Tag: christianity

You Have Found Favor with God (Luke 1:26-38)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
The Annunciation, by Liviu Dumitrescu

Six months after Elizabeth had become pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in Galilee. The angel went to a virgin promised in marriage to a descendant of David named Joseph. The virgin’s name was Mary.

When the angel entered her home, he greeted her and said, “You are favored by the Lord! The Lord is with you.”

She was startled by what the angel said and tried to figure out what this greeting meant.

The angel told her,

“Don’t be afraid, Mary. You have found favor  with God.

You will become pregnant, give birth to a son,
and name him Jesus.

He will be a great man
and will be called the Son of the Most High.
The Lord God will give him
the throne of his ancestor David.
Your son will be king of Jacob’s people forever,
and his kingdom will never end.”

Mary asked the angel, “How can this be? I’m a virgin.”

The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come to you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy child developing inside you will be called the Son of God.

“Elizabeth, your relative, is six months pregnant with a son in her old age. People said she couldn’t have a child. But nothing is impossible for God.”

Mary answered, “I am the Lord’s servant. Let everything you’ve said happen to me.”

Then the angel left her. (God’s Word Translation)

The Annunciation, by Angel Zárraga

Most of life is lived in the mundane. For the most part, we go about our business and deal with the daily grind.  That’s because we are common ordinary people.

So, we can especially relate to Mary. She is rather plain. Mary is of junior high age. If she were living in our day and age, Mary would likely be wearing clothes from the local Goodwill. She cannot read, because girls of her day rarely did.

Mary’s parents make all the decisions that affect her life, including the one that she should be married to an older man named Joseph. We don’t know if she even liked him. She lives in a small town that most people can’t even point to on a map. 

One night, this young girl is visited by the brightly beaming divine messenger Gabriel, whose name means, “God has shown himself mighty.” Mary stands there in her flannel nightgown; her life very quickly moving from the ordinary to extraordinary. The juxtaposition could not be more pronounced:

  • a mighty angel and a plain teen-ager
  • a messenger of the Most High God and a girl barely past puberty
  • holy angelic light in a simple candlelit bedroom
  • awesome power and complete vulnerability

Mary, compared to Gabriel, is defenseless, fragile, and overwhelmed. She’s in over her head. And that’s why we can relate to her. We can get our human arms around Mary. She’s like us. She has faced life with little power to make it turn out the way she planned. Forces beyond her control have rearranged her life and altered it forever. Mary is the Matron Saint of the Ordinary. We can totally understand why she responds the way she does.

Young Mary’s initial reaction was to be greatly troubled. She was disturbed, and was shaking in her ratty old slippers. The angel confidently told Mary that she had found favor with God. In other words Mary was quite literally “graced” by God. 

The situation was not that Mary had some extreme spirituality; but rather that God simply chose her to be the mother of Jesus. 

And Mary needed to come to grips with what was happening to her. This was not what she was looking for.  Becoming pregnant with the Savior of the world was not an answer to prayer for Mary. This was not on her agenda. 

Mary immediately sensed the crazy disconnect between what was being told to her and who she was. After all, she was a plain ordinary girl from the hick town of Nazareth, and she was being told that she would raise a king.  Maybe somebody in heaven screwed up. It could very well be that Gabriel got the wrong girl. Perhaps the angel’s Google map popped up the wrong town to visit. 

Relating to Mary, we can totally understand that she would question how in the world all this was going to happen. Not only is Mary ordinary, and far from royalty, but she is also very much a virgin. None of this made any sense whatsoever.

But the angel lets Mary know that God specializes in the impossible. I understand why many English translators chose to phrase the original rendering as “for nothing is impossible with God.” But I rather like a more literal translation which is “for there is nothing outside of God’s power.” 

There is nowhere we can go, no place on earth, no situation whatsoever that is beyond God’s ability, reach, and power to effect the divine will.

We do not always get straightforward answers to our questions about God. Yet, Mary asked a question and got a straight answer. She really can be pregnant with Jesus because the Holy Spirit will come upon her and overshadow her with power. 

If the story were to end here it would be a great story.  But to me the most astonishing part of this narrative is Mary’s response to what was happening to her.

Mary believed the message and took Gabriel’s words at face value. And so, having believed, she then submitted herself completely to God’s will for her life. 

I think we might totally understand if Mary simply said in her ordinary way that she was not prepared for this.  We would completely “get it” if Mary pushed back on what the angel said to her.

We could relate if Mary just dismissed it all, like Scrooge in the Christmas Carol, with the angel and his message being all humbug as if it were just “an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato.  There’s more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!”

And yet, Mary not only believed, but she also humbly submitted herself to what was happening. And, to me, this is what we need to relate to most about Mary – not her being just a plain ordinary person in a non-descript village, but stepping up to the calling she received. 

We, too, have received a calling in our lives. We, too, have been given the power of the Holy Spirit. And we, too, are ordinary people who have been given a very extraordinary task. 

It seems to me that our response today can and ought to be the same as Mary: “I am the Lord’s servant; may it be to me as you have said.” 

The Church is pregnant with possibilities because of the Holy Spirit. We know the end of Mary’s story. She gave birth to Jesus. She raised him in her plain ordinary way. She watched him grow up. She saw him embark on his ministry to proclaim that the kingdom of God has come near. 

Mary did not always understand what Jesus said or what he was doing. And she experienced every mother’s nightmare: seeing her beloved son killed in a terribly gruesome manner right in front of her eyes. 

Yet, just as the Holy Spirit was with the birth of Jesus, so the Spirit was with Jesus at his resurrection from the dead. Jesus, like his earthly mother, lived an ordinary life in a very extraordinary way. And today Jesus invites us to do the same. 

Because Jesus accomplished his mission of saving people from their sins and establishing a kingdom that will never end, he has given us the same Holy Spirit to follow him forever and call other people to follow him, too. 

The Christian life may often be difficult; but it is really not complicated. It’s rather simple, just like Mary. 

Mary responded to God’s revelation with faith, choosing to fully participate in what God was doing. “I am the Lord’s servant” is to be our confession, as well. “May it be to me as you have said” is to be our cry, along with Mary. 

The message Christians proclaim is that Jesus saves – he delivers from sin and Satan and will restore all things.

May you know the presence and the power of God today and always, through knowing Christ Jesus the Lord of all. Amen.

Jesus Is Greater (Hebrews 1:5-14)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Christ the Redeemer, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son;
    today I have become your Father”?

Or again,

“I will be his Father,
    and he will be my Son”?

And again when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,

“Let all God’s angels worship him.”

In speaking of the angels he says,

“He makes his angels spirits,
    and his servants flames of fire.”

But about the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
    a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
    therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
    by anointing you with the oil of joy.”

He also says,

“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
You will roll them up like a robe;
    like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,
    and your years will never end.”

To which of the angels did God ever say,

“Sit at my right hand
    until I make your enemies
    a footstool for your feet”?

Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? (New International Version)

The people were weary. They were good and faithful Jews in Jerusalem, just trying to worship God and live their lives in faith, patience, and righteousness. And then, through incredible events, they came to believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah. They placed all their hopes and their very lives upon him.

And then, persecution broke out against the believers in Jesus. They were scattered. They fled Jerusalem. The people found themselves as Christian refugees in strange Gentile countries. In those places, they faced hardship and disrespect, not only for being Jews, but for being Christians. In many cases, their families disowned them; and the laws of the land were not good to them.

The believers started off well. But over time, the difficulty began to get to them. The people started wondering if all this commitment to Jesus Christ was worth it, or not. Their spiritual resolve was slowly ebbing away.

The author of Hebrews insists, biblically, that Jesus is superior over everything and everyone. The author stepped into the flagging believers’ situation, and went about answering that question of whether Jesus is truly all he’s cracked up to be. And he began the comparisons of superiority with Jesus over the angels.

Jesus Christ is greater than the angels

Jesus is the Son – the Son of God – which is a way of saying that Jesus is God. And he proved it through his life and ministry, his death and resurrection, his ascension and glorification.

When Jesus began his earthly ministry, he was sent into the desert for 40 days and nights. That experience demonstrated his true muster. Christ fully identified with the people, accomplished what no other human did, and became the pioneer of our salvation.

In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. (Hebrews 2:10-11, NIV)

Jesus Christ has greater dignity than the angels

Unlike angels, Jesus, the Son, is worthy of worship. Angels may be exalted and immortal beings, but they are creatures, just like us humans. Jesus, however, as God, was there at creation. What’s more, Jesus presently holds all things together.

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:15-17, NIV)

Jesus Christ has a greater status than the angels

Times change. Circumstances change. People are fickle. What is celebrated today is condemned tomorrow, and vice versa. But God never changes in the basic divine character. And God is eternal. Therefore, the Lord Jesus is a solid rock from which to construct a firm spiritual life.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Hebrews 13:8, NIV

Jesus Christ has a greater function than the angels

As the Son of God, Jesus is the sovereign ruler over all things. We do not simply make him the Lord of our lives; he already is that. We just need to acknowledge this reality, submit to Christ’s authority, and persevere in faith. We must continually remember this, or we will become spiritually weary.

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For,

“In just a little while,
    he who is coming will come
    and will not delay.” And,

“But my righteous one will live by faith.
    And I take no pleasure
    in the one who shrinks back.”

But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved. (Hebrews 10:35-39, NIV)

Christians are never defenseless in this world. God has not only provided salvation through the Son, but has also given the angels to help us sustain our commitment to Christ. God cares so much about us that he has enlisted millions of angels for our benefit, so that we can continue to live out the words and ways of Jesus till the very end of our earthly lives.

God of wonder and of joy: grace comes from you, and you alone are the source of life and love. Without you, we cannot please you; without your love, our deeds are worth nothing. Send your Holy Spirit, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love, that we may worship you now with thankful hearts and serve you always with willing minds; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Son (Hebrews 1:1-4)

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

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. (New International Version)

For Christians everywhere, we are only a few days until the culmination of Advent season: observing, remembering, and celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Christianity discerns that all of history hinges on it’s midpoint of the incarnation and birth, life and ministry, death and resurrection, and ascension and glorification of Jesus. Everything in the Bible looks to Christ.

The entire Old Testament Scriptures point forward to the time of Christ; the Gospels focus upon him; and all the rest of the New Testament points back to Jesus as the fulfillment of all God’s good promises to people.

Indeed, the Lord Jesus is central to everything in the Christian’s world and life view. Jesus Christ is the center of all Christian worship, Christian belief, Christian practice, Christian ethics, and the entirety of the Christian life.

The New Testament book of Hebrews has a lot to do with this approach to life. It’s overarching theme and focus is to point out and demonstrate the superiority of Jesus over everything and everyone in all of history.

And the reason the author of Hebrews takes pains to do this for a lengthy thirteen chapters, is that his recipients needed the reminder and the exhortation that their difficulties and hardships in living the Christian life is worth it. Jesus is worth completely centering our lives around because he is indeed the central figure of literally everything.

Historically, God spoke through many prophets. Yet, Jesus is the ultimate prophet, because he is not merely a servant of God; Christ is the very Son of God who is over all of God’s big world – and even participated in making the world.

Like Father, like Son. Jesus Christ exemplifies and shows us the very nature of God. He is the light of God’s glory, representing God in all his words and ways of being in the world.

What’s more, Jesus not only came to reveal God to us, but also to get involved in saving us from ourselves by actually becoming one of us. And after all his work was done, and his earthly life over, he sat down in his rightful place – showing us that it is finished, once and for all.

We need no longer try and purify or perfect ourselves, to try and fix all that we have messed up in this life, or to prop up our fragile egos to make it at least look like we have it all together. None of this is needed because the Lord Jesus Christ became our Savior, delivering us from a hole so deep that there was no way we could ever climb out of it on our own.

So, it is rather ironic that people (even and especially Christians) can let Jesus get pushed out of the Advent and Christmas seasons as less than superior to our worries about finances, discouragements about family, and wonderings about the future. Advent is intended to put our focus and our delight where it rightly belongs, in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Embedded within the season of Advent are a message and a mission. The Gospel of John begins with the great proclamation that the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. God enters into human history in the person of Jesus. It is a message of grace and hope, completely centering around Christ. 

It is also a story – the greatest ever told – of the Creator God loving the creatures so much as to become one of them. This redemption narrative gives shape to our own witness. We simply tell the story of God’s love to humanity through the sending of the Son, Jesus, to deliver us from sin, death, and hell and bring us into a kingdom full of grace, joy, wholeness, and love.

Some may believe that Jesus laid aside his glory in order to be among us. I disagree. I believe that coming to this earth was the logical and loving thing to do in order to show and live into the radiance of God’s glory.

The word “glory” in the Hebrew Scriptures literally means to be “heavy.” In other words, God carries a lot of weight, namely because God is able to do so. That is, God is glorious. To enter this world and bear the great burden of human suffering and sin is perhaps the most glorious thing that God could ever do.

So, when we talk of the glory of God in Jesus Christ, we are really talking about the ultimate burden bearer showing who God is really like. The God, who is Love, is the God of glory, and the two are actually both sides of the same coin.

Therefore, Christians, the little Christs who walk about this earth, show the light of the glory of God in Jesus Christ when they carry one another’s burdens:

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2, NIV)

In a few days, gift giving and receiving will take place. And that is appropriate. What is also more than appropriate is to be able to relate to each other in such a way that we are showing the radiance of Jesus Christ in helping others carry their heavy emotional and/or spiritual loads.

As light comes into this world through the birth of the Son, so also let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16) Amen.

Dealing with a Clash of Belief (Acts 3:17-4:4)

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

“And now, friends, I know you had no idea what you were doing when you killed Jesus, and neither did your leaders. But God, who through the preaching of all the prophets had said all along that his Messiah would be killed, knew exactly what you were doing and used it to fulfill his plans.

“Now it’s time to change your ways! Turn to face God so he can wipe away your sins, pour out showers of blessing to refresh you, and send you the Messiah he prepared for you, namely, Jesus. For the time being he must remain out of sight in heaven until everything is restored to order again just the way God, through the preaching of his holy prophets of old, said it would be. Moses, for instance, said, ‘Your God will raise up for you a prophet just like me from your family. Listen to every word he speaks to you. Every last living soul who refuses to listen to that prophet will be wiped out from the people.’

“All the prophets from Samuel on down said the same thing, said most emphatically that these days would come. These prophets, along with the covenant God made with your ancestors, are your family tree. God’s covenant-word to Abraham provides the text: ‘By your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’ But you are first in line: God, having raised up his Son, sent him to bless you as you turn, one by one, from your evil ways.”

While Peter and John were addressing the people, the priests, the chief of the Temple police, and some Sadducees came up, indignant that these upstart apostles were instructing the people and proclaiming that the resurrection from the dead had taken place in Jesus. They arrested them and threw them in jail until morning, for by now it was late in the evening. But many of those who listened had already believed the Message—in round numbers about five thousand! (The Message)

I believe a lack of self-awareness is at the middle of a great many sins in this world. A lot of folks just simply do not realize how they come across to others; what impact their words and actions have upon others; and their illogical and nonsensical forms of thinking.

It’s frustrating and maddening for those who can see the blind spots in another’s life. And, keep in mind, it’s the same for others concerning some area of thought or dogmatic belief we may hold to, as well.

Recently, I had one of those surreal conversations. I had made a statement, quoting a verse from one of the New Testament Gospels about what Jesus said. Later in the day, a person who heard me say it, approached me and emphatically stated, “Jesus never said that.”

Even though I went directly to the verse and read it, the person then stated, “But that’s not from the King James or New King James Version.” So, I went to the New King James and read it. “You have to go to the King James because that’s the most reliable.” And then, after reading it there, the person dogmatically stated, “Well, that was added by a scribe. Jesus didn’t really say that.”

Even after all this, and pointing the person toward the field of textual criticism and how languages get translated, they still refused to consider the evidence right in front of their face. Yes, indeed, it is maddening! (Note: The person went so far as to begin attacking my biblical hermeneutic and my faith, because well, if you cannot accept the evidence, then you must go the ad hominem route of discrediting the person. *Sigh*)

People generally do not like their beliefs challenged nor upended. And some persons will do just about anything to maintain those beliefs – including verbal attacks against someone’s very personhood.

Apostle Peter preaching, by Lorenzo Veneziano, c.1370

And that is exactly what happened with the Apostles Peter and John. Their proclamation of Christ and his resurrection struck a nerve with the Jewish Sadducees who were the keepers of proper worship and liturgy amongst the temple. The Apostles’ teaching was so scandalous and threatening to their own beliefs, that they used their authority to throw Peter and John in jail – just for proclaiming a message the Sadducees didn’t like.

It never feels good getting toasted by those who claim insight and knowledge but are, in reality, a bunch of ignorant simpletons who don’t want to change and will hold onto their sense of power and superiority at all costs.

Yet, the consolation to all of this, is that there are others who are open-minded enough to listen well and adjust their belief systems to match the truthful evidence given to them. And so, despite the efforts of the Sadducees to suppress apostolic preaching, the fledgling group of Christ followers were being added by the thousands.

It turns out that nobody can resist the Holy Spirit of God, no matter how much earthly pull and power they possess.

Today’s New Testament lesson reminds us and teaches us that:

  • Self-awareness of why we hold to our particular beliefs, matters. We ought to hold our dogmatism very loosely.
  • Proclamation of the gospel, that is, the good news of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, makes a difference in lot of people’s lives.
  • Opposition is to be expected. There are some who view the good news of grace as the bad news of judgment against themselves; they will oppose it by any means possible.
  • Humility will always serve us well in the spiritual life, whereas condescending arrogance will never help anybody. For God’s sake, please have enough humility to listen and learn, even if (and especially) you don’t like what you’re hearing – no matter which end of the discussion you are on.

If we want the world to be different, then the change begins with you and me. Christians have the opportunity, if they will take up the mantle, of being the most calm, humble, and attentive people in the room. In this time of the year, no other stance and skill can be more important amongst family, friends, and others during the holidays.

O Lord, you have told us what is good, and what you require of us: To do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly. Help us walk together in love and compassion towards the cross, humbly with you and one another. Let your Holy Spirit guide us on the right path to truth and reconciliation with humility; and enable us to hear each other, for we do not want to walk by pride or self-sufficiency, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.