Hallelujah! (Psalm 150)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Psalm 150, by Christie Michael

Hallelujah!

Praise God in his holy place.
Praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his mighty acts.
Praise him for his immense greatness.
Praise him with sounds from horns.
Praise him with harps and lyres.
Praise him with tambourines and dancing.
Praise him with stringed instruments and flutes.
Praise him with loud cymbals.
Praise him with crashing cymbals.

Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!

Hallelujah! (God’s Word Translation)

The word “hallelujah” is an English transliteration of the Hebrew word, הַלְלוּ יָהּ, which when translated means, “praise Yahweh,” or “praise the Lord.” According to today’s psalm, there is a whole lot of hallelujah that is encouraged for us to do.

There is a time for quiet reflection and contemplation, and there is a time for jubilant shouts of praise. The biblical psalms mirror the full range of human emotion. Having moved through the ups and downs of doubt, curiosity, anger, lament, and trust, it is appropriate that the psalter ends with lots of joyful noise.

I grew up in a generation where children were expected to be quiet in church. Not surprisingly, as a child, I found the church worship service on Sunday to be the most boring hour of my week. After a Saturday of morning cartoons, sugary cereal, All-Star Wrestling, and playing outside in the dirt with my brother, Sunday morning was typically a big letdown.

All I have to say about that, and about cranky old women shushing kids in church, is that the adults somehow forgot to read Psalm 150. Maybe if us big people were better about encouraging our little people to dance in the aisles, blow a kazoo as loud as they can, and freely give a shout to the Lord, then perhaps there would be a lot fewer defections from church worship services.

But don’t think that I’m advocating for everyone to go all out noise, all the time. Just as it is neither necessary nor appropriate to always shout everything you say, and skip everywhere you go, so the worship of God needs to encompass the broad scope of the human condition. Silence, meditation, and stillness have their important place. In a desire to make church fun, some Christians have created imbalanced experiences of only victory in Jesus.

By Marc Chagall, 1977

One of the reasons I follow the Christian Year with its liturgical movements is that it holds and maintains the balance of worship and the theological tension of both crucifixion and resurrection. We need healthy rhythms of sorrow and joy, stillness and movement, quietness and shouting.

The Church is currently in the Christian season of Eastertide. It is a focused time of celebration – which is why we have biblical sections in this time of year like Psalm 150. This is the appropriate time to lift loud praise to God for the risen Christ and celebrate salvation and new life in Jesus.

I’m not really a numbers kind of guy, yet it’s easy to notice the word “praise” occurs 10 times in a psalm of just 6 verses. And 7 musical instruments are mentioned. Methinks we’re supposed to not miss something here.

Praise is to happen in heaven and earth, in all creation, out in the world as well as inside the walls of the church building. It is to be done with voice, dance, drums, horns, woodwinds, and stringed instruments. Because God has done wonderful and marvelous acts throughout the earth, people are to respond with profuse gratitude expressed with lots of emotion.

Just so you know, that means sourpuss Christians who wrongheadedly believe human feelings ought to be stuffed and suppressed, need some remedial theological education about who God is and exactly what he expects from people. Somebody, please dispense the laxative of Psalm 150 to loosen their spiritual constipation!

God gave us our breath, and we are to use it for praise. If we see the entire book of Psalms as a life, then it is fitting the final psalm ends with sanguine praise. Indeed, when a person is at end of life, do they have reason to praise? A life of walking with God through thick and thin will inevitably end with recounting the ways in which the Lord has shown up and delivered. They want musical praise filling their last days and minutes.

That is exactly what Duke Ellington did in the twilight of his life. On January 19, 1968, Ellington performed a concert of sacred music at St. John the Divine cathedral in New York City. Among the original songs he performed and later recorded was his musical interpretation of Psalm 150. He called it “Praise God and Dance.”

Duke Ellington said that this praise music, and the two other albums of sacred music he recorded, were “the most important thing I have ever done.” When Ellington performed “Praise God and Dance” at the ancient Church of Santa Maria del Mar in Barcelona, Spain, the congregation spontaneously burst into the aisles with dancing and singing.

The whole person is to be involved in praise – mind, body, emotions, and spirit – because Yahweh is the God of the whole earth, and not just of the spiritual dimension.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises. Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody. With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord. (Psalm 98:4-6, NRSV)

I will bless you every day. I will praise your name forever and always. The Lord is great and so worthy of praise! God’s greatness can’t be grasped. (Psalm 145:2-3, CEB)

Praise the Lord! My whole being, praise the Lord. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praises to my God as long as I live. (Psalm 146:1-2, NCV)

Shout praises to the Lord! Our God is kind, and it is right and good to sing praises to him. (Psalm 147:1, CEV)

Hallelujah! Amen.

Restoration (Jeremiah 30:1-11a)

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

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess,’ says the Lord.”

These are the words the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah: 

“This is what the Lord says:

“‘Cries of fear are heard—
    terror, not peace.
Ask and see:
    Can a man bear children?
Then why do I see every strong man
    with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor,
    every face turned deathly pale?
How awful that day will be!
    No other will be like it.
It will be a time of trouble for Jacob,
    but he will be saved out of it.

“‘In that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty,
    ‘I will break the yoke off their necks
and will tear off their bonds;
    no longer will foreigners enslave them.
Instead, they will serve the Lord their God
    and David their king,
    whom I will raise up for them.

“‘So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant;
    do not be dismayed, Israel,’
declares the Lord.
‘I will surely save you out of a distant place,
    your descendants from the land of their exile.
Jacob will again have peace and security,
    and no one will make him afraid.
I am with you and will save you,’
    declares the Lord.” (New International Version)

The cry of Jeremiah the prophet, by Slovakian artist, 1937

To be restored is a beautiful thing, namely because it presupposes that someone or a group of people were dilapidated and in need of healing. Restoration implies that something was lost, but now is found.

If you have lost things like finances, a home, a car, precious memorial items, a job; or relationships such as a marriage, a friendship, estrangement from family members; or your health to disease or disaster; or even lost your mind or your soul – you can completely understand the longing for restoration and wholeness.

The Jews lost their homeland, their property, their temple, and their dignity to the invading Babylonians. Babylon took everything from Judea. The people became exiled in a strange land. Only some poor folk were left behind in a land that was ravaged.

This was the place that was once referred to as a land of milk and honey, a good home of abundance and blessing. But in the prophet Jeremiah’s day, it was becoming a thing of the past. Would the people ever recover what they had lost? Is restoration even a possibility? Could they learn to hope again?

Into a time of distress and despair, God spoke, and said that yes, it is possible; yes, restoration can and will happen. The people will not be in captivity forever.

Things can get so bad that you become physically sick, emotionally spent, mentally fearful, and spiritually disheartened – as if your life has been ripped from you without mercy and with malice. Yet, what is true of us today is not necessarily going to be true of us tomorrow.

Oppression is a terrible thing. To be constantly harassed by others or by chronic pain or by adverse situations is draining; it sucks the life out of us. Into these sorts of circumstances, God says to us, “I am with you, and I will save you.”

Perhaps tomorrow comes and nothing changes. The pain is still there. The mean-spirited people haven’t gone anywhere. The lost things are not found. And yet, there is something primal and universal which has always been here and shall never go away, no matter the circumstances: God is with us, and God loves us.

If we have the spiritual eyes to see, we will notice that God is alongside us, weeping with us. God knows a thing or two about the sort of suffering and pain that is unimaginable.

“Why does not God do something sooner, if God is so loving and powerful?” you may ask. If you are a parent, you have likely had a child ask you why you are doing something to them that feels awful. You know that emotion of feeling hurt alongside them. You also know that there is sometimes no way you can adequately explain to them what’s going on.

You commit yourself to being there, being present, and assuring the child that you aren’t going anywhere. So, when it comes to us, why is it so hard to understand that God is not a divine Santa or a cosmic Genie granting our every wish? If we want kids to understand, then perhaps we ought to first understand our own relationship as God’s children.

There will be times of trial and tribulation, even divine judgment. Yet there shall also be deliverance from evil, and salvation from sin, death, and hell. The yoke of oppression won’t last because there is the promise of restoration.

No matter how nasty, misguided, or sinful the political leadership and governmental system, none of those rulers or politicians have the last word – God does, not them. Grace has the final say, utilizing a restorative mercy which cannot be undone.

The days are coming when there will be a new future, based in the resolve of God to accomplish it. Fortunes shall be restored. Rehabilitation and renewal are ahead for the faithful. Healing will happen, whether it be in this life, or the next.

Things may seem impossibly hopeless now, but God can and will overrule the present evil machinations of oppressive rulers. Terror may be on every side, yet the Lord will break the bonds of oppression; God will burst the unjust practices. Indeed, God will save.

Therefore, we need not fear, for God is with us; and divine intervention is nearly here.

O God of heavenly powers, by your holy might, be present to us in your goodness and grace; banish all injustice and unrighteousness and restore your people in the strength of faith. Amen.

Jesus Is In the Room (Luke 24:36b-48)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Jesus appears to the apostles, by Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255-1319)

Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see, for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 

And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. Yet for all their joy they were still disbelieving and wondering, and he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 

Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. (New Revised Standard Version)

Hanging Out and Scratching Their Heads

Christ’s disciples were abuzz. Two dudes showed up and told eleven of the original disciples that they had seen and talked to Jesus himself! This was a lot to wrap both their heads and their hearts around. Could they dare to hope it is true?

Peter and John encountered an empty tomb. And now these guys from Emmaus are giving this wild testimony of a risen Savior. Into the weird mix of doubt, curiosity, grief, hope, wondering, and outright confusion, Jesus materialized out of the blue saying, “Peace be with you.”

Already feeling unsettled and uncertain, the disciples had anything but a peaceful response to the presence of their Lord. Startled, troubled, and frightened they were, as if somebody had just dropped a skunk into the room.

Why the fear? Why not be overjoyed or overcome with sheer delight at seeing Jesus?

The disciples were caught off guard, as if they had zero expectation of seeing Jesus. Believing him to be dead, they immediately went to thinking this was some ghost. After all, the door was locked. Nobody could have gotten into the room without the disciples knowing it. (John 20:19)

A fresco of Christ appearing to the disciples, in the Visoki Dečani Monastery, Deçan, Kosovo

Face to Face with Faith

As it turns out, faith and belief are not uniform static terms. There are layers to faith. Yes, the disciples really did believe, and their faith developed over time with Jesus. However, their belief had not yet come to full bloom. So, in this sense, they still possessed a lack of faith and were rebuked by Jesus for it. (Mark 16:14)

A full-orbed belief in the Lord Jesus Christ is more than words, more than making professions, and more than signing-off on a doctrinal statement of faith. Faith is shown for what it is through our actions. (James 1:19- 2:26)

Faith comes to fruition when the head, the heart, and the hands all align together and conspire to proclaim the gospel in thought, word, and deed. If they are misaligned or incongruent with each other, then that faith is inadequate. There is yet another level to the belief which needs to emerge.

Perhaps this is instructive for people today. While maintaining beliefs about the person and work of Jesus, and acknowledging Christ’s death and resurrection, some Christians live as though Jesus had never risen from the grave. If Jesus were to suddenly show up and say, “Peace be with you,” like a startled puppy, they’d likely have an accident on the floor.

It’s a Real Resurrected Body

As Jesus had done so many times before in his earthly ministry, he invited the disciples to experience him in a real, tangible, visceral way. This is no ghost. This is a Christ who has physical flesh and bones. You can eat with this Jesus, real food and drink. Look at his hands and feet. Touch and feel them if you must. But, by all means, believe!

Christ is risen. So, now what? This is what the earliest of disciples struggled to understand – how to live in the reality of resurrection, and how Jesus is present with his followers. Christ is with us as a real human and as the real God.

Although Jesus appeared to be a ghost because he could seemingly pass through things, he is not. Christ has a very real body with flesh and bones, although it is a glorified resurrected body which isn’t quite the same as our current earthly bodies. He feels hunger and eats food.

Today’s story follows the Emmaus Road experience in which two people encounter the resurrected Christ. They didn’t even notice that it was Jesus and that they were looking at a glorified body. In that story, Jesus went with them and had a meal around the table.

The Disciples Are Now Witnesses

The eyes of the disciples were opened so that they could truly see Jesus for who he really is. And it happened in their communal eating together – just as it did in the previous story with the friends from the Emmaus Road. Specifically, their new spiritual sight enabled them to be witnesses to the reality of Christ’s resurrection.

The disciples seeing Jesus empowered them to proclaim the good news that repentance for the forgiveness of sins is real; deliverance from our guilt and shame can really happen, when we confess it and turn from it. No more being locked-up in a room in fear, or in a metaphorical personal prison of anxiety.

We Are Now Empowered

The post-resurrection encounter of the disciples and Jesus would not be confined to a one room lock-in experience. The Spirit of God will come upon all sorts of people, all over the world. The sadness of crucifixion and death transforms into the joy and confidence of gospel proclamation. A true release from the shackles of fear and guilt result in a giddy blabbering about Jesus everywhere one goes.

It turns out that seeing and touching Christ’s wounds on his hands and feet doesn’t evoke bad nightmares, but elicits good dreams for the future of faith – that resurrection is a reality, is reachable, and is a path to experience the blessing of God.

Jesus is in the room, my friend. Let your fear be changed into joy.

Holy and righteous God, you raised Christ from the dead and glorified him at your right hand. Let the words of Holy Scripture, fulfilled in Jesus your Son, burn within our hearts and open our minds to recognize him in the breaking of bread. Amen.

Spiritual Sight and Power (Acts 3:1-10)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Peter and John heal the crippled man, by Gustave Doré (1832-1883)

Peter and John were going to the temple courtyard for the three o’clock prayer. At the same time, a man who had been lame from birth was being carried by some men. Every day these men would put the lame man at a gate in the temple courtyard. The gate was called Beautiful Gate. There he would beg for handouts from people going into the courtyard. When the man saw that Peter and John were about to go into the courtyard, he asked them for a handout.

Peter and John stared at him. “Look at us!” Peter said. So the man watched them closely. He expected to receive something from them. However, Peter said to him, “I don’t have any money, but I’ll give you what I do have. Through the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth, walk!” Peter took hold of the man’s right hand and began to help him up. Immediately, the man’s feet and ankles became strong. Springing to his feet, he stood up and started to walk. He went with Peter and John into the temple courtyard. The man was walking, jumping, and praising God.

All the people saw him walking and praising God. They knew that he was the man who used to sit and beg at the temple’s Beautiful Gate. The people were amazed and stunned to see what had happened to him. (God’s Word Translation)

Peter and John at the gate of the temple, by Rembrandt

Money isn’t everything; and neither is having a lot of talent or giftedness. Yet, we often live our lives as if we cannot do much because of our lack of personal abilities and financial resources. But we can. All we need to do is give something that we all have to give.

Peter and John were disciples of Jesus. Though Jesus has ascended to heaven and the gift of the Spirit has come, they still maintained a daily rhythm of prayer three times a day at the temple.

As the two of them were about to attend afternoon prayer, they encountered a man at the gate. We are told that this particular guy was crippled. He came every day to the temple in order to beg. What is interesting to me is that this surely was not the first time Peter and John encountered the guy who begged at the gate.

Did they just ignore him? Was he one of many? Whatever the reason, they never put their eyes to him before. But on this occasion they did. In fact, they fixed their gaze on him and really took the time to stop and look at him.

I remember when my late brother-in-law had a complete turn around of his life to Jesus. At the time, he walked to work every day in the city. And every day there was a beggar on the corner. Most every day he had ignored him. One day he even spit on him.

The day after his great awakening to the Lord, he was walking to work and saw the beggar. But this time he really saw him. And when he looked into the man’s eyes, he had pity upon him. My brother-in-law – who took his lunch with him each day – surrendered it to the beggar. Eventually, he began a practice of bringing enough food for two, sitting down with the man, and talking with him as they ate together.

Perhaps for the first time, these disciples of Jesus, Peter and John, see the man who was there every day at the temple. They have not a thing with them. No money. No lunch. But they had something better: the power of grace and love.

In our contemporary Western society, we prefer things to be efficient and simple. Giving money, preferably online and dispassionately, is ideal for us. This way, we can give without any strings attached while feeling good about ourselves.

Yet, my brother-in-law and Peter and John decided to give the gift of connection. And that meeting of the eyes was the conduit for spiritual power to flow from one person to another. Doing what they saw Jesus do, the disciples gave the man who could not walk his legs back.

As a result, the guy was no longer lame nor a beggar. He became a fellow witness of God’s mercy and power. He went right up into the temple with Peter and John – walking and jumping and praising God.

It is not really money that gets things done. And it’s not our ingenuity or intelligence that really makes things happens. Throughout the book of Acts, demonstrations of God’s mighty power in the name of Jesus Christ is paramount. And those with alternative sources of power are shown to be powerless when it comes to life transformation.

In all of human history, including today, people like power; and power attracts wealth, as well as wealth attracting power. But the power of Christ’s resurrection is completely disconnected from worldly wealth. And it is never used for personal gain or popularity. And what’s more, this sort of power is available to every Christian – and not just a special class of super-Christians or clergy persons.

If we trace apostolic work in the New Testament, we shall find that the people with such spiritual power received it not because of extraordinary faith or exceptional virtue; instead, the Spirit grants us the ability to make a difference in this world by granting us the gift of sight – to truly see another as the precious image bearer of God that they are.

There are people right in front of us every day that we might not see. If we are wondering how to tap into the spiritual power of resurrection, we have no further to look than observing and gazing upon the folks within our eyesight, so that we can see them in new and redemptive ways.

Holy Lord, you gave us something more powerful and more valuable than riches; you have given us healing and hope. Please bring that healing and hope into our world and show us evidence of your presence in our lives. Amen.