Tag: christian faith

Blessings or Woes?

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality BlogLeave a comment
The Sermon on the Mount, by Miki de Goodaboom

There are many persons who currently feel angry and powerless in the face of recent and contemporary political events. All of this has large implications, especially for workers.

I admit to being one who is frustrated and saddened by the U.S. government’s unwillingness and inability to simply care about all of its citizens (as well as the citizens of the world). Along with their spirit of the age, they are failing to ensure the common good of everyone.

What’s more, there are large swaths of American Christianity who are either complicit or actively involved in establishing and perpetuating a system of governance which is fundamentally out of sync with biblical norms.

The Church and the Christian have a responsibility and a call, based in the words and ways of Jesus, of whom we purport to follow. In some of the first words uttered to his disciples, establishing what is of upmost importance for us to know, Jesus said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,
    for yours is the kingdom of God.
“Blessed are you who are hungry now,
    for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep now,
    for you will laugh…

“But woe to you who are rich,
    for you have received your consolation.
“Woe to you who are full now,
    for you will be hungry.
“Woe to you who are laughing now,
    for you will mourn and weep.” (Luke 6:20-21, 24-25, NRSV)

Jesus was building and upholding an alternative kingdom to the political systems of the time. Christ came to this earth to set things right amidst a corrupt world whose authority was held in the hands of evil.

But change would not come through the typical means of worldly power such as coups, revolutions, or economic exploitation of some persons over others.

For those who feel helpless and without power, Christ brings a liberation which transcends all other powers and authorities. He brings blessing.

What this means for those who are enamored with worldly aspects of power (money, wealth, resources, political authority, etc.) the words and actions of Jesus brings woe.

An evil grip of the world cannot be loosened with practices and responses of hate, class warfare, verbal and physical violence, and economic takeovers. For those with spiritual eyes to see, and ears to hear, the sandy and shifting foundations of this present government administration are being, and will be, washed away. (Luke 6:49)

It’s important that people of faith participate with what is good, right, and just – that they are concerned with the public good of everyone; and are attuned to a social and economic vision for humanity that is concerned for all citizens, and not just some or a few of them.

For the past few hundred years, much of the church has made spiritual deliverance and socio-economic freedom a matter of only the individual. As long as one embraces a personal salvation in Christ, well then, all is well, right!?

Wrong. Holy Scripture is filled with concerns for the whole of humanity because of the exploitive powers of this world. We have stories in the Bible replete with such powers as the Pharaoh who enslaved and exploited workers for his and Egypt’s own wealth, power, and benefit.

Jesus came not to the religious leaders and the kings of the earth, but instead made it his purpose to spend time amongst the least in society, those for whom the rich and powerful had no inclination to pay attention to and help.

“We have for much too long settled for a gospel of private other-worldly possibility.”

Walter Brueggemann

Even amongst God’s own ancient people, King Solomon built an empire on the driving force of both slavery and cheap labor, exploiting a large class of persons in order to feed the behemoth of structural wealth.

Economic systems which exploit workers do it so that they can maintain cheap labor. They seek to keep those persons invisible and outside of any safety net of security which might cost the system money.

Unfortunately, there are extremely rich persons who rely upon workers remaining on the underbelly of their companies and of society. Embracing unrestrained individualism and unbridled capitalistic practices make for a permanent class of exploited workers who remain poor on purpose by those wishing them to remain there.

Such extremely rich individuals become political players only because of their wealth. They know little about statecraft and how a politics concerned for the common good really works. And, frankly, they don’t seem to care.

I bring up these things because many Christians have been complicit in the injustice and exploitation; and because many churches and church leaders try to operate like the super-rich, instead of trying to follow the words and ways of the Lord Jesus, whom they purport to follow.

The Apostle James minced no words in addressing the rich within the church:

Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure during the last days. Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you. (James 5:1-6, NRSV)

Meanwhile, the poor and exploited are suffering. Christians are not to kiss-up to those in power, nor try to be like them. And, for God’s sake, we are never to get into the game of systemic evil, like those who mistreat us.

Instead, we learn to practice patience and endurance in the face of suffering, while we work toward a better society. We strengthen one another’s hearts through faith. We do not grumble and turn against each other, like a pack of wild dogs, but pray continually and practice forgiveness, so that we can be compassionate and merciful.

Since we are all connected on this planet, any time an individual shows unmitigated kindness toward another, chooses to love the enemy, expresses gratitude, or offers sincere forgiveness to someone who doesn’t deserve it, we shift the balance of the world back toward the axis of grace.

Unless we all work together to embrace our collective poverty of spirit and acknowledge our grinding emotions (and sit with them), we will eventually go the way of the already condemned who spend, eat, and laugh with sinister abandon.

Life is not a 100 meter sprint; life is a marathon. We are in the long haul of life, and do not live for the pleasures of the moment. So then, let us live up to who we are in Christ, created in the image and likeness of God, and possessing divine light and living water which will nourish us through our time of need.

For humanity does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. I, for one, want to be blessed by Jesus, and not experience a woe from him. That means paying attention to the people and the matters of importance to Christ.

His Resurrection Is Ours

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Pastor Tim's PonderingsLeave a comment
The Resurrection, by Andrea Mantegna, c.1458 C.E.

The story of Christianity, the very heart and essence of the religion, is a tale of transformation from all the obstacles, impediments, and barriers which confine or cripple. The person and work of Jesus accomplished this. In his earthly ministry, Christ continually called people to transformative change into the reality of God’s gracious and benevolent realm.

“I have come to give the good life, a life that overflows with beauty and harmony.”

Jesus (John 10:10, First Nations Version)

Christ’s resurrection made possible our own transformative new life. This is both exciting and scary. Resurrection is frightening because it’s a call to live a life without any of the walls which have defined us and/or imprisoned us.

The massive stone covering the tomb of Jesus Christ was rolled away. He walked out of the grave by the power of resurrection. The cave of death was changed into the place of liberation.

That place is a powerful image of moving aside any and all obstacles to our own faith and freedom. The prison doors have been opened. Our self-contrived inner prisons, as well as the unjust shackles placed upon us, have dropped away.

As a result, those who have been exiled, excommunicated, and treated as expendable are visited by the luminous healing presence of God’s great liberating force: resurrection.

I want to fully know the Chosen One [Jesus] and the power that raised him from the dead. I want to know what it means to participate in his sufferings and to become like him in his death, living in the hope that, like the Chosen One, I will also rise from death to life. (Philippians 3:10-11, First Nations Version)

All of these words may either seem strange and/or compelling. If this is the case, it is a sad situation. Because it’s quite necessary that we become familiar with such language. Unfortunately, the gap between the world we are presently living in, and the world our hearts yearn to know, is quickly coming to an unsustainable place of high stress.

There is now a profound disconnect between the love deep inside us, and the way in which we are living our day-to-day lives on this earth. The issue has become so great as to warrant the need for resurrection.

And I am not simply addressing Christians. In his earthly ministry, Jesus was not only talking to his own Jewish people; he came for the whole world. Jesus is for everyone – whether we acknowledge him according to Christian dogma and doctrine, or not.

The evil gaslighting sort of person wants you to believe that you are alone, bereft of any help – that somehow you need to assert yourself aggressively into the dog-eat-dog world. Wickedness always looks to chaos and war as the path to gaining the life one wants.

But Jesus is the bridge to another kind of thinking, another sort of life. He is the guide to the greatest power which exists in the world: Love. And Love is why resurrection is a reality.

Although we suffer from systemic evil and all kinds of structural “ism’s” in this world, our shackles and chains have been largely forged by ourselves, through spiritual ignorance and misunderstandings of who we are and why we are here.

Resurrection opens us to new life. It provides identity, purpose, and passion to live the good life. Even though we live in this world below, our answers to living in the here-and-now are found in the world above.

Since you have been raised up to a new life with the Chosen One [Jesus] then keep looking upward toward him into the spirit-world above, where he sits in the place of greatest honor at Creator’s right hand. Keep your thoughts and desires centered on the spirit-world above, not on the things from the earth below. (Colossians 3:1-2, First Nations Version)

All of us have experienced walking a dark path in life. But now it is high time to walk away from uncontrolled emotions and evil ways. There are plenty of lying spirits who intend on deceiving you and I for their own selfish purposes. Instead, we can refuse and resist such evil.

We can live in ways that represent the good, the right, and the just. We can experience living a resurrected life. Let us choose the pure path of the new person in Christ, the person you and I were created to be.

The telltale signs of the person living into resurrection are a deep feeling for the pain of others, kindness, humility of heart, a gentle spirit, and long-suffering patience with others. Such persons wear forgiveness like a well-worn pair of jeans.

This is the path of resurrection, the way of unity, peace, and harmony. And these qualities will always guide us and inform us in helpful and sacred ways.

Our current global decline comes from an accumulation of greed and sheer lovelessness. But the possibility of rebirth, of resurrection, rises from our deep universal yearning for the good and the true. It comes from our radical willingness to change and live a different counter-cultural life.

Resurrection does not occur because of lofty thoughts; it comes from a humble, and contrite heart which yearns for a better and more sacred existence.

Only until we find our present life on this world as intolerable with its injustice and persistent carelessness, will we see that we must put love where love is not.

The great lesson of resurrection is that Love makes all things right.

Dear friends, let’s love each other, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born from God and knows God. The person who doesn’t love does not know God, because God is love. This is how the love of God is revealed to us: God has sent his only Son into the world so that we can live through him. (1 John 4:7-9, Common English Bible)

May resurrection move from being merely a theological concept, to a powerful reality that permeates and fills your life with meaning, power, and love. Amen.

Consider Carefully How You Listen (Luke 8:16-21)

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

“No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”

Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”

He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” (New International Version)

In this chapter of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus had just finished offering his parable of the sower. Central to that parable is the message of true hearing. To really hear the word of God is to believe it, and put it into practice.

The verses for today are arranged by the Evangelist Luke to emphasize this very important need for listening well, and integrating the Word of God into every facet of our daily lives.

Listening and the Light

Christ communicated to his disciples that persons with a noble and good heart are the ones who truly hear the Word of God, retain it, and persevere in following through and doing what they have heard. This is how one produces a spiritual harvest of righteousness and peace.

The good listeners who receive the Word are the ones who have the Light of the World in their daily life. They allow their own little light within them to be seen. The Light is meant to bring illumination for others.

Jesus exhorts his disciples to share the light of revelation given to them – because the world needs to continually hear and see that God’s benevolent and gracious kingdom is breaking into their communities and neighborhoods, into their institutions and their families.

For the sake of the church’s life, individual believers, and even the life of the world, it is imperative that we continually hear that God’s victorious reign of justice, goodness, and righteousness is truly and presently entering this realm we inhabit.

Therefore, it is quite needful that we learn to listen well. To hear the Word of God, respond obediently to it, and then openly proclaim what we have heard and seen, is how the mighty works of God are spread across the world.

Throughout the history of Christianity, whenever the church devoted themselves to hearing the Word, it resulted in doing things which bring light to the world. Here are just a few examples of how believers have let their light shine into the darkest times of history:

  • Taking-in and adopting unwanted children who would otherwise be victims of infanticide, even though the believers own resources were limited
  • Moving toward the sick and dying and ministering to them during periods of plague and disease, while the rest moved away in order to avoid becoming sick themselves
  • Caring for prisoners who had no family to provide them with necessary food and clothing, as if those persons were their own kin
  • Giving benevolence and kindness to the poor – especially to immigrants, widows, and orphans

Listening and the Family

Jesus states that those who hear and do the Word of God are his family – a new family oriented around the spiritual, and not just biological bloodlines.

Many people today are uprooted from one’s family of origin. And there are a great many older persons who either live alone as widows or widowers, or are not geographically (nor relationally) close to their own biological children and/or grandchildren.

For a host of reasons, millions of persons around the world are estranged from family members.

Sometimes, religious beliefs and spiritual commitments lie at the heart of family estrangement. This is one significant reason why the church is important; it serves as the community of the redeemed, a group of people with like-minded values who support one another, much like a family is supposed to do.

One of the many metaphors of the church in the New Testament is of “the family of God.”

Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God’s family…. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more…

1 Thessalonians 4:9-10, NIV

The church is made up of a conglomeration of families who are meant to strengthen one another in faith, and are present with each other in times of change and loss.

We must continually keep in mind (and heart) that the church is not designed to be a mere collection of individuals or families; but rather to be a new family, brought together by the providence of God; to be a community of redeemed persons, living and loving Jesus together through supporting each other’s faith, and practicing love one to another.

The church is indeed the family of God.

And within any family – whether spiritual or biological – listening must be at the heart of relational dynamics with each other as members. Without truly hearing what each person is saying, as well as what the Word of God is saying to us collectively, it is difficult to experience unity, harmony, and love.

We listen, and then we act on what we hear – for the benefit of the family – both biological and spiritual. So, consider carefully how you listen and hear.

Generous and loving God, I come to you in thanksgiving, knowing that all I am and all that I have is a gift from you.

In faith and love, help me to do your good and benevolent will. Speak Lord, for I am listening. Let me hear your words in the depth of my soul, and let me hear them clearly.

I offer to you today every aspect of my life – no matter what is, or where I am. I seek to be patient, merciful, generous, and holy in all I say and do. Give me wisdom and insight to understand your will, and the energy to carry out my good intentions.

I offer to you my time, abilities, possessions – and even the lack thereof of them – to you as a true act of faith, to reflect my love for you and for my neighbor. Help me to reach out to others as you have reached out to me; through Jesus Christ my Lord, in the strength of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

The Holy Name of Jesus (Luke 2:15-21)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
Orthodox depiction of the circumcision and naming of Jesus

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them, and Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.

When the eighth day came, it was time to circumcise the child, and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (New Revised Standard Version)

“The Holy Name of Jesus” is a celebration, observed by some Christian traditions, each year on January 1 – which is the eighth day after the birth of Jesus, when he was named and circumcised at the temple in Jerusalem.

An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20-21, NRSV)

In the Law of Moses, all male infants are to be circumcised on the eighth day after their birth (Leviticus 12:3). Throughout most of the history of the Christian Church, January 1 has been celebrated as a feast day devoted to the naming of Jesus.

The name “Jesus” comes from the Hebrew Yeshuah (Joshua) which means “Yahweh will save.” It is a name fitting for the person and work of Christ.

Therefore God exalted him even more highly
    and gave him the name
    that is above every other name,
so that at the name given to Jesus
    every knee should bend,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
    that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11, NRSV)

Faith is always followed by obedience. So, the faith of Joseph and Mary in believing the words of the angel Gabriel, translated into the obedient naming of their son as “Jesus.” (Luke 1:31-32)

Jesus, bearing the name of savior, is holy in every way. Not only does the name of Jesus point to his divinity – because of his miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit – but it also directs us toward the special mission for which he entered this world.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and Son of Humanity, is God’s agent of deliverance for both Israel and the whole world.

“Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord….” (Luke 2:10-11, NRSV)

The Gospel writer Luke provides us with a birth narrative “pregnant” with theological information and importance:

  • Jesus has divine sonship, and possesses the status of king (Luke 1:31-35)
  • Jesus comes from the city of David, which is Bethlehem, not Jerusalem (Luke 2:4, 11)
  • Jesus is described by the angel Gabriel as Son of the Most High, Son of God, Savior, Messiah, and Lord; each of these titles direct us to his identity and mission (Luke 1:32, 35; 2:11)

I like the collective response of the shepherds, after they received heavenly good news from a group of angels.

They could have dismissed the entire thing as having drunk too much brandy on a brisk winter night. They could have kept the whole affair to themselves, reasoning that nobody would believe a bunch of stinky shepherds.

Instead, much like Mary who hurried off to Elizabeth after receiving the angelic message, the shepherds dropped everything to go and see the feeding trough with a newborn baby wrapped in swaddling cloth.

In other words, the shepherds belief in what they heard and experienced, quickly translated into action. It was only appropriate that it was shepherds who discovered the newborn king, the Son of David, himself a shepherd who was anointed by God.

The shepherds went and followed the signs given to them by the angel. And they believed. A motley group of shepherds returned to their fields, kicking up their heels, praising and glorifying God. They knew that things would never be the same again.

The name of Jesus is holy, simply because the Lord Jesus Christ is the Holy One. Christians recognize Jesus as Savior, the fulfillment of all God’s promises. His singular birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension is exactly, I believe, what this old fallen world is most in need of.

It is never too late to resolve knowing Jesus. At the beginning of this year, there is perhaps no better resolution to make, again and again, of knowing Jesus Christ and honoring his holy name.

Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation. Plant in our hearts the love of Jesus, truly God and truly human, and grant that we may praise and bless your Holy Name with our whole mind, heart, body, and spirit, that we may know your boundless compassion and mercy. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.