Tag: christian life

Who Is Jesus? (John 7:40-52)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
The Light of the World, by William Holman Hunt, c.1853

On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”

Others said, “He is the Messiah.”

Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”

“No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.

“You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”

Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”

They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.” (New International Version)

Orthodox Christian icon of Jesus Christ

There was a lot of buzz in Christ’s day of who Jesus really was. Prophet? Messiah? And, if Jesus really is a big deal, would he really come from Hicksville Nazareth? What about his credentials? His class? His pedigree?

Opinions on Jesus haven’t really changed all that much from the ancient world. They are still just as diverse now as when he was on this earth.

Unlike today, ancient people could not simply “Google” Jesus and find out where he was born and grew up. And they had no access to doing background checks in a matter of minutes to find out all kinds of things about him. Had the religious authorities bothered to do their homework and investigated Jesus, they would have found that, indeed, he was born of the Davidic line and in Bethlehem.

The short of it is that a chunk of the people simply assumed they knew Jesus wasn’t of proper Messiah credentials. They assumed and did not investigate because they did not want to know. No one can be faulted for ignorance. However, purposeful ignorance is perhaps the greatest of all sins, betraying a deep egoism of pride and prejudice.

In their hubris, the religious leaders sent the temple guards to bring Jesus in. Yet, in a clear demonstration of heavenly authority, the guards actually listened to Jesus and saw for themselves who he really is. Their simple confession testifies to Christ’s credibility. If one would but just see and listen for themselves, and engage in a genuine investigation, they could walk away finding truth.

6th-Century Byzantine mosaic of Jesus

Opponents of Jesus for the past two thousand years assume that Christians have been duped into taking the opiate of the people. Many think that followers of Christ were manipulated by religious hacks trying to gain power over others. But that’s a curious opinion, considering Jesus continually did just the opposite of that and was a champion for the poor, the powerless, and the marginalized persons of society.

When professional people with recognized degrees and competence do not believe you, nor take your own experience and learning seriously, what do you do?

Well, you could listen to them, or you could listen to your own gut telling you that you’re being gaslighted by a bunch of highly intelligent simpletons who are unfamiliar – are ignorant – of the faith you are familiar with.

What’s more, there are always smart and experienced people in the room who know better. Nicodemus was such a person. He was a serious scholar, and chose to speak up about these things. Authorities and credentials matter, yet of first importance is to know how to go about any sort of inquiry – rather than just passing over an objective investigation and assuming you know better.

Ethiopian artist depiction of Jesus teaching

For decades, I have (graciously) challenged others who do not believe in Jesus to actually read the Gospel accounts and at least engage in some minimal investigation – rather than giving opinions based on limited knowledge and secondary sources.

After all, as Nicodemus pointed out so long ago, shouldn’t we first give Jesus a fair hearing before we start dismissing him as nothing more than a religious figure that a bunch of people follow?

And I must also point out that this applies to us Christians, as well. Rather than waving aside Buddha or Muhammad or any other religious figure as false, don’t you owe their followers the basic respect of hearing them out before you dismiss them as fake, or in some cases, worse than that?

If you accuse another point of view, which is different than your own, as wrong or not real, without first hearing the accused and gathering objective evidence, then we really have no business getting uppity when another person accuses or dismisses our own faith.

Sadly, the colleagues of Nicodemus chose not to answer him but to instead engage in the age old practice of ad hominem argumentation by attacking the person, thereby deflecting having to give an answer.

People attack other people out of fear. And, in this case, it seems to me the religious leaders were downright afraid of investigating Jesus and giving him an honest hearing. Because if they did, they just might have their world turned upside-down; and they wanted the status quo to be maintained, at all costs, even if it meant ignoring the truth.

Jesus Washing the Feet of His Disciple, by Japanese artist Sadao Watanabe (1913-1996)

You don’t have to take my word on any of these things about Christ or Christianity. Read the Gospel of John for yourself – in one sitting if possible. Ingest the words. Drink in the experiences. Then, come and have a conversation with me.

Jesus, Lamb of God, have mercy on us.

Jesus, Bearer of our sins, have mercy on us.

Jesus, Redeemer of the world, give us your peace.

Jesus, Light of the world, shine in our hearts.

Jesus, Hope of all, be our companion on our way.

Jesus, Great Physician, heal our broken lives.

Jesus, Beloved Son of God, kindle within us the fire of your love. Amen.

Rejoice instead of Complain (Philippians 2:14-18, 3:1-4a)

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

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me…

Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reasons for such confidence. (New International Version)

Here is a simple observation: Complaining and rejoicing cannot come out of the same mouth at the same time. The two of them mix about as well as toasters and bathtubs.

Everything is to be done without grumbling or arguing. Sheer willpower is insufficient for the task. Instead, you and I need to replace words of complaint with words of joy. Rejoicing is the antidote to murmuring. The world already has more than enough curmudgeons who crank on about everything from politics and religion to the weather and social media. Grumblers seem to always find the negative in just about everything.

Any fool can complain. It’s easy. Complaining takes little effort, and even less brains. Joy, however, takes some work. The sage person practices gratitude and joy so that it becomes the default response to most situations. We need a lot more folks with joy in this sad world.

Yesterday I visited a dear woman who was just diagnosed with cancer, and is expected to have only months to live. She had many tears, yet she also had lots of smiles. In fact, she was either crying or smiling most of the time. And her smile was genuine, not forced.

Whenever I encounter folks like this, who do not complain but rather rejoice, I ask them, “What gives you such joy in the midst of such sorrow?” This particular woman answered, “I have a simple faith. I trust God. I believe the Lord is good. I am blessed with many friends, a supportive family, and a God who loves me.” May her tribe increase.

On this same day, I visited another woman. She also had just been diagnosed with cancer and was facing a shortened lifespan. She yelled at the doctor and argued with the nurse, screamed at and quarreled with her family, and cried without any joy in my presence. Eventually, she left the hospital against medical advice because all she did was complain about everything and everyone.

Although I believe it is quite appropriate to have anger against disease, it’s inappropriate to rage against other people. The woman was miserable and had no smiles. I couldn’t help but see the incredible contrast between the two women in a single day of visits.

For all the talk we hear about how important it is to be positive, it is, unfortunately, negativity that sells, wins elections, and moves people. The irony of it all is that a large chunk of people continually grumbles, complains, and argues about all the negativity in the world. *Sigh*

Complaining and arguing are nasty practices; they breed disunity and division within groups and families. Murmuring only warps the ones who do it and infects others with spiritual disease.

Grumbling is always the first building block of a crooked and depraved generation. Conversely, being blameless and pure is winsomely attractive and unites folks together as a cohesive force for the world. Joy inoculates people from divisive pathogens. A people who rejoice together produce generations of individuals who impact their culture with delight and satisfaction.

Not even suffering and hard circumstances can curtail the comfort and cheer of the joyful. Rejoicing is a way of life – a path which no one and nothing can take away from us. Unwanted situations can be imposed on us, yet a person’s joy cannot be dislodged.

Eleanor Porter’s 1913 storybook character, Pollyanna, learned to take such a look upon life from her parents. Even after losing them to an accident and being orphaned, she honored their memory by saying, “… there is something about everything that you can be glad about, if you keep hunting long enough to find it.” Pollyanna went on to teach an entire community about her way of life:

“What people need is encouragement. Their natural resisting powers should be strengthened, not weakened…. Instead of always harping on a person’s faults, tell them of their virtues. Try to pull them out of their rut of bad habits. Hold up to them their better self, the real self that can dare and do and win out! … The influence of a beautiful, helpful, hopeful character is contagious, and may revolutionize a whole town…. People radiate what is in their minds and in their hearts. If a person feels kindly and obliging, their neighbors will feel that way, too. But if a person scolds and scowls and criticizes—their neighbors will return scowl for scowl and add interest! … When you look for the bad, expecting it, you will get it. When you know you will find the good—you will get that…”

Pollyanna, by Eleanor H. Porter, 1913

I wonder what our world would look like if we all took such an approach of finding joy in our lives. We are meant to guard ourselves from those who boast and brag, who belligerently bully others with their bellicose blustering and bellyaching.

We are designed by our Creator for better things. Joy is more than the spice of life; it is life itself. Moving mindfully and without rush through our days, setting aside times for contemplation and rest, offering gratitude to God and encouragement to others, and exploring our own heart’s desire are all ways we can tap into the large hidden reservoir of joy within each of us.

Complaining is cheap and easy. Joy is rich, full, satisfying, and takes practice to master. Rejoice in the Lord, take joy in the presence of the Spirit, and exult in Christ our Savior. In doing so, we shoo the devil away and create a better society.

God is good all the time. And all the time God is good.

O Lord, you have searched me out and known me; you know my sitting down and my rising up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You mark out my journeys and my resting place and are acquainted with all my ways. Lord of creation, whose glory is around and within us: Open our eyes to your wonders so that we may serve you with reverence and know your peace and joy in our lives, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Parable of the Vineyard Workers (Matthew 20:1-16)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
The Workers in the Vineyard, by Rembrandt, 1637

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

“About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

“‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius.When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” (New International Version)

Fairness

We humans have an innate sense of right and wrong, justice and injustice. We want life to be fair. It disturbs us when there is favoritism, discrimination, and preferential treatment. When things seem off, and others seem more privileged, envy can easily creep in and settle in our bones.

The envy can go even deeper. For example, is it fair that any child should struggle with health issues like cancer, epilepsy, and mental disorders? Is it fair to have healthcare disparities? Is it fair to have a spouse taken from you before their time? Is it fair to lose your job through no fault of your own? Is it ever fair to be treated like a second-class citizen?

Pat answers to people’s genuine struggles will not do, such as “You just need to work hard and hope for the best;” “We have to take what is given us and accept these things;” “Think of all those starving children in India;” or the more crass, “Suck it up buttercup; life was never meant to be a rose garden.”  Those statements are simply unhelpful.      

At the heart of envy is the belief that others are getting something that I deserve. “It isn’t fair!” we cry. Yet, God does not always operate according to our standards of fairness. God’s very nature is to be generous and full of grace. The parable which Jesus told about the vineyard workers is a story not of unfairness, but a story of generosity and grace. It’s all in how you look at it.

A normal workday in the ancient world was ten hours, not counting breaks. The workday began at 6:00am. A denarius was a typical day’s wage for laborers. The landowner went out at the third hour, 9:00am; the sixth hour, noon, etc. He kept returning to hire more workers even up to the last hour of the workday. Laborers were always paid at the end of the day.

In this parable, the last workers were paid first, which prompted the first workers hired to think they would be getting more, even though they had been promised a denarius. So, they grumbled about not getting more. They thought the landowner was not being fair.

Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, by Johann Christian Brand, 1769

Complaining

Grumbling. Complaining. Murmuring. It is the bane of our existence. Decades ago, when gas station attendants still filled tanks for customers, I was working at a station and had a lady go berserk on me for not checking her oil and cleaning her windshield, because I did it for the car in front of her. Even though there was a sign right in front of her that said checking oil and cleaning windshields is only done upon request, the lady thought she was getting gypped. 

In truth, the landowner did not cheat nor defraud the workers in any way. He paid the agreed upon wage, just like he promised. Should he want to pay everyone the same even though the amount of work was different was his own business.

The problem was not with the owner, it was with the worker’s envy of the owner’s generosity toward the others. God distributes gifts because God is gracious, not because we have earned anything. Our standard of fairness is not the rule of the kingdom of God – grace is.

Grace

Deep down many believe we control our destiny, and that we save ourselves by what we do. We discern that if we serve God all our lives, in the end, God will reward us. We believe that our pious activities, our acts of service and our work for the Lord, will bring us salvation, or, at least a leg up in the kingdom of God over others who have not worked as hard or as long as we have. After all, we do the right thing.

So, what about those who have not figured out Christianity… those who do not have the correct or proper beliefs… or those who have not straightened out their lives? According to a worldview of human fairness, they are out of luck. They should be in church. They should work harder, faster, and better. Then, they could get their lives in order. If they would only understand fairness, we reason, then all would be well.

But there is a problem, because the parable of the workers told by Jesus seems to be saying that is not how it works at all.  Jesus seems to be saying that grace and grace alone saves, that God’s amazingly naïve and irresponsible grace is available to anyone and everybody. And that troubles the workers to no end. 

Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, by Solomon Koninck, c.1648

What’s in it for me?

Whenever we run headlong into God’s unfair grace and see that God’s way of doing things is so far removed from our way, there is bound to be grumbling. After all, if God is going to run a vineyard like the one in the gospel lesson and give everybody the same pay regardless of their actual work hours, then what’s the use of getting up early in the morning to work? 

What is the good of sitting in church, listening to sermons from a crazy preacher who is no better than us, if these outsiders, these Johnny-and Jane-come-lately’s can waltz in at the last minute and receive the same treatment as the rest of us? For many church folks who diligently serve, it’s not fair to pay so much attention to outsiders and build ministry around people who aren’t even here, who don’t yet know Jesus.

The conclusion and point of the parable: The last will be first, and the first will be last. In Luke’s prodigal story, the elder brother grumbles and gripes: “All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders.  But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fatted calf!”  It is the firstborn son that complains. (Luke 15:11-32)

In both the parable of the prodigal son and the parable in today’s lesson, “good” people are the ones who fail to see the heart of the Father and of the landowner. The “firsts” got off track because, over time, they forgot the kingdom hinges on grace, not effort, on not simply doing the right things over a long period of time.

Who’s in control?

God controls the flow of mercy, not us. 

We might be surprised in heaven with those already sitting at God’s banquet table, and equally surprised with who is not there. Resentment can move us away from the table of mercy God is preparing. The problem comes whenever we think we are above other people.  We might be sinners, but we are not as bad as some other people are!  We commit ordinary sins, not mass murder!

Here is the unvarnished truth: God does not owe you nor I a thing, and God cares about all kinds of people, not just us and people who think and live like we do. Our hearts need to be big enough to center ministry around other people who are different than us.

If our hearts are small, we easily get jealous when God pays attention to prodigals and profligates. Grace becomes too repugnant a doctrine for us.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is about grace. Life is not all about being decent or even moral; and it is certainly not about our own goodness. The gospel is about being steeped in and surrounded by the grace of God in Christ, so that we, in turn, can show others grace. Grace is the way God deals with us beyond what we deserve or feel we have earned. 

Grace is unfair; we get what we do not deserve. 

May we allow God’s grace to so permeate our hearts and lives so that we will give it to others as freely as we have received.

Praise be to you, almighty and everlasting Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, you have given us every spiritual blessing in heaven – you chose us before the world was made, and in love, to be your holy people. It pleased you to make us your own children through Jesus Christ. 

So we praise you because of your wonderful grace, given to us freely, in Christ, the one you love. We have forgiveness of sins because of this lavishly rich grace. Amen.

Jesus Intervenes (Matthew 19:23-30)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year A1 Comment
Orthodox depiction of Jesus and the rich young ruler

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I assure you that it will be very hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. In fact, it’s easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom.”

When his disciples heard this, they were stunned. “Then who can be saved?” they asked.

Jesus looked at them carefully and said, “It’s impossible for human beings. But all things are possible for God.”

Then Peter replied, “Look, we’ve left everything and followed you. What will we have?”

Jesus said to them, “I assure you who have followed me that, when everything is made new, when the Human One sits on his magnificent throne, you also will sit on twelve thrones overseeing the twelve tribes of Israel. And all who have left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children, or farms because of my name will receive one hundred times more and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last. And many who are last will be first. (Common English Bible)

We all have a chronic struggle and relapse with some besetting shortcomings. And we compulsively do them even though they harm us.

Whether it’s an addiction (alcohol, illicit drugs, etc.) or things we don’t readily notice as addictive (gossip, food, shopping) we need to be weaned off our damaging obsessions. In Holy Scripture, the most pervasive and compulsive vice is the addiction to wealth and money.

Everyone has their own unique tussle with money. If our initial knee-jerk reactions to money issues is to think of someone else (“I don’t have as much money as…” or, “So-and-so really has a problem with this…”) then this is what we call denial. Truth be told, all of us offer some disclaimer about how our trust is not in paychecks, bank accounts, and material stuff. For me, money buys books, of which my voracious appetite is never satiated.

Even people who truly have little money and scant resources can have an addiction to money. They think about money and wish for it to an unhealthy degree, as if wealth is the thing that will make them happy. Folks in denial rarely have any idea how much they harm others, themselves, and even God. In fact, the consistent witness of the early church fathers is that the sheer accumulation of stuff is the same as stealing from the poor.

Sometimes, because of denial, people need an intervention – and to be jolted back to their senses. Intervention is a gift. Someone cares enough to intervene. Yet, many interventions don’t work because the person can walk away and refuse to change.

Jesus performed an intervention with a rich young man (literally, a twenty-something). The young man was obsessed with wealth and money, but didn’t see it. He thought of himself as godly and spiritual. It’s really a sad story because the rich man walked away unchanged by his encounter with Jesus. He failed to see himself as desperately needing to change. He held to his denial. (Matthew 19:16-22)

Jesus and the Rich Young Man by Chinese artist, 1879

Jesus exposed the rich young man’s divided loyalties of trying to serve both God and money. He would have to choose between the two masters. And this is our choice, as well.

God wants an undivided heart and loyal allegiance. Jesus is looking for those who are poor in spirit and recognize their great need for God, rather than believing they are okay and just need to add a little Jesus to their lives. God wants spiritual beggars who understand their desperate situation and do not practice denial by sugar-coating their actual spiritual state.

Just like an addict who either cannot or will not give up the addiction, the rich young man would not give up his disordered love for money and possessions. So, Jesus intervened. Christ doesn’t ask everybody to do exactly as he called the rich young man to do. For example, Jesus asked neither the wealthy Zacchaeus to do it, nor the disciple Peter to sell his fishing business.

However, Jesus does ask all of us to do what seems impossible and let God meet our needs.

Christ had the original come-to-Jesus-meeting with his disciples in debriefing about his conversation with the rich man. If it is so impossible and so difficult for a rich person to be saved because his wealth gets in the way, who then can be saved, the disciples wondered? We cannot save or redeem ourselves. We need grace. We need help.

So serious is Jesus about this business of genuine discipleship, about what it really takes to follow God, that he repeated himself using a colorful illustration: It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. 

Jesus wants us, who have lots of stuff, bank accounts, and money to see ourselves in the illustration. Only the discouraged, the hopeless, and the helpless will see their absolute need for grace and will seek the miracle of salvation Jesus offers.

Peter, always the big mouthpiece for the disciples, blurts out that they have left everything to follow Jesus. So, what then will there be for the disciples? What’s in it for me?

We may avoid the idol of money only to find ourselves with the idol of pride. Twentieth-century theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr, once said that a person had to achieve a great deal of good to be able to commit the sin of pride.

Yet, grace always has the last word. Jesus gives grace and assures us of reward even when we are stinkers by asking prideful questions. 

“The promise of a hundredfold recompense does not seem to square with experience. Usually those who for the testimony of Christ are deprived of parents or children and other relatives, or their marriage partners, or have lost all their money, do not recover but struggle out their life in lonely and deserted exile and in poverty. But I reply that if anyone rightly assesses God’s grace by which he alleviates the miseries of His children he will confess that is to be preferred to all the riches of this world.”

John Calvin

The first step in facing any harmful compulsion is to be honest about it – without telling our story in a way that makes us look surprisingly good so that others are pleased with us.

Life is about following Jesus. To follow Jesus, we must not be in denial. Perhaps the best way to express our faith is to tell someone about our obsessions to compulsively work in order to feel better and pad our savings; or that we are afraid to charitably give because we worry about the future; or that we love to buy things we don’t really need, so that we’ll feel better.

An honest awareness of our compulsions sometimes causes us to feel awful about ourselves. We may disparage ourselves for always screwing up, never saying “no” to others, or feeling unable to stop the anxiety.

Yet, grace abundantly overwhelms any and all addictions, shortcomings, and pride when it comes money or anything else. God has unlimited patience with people; Jesus never tires of inviting us to follow him. God’s love and acceptance is not based on our screw-ups, but on Christ’s forgiveness through the cross.

Allow the words of Jesus to sink deep into your life so that you ooze the grace of God in your life.

Camels cannot pass through the needle’s eye by means of dieting, positive thoughts, or luck. It happens not because the camel can squeeze through the narrowness of the needle’s eye but because there is a wideness in God’s mercy.

God’s grace will pull you through. Unlike the rich young man, once you hear and understand that piece of delightful news, you do not walk away sad but with boundless joy.

God of wisdom, help me in the mess of my finances; in my fear of taking charge of the resources entrusted to my care; in my preference for ignorance  over honest acknowledgment of the ways I use and fail to use my wealth; in my anxiety over debt, and in all the pressures of my financial life.  

Help me to take one step at a time toward honoring you through my use of money and honoring others from whom I buy and borrow. Make me humble to seek counsel, grateful for my abundance, prudent with my limited means, and patient with myself as I seek to be a better steward of all you have given me. Amen.