Tag: christian action

Christ’s Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
“The Sower” by Vincent Van Gogh, 1881

…Jesus left the house and sat on the beach. In no time at all a crowd gathered along the shoreline, forcing him to get into a boat. Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed his congregation, telling stories.

“What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.

“Are you listening to this? Really listening?”…

“Study this story of the farmer planting seed. When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn’t take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person’s heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road.

“The seed cast in the gravel—this is the person who hears and instantly responds with enthusiasm. But there is no soil of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.

“The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it.

“The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.” (The Message)

It takes focused attention to listen well. Allowing the understanding of Christ’s words to awash over us – drinking-in the life-giving good news – is required for the act of listening to achieve its intended purpose.

It is most necessary that we all develop the skill of effective listening, so as to understand what is being said. And yet, understanding, as important as it is – all by itself – is inadequate. If hearing isn’t accompanied by obedient follow-through, then all the listening comes to nothing.

Christian discipleship (following the words and the ways of Jesus) demands that the believer takes Christ’s words and walks faithfully in the way of the good news, which has been absorbed into the mind and heart through effective listening.

Failing to both listen and put the words into practice is like the person who looks into the mirror and then walks away forgetting what he looks like.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.

But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action. (James 1:22-25, MSG)

Appropriate and fruitful action begins with, and is dependent upon, attentive and effective listening – which is why the ability to hear the words of Jesus are so very vital to our lives.

“The Sower” by Vincent Van Gogh, 1888

The Parable

Our ears are the soil of our lives. Ears that are attentive and devoted to listening to Jesus are good soil; ears that are distracted, inattentive, and/or stopped up with ear wax are the bad soil. 

Receptive listening to the Word of God brings a fruitful harvest of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). Christ’s parable lets us know that planting the Word is important. It is sown on four different soils:

  1. The seed on the road. A path is for walking; and for us, a road is for driving – which is why the seed never takes root. Here there is no real listening. When we act without listening, our actions will inevitably be misguided. 
  2. The seed on gravel. Here there is no deep listening. A lack of attentive hearing results in a shallow person who perhaps relies more on Christian clichés or on one’s personality or abilities, instead of the planted Word.
  3. The seed in the weeds. Here there is some significant listening. However, there are too many voices being heard, and not enough singular listening to the sown Word. Listening to the wrong voices will cause an unfruitful life, so we must be careful to whom we choose to give our listening ears to!
  4. The seed on good earth. A devoted listening to the Word without distraction leads to a productive, fruitful believer.

The Parable Interpreted

The interpretation of the parable which Jesus provided to his disciples focuses on the experience of the seed in a variety of soils, as well as the outside powers which act on the message. It all demonstrates that the words of Jesus – the good news of Christ – is central to our lives, and needs to be received well.

  1. The road is the person who hears the message yet is unable to hear Christ’s words because their heart is hard. The forces of evil snatch up the message before any real understanding, and therefore action, can take place. We must observe that the forces of evil are real; they have the ability to influence people with listening issues.
  2. The gravel is the person who hears just enough to respond with joy but drops out when hard circumstances come around. “I didn’t sign up for this!” is their cry. What they needed was to count the cost of discipleship before responding to the message. This is the mere professing Christian, nothing more. Rather than listening well, and internalizing Christ’s words, there is only positive affirmation without any action or practice. Therefore tomorrow, the message is gone.  When difficulty comes, there are no supporting words to draw from. The person then fades away, unable to navigate life successfully.
  3. The weedy soil hears and responds to the message; and is also a professing Christian, nothing more. The issue with such persons is that they also listen to the voices of worry and wealth. Like some sort of spiritual A.D.D., there is no ability to filter all the voices calling out; and so, there is no growth. The words of Jesus for us must reign supreme; there cannot be two thrones of Wealth and Word, nor two Masters of both God and Money.
  4. The good earth listens with the full intention of understanding, and then puts into practice the message heard. This is what brings about the fruit of righteousness and peace in both the individual and the community. Receiving the implanted word through careful listening brings about spiritual growth.  The first priority must be to listening well to this word. And when an entire group listens well and acts accordingly, then it creates a greenhouse effect in which people cannot help but grow in the Lord.

Conclusion

Jesus was not saying anything new, or what wasn’t already in the First Testament:

How well God must like you—
    you don’t walk in the ruts of those blind-as-bats,
    you don’t stand with the good-for-nothings,
    you don’t take your seat among the know-it-alls.

Instead you thrill to God’s Word,
    you chew on Scripture day and night.
You’re a tree replanted in Eden,
    bearing fresh fruit every month,
Never dropping a leaf,
    always in blossom. (Psalm 1:1-3, MSG)

We live in a time of great conflict – largely due to the refusal to listen well to one another, and to Holy Scripture, especially the New Testament Gospels.

Esoteric and harmful interpretations of the Bible result from failing to hear what Scripture itself is saying to us, especially the words of Jesus. Ignoring the Gospels and myopically focusing on particular parts of the Bible is a sure prescription for poor hearing, and thus, misguided decisions and actions.

This is just one reason why reading Scripture aloud with others in a communal setting is important. Robust discussion around the spoken word is what helps us to move in the sort of directions which the Spirit is leading us.

It is what Jesus and his original disciples did. We must do no less.

O Ancient and Wise Gardener, your holy word is planted in our hearts as good seed in fertile soil. So, nurture us, so that we may bear fruit abundantly, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Protest As Faith

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality BlogLeave a comment

But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads!” (Acts 18:6)

“Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” (Genesis 32:28)

Deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:13, NIV)

If it looks like terrorism, talks like terrorism, and acts like terrorism, it’s probably terrorism.

I have become exasperated in numerous ways in the past few days – not only from the federally-sponsored terrorism which is presently oppressing and abusing the Twin Cities of Minnesota, but also from some “Christians” who say ungracious and unfeeling statements concerning what is happening in where I presently live.

The greater Minneapolis/St. Paul area is now my home, so that my dear wife and I can be near our middle daughter and her family who reside in south Minneapolis.

At the least, it isn’t helpful to make comments, such as the following, which I have heard multiple times from some “Christians:” “Well, if the leaders and people of Minnesota would just give a little cooperation, then everything would be okay,” and “Don’t you think Minnesota leadership is creating this protest scene to hide fraud investigations?”

At worst, those comments are a projection that put the deportations and deaths of Americans squarely on the actual victims, instead of the real perpetrators. I, for one, will not stand for that sort of attitude and rhetoric, and as it turns out, neither will my fellow Minnesota residents.

Because even the “unbeliever” knows right from wrong and the face of evil when they see it up close and personal.

When I hear blatant lies from federal officials which contradict my own eyes, ears, and experience; and see it coming from persons with a cross dangling from their neck, I begin to better understand the biblical stories of defiant faith in the midst of this present darkness (e.g. Luke 18:1-8).

Maybe such “Christians” would like to explain to my grandchildren why they shouldn’t be afraid when I.C.E. helicopters hover over their home…

Perhaps such professing “believers” would like to try and reassure my 36-year-old Christian white daughter of three children that she is safe and has nothing to worry about…

Maybe such church folk would like to try and console the hundreds of grieving families who lament the injustice done to their loved ones…

Just once, I wish these “Christians” would take seriously the Gospel admonitions to love neighbor, welcome the stranger, and provide for the needy who are near them, no matter who they are and without prejudice. (Matthew 22:39; 25:31-46)

The experience of faux faith from others is what creates the conditions for protest. And I strongly argue that there is such a thing as biblical protest. It can take many forms.

I find myself giving protest to God. Yes, the Lord God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. And I do so because I believe this is what I am called to do for this time and for this place.

The biblical characters of Job, Abraham, Jacob, and Moses, along with the psalmists and the prophets, all protested God to make things right in the middle of unjust circumstances and victimization.

They all struggled and wrestled with God concerning their respective situations. Yet, they never let go of the Lord and their own faith, holding fast to God’s justice, God’s goodness, and God’s righteousness – trusting God when they don’t understand why and what the heck is going on.

The Lord responded to those struggling believers’ uppity protests in a favorable way (Genesis 18:26-32; Exodus 32:14; Job 42:7). Pleading to God when unjust evil is running amok is to rectify injustice. Keeping silent is to passively accept evil, making one complicit to the injustice.

Believe it or not, God is perfectly fine, and actually likes it, when humans remind God of who God is in God’s very character. Because God is just, right, good, holy, and loving all the time, God’s people fully expect these inherent character qualities of God to work themselves out in practical ways on this earth.

We express the depth of our faith by tenaciously clinging to what we know about God, instead of running from God, or simply relying upon ourselves, doing whatever the heck we want to do, and putting a spiritual veneer over the lies, as if we are really pleasing God.

Furthermore, Christian history is replete with godly protest. For example, Black spirituals, sung by enslaved African-Americans, such as “Wrestle On, Jacob” and “I Will Not Let You Go, My Lord” were forms of pious irreverence against the entire slave system through complaints to God.

For decades I have found the psalms to be my best expression of defiant faith. Along with the psalmist I pray with fervor and flavor:

Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
    Awake, do not cast us off forever!
Why do you hide your face?
    Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
For we sink down to the dust;
    our bodies cling to the ground.
Rise up, come to our help.
    Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love. (Psalm 44:23-26, NRSV)

I looked for pity, but there was none;
    and for comforters, but I found none.
They gave me poison for food,
    and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Let their table be a trap for them,
    a snare for their allies.
Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
    and make their loins tremble continually.
Pour out your indignation upon them,
    and let your burning anger overtake them.
May their camp be a desolation;
    let no one live in their tents.
For they persecute those whom you have struck down,
    and those whom you have wounded they attack still more.
Add guilt to their guilt;
    may they have no acquittal from you.
Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;
    let them not be enrolled among the righteous.
But I am lowly and in pain;
    let your salvation, O God, protect me.

I will praise the name of God with a song;
    I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
This will please the Lord more than an ox
    or a bull with horns and hoofs.
Let the oppressed see it and be glad;
    you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
For the Lord hears the needy
    and does not despise his own who are in bonds. (Psalm 69:20-33, NRSV)

May the Lord take notice of defiant faith, and bring justice to the nations. Amen.

Keep Wisdom Close (Proverbs 7:1-4)

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

My child, keep my words
    and store up my commandments with you;
keep my commandments and live;
    keep my teachings as the apple of your eye;
bind them on your fingers;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and call insight your intimate friend. (New Revised Standard Version)

Out of all the words I hear come out of people’s mouths in a day, I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say something like “Wisdom is my sister.” Indeed, I would argue that wisdom is in short supply these days.

The thing about wisdom is that many people – if they consider wisdom at all – tend to overemphasize one aspect of it over another. For wisdom to truly be wisdom, there must be both a solid body of knowledge and a practical understanding of how to implement learned information into one’s lived daily experience.

The concept of wisdom is truncated whenever one only focuses on book learning and information; or if one solely homes in on individual practice without any instruction.

A truly wise person has a teachable spirit about them, while at the same time, is willing to take the time necessary for action, and reflection on those actions, doing them again and again with learned and helpful information.

If someone tells you something, without any solid evidence to back up their statements, then you are likely hearing a bunch of foolishness, and not wisdom. What’s more, if they are all words and no action, there’s probably nothing worth listening to.

Without a robust evidence-based understanding of a subject, we become vulnerable to every Tom, Dick, and Harry who comes along and makes claims we’d like to hear. Even if it’s a blatant lie, apart from wisdom, we may suck up the bogus information like the bottom of a chocolate shake.

The presence of wisdom is an invitation for all simpletons to come, learn, and get rid of the simplistic ignorance of small personal opinions. Wisdom gives us a rudder to steer the ship of our life; and a map to provide us with direction.

If we eat at wisdom’s table, we shall fill ourselves with abundant life and satisfaction. Then, we will be able to overlook the baloney sandwich of stupidity for the T-bone steak of knowledge.

Wisdom is very much needed in times of temptation. Therefore, the more we are attentive to attaining a sage life, the more we will be able to withstand temptation’s onslaught when it comes to us.

The Teacher of Proverbs makes it clear that none of this is optional nor some sort of suggested teaching. Our Old Testament lesson for today is adamant that we pay attention to these admonitions. The verb “keep” is an inescapable exhortation.

Keeping the Teacher’s commands near to us, as if they were a close relative, is imperative to successful daily living.

Becoming proficient in the ways of the soul is important because the soul thrives on wisdom. Wisdom is soul food. This means we will attend to the small things which keeps our soul engaged and fed.

Carrying out our ordinary activities with mindfulness and a desire to learn is an artful practice which puts us in a position to soak up the wisdom around us.

The emptiness that so many people complain of comes, in part, from ignoring the small things. It puts wisdom way off of our radar. In other words, things like loneliness, boredom, and dissatisfaction come from ignoring one’s soul. The consequence is that wisdom is kept at a distance, and foolishness is allowed to come in and have run of the house.

What’s more, a life out of balance between introverted reading and extroverted activity puts us off kilter, not knowing what direction we ought to go. In this state, we’ll likely never find God’s will in any given situation.

We know we are growing in wisdom whenever loving another becomes more fulfilling than understanding that person.

If we seek wisdom so that we can be free of complexity, confusion, and all mystery, then we’ll never attain it. Instead, we’ll be the wise guy in the room and not the wise sage. Love will be off our radar, and so, wisdom shall be out of reach.

Developing wisdom is no easy endeavor; it’s hard, and requires steadfast commitment. The difficulty of it typically lies in implementing wise choices. That’s because we will inevitably come to a point where discernment tells us that we must let go of something.

And that something we need to let go is our own petty world that we have created. Only when we have made room can we accept a new world order which revolves around wisdom and doing what we can for the common good of all creation.

O God of love, you are the true sun of the world, evermore risen and never going down: We pray you to shine in our hearts and drive away the darkness of sin and the mist of error. We pray that we may, this day and all our lives long, walk without stumbling in the way you have prepared for us, which is Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God in glory everlasting. Amen.

Be Real, Not Fake (Titus 1:5-16)

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

The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 

An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 

Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This saying is true.

Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. (New International Version)

Everything in life needs some decency and order – including the church. The bulk of the Apostle Paul’s letter to Titus gives needed instructions about structuring the life of the church, along with some warnings about those who would attempt to disrupt that good order.

One of the most important aspects of church life and organization is to appoint competent persons with good character and sound doctrine to oversee and serve the congregation. The leaders of the church are to be mature, unselfish, concerned for the common good of all the parishioners, and able to handle Holy Scripture by strengthening the faithful and rebuking the faithless.

It takes solidly worthy leaders to counter people who are opposed to doing and believing things that are inconsistent with apostolic teaching. Paul had neither the tolerance nor the patience for rebellious folk who sought to deceive the faithful. So, he told Titus to silence, rebuke, and put a stop to such persons.

Orthodox icon of St. Titus the Apostle, the first Bishop of Crete

The rebellious persons, however, were not so easy to spot for many in the church – which is why Paul instructed Titus to deal with false teachers forcefully. They were not the real article, but came across as genuine.

Sometimes, you cannot tell a fake by the external appearance. In Christianity, and within the church, a person might give a good outward performance, but actually not be the real deal because they are full of bitterness and death on the inside with a heart far from God.

A sobering reality for devoted believers in God is that the church and Christianity can have people who are religious on the outside but not really Christ followers on the inside. Claiming to know God isn’t the same as actually knowing the Lord. It’s like putting perfume in a vase – it might smell like flowers but the flowers aren’t really there.  

The Apostle was pointed about how to handle those of the “circumcision group” because they were legalists who put heavy spiritual loads on people and were unwilling to help them carry those burdens. Paul, following the example of the Lord Jesus, was always laboring and challenging people into a genuine, real righteousness from the heart that would submit to God’s kingdom. 

And, much like Jesus before him, Paul kept having the Judaizers in the church undermining him, talking behind his back, and stirring up resentment against him. 

The rebellious people of the circumcision group were not helping believers know God better through active service, but only tried to talk a good line. Paul pointed them out to Titus because such persons were not strengthening the faith of others and enabling them to live a sound spiritual life.

The Judaizers did not practice what they preached – and even what they taught was neither gentle, nor had any grace. People need one another in the church to truly live for God; but if there are double standards, then heavy loads aren’t getting carried because some individuals think they are above helping, or think too little of themselves and believe God could not use them. 

In both cases the person declares, “Someone should do something!” Someone should give, someone should pray, someone should visit, someone should tell that person about Christ, someone should help. To which Paul (and Jesus) would say that someone is you.

We may believe we are genuine and think we are being helpful when we really are not. Whenever we plaster on fake smiles, only obey and serve when others are looking, and/or pretend like everything is just peachy keen when we are dying inside, then we are in the same category as the Judaizers. We have become in need of putting aside how we look to others and ask the God of grace to have mercy on us. 

It’s possible to be so obsessed about the right thing to say that we never say what is really on the inside because we think it isn’t spiritual enough and we fear looking bad. We then put up a spiritual façade, live into a false self, thereby and eventually becoming a false teacher.

The rebellious in the church are those who seek power, status, authority, and prestige. Respect and honor from others is everything to them, so they want the positions of prominence and insist on being recognized for whatever they say or do in the church.

But facades will not work for Christianity. The church is about integrity, mission, worship, and service – and not about acting with the spectator in mind, and seeking to elicit praise and respect from others. For such persons, it does not matter what’s on the inside as long as the outside looks good. 

Instead of being a liar (one whose outward actions and inner dispositions don’t match) and an evil brute (not acting with anyone else’s needs in mind or at heart) and a lazy glutton (always receiving but never giving) instead be a servant of others with a good character, a basic understanding of Holy Scripture, and a heart to know and love God. 

If there is a job that no one wants to do, I’ll do that job.

If there’s a lonely person, I’ll be with them.

If there’s a parking space up close, I’ll park in the back of the lot.

If there’s a need is someone’s life, I’ll meet that need.

If there’s a hardship someone has to endure, I’ll help carry that hardship.

If there’s a sacrifice to be made, I’ll make that sacrifice. Amen.