Tag: christian faith

Jesus Prays For Us (John 17:6-19)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Word of Life, by Millard Sheets

“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me.

“I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.

“Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 

But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 

“I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth. (New Revised Standard Version)

It seems to me only fitting that Jesus concluded his time with the disciples in the Upper Room before his betrayal, crucifixion, and death with prayer. It also seems to me that if you really want to know the heart of a person, listen to them pray.

The prayer of Jesus was thoroughly oriented toward the spiritual needs of his followers – even potential believers who will follow him in the future. And it was a prayer completely devoted toward honoring the heavenly Father through praying consistent with God’s will for this world.

Without the physical presence of Jesus – which would soon be gone – his followers would have to rely on prayer. And Christ was intent on instilling within his disciples the confidence and hope they needed for a solid life of prayer.

For post-resurrection Christians living in an ever-expanding world of oppression, greed, and indifference, we can be encouraged not to settle into despair or loneliness. Why? Because believers can have a solid hope and an abiding trust in the continuing presence of Jesus by means of the Holy Spirit.

God Gives

God gives. Jesus gives. Both the Father and the Son are givers. This is a major reason and motivation for prayer because God is not a reluctant giver. In the act of giving, the Father and the Son are fully on the same page; God is ready and willing to give. The Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Spirit – are in complete unity, and act as One, in giving to us what we need.

“Those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” (John 4:14, NRSV)

“Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” (John 6:27, NRSV)

“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:28, NRSV)

We Belong

Through giving we are included. Believers and followers of Jesus – having been given the grace of faith – know that they belong to God. Christians are in union with Christ. The redemption which Jesus has secured is a million billion times stronger, and bonds us closer, than any sort of Gorilla glue. And, what’s more, once we belong, we are never forgotten, but always remembered by God.

“The Father knows me, and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” (John 10:15-16, NRSV)

Christ the King, statue in Swiebodzin, Poland

The Name of Jesus

Because we belong, we know God’s name. The divine name stands for all that God is and all that God has done. It’s all focused in Christ. In the name of Jesus, through the person and work of Jesus Christ, we have everlasting life, spiritual power, and eternal security.

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31, NRSV)

We Have the Word

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Jesus has given to his disciples only those words which he first received from the Father. Those who accept the enfleshed Word and his words have been given power to become God’s children (John 1:12). Because believers belong to God, they know the truth and that truth has set them free.

It is the Christian’s mission to live into the words and ways of Jesus, to follow Christ in thought, word, and deed. The very glory of Jesus in his cross and resurrection is focused within the believing community, who is in union with Christ and belongs to God.

In his prayer, Jesus claimed an intimate oneness in the sharing of concern for people who are the objects of the Father’s gracious giving of love through the Son. All who belong to Christ belong to God, and vice versa. All the love that went into the cross was poured out upon us.

Those who believe in the name of Jesus Christ are the very glory of Jesus, and thus, the glory of God.

Sent Into the World

Because of the Father’s name—because of who the Father is and what the Father has given in love to the Son—we are set apart for truth; the words of God are truth.

Since we belong to God and bear the name of Christ, we don’t belong to the world’s systems of guilt, shame, injustice, and evil. And yet, we are separated from the world for precisely the reason of immersing ourselves in the world. In other words, Christianity is meant for the life of the world, and not as a religion that’s only concerned for itself.

To reach the world, we must be different from it. To reach the world, we need to have boots-on-the-ground in it. To reach the world, Christians are to be both far from the world, and near to the world.

As the Father sent the Son, so the Son sends us into the world – not to be like the world, but to embody the words and ways of Jesus to and for the world.

Just as the world rejected Jesus in his suffering and death, so the world, too, will reject his followers. Which means we will need to pray, a lot! And there is no better scriptural prayer to emulate than the very words of the Lord Jesus, who loved us and gave himself for us.

Holy Father, guard our hearts and minds in Jesus, as we pursue this Christian life which you gave as a gift through Christ, so that we can be united, just as the Father and the Son are one. Although we long for heaven, don’t take us out of the world until we have fulfilled our sacred mission to carry the words and ways of our Lord to the world. Make us holy, and give us everything we need for life in this present evil age; through Jesus Christ your Son, our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit are one God, now and forever. Amen.

Recover the Relational Commands (1 Timothy 6:13-16)

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

In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen. (New International Version)

Jesus is Lord, and Ceasar is not. The Apostle Paul’s letter to Timothy, in some ways, could be summed up in this way.

As Timothy ministered to the fledgling church in Ephesus, he was to continually keep his eyes on Jesus and take his cues for ministry on the apostolic teaching handed down to him. Timothy was not to get caught up in the fear of living in an Empire that commanded fealty to Ceasar as the supreme being over all.

Timothy was to flee all that is contrary to the sound doctrine of Christian faith. He was instead to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Paul encouraged and exhorted Timothy to fight the good fight of the faith; and take hold of the eternal life to which he was called. Timothy was to live into his confession of Christ and his call from God.

Embrace Jesus as Lord, and quit trusting in Ceasar as Lord.

Although we see nothing subversive about today’s New Testament lesson, it very much was when Paul originally wrote it. The Apostle was essentially saying that, as Timothy goes about pastoring the church at Ephesus within the Roman Empire, he must always uphold the sovereignty and lordship of Jesus Christ as supreme – which, if seen by Roman authorities, would be taken as a subversive action against the state.

The Empire cares about submission to the state, and would see Jesus as Lord as Timothy and Paul teaching people to submit to a different ruler than Ceasar. And they would be right because neither Paul nor Timothy had any intention of engaging in the cult of Ceasar.

Contrary to the Roman imperial gods, and Ceasar himself, Paul lifted up the God who gives life to everything. It is this God – embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ – whom Timothy is encouraged to maintain a steadfast and consistent commitment to. And, what’s more, this commitment is to be carried out without any spot or blame.

Timothy had no need to bully people or shame others into accepting and holding onto the gospel. The means and the methods of how we embrace our charge from God matters a lot. By persevering in faith, holiness, and humility, Timothy would preserve himself and be of benefit to his listeners.

Believers are to keep up this spiritual commitment until Christ returns. It is always open season on gospel proclamation and Christian growth and maturity – lived with a gracious spirit.

By looking to Jesus, followers of Christ can maintain their witness. Times of discouragement are bound to come. And in those difficult seasons of life, we are not to change or switch our allegiance to the political powers. As important as government is, politicians are not saviors; and a particular system of government is not going to deliver us from our greatest oppressions.

The Apostle Paul described Jesus as the King of kings and Lord of lords, the blessed and only Ruler. Christ is  sovereign over all earthly powers.

Furthermore, God alone is immortal and lives in unapproachable light. God is pure light, and in the Lord there is no darkness. God’s glory is bright and blinding; therefore, no one can see God. To this God deserves honor and might forever.

The mighty and holy God will fulfill all divine promises. Paul was looking to reinforce some courage in Timothy by reminding him of the sort of God they both serve.

In our current and contemporary world, it’s easy to become discouraged. Injustice abounds. Hardness of heart is everywhere. An inability to truly see one another is rife. And people look everywhere and to anyone who appears successful. They want to know the secret in how to survive and thrive on this earth, in their workplaces, and in their homes.

But it’s no secret. The hard work of relationships is what it takes – both human and divine. There is no replacement or surrogate work to the labor of investing yourself into others lives. There’s no substitute for a relationship with God which involves prayer and basic Scripture reading, worship and spiritual disciplines; and face to face relations with actual real people – getting to know them, their joys, their fears, and what motivates them.

Until we recover things such as spiritual mentoring, spiritual practices, group prayer, congregational worship, and create the time for relationships, we shall continue to struggle with a fundamentally broken world and all of its dysfunctional relationships.

No matter the organization, the neighborhood, the family, or the church, we need real people to do honest real work. Whenever a manager, a block captain, a parent, or a pastor allows themselves to be vulnerable and authentic – and lives on the same level as those they serve – then no one is looking for a secret sauce to success.

The Christian’s path of life is always to involve humility, gentleness, mercy, purity, and peacemaking, in doing the work of right relations with the people around them. This is the way of Christ.

Trying to discover a process or a system – apart from the muck of relationships – will fail, every time. This is the way of Ceasar.

Paul took the time and invested the effort into his relationship with Christ. Then, he put himself in a position to mentor others in the faith. Furthermore, he encouraged people like Timothy to do the same. Apart from this work, there is no Christianity.

Believers in Jesus are here today because of Paul and Timothy and the body of teaching and work they passed on to others who, in turn, did the same.

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Timothy 2:2, NIV)

It’s time to roll up your sleeves and fulfill the calling you have received, the calling of righteousness (right relationships) with both God and others – because Jesus is Lord, and Ceasar is not.

Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Abide In Love (John 15:9-17)

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

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. (New Revised Standard Version)

We Need Love

The world, in truth, spins on the axis of love. Without love, there is no beauty. Apart from love, we would all be living in a dystopian world of mere survival. But with love, there is life, hope, purpose, and meaning; there is fulfillment, satisfaction, and security. With love, our most basic needs as people are met.

So, love is a word that must be intentionally pursued and valued; because we cannot live without it.

The very word “love” gets used in various and different ways in our world. Jesus used the word in a sacrificial sense – that love willingly gives up one’s life for the benefit of another.

Love is large. It involves the whole person – body, mind, emotions, and spirit. Love in today’s Gospel lesson is used by Jesus as an action. And it’s even more than that. Christ defined love in the Upper Room to his disciples as a willingness to die – not necessarily for a spouse or a child – but for a friend, a fellow follower of Jesus.

It seems that for most Christians, giving up one’s life for another is not at the forefront of our idea of loving another. Yet, to love our neighbor as ourselves does involve the willingness to die so that another may live. To know precisely what this is like, we need look no further than the love which exists within God.

God is Love

Love is seen above all in the love of God the Father shown forth in God the Son. Because God so loves the people of this world, the Father sent the Son, Jesus, to give his life for us. And Jesus, embodying the very love of God, willingly gave himself on our behalf. It hearkens us to Christ’s earlier words about this:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

Jesus (John 3:16, NRSV)

Just as the Father loved the Son, and the Son loved us, so we are to love others with the same sort of sacrificial love which was graciously shown to us. The Apostle John made this plain in his first epistle:

God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:9-11, NRSV)

Therefore, it is our privilege and responsibility to abide in this divine love and let it fill us to the full, so that God’s love moves powerfully in us and through us, for the life of the world.

Remain in Love

Love is the end result of an abiding relationship and close connection between Christ and his followers. We are to remain in the love of Christ, just as Christ remains in the love of God. Jesus asks nothing of us that he has not already modeled for us in his sacrificial service to the world. Living in union with Christ, loving Jesus, and keeping God’s commands are all a single package, bound up together in a mutual relationship.

We don’t need to wonder what God wants for us and from us: Love. The commands of Jesus are not general; they are focused and specific. Christ commands that we love one another. Our continuing work on this earth is to keep on loving people as Christ has loved us and gave himself for us.

No Greater Love

There is no greater love than that shown in the giving of one’s life for one’s friends. The power of God’s love is focused in Christ. It is confirmed in Christ’s resurrection from death. And it flows from Christ giving his life on the cross for us.

Yes, Christians are servants who are committed to serving others with sacrificial love. Yet, the disciples and all those who follow Christ are much more than servants; they are considered primarily as friends of Jesus.

Through the cross and resurrection of Christ, believers have discovered the divine power of love. There is no greater love than this. And it is this sort of love that binds Christians together as united in their mission to love as Jesus loved them.

We have been called, chosen, and appointed by Jesus to embody love’s mission and purpose. What’s more, we are equipped for the active work of love.

Whatever You Ask in Love

The very name of Jesus is love itself. So, whatever you ask, “in my name,” said Jesus, “the Father will give you.”

Because Christians are united to Christ, they are to remain in and abide with Christ. This relational connection opens up the power of prayer. And the content of those prayers – if we are truly in Christ – will always come from a place of love, be directed to love, and go to great lengths to accomplish love.

Prayer is an activity which is grounded in the abiding relationship of Father, Son, Spirit, and the Christian community. Love directs our prayers. And prayers are directed toward the action of love.

A confidence in the power of prayer is an abiding trust in the power of Love. With love animating our prayers and infusing our service, we are bold to ask God for what is right, just, and good in this world. Indeed, we pray that we will give love to each other with the love we have received from God.

Love and Joy

Being called and appointed by God to love is a privilege and a joy. There isn’t any begrudging service when love is involved. Perhaps one of the greatest prayers we can pray is to pray that our hearts be filled with love. If you don’t feel love for others, then pray for it. And be assured that you will receive it.

Love and joy go together like mashed potatoes and gravy, peanut butter and jelly, grits and honey. We know we are loving others if our joy is complete in doing so.

Jesus came to this earth so that we might experience an overflowing life of abundant love and joy. Christ longs for his joy to be in us, and for us to abide in his love. Our joy comes from knowing that we have been loved by God – chosen, called, and sent out into the world with love and for the purpose of love.

And it is this divine love that has the power to renew and transform everything – even the most troubling and stubborn of people and problems that you are presently facing. Indeed, if love is not the answer, then you are not asking the right question.

Creator God, by the mercies of your son, our Lord, Jesus, compel us to turn our hearts to his way of Love, so that we might follow Christ together as your faithful people. Dear Jesus, guide us in your way. Amen.

I Am Coming to You (John 14:18-31)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Upper Room, by Gail Meyer

“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” 

Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words, and the word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me.

“I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’

“If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us be on our way.” (New Revised Standard Version)

Ethiopian Orthodox Church depiction of the Last Supper in the Upper Room

“He’s leaving!? What!? Huh!?” Although Jesus had tried to prepare the disciples for his impending cross and resurrection, they didn’t quite catch on. It was in the Upper Room, in their final meal together, that Jesus made it plain he was leaving and going back to the Father. (John 14:1-17)

There was both confusion and distress amongst the men. Anticipatory grief had suddenly smacked them like a golf club upside the head. Dizzied and dazed with thoughts that their Lord would no longer be with them, Jesus sought to assure them that this would be temporary.

Christ is coming, again. In fact, three comings are to be realized:

  • Rising from death and appearing to the disciples
  • Sending the Spirit as the continuing presence of Christ on earth
  • Returning at the end of the age to judge the living and the dead

Jesus was caring for his followers, including us, by providing future hope.

That is just what happened with the first two comings. Christians everywhere celebrate the rising of Christ from death, his ascension into heaven, and the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Christian tradition holds that the Spirit – the Paraclete, Advocate, Comforter, and Counselor – is now presently with us.

Although the world no longer sees Jesus, believers see him with eyes of faith, hope, and love. Christians intuitively perceive another spiritual dimension in which Christ is beside them in the person of God’s Spirit. Some things can’t be intellectually explained. They just are.

Meanwhile, while Christians everywhere await the return of Christ to this earth, they are busy loving their Lord through obedience to his commands. And his command is to love one another as he demonstrated his love for them. Love and obedience go hand in hand. To know the love of God in Christ is to willingly give oneself to obey the merciful Lord.

We are not left alone to fumble around on this earth, trying to love in our own strength or ability. The Spirit is present, helping us to do loving work. There is real spiritual assistance in applying Christ’s teaching to the practical aspects of life in the here-and-now. Such constructive down-to-earth support gives Christians a sense of peace and integrity of living.

Worldly peace, which typically uses war to try and end war, has merely the absence of conflict as its goal. However, the peace of Christ is intensely personal and has the goal of unity, harmony, and love. It is his very own peace. Through Christ’s suffering and death, he absorbed in himself the malice and hatred of others and introduced a true and settled peace.

The profound absence of love, the rebellion of humanity against concern for the common good of all, and the shame of selfishness that damns the world, is overthrown by the obedience and self-sacrifice of Jesus. The world will learn this – either by discovering the love of Christ now or, at the end of the age, with the return of Christ.

Jesus came in the past through the incarnation and resurrection. Jesus is presently here in the person of the Holy Spirit. Jesus will come again in the future to judge the living and the dead.

These comings are for us and for our deliverance from all that is unjust and broken in this world. We are not alone. There is ever-present help. This is the basis of the Christian’s confidence.

Come, Holy Spirit, and fill the hearts of your faithful with divine love. Come as the wind that blows, come as the fire that refines, come as the dew that refreshes. Convict, convert and consecrate us until we are wholly yours, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.