadership has no problem leaving us beaten, bruised, and hanging on a cross. In our pain and our suffering, what will we do?

Hopefully, we will let Jesus transform our understanding of power and authority.

Ideally, in our worst situations of suffering and confusion, we will remember Jesus lifted-up on the cross, lifted-up as sovereign over all things. We will find our own true power in self-giving-love to a world which appears it has given itself to hate and selfish judgment of people they don’t like.

A participation in Christ’s rule and reign over all things means that his crucified power has given us grace and forgiveness, so that we might pass it on, pay it forward, and work for that which is just, right, and good.

May it be so, to the glory of God.

Almighty God, you rescue us from our enemies, so that we may serve you without fear. Strengthen us, that we might share in the inheritance of the saints in your kingdom of light. Amen.

The Time Is Near (Luke 21:5-19)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem, by David Roberts, 1850

When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”

They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray, for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.

“When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified, for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes and in various places famines and plagues, and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

“But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance, for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and siblings, by relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls. (New Revised Standard Version)

The Arch of Titus in Rome, depicting the Roman triumphal march after victory against the Jewish revolt

The temple, central in today’s Gospel lesson, had undergone an impressive and beautiful refurbishment by Herod the Great (appointed as King of Judea by the Roman Emperor).

It took eighty years for the rebuilding project to be completed. It was significantly enlarged; and generous amounts of gold and silver were used to refurbish it, along with ample use of white marble.

So, it was no wonder that people coming to Jerusalem and approaching the temple admired the massive and impressive edifice. In their awe, they commented so to Jesus.

But Jesus was less impressed with all the architectural rebuilding and expansion of grounds, and more concerned about what would be coming soon concerning the temple and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Jesus became the wet washrag to the awe of viewing the Jerusalem temple. He stated that the temple would be destroyed; and it would happen soon.

Imagine if you were one of the persons in the crowd listening to Jesus. “What are you talking about? Why in the world would you even bring that up? It’s obvious that God won’t let this temple be destroyed. It’s his house!”

To their credit, Christ’s disciples did not question the words of Jesus. They only asked a follow up question of when this imminent destruction was going to take place. Unlike the crowd, their query was: “When can we expect this to happen?”

Christ responded by warning his disciples not to believe every apocalyptic preacher who comes along trying to tell everyone when the event will happen. Because some of those preachers will be false prophets who only lead people astray.

False prophets tend to prophesy peace and abundance when God has already proclaimed doom. I find it curious and interesting that the current U.S. President keeps up a steady stream of telling the American people that the economy is booming and that everyone can trust him to keep them safe and secure – even though there is zero evidence for such bluster.

(In in fact, there is contrary evidence to his words; which begs the question why anyone would listen to him…). Prophets who ignore truth and proclaim error tend to downplay any sort of doom on the horizon, especially when they are in power.

Yet, with all the doom and gloom proclaimed by Christ, let’s keep in mind that although the temple was indeed destroyed as Jesus said it would in the year 70 C.E., neither Christianity nor Judaism was destroyed along with it.

God transcends any physical sacred religious space in the form of temples and church buildings.

After the temple’s destruction, both religions kept on, with Christianity growing and becoming the world’s most populous religion. Today, Judaism and Christianity have adherents across the entire earth in every nation, and among all sorts of races and ethnicities.

Sometimes the modern church forgets these things. There are many congregations today who identify themselves chiefly by their church building. For them, everything revolves around maintaining the physical plant, keeping the lights on, and having enough people in the pew to pay for it all.

All of this focus on the building means that congregants too often get excited about new people because they see them as potential givers who can help shoulder the load of paying bills and keeping up the building’s maintenance.

It’s no wonder that these same churches are continuing to decline. They are closing their doors at the rate of about 10 churches every day in the United States (nearly 4,000 churches per year).

When a church is struggling, it’s easy to believe that some gifted pastor will come along to renew and refurbish them; or that God will magically intervene and bring dozens if not hundreds of people to fill their empty pews.

They don’t want to hear any message that their building will be demolished by a wrecking crane. Yet, in many circumstances, Jesus has communicated to them what will happen. But the people continue believing the false prophesies of renewed glory days and the building busting at the seams with fresh converts.

If I’m coming across as a wet washrag, I’ll gently point us back to the Gospel story of Jesus for today.

Sometimes grief and lament are more biblical than overt positive thinking which is guised in the language of faith.

However, no matter what, the worldwide church will continue to go on, and the gates of hell shall not prevail upon it. The church will keep going, albeit in new places and in all sorts of new forms. Our task is to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading, and have discerning men and women of faith who are true prophets with helpful information.

Back to the story, Jesus was even more gloomy about what would happen after the temple was destroyed. Believers would be arrested and persecuted. Circumstances would be dire. Christians would continually be at risk. And yet, a look back at history tells us that the church did not die; rather, it grew and flourished.

I am reminded today that hard circumstances and difficult situations – even including death and destruction – are not the end. In God’s kingdom, up is down and down is up; first is last and last is first. All is not lost, even though it may look that way today.

I am reminded of the words of the medieval priest, Thomas à Kempis, who wisely had his mind and heart in the right place when it came to hardship and persecution:

“Sometimes it is to our advantage to endure misfortunes and adversities, for they make us enter into our inner selves and acknowledge that we are in a place of exile and that we ought not to rely on anything in this world.

“And sometimes it is good for us to suffer contradictions and know that there are those who think ill and badly of us, even though we do our best and act with every good intention. Such occasions are aids in keeping us humble and shield us from pride.

“When men ridicule and belittle us, we should turn to God, who sees our innermost thoughts, and seek His judgment…

“It is when a man of good will is distressed, or tempted, or afflicted with evil thoughts, that he best understands the overwhelming need he has for God, without whom he can do nothing.

“While enduring these afflictions he takes himself to prayer with sighs and groans; he grows tired of this life and wishes to die so that he could be undone in order to live with Christ. It is in such times of trial that he realizes that perfect security and full peace are not to be found in this world.”

May we put our eggs not in the earthly basket of architectures, buildings, and physical plants, but in the heavenly basket of compassionate ministry, uplift for the poor and needy, and proclamation of the gospel of grace to all.

O God, in Christ you give us hope for a new heaven and a new earth. Grant us wisdom to interpret the signs of our times; encourage us to stand in the time of trial; and have faith to witness to your truth and love. Amen.

“Oh, That My Words Were Recorded” (Job 19:23-27a)

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

“Oh, that my words were recorded,
    that they were written on a scroll,
that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead,
    or engraved in rock forever!
I know that my redeemer lives,
    and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
    yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him
    with my own eyes—I, and not another. (New International Version)

The biblical character Job expressed a feeling that all of us, at one time or another, have likely felt: Longing for someone to actually hear our voice, our words of grief, listen to them, and not let them fall into oblivion as if we were alone on this earth.

Job was hurting like no one before or after him. His grief was palpable. His pain was deep and intense. Not knowing what the heck was going on, he had zero understanding of why complete calamity came upon him.

Job’s family was killed, all but his wife. He lost all his earthly possessions to either theft or disaster. And his body was wracked with painful sores that covered his entire body. He was as miserable as one person could be. It was grief stacked upon grief.

In that misery and pain, after losing everything, Job didn’t want his words to be lost. He wanted them to be heard and remembered. Job needed to know that his voice was real, that he was not just speaking into the air.

This gets to the heart of what every grieving person likely wants: For someone to listen to their story of loss – for that story to be heard, listened to, and taken seriously.

I know the feeling. And I know it a bit more intimately than I would like to.

In this past year I was diagnosed with a health disorder that prevented me from continuing to work in a job I absolutely loved. This precipitated a move to another state to be near family. And there are many more losses and griefs to go along with all the changes in my life.

Going through circumstances that we neither asked for nor wanted is hard, especially when it involves significant losses. Without facing our grief, like Job did, we may end up losing ourselves and becoming lost or stuck in that grief.

Rather than me blithering on about the need for vulnerability, I myself will be vulnerable. One of the ways I accept, cope, and transcend hard stuff is through journaling. Here is a portion of my journal from today, unedited:

“I can feel myself sinking down toward the abyss. The darkness is beginning to overwhelm me. Everything – the changes, the transitions, the grief, the state of all things – is too much.

“Lord, have mercy.

“And so, I write, in the hope that my grief and big feelings of loss and of lostness will somehow fade into the background – not the foreground – of my life. Yes, it’s all a part of me. A very important part. And I never want to disavow it. Yet, it is only a part, and not the whole of me.

“Maybe that’s the thing I need to know and remember this day – that grief is not all of me; doesn’t define me as a person; and need not rule my life. There is some sort of ‘sweet spot’ in all this, in which I vulnerably and forthrightly acknowledge and talk about my grief without stuffing it away into an internal junk closet. But also, I do not necessarily focus on it as if grief is all that I am.

“Rather, I’m (like all other people) a complicated soul made up of many moving spiritual and emotional parts.

“It is ironic that a guy who once talked to grieving people on a daily basis is now grieving the loss of no longer talking to grieving people on a daily basis. Yet, here I am.

“One of the reasons I derived so much fulfillment from doing grief work with others is that it is so very much needed! I live in a society where everyone wants you to be okay, likely because they themselves are so very uncomfortable with grief and don’t know what to do with it. So, many people simply want everyone to be ‘normal,’ whatever the heck that actually means.

“Loss is painful, and no one (including me) wants to hurt. But the pain won’t go away magically. I (and everyone) must face the hurt, walk into and through the pain in order to feel better.

“To open-up to the unique pain of loss is the only way to realize emotional healing. In order to move on, we’ve got to stop trying to move on. Instead, let it out.

“In writing this I’m reminding myself what I’ve told hundreds of patients and parishioners who were going through their own unique circumstances of painful loss. Strength is found in embracing weakness, and not by trying to soldier on as if loss doesn’t bother me. It’s okay to grieve. And it’s okay to grieve any sort of loss. It’s more than okay; it’s absolutely needed.”

Eternally righteous God, merciful judge of all the living: In your love you called us to share the glory of Christ. Strengthen our hearts in every good work and word, so that we may be steadfast in your ways and always believe your truth. Amen.

Are Your Ears Being Tickled? (2 Timothy 3:14-4:5)

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

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have known sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the person of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound teaching, but, having their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, be sober in everything, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully. (New Revised Standard Version)

It’s only human in wanting to hear only those things we like to hear. Rarely do any of us purposely seek to listen to another voice which is contrary to our likings. This may be why we exist in such a polarized world; we simply have no intention of listening to any sort of opposing view on anything.

We put our fingers in our ears to stop hearing things we don’t want to hear; and conversely, we surround ourselves only with people who tell us what we want to hear.

The Apostle Paul would say that we like our ears tickled.

One of the hardest things to hear is that sometimes we need to hear hard things.

There is no spiritual growth, and no Christian maturity, apart from the willingness to hear what we need to hear, rather than to always hear what we want to hear. All of us need to keep developing our listening skills.

I would argue that one of the reasons there are umpteen Protestant denominations in this world is that groups of people don’t really want to listen to one another. We’d much rather insulate ourselves; label ourselves as right; and declare that everyone else is worldly and wrong, or an antichrist and a terrorist.

But that sort of thinking will not do for the Apostle Paul. It’s one of the reasons he took the time to write to his young protégé Timothy.

Paul’s letter to Timothy is filled with exhortations and warnings about making sure the church is ethical with their words; avoids useless and profane speech; holds to sound biblical talk; and stays away from speaking erroneously about apostolic teaching.

In other words, church folk must keep their life, their doctrine, and their speech in line with the words and ways of Jesus – even when we encounter hard words from our Lord and his apostles.

Listening to what we need to hear, instead of always what we want to hear, is a significant way of maturing in the Christian life.

We choose to listen to hard things, and things we don’t necessarily want to hear in order to connect with God and others; and to compassionately understand what they’re saying to us.

We need not be at the mercy of our own reactivity. Knee jerk reactions only breed ignorance, not spiritual growth.

Since listening is a skill to develop, that means we need a lot of practice doing it. We can begin by listening to Scripture; embracing the sort of faith which it advocates; and following the examples of godly persons, like the Apostle Paul.

In Timothy’s case, faith was learned and nurtured through the examples of his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois (2 Timothy 1:5). Their compassionate and beloved way of life displayed an embodied source of sound teaching.

There was a whole lot more going on with the godly examples than catechism classes and Sunday School lessons. Their teaching effected a deep and enduring desire to follow the example of godly living.

Every believer needs helpful examples and models, whether they are family or not. The truly Christian person is one who allows the inspiration of Holy Scripture to manifest itself in their life in profoundly powerful ways which brings transformation, not just information.

And whenever these godly persons are together, making up a Christian community, then there is wise discernment in carefully listening to what is right, true, good, and just. Gossip is jettisoned. Lack of evidence is not ever entertained. Rather, encouragement and spiritual nurture take hold.

Christians with the inspired text in the very marrow of their souls faithfully call out deviations and departures from godly scriptural speech. They hold to righteousness and embrace the good. They love mercy and exhibit humility in all things.

Holy Scripture was not a collection of facts for Timothy, but was engrafted into his mind and heart so that what came out of him was faith, hope, and love. Christians like Paul and Timothy had a well-rounded spirituality which was attuned to following Jesus and nurturing the faith of others.

Paul lovingly and confidently exhorted Timothy (and his congregation) to go diligently after Scripture, so that it could do its work within them. They were to speak out the gospel of grace, no matter the situation.

Believers are to liberally use apostolic teaching to convince, rebuke, and encourage each other toward the righteousness of God.

Everyone is to work together in practicing holiness, proclaiming grace, and promoting a way of life rooted in the life of Christ.

Everyone is to avoid flocking to leaders who only tell them what they want to hear. They are to instead flock toward humble and wise leadership who possess time-tested teaching – not pithy slogans and promotions of hate.

Reliable true-blue teaching understands perseverance, long-suffering, honesty, and fidelity to Christ’s words. The truth is stated plainly, and thinks of others. There’s no get-down-and-dirty pride; no posturing nor slick salesmanship.

Timothy cared nothing about getting as many social media followers as he could. And he wasn’t so insecure as to want everyone in his congregation to like him. But neither was he calloused by forcing his way on everyone. Paul taught him better than that.

Paul’s instruction took hold with Timothy by cultivating a genuine spiritual growth that is organic and patient, rooted in love, that can always hearken back to the faithfulness of Christ and the apostles.

It is profoundly sad to me how many persons have left the church. And yet, I understand why. There are too many pastors and elders and deacons who are driven by their own selfish desires for power, control, money, and personal followers. That stuff is a sure prescription for people to get hurt and disillusioned with Christianity, let alone the church.

The Apostle Paul wanted to see leadership which reflects the grace by which he himself had been saved. Furthermore, Paul was devoted to being a mentor in helping others like Timothy and Titus to live in ways which exhibit the grace and mercy of Christ.

A hard teaching is really only hard wherever there exists a hard heart. We all need ever-expanding and softening hearts which are receptive to the voice of Holy Scripture.

What’s more, we need non-itchy ears which listen to the voice of God and the voice of hurting people who need the gospel of grace.

We need godly leadership who knows the difference between truth and being a jerk.

Where are you in your own faith walk?

O God, Spirit of righteousness, you temper judgment with mercy. Help us to live out the covenant which is written on our hearts so that when Christ returns we may be found worthy to receive your gracious presence. Amen.