Tag: christian life

Some Needed Encouragement (Revelation 15:1-4)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
The Seven Last Plagues and the Harps of God, by Nicolas Bataille, c.1380 C.E.

I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:

“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
    Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
    King of the nations.
Who will not fear you, Lord,
    and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
    and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.” (New International Version)

Let’s keep in mind that the book of Revelation (also known as The Apocalypse of John) is a vision of the Apostle John about how things shake out in the end. The purpose of the vision is not for us to get lost in esoteric speculations about the future and try to figure out specific dates and times of God’s judgment.

Rather, John’s Revelation was primarily meant to give believers a future hope that their hardships and suffering will not last forever; there is a time coming, soon, when Judge Jesus will make all things right and all things new. In other words, the vision of John was designed to provide needed encouragement to followers of Jesus.

The believers needed a connection to their spiritual heritage – a way to see that they weren’t an isolated faith island in the middle of the world’s crud. The heavenly beings were singing a song of Moses and of the Lamb (Jesus). The two are connected, thus bringing together the saints of ages past with the struggling Christians of the present.

The song of Moses is a song of triumph, sung after the Israelites passed through the Red Sea unharmed and the Egyptian army was eradicated:

“I will sing to the Lord,
    for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
    he has hurled into the sea.

“The Lord is my strength and my defense;
    he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
    my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a warrior;
    the Lord is his name.
Pharaoh’s chariots and his army
    he has hurled into the sea.
The best of Pharaoh’s officers
    are drowned in the Red Sea.
The deep waters have covered them;
    they sank to the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, Lord,
    was majestic in power.
Your right hand, Lord,
    shattered the enemy.

Flee From Egypt, by Rev. Albert Lee Wagner, 1975

“In the greatness of your majesty
    you threw down those who opposed you.
You unleashed your burning anger;
    it consumed them like stubble.
By the blast of your nostrils
    the waters piled up.
The surging waters stood up like a wall;
    the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.
The enemy boasted,
    ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them.
I will divide the spoils;
    I will gorge myself on them.
I will draw my sword
    and my hand will destroy them.’
But you blew with your breath,
    and the sea covered them.
They sank like lead
    in the mighty waters.
Who among the gods
    is like you, Lord?
Who is like you—
    majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory,
    working wonders?

“You stretch out your right hand,
    and the earth swallows your enemies.
In your unfailing love you will lead
    the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them
    to your holy dwelling.
The nations will hear and tremble;
    anguish will grip the people of Philistia.
The chiefs of Edom will be terrified,
    the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling,
the people of Canaan will melt away;
    terror and dread will fall on them.
By the power of your arm
    they will be as still as a stone—
until your people pass by, Lord,
    until the people you bought pass by.
You will bring them in and plant them
    on the mountain of your inheritance—
the place, Lord, you made for your dwelling,
    the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established.

“The Lord reigns
    for ever and ever.” (Exodus 15:1-18, NIV)

Throughout the millennia, this deliverance from harsh slavery to freedom is annually recalled and remembered in the Passover. The original Passover in Egypt involved a lamb being slain and it’s blood applied to the doorposts of each Jewish home. The avenging angel “passed over” those homes and instead dealt with the Egyptian houses which had no lamb’s blood over the door.

The song of Moses and the song of the Lamb (Jesus) are really the same song. Both the deliverance out of Egypt and through the Red Sea, as well as the deliverance from guilt and shame through the cross and resurrection, was real salvation from all that oppressed and hindered the people from living into their true selves.

This connection to salvation history was a great boon to the early believers undergoing their own brand of injustice, oppression, and persecution – just for being followers of Jesus.

So, we all need to apply the death of the Lamb to our present situations, so that we can endure through hardship and not give up and experience a failure of faith. We continually need a strengthening of faith, to recall and remember who we are and to whom we belong, so that we will sing our own song of hope and deliverance.

“Awake and Sing the Song,” by English hymnist William Hammond (1719-1783)

Awake, and sing the song
Of Moses and the Lamb;
Tune every heart and every tongue
To praise the Savior’s name.

Sing of His dying love;
Sing of His rising power;
Sing how He intercedes above
For those whose sins He bore.

Tell, in seraphic strains,
What He has done for you;
How He has taken off your chains
And formed your hearts anew.

His faithfulness proclaim
While life to you is given:
Join hands and hearts to praise His name
Till we all meet in heaven.

Amen.

Have a Piece of Humble Pie (Romans 9:14-29)

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

What can we say—that God is unfair? That’s unthinkable! For example, God said to Moses, “I will be kind to anyone I want to. I will be merciful to anyone I want to.” Therefore, God’s choice does not depend on a person’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.

For example, Scripture says to Pharaoh, “I put you here for this reason: to demonstrate my power through you and to spread my name throughout the earth.” Therefore, if God wants to be kind to anyone, he will be. If he wants to make someone stubborn, he will.

You may ask me, “Why does God still find fault with anyone? Who can resist whatever God wants to do?”

Who do you think you are to talk back to God like that? Can an object that was made say to its maker, “Why did you make me like this?” A potter has the right to do whatever he wants with his clay. He can make something for a special occasion or something for everyday use from the same lump of clay.

If God wants to demonstrate his anger and reveal his power, he can do it. But can’t he be extremely patient with people who are objects of his anger because they are headed for destruction? Can’t God also reveal the riches of his glory to people who are objects of his mercy and who he had already prepared for glory? This is what God did for us whom he called—whether we are Jews or not.

As God says in Hosea:

“Those who are not my people
I will call my people.
Those who are not loved
I will call my loved ones.
Wherever they were told,
‘You are not my people,’
they will be called children of the living God.”

Isaiah also says about Israel:

“Although the descendants of Israel are
as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore,
only a few will be saved.
The Lord will carry out his sentence on the land,
completely and decisively.”

This is what Isaiah predicted:

“If the Lord of Armies hadn’t left us some descendants,
we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah.” (God’s Word Translation)

St. Paul in a 9th-century manuscript from the Abbey of Saint Gall, St. Gallen Switzerland

In Christianity, humility is a virtue. Yet, sometimes Christians forget this, and they have to eat some humble pie.

In other words, there are times we need to be put in our place. It would go a lot better for us if we could just cultivate a humble spirit, rather than have humility forced upon us under embarrassing conditions.

The Apostle Paul realized he needed to make the Roman Church eat some humble pie. They were acting arrogant. The Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians each thought they were better than the other. So, Paul reminded them both who was really in charge of things.

The proud person’s cry, when things don’t go their way, is “It’s not fair!” That’s because they believe they deserve to have something, to be on top, to call the shots on how things ought to go.

Paul was particularly hard on his fellow Jewish Christians, probably because he was quite familiar with their mindset about Gentiles (non-Jewish persons). The Jews tended to feel superior over Gentiles, and thus, to believe that they have the high ground and the right to trump Gentile thinking.

But Paul also took the Gentile Christians to task. They had a nasty habit of rolling their eyes whenever their Jewish sisters and brothers talked. The Gentiles mostly saw the Jews as hopelessly stuck in their old traditions and ways of doing things. And so, they believed new leadership was needed, wanting those crusty old guys out.

Therefore, each group – both the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians – had some major hang up’s about who should be in the Church and heading things up, and who should be out.

The Apostle (bless his exasperated heart) didn’t take sides. That’s because he knew that both groups were being knuckleheads. Each of them needed to get out of their pride. So, Paul cut them each some humble pie and dished it out.

Who is in and who is out is none of their concern. And what’s more, you’re never going to really know why some are in and some are out. The reason is that God is going to do what God is going to do. None of the petty posturing amongst each other means anything. In truth, everything is based on God’s call, and not on human decision, race, ethnicity, gender, politics, or anything else. It all comes down to God, not us.

God makes decisions and extends calls to people, all the time, that we don’t like. And Paul knew this. It is, in fact, what kept him humble. Paul understood he didn’t deserve a thing from God; everything good thing he had came from the Lord.

In his conversion from Jewish Saul to Christian Paul, the Apostle felt the sting of rejection from both groups. The Jews saw him as a traitor, a turncoat. The Gentiles didn’t trust him and wouldn’t accept him. But Paul, having had to eat humble pie himself – dished out by Jesus himself – learned to be patient and gentle. (Acts 9:1-5)

Yet, Paul had his boundaries and his limits. And the Roman Church crossed them. It was time for the entire church to hear a “suck it up, buttercup,” speech.

For the Jewish Christians, they were never “in” just because they were Abraham’s descendants. Abraham was called by God; therefore, everyone is called by God and not the other way around – and God calls whomever God chooses to call. There was nothing in Abraham to warrant a good choice. But God chose him anyway. And if God wants to take some of the Jews, the “chosen” people out, God will do it, because God isn’t accountable to us.

For the Gentile Christians, they weren’t brought “in” because of their own choice. Before they ever had a chance to choose God, God chose them. They were lost in darkness, far from God. But God, by sheer mercy and grace, called the Gentiles. And now that the Gentiles are “in” they can just as easily be “out” if God so chooses.

“The wonder is not that some are saved and others not, but that anybody is saved at all. If we receive what we deserve (judgment) or if we receive what we do not deserve (mercy), then in neither case is God unjust.”

John R.W. Stott

All of this is more than a bunch of power politics from the ancient world; these same dynamics impact us today in quite similar ways.

Any group of people who enjoy privilege over another group needs a slice of humble pie. Any group who continually disparages those in authority also needs a slice of humble pie.

In reality, there are times when every single one of us – including every community, institution, organization, corporation, and nation – needs a stiff reminder of who we really are, why we are really here, and what we are really supposed to be doing.

To eat humble pie means to acknowledge one’s mistake or wrongdoing and accept the humiliation that goes with that acknowledgement. We need to confess our sins and complicity in a host of the world’s ills. And we need to acknowledge that our awful predicaments aren’t just somebody else’s fault; we caused the crud.

We need the humility to ask for help; the humility to work with others very different from ourselves; and the humility to realize we could make the same mistakes again, if not for the grace of God.

Amongst us humans, we are all a community of equals. Yet, amongst God, none of humanity is equal to divinity. A clay pot has neither the right nor the ability to question the potter; they aren’t on the same level.

To enjoy divine privileges never gives us the right to show human prejudice. So let us be people who help one another live according to justice, mercy, and humility – for these are the very things which God calls us to embrace. (Micah 6:8)

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, and so, disparage others.
Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we lose our perspective and believe we are the masters of our own fate.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly by doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with Jesus, in the enablement of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Walk on Water? Why? (Matthew 14:22-33)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Jesus Walks on Water, by Konstantin Alexejewitsch Korowin, 1890 

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone,and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

“Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (New International Version)

In the New Testament Gospels, we see Jesus for who he is – Son of God and true Sovereign of the universe – seeking to reconcile people to God through his life, miracles, and teaching. In the Gospels we also see Christ’s disciples for who they are – a rag-tag bunch who express both belief and doubt, and experience both faith and failure.

The reality of the Christian life is that it is a sort of three-steps-forward and two-steps-backward kind of experience. The expectation that we will “succeed” and have everything go hunky-dory each time we step out in faith, is far from how things actually work in both the world and in God’s kingdom. Doubt and failure are important experiences for the believer in Jesus.

Without failure, there is no Christian life. Why? Because it means we are still in the boat.

It’s evidence that we never left the safety of established routines and responded to God’s command to step out of our comfort zone, and boldly go where we’ve never gone before.

Our failures may, like Peter, be colossal bellyflops. Yet, Jesus is there – extending grace to Peter and helping him, even in his failure of faith. Failure does not define us; it isn’t our identity. Jesus is Lord over everything, including storms, hardship, and trouble. 

Yes, there are a lot of scary things in life. Learning to ride a bike was scary. Driving for the first time on an icy road was scary. Getting married and having kids was scary. Admitting a fault, mistake, or weakness is scary. Being vulnerable with another person is scary.

It can even be scary to be at church. Why? Because we might fail, and it may crush us.

The fear of failure, however, need not control our lives. Why? Because grace overcomes everything.

We all find ourselves, at times, caught midway between faith and doubt. But to know this situation is to experience grace. If the worst scenario you worry about in your head would actually come to pass, it will still never change the reality that God loves you! And it will not stop Jesus from extending his hand to you in a life-saving grip of grace. 

Fear melts away when we keep our eyes on Jesus. So, we must focus on Christ, instead of fixating on the waves around us. The truth sets us free. Therefore, let’s notice five truths about Jesus that help us overcome the fear of failure and embrace a life of faith.

1. Jesus is a person of prayer

Jesus was deeply dependent on his heavenly Father. His life exhibited the necessities of simple prayer and obedience. If Jesus found the need for solitude and prayer for his life and ministry, how much more to we need it!? 

The Lord had his disciples get into the boat and go out on the lake. Jesus knew they were about to face a storm. The boat ended up getting thrown around by the waves. Even though the disciples were doing God’s will by going out on the lake, they were not spared from adversity.  

Jesus wanted his disciples to experience the storm. Why? Because it is through the storm that we learn faith.  

Faith is developed through experience and adversity. Faith that never endures distress, never grows and matures. Faith must be exercised – and if it isn’t, it atrophies and becomes useless. 

Show me a person with great faith, and I’ll show you a person that has gone through a boatload of adversity and hurt, having allowed Jesus to grace them with healing.

2. Jesus is present with us, and this presence brings an end to fear

Being in the middle of a lake during a storm did not prevent Jesus from being present with the disciples – he just walked on the water to be with them. Even though the disciples had just participated in the miracle of Jesus feeding the five thousand, another miracle was not on their radar – which is why they did not recognize Jesus and were afraid when they saw him.

While afraid, we don’t see Jesus, even when he’s right in front of our faces. Why? Because we don’t expect him to be there and mistake him for a ghost.  

When the disciples cried out in fear, Jesus responded. I used to have a factory job, training workers. When the training was completed, I had the trainees evaluate our time together. The top response I received is that my presence helped them to learn their job – the freedom to fail time and time again without judgment. Having me there to rescue them, when things got too much, built confidence that they could do it on their own.

3. Jesus desires those who follow him to imitate him

Jesus walked on water. Jesus invited Peter to walk on water. Peter was not chided by Jesus for getting out of the boat, but for doubting that he could continue in the miracle that was happening. 

Jesus isn’t merely interested in disciples being able to regurgitate his teaching. Why? Because he wants us to exercise our learning through actual deeds of faith.  

Once the command of Jesus was given to Peter, “Come”, then walking on water became only a matter of trust.

“Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”

G.K. Chesterton

We understandably get nervous when a crazy Jesus and an unpredictable Holy Spirit call us to change by getting out of the friendly confines of the boat. Why? After all, we might fail. 

However, it is at those times that we bank on God’s Word and promises. The Apostle James said that if we find ourselves lacking wisdom to deal with the unpredictable and unknowable, we are to ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and will be given to us. (James 1:5)

Christ Walking on the Sea, by Natali Fedorova

Peter responded to his predicament by crying out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out and saved Peter from his own doubt and lack of faith. Jesus called Peter a “little-faith.”

Many people have lived too long with the notion that God is some stern angry deity who is constantly displeased with sinful people, and that only through perfection will God ever be happy with us. The truth is that Jesus wants us to imitate him; and, when we fail, he is there to pick us up. 

4. Jesus has the authority to settle the storm when he is ready to do it

Jesus is King. Christ is Sovereign of the world. He will bring the crisis to an end according to his own good pleasure and good timing. Rather than spending all our emotional capital by worrying or conniving to get out of a situation, we can trust God and keep our eyes on Jesus.  Our job is to believe; God’s job is everything else.

5. Jesus’ power led the disciples to acknowledge who he is

Worship happens when we see Jesus as he really is, the Son of God. Flat, dull, boring worship comes from flat, dull, boring Christians who are unable to see the power of Jesus in their lives. We discover the power of God when we are in a situation which requires God’s strength to deliver us. Grasping Jesus as the Son of God is more than a verbal confession of faith; it is being able to trust him, like getting out of a boat in the middle of a lake.

We are to live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us (Galatians 2:20). It doesn’t require much faith to pray that Aunt Mable’s bunions will feel better. It only requires a little faith to give a dollar when you have ten dollars. It takes no faith to discuss the weather and steer clear of hard conversations.

But it does require faith:

  • to pray for a miraculous healing every day without giving up for a little boy who is racked by epilepsy, and trust God to spare his life
  • to write a check for $100 to someone in need when you have exactly $100 in your checking account, and trust God to provide for you own necessities. 
  • to go off the grid of the routine schedule to have a difficult discussion about social justice, and trust God to act on Christ’s teachings. 
  • to live as though the mission of God in this world is the most important thing we could ever do, and trust God to step out and do it.

It would be great if we could pray and act without ever doubting or failing, yet the only way to do that is to never step out of the boat. Instead, live life. Trust God. And see what happens.

Holy God, help us, your people, to embrace the life that is truly life by stepping out of the boat.  May Jesus define our lives instead of letting failure define us. May we accept the grace that is ours in Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose name we are bold to pray. Amen.

Work Together (Acts 18:24-28)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Priscila and Aquila host Paul and train Apollos, Unknown artist

Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah. (New International Version)

I really like this story. I like it for two reasons:

  1. Apollos, although a very learned and gifted guy, nonetheless had the humility to listen and accept the counsel of the couple, Priscilla and Aquila. He had a teachable spirit and a submissive heart.
  2. Priscilla and Aquila, a woman and a man, wife and husband, shared equally in taking the initiative to practice hospitality and make a significant contribution to the learning of Apollos. They had teachers’ spirits and caring hearts.

An intelligent mind doesn’t do much good if it isn’t accompanied by humility – a willingness to be taught, and a heart that is open to receive.

And instructing others accomplishes nothing if it isn’t directed by an egalitarian mindset – a desire to love strangers of all backgrounds and walks of life, and give, in any sort of way that is helpful to the other.

Who was Apollos?

Apollos was an educated man from the city of Alexandria in Egypt. He was well acquainted with Old Testament Scripture and familiar with John the Baptist’s teachings. In the middle of the first century C.E. he came to the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor (present day Turkey) where he began to teach in the Jewish synagogue.

Priscilla, and her husband Aquila, were followers of Jesus in Ephesus and they heard Apollos speaking. They hospitably took him aside and told him the rest of the story. After this, Apollos went to preach in Achaia, having been highly recommended by the Ephesian Christians. His effectiveness was unprecedented.

Apollos was in Corinth (Acts 19:1) where he was useful in watering the spiritual seed which the Apostle Paul had planted (1 Corinthians 3:6). He was such a skilled teacher and so much appreciated by the believers there that, unfortunately, many of the Corinthian believers became attached to him in an unhealthy way, creating schisms within the church, much to the chagrin of Apollos (and Paul). (1 Corinthians 1:12, 16:12)

Who were Priscilla and Aquila?

Priscilla and Aquila were tentmakers native to Rome. After the persecution of the Jewish people under the Emperor Claudius, they made their way to Greece, where they encountered the Apostle Paul and tutored Apollos. Their impact on these Christian leaders – and the bravery they demonstrated within the early church—became legendary, and Priscilla and Aquila are referenced in four different New Testament books.

What’s interesting about the references to this couple in Holy Scripture is the order in which their names are mentioned. In the seven references to the married couple, the wife is mentioned before the husband five times. This is somewhat uncharacteristic of the naming conventions in the Bible and suggests that Priscilla played a leading role in their ministry work.

It was in Corinth that Priscilla and Aquila first encountered the Apostle Paul. They welcomed him into their workplace, providing him with meaningful employment that facilitated his missionary activities. When Paul determined to return to Syria, they accompanied him across the Aegean Sea to Ephesus, where their ministry continued – and it was there that Priscilla and Aquila met Apollos.

In his catalog of greetings to the Roman church, Paul sent his regards to Priscilla and Aquila, indicating that they eventually returned to Rome – which was quite a risky thing to do considering the political climate of the time. Paul notes that Priscilla and Aquila stuck out their necks for him. (Romans16:3)

What do we learn from Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos?

The story of Priscilla and Aquila holds out a cache of important truths. For one, it demonstrates the added value of men and women partnering over the long term for the cause of Christ. It’s important to collaborate and be willing to consult each other and accept instruction and even correction.

The interaction of these early believers points to the importance of true Christian hospitality. When Paul arrived in their community, they gathered in a worn-out traveler. They provided shelter, company, and income for him, advancing his missionary ventures.

In Ephesus, they followed the same template with Apollos, perhaps sharing what they had learned from Paul to strengthen the witness of this remarkable young preacher. Their table and living room became sources of encouragement and instruction for those who would teach the church at large.

Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos are good models for all men and women called to Christian mission and service. They longed to serve Christ and the Church in whatever ways they could. They sought to help the next generations of believers in their walk with Christ. And they displayed the sort of qualities needed for the burgeoning church to work together and reach the world with good news.

God of grace and might, who gave to your servants Apollos, Priscilla, and Aquila gifts of zeal and eloquence to make known the truth of the Gospel: Raise up, we pray, in every country, heralds and evangelists of your kingdom, so that the world may know the immeasurable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.