Tag: christ's blessing

In Need of Integrity (John 7:19-24)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Pharisees, by German painter Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, 1912

It was Moses, wasn’t it, who gave you God’s Law? But none of you are living it. So why are you trying to kill me?”

The crowd said, “You’re crazy! Who’s trying to kill you? You’re demon-possessed.”

Jesus said, “I did one miraculous thing a few months ago, and you’re still standing around getting all upset, wondering what I’m up to. Moses prescribed circumcision—originally it came not from Moses but from his ancestors—and so you circumcise a man, dealing with one part of his body, even if it’s the Sabbath. You do this in order to preserve one item in the Law of Moses. So why are you upset with me because I made a man’s whole body well on the Sabbath? Don’t be hypercritical; use your head—and heart!—to discern what is right, to test what is authentically right.” (The Message)

One of my ardent desires for every person on planet earth, is that they will experience an integration of themselves – that they will know their true selves. And with this awareness, their head, heart, and gut will all be in alignment with each other. Every part of oneself will be acknowledged and work in harmony with the other parts.

I’m talking about wholeness. This is what produces peace, unity, harmony, joy, and strength of spirit. For me, this is the consummate Christian path of discipleship to walk. Jesus has gone before us to clear the way as the pioneer of our salvation. He makes it possible to realize wholeness. Christ has the ability to make us well and to live well. To know Jesus is to be whole.

People who are a bundle of disparate parts – with some of those parts suppressed and unacknowledged – are disturbed. They always seem to be upset with something because the parts of themselves are unable to communicate with each other. With them, there is no peace or wholeness. There is only a myopic view, usually coming from only using the head, only thinking.

But to have thoughts of God, to think about God’s law, and to police how God is thought of and how God’s law is implemented – without the heart or the gut involved – leads to fragmentation and disruption.

To only think, and withhold feelings and intuition, is to sin.

It’s impossible to know God and live God’s commands without involving your entire self. A head without a heart cannot affect humanity with the good that it so desperately needs.

A heart without a head cannot effectively steer the rudder into accomplishing sustained goodness.

And a head and a heart without a gut cannot sense the danger around the corner and loses its good plans and intentions.

Jesus was addressing religious leaders and a large chunk of fragmented people. Many of those persons were unable to discern who Christ actually is, because only the person of integrity and wholeness can do that. So, each one came at Jesus from their own limited place of disintegration. And none of them were able to truly see themselves as they actually are – blind to the reality that they were not keeping God’s law.

Christ and Pharisee, by Russian artist Ivan Filichev, 1993

A fragmented person’s perspective comes at things like this: “I’m obeying the law, although there are some laws I’m not really holding to.” Yet, Jesus understood that to break just one law makes us lawbreakers and in need of healing and wholeness.

Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath. The disintegrated person only saw Jesus working on the Sabbath, which in his head is a no-no. It requires work to heal someone. Therefore, it can wait until tomorrow. Thus, this Jesus fellow sinned against God and disobeyed God’s law. In fact, it only stands to reason that he is in league with a demon, the fragmented person reasons.

But that is to make a poor discernment of the situation. It is, however, only what the fragmented person can do. However, a wise understanding of the man’s healing by Jesus is to observe that Love has come among you – that Sabbath was made for humanity, not humanity for the Sabbath – and that this bringing of wholeness to a person, in restoring not only his health but his ability to connect with society, family, and community, is a knowable good thing. This is most certainly not what any sort of demon would do.

Perhaps one ought to test the spirits and make a good, right, and just discernment. Just maybe, Jesus is the one who can guide us to wholeness, goodness, and integrity. It could be that God is among us, and we didn’t even know it.

Constant criticism of others only deflects from paying attention to our own spirit; and always living in your head keeps you from experiencing the heartache of love.

Merely giving-in to the heart without engaging the head creates a caregiver who has no idea how to care for themselves; eventually they become bitter and gain a critical spirit that no one is caring for them as they care for others.

Blurting-out gut-reaction judgment at another may be truthful, but it will be taken as a severe and discouraging criticism because there was no thought or heart behind it.

There are a lot of upset people in this world. Yet, there are precious few persons with the wholeness to speak from the head, heart, and gut as a unified whole, bringing words and actions of life to others.

The persecuted person is one who has become wonderfully whole, namely because there are far too many fragmented people who view them as a threat, and see them as demonic. Fragmented folk believe they need to put the integrated person in their place, if not done away with altogether.

And that is exactly why Jesus was arrested, tortured, and killed. But fragmentation, disintegration, oppression, and sin do not have the last word. They are not the judge. There is resurrection, new life, and abundant joy because the grace of God in Christ always has the last word.

Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, by Argentine artist Jorge Cocco Santángelo

There’s trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. That’s the way of the fragmented ones; they will find themselves cursed. However, the blessings of God’s rule and reign recognize and affirm the whole person. Jesus said:

You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.

You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.

You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.

You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of competing or fighting. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.

You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom. (Matthew 5:3-10, MSG)

May you live into who you are, and avoid who you are not, to the glory of God. Amen.

The Power of a Blessing (Genesis 27:30-46)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Isaac Blesses Jacob, by Yoram Raanan

After Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and just as Jacob left his father Isaac, his brother Esau came back from his hunt. He too made some delicious food, brought it to his father, and said, “Let my father sit up and eat from his son’s game so that you may bless me.”

His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”

And he said, “I’m your son, your oldest son, Esau.”

Isaac was so shocked that he trembled violently. He said, “Who was the hunter just here with game? He brought me food, and I ate all of it before you came. I blessed him, and he will stay blessed!”

When Esau heard what his father said, he let out a loud agonizing cry and wept bitterly. He said to his father, “Bless me! Me too, my father!”

Isaac said, “Your brother has already come deceitfully and has taken your blessing.”

Esau said, “Isn’t this why he’s called Jacob? He’s taken me twice now: he took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing.” He continued, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

Isaac replied to Esau, “I’ve already made him more powerful than you, and I’ve made all of his brothers his servants. I’ve made him strong with grain and wine. What can I do for you, my son?”

Esau said to his father, “Do you really have only one blessing, Father? Bless me too, my father!” And Esau wept loudly.

His father Isaac responded and said to him,

“Now, you will make a home
    far away from the olive groves of the earth,
        far away from the showers of the sky above.
You will live by your sword;
        you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless,
        you will tear away his harness
        from your neck.”

Esau was furious at Jacob because his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, When the period of mourning for the death of my father is over, I will kill my brother.

Rebekah was told what her older son Esau was planning, so she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Esau your brother is planning revenge. He plans to kill you. So now, my son, listen to me: Get up and escape to my brother Laban in Haran. Live with him for a short while until your brother’s rage subsides, until your brother’s anger at you goes away and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I suffer the loss of both of you on one day?”

Rebekah then said to Isaac, “I really loathe these Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women, like the women of this land, why should I go on living?” (Common English Bible)

Jacob and Esau

The twins Esau and Jacob are the very definition of sibling rivalry. Even at their birth, they jostled and positioned for their entry into the world. Although brothers, they were different from one another in every way. As their aged father, Isaac, was near the end of his days, he was looking to pass on a family blessing to Esau, the firstborn. And that’s where things got dicey.

Jacob, always the trickster, was still playing out the rivalry. When his brother Esau was out hunting and preparing to receive his father’s blessing, Jacob posed as his brother and deceitfully gained the blessing of Isaac.

Both Isaac and Esau were shocked to discover what happened. Esau’s response was one of grief, disappointment, bitterness, with tears and weeping. Despite Esau not being known for his sensitivity to God or family before this event, we can certainly feel his cry: “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!”

The Blessing

As a Pastor and a Chaplain who works with a variety of people, I have heard many times over the lament of individuals without a blessing from their father. As people created in the image and likeness of God, we were meant to be blessed – to have a loving and enduring stamp of approval from both our heavenly Father and our earthly fathers.

And when an earthly father, or father figure, either cannot or will not extend a vital blessing to children, it is a terrible wound – like an invisible open putrid abscess which continually leaves the person emotionally and spiritually sick.

Blessing is needed. Without blessing we flounder in the world, struggling to see hope, wondering if we are loved, and lacking confidence in our faith. To be blessed is to receive a beautiful gift.

The term “blessing” in Scripture is a powerful communication of God’s presence and approval.

So, when humans bless one another, we offer commitments of love and connection. We provide powerful words of encouragement and picture a special future for those we are close to.

None of this is optional. To bless others is the way of building up one another and fortifying each other for the rigors of this world. When blessing is withheld, and even worse, when it is replaced with cursing, then individuals are left untethered, bereft of support to face stressful situations. Like a ship adrift without any power or wind, so the person trying to live in this world without blessing is dead in the water.

Jesus Blesses

Where there is no blessing, like Esau, revenge fills our hearts. But Jesus clearly understood the need and the power of blessing, and he was not deterred in deliberately offering it:

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. (Mark 10:13-16, NIV)

I wonder how this simple encounter affected the lives of those children on that day in which Jesus blessed them. I am curious in what ways they grew-up and how Christ’s blessing shaped their lives. Because that is what blessing does: it forms us into the kind of people we were meant to be.

So, receive today this blessing from Holy Scripture:

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. Amen. (Numbers 6:24-26)

Jesus Shows Up (John 20:19-31)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Jesus shows himself to Thomas, by Rowan and Irene LeCompte

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (New International Version)

When Jesus shows up, there is peace. Wherever Jesus goes, the Spirit of God is there. When Jesus appears, people believe.

The Meeting

After the crucifixion of Christ, the disciples were huddled together, mostly in fear of being found out and put out by the religious authorities. Out of nowhere, Jesus showed up, smack in the middle of the anxious group of men.

Christ in the center makes all the difference. From this central place, Jesus bestowed to the disciples his peace. The very first word the risen Christ spoke to his disciples was neither a command to stop being afraid, nor a rebuke for sitting around and doing nothing, or disappointment that they all ran away in the final hour of need at the crucifixion; instead, the first word of Christ was a gift of peace.

The presence and peace of Christ melted the disciples’ fear. Christ-centered peace is graciously given; so let us gratefully receive it.

The Reality

Jesus showed up, then showed off his hands and his side. He was not fabricated out of the disciples’ imagination; he was not some ghostly apparition. Rather, Christ was standing in the middle of them, very real, very physical, and very alive.

Christ gave his disciples real truth: actual wounded hands and side on a real body. Christ is risen and alive – not just spiritually, but physically. Since the resurrection of Jesus really happened, then nothing else matters; our joy is complete. We have what we need.

The Mission

As Jesus was sent by the Father, so Jesus sent his disciples; and is still sending us out into the world. And as Jesus came not to condemn the world but to save it, so we go out with words of grace and peace. The church exists for the life of the world – to bless it with the presence and peace of Christ.

“Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” (John 12:44-46, NIV)

Our spiritual DNA makes us little Christ’s walking around, doing the will of God, for the benefit of a world in darkness. We bear the name of Christ: Christians, proclaiming a message of life, delighting in God and creation; and not destroying the earth and its inhabitants.

The Gift

Right now, we are not alone. The Holy Spirit has been graciously given to us by Jesus. Although our mission is a big one, our resource for accomplishing it is even bigger. Jesus gives the Spirit in the same way he gives himself – as a sheer gift with no strings attached. Just as God breathed life into the very first people on earth, so Jesus breathes on the disciples and gives them new life and a new heart.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws… and you will be my people, and I will be your God. (Ezekiel 36:26-28, NIV)

The Privilege

Christ has redeemed us, forgave us of our guilt and shame. Now, we have the privilege of passing the forgiveness to others. The special mission of the Church is giving Jesus to others with grace and peace, so that they may believe he is truly the risen Lord; and so, receive Jesus, the Spirit, forgiveness, and purpose in life, with Christ at the center of all things.

For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” (John 3:34-36, NIV)

The Risen Lord, by He Qi

The Appearance

When Jesus appears, its good if we also show up to see him. It seems Thomas was late for church and missed the beginning of the service. He wasn’t with the other gathered disciples. Nobody knows where he was or what he was doing. But the important thing is that he did eventually show up, because showing up is the beginning of a changed life.

The Witness

After Jesus showed up, the disciples bore witness to what they saw and heard to Thomas. Yet Thomas, bless his doubting heart, wasn’t having it. He’s a realist. He wants proof, some actual physical evidence. Thomas was clearly a tactile learner because he needs some touch to believe any of this crazy talk of his disciple brothers.

Sometimes Thomas gets a bad rap, but he is really our Everyman. Doubt and skepticism are an important part of a full-orbed and honest faith. Jesus gave Thomas some space, time, and respect to begin wrapping his head and heart around this new reality of resurrection. I wonder if we all can do the same with others.

The Middle

A second time, Jesus shows up in the middle of the disciples. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us – and didn’t become a ghost and hang out in secret places. Once again, peace is given by Jesus to his followers.

Both appearances happen on a Sunday (which is why Christians have always worshiped on Sundays); and both meetings are literally Christ-centered (which every Christian meeting is supposed to be). Every Sunday. Christ always in the middle. Keep those two, and keep them together, and you can’t go wrong.

Jesus appears to Thomas with the Latin words, “See my hands,” in Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire Church, Saint-Ouen, France 

The Invitation

There’s no beating around the bush with Jesus. He immediately engaged Thomas and invited him to touch the wounds on his very real body. Christ knew Thomas’ hang-up, and went right to it. Thomas wanted evidence; Jesus offered it. If we get anything out of this encounter, it is that risen Christ honors honest doubt.

The evidence is here. Now believe it, and stop disbelieving. We have documentary evidence of the Old and New Testaments; the Church’s witness in Creeds, Confessions, and contemporary narratives of changed lives; and the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, look into them carefully and draw a sound conclusion.

The Confession

“My Lord and my God!” That’s the confession and the conclusion Thomas drew from the evidence – not only that Jesus is real, alive, existed, a good teacher; or other people’s Lord and God – but that he is my Lord and my God.

Jesus cared enough for Thomas to specifically meet him personally at his point of need. The grace of God keeps coming and never runs out. Jesus is filled up to the full in both grace and truth.

The Believer

Thomas had the physical evidence. But it doesn’t take that to truly believe. God blesses those who’ve never seen nor touched, but still believe. Jesus was thinking of you and me, and not only the people in front of him at the time. The Lord Jesus blesses us with the gift of peace, grace, and faith.

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:8-9, NIV)

The Conclusion

All this is for our benefit, so that we, too, may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Since Jesus is alive, he continues to bless us with his presence, power, and peace.

Jesus is with us:

  • through the Word of God, giving us his peace, showing up and meeting needs people.
  • at the Table in the sacrament of communion, bringing grace and forgiveness
  • in the person of the Holy Spirit, enabling and energizing us for mission and ministry to the world

It’s a life worth living, a Christ-centered life, full of God’s blessing.

O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we receive the legacy of a living hope, born again not only from his death but also from his resurrection. May we who have received forgiveness of sins, set others free, until we enter the inheritance that is imperishable and unfading, where Christ lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Luke 14:1, 7-14 – How Can I Be Blessed?

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
Jesus eating with “sinners.”

One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched….

When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable:“When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (New International Version)

A lot of people live by the old adage, “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” It’s a phrase referring to reciprocity. In other words, if you give me something I want, I will then respond by giving you something you want.

That old adage works fine, that is, unless you have no ability to give or give back to another. If we only operate by the principle of reciprocity, a large chunk of people automatically get left out. And this situation is untenable and unacceptable to Jesus.

Christ observed that the religious insiders of his day were keeping entire groups of people on the outside through their practice of scratching one another’s backs.

We need to get ahold of the reality that God loves us, as well as everyone else – even the people we may not give the time of day to. God so loved the world that he sent his Son. Jesus has come to feed us all, not just some.

Jesus eats with sinners by Sieger Köder (1925-2015)

The kingdom of God is about food. The food given by Jesus is to feed the hungry by staging a banquet. It is a feast of God’s abundance. Yet, many seem to hoard the resources they have, only thinking about their friends, family, and people just like them. They act as if there is no need to invite outsiders, consumed as they are with their own daily lives.

We have an incredible abundant feast contained in Scripture – in fact, Jesus said that his food and drink was to do the Father’s will, that Scripture was his bread. (Matthew 4:4; John 4:34) 

It’s much too easy to take our blessings of food for granted. After all, when we are well-fed, it’s easy to assume that everyone else is, too. Feeling healthy, it’s easy to forget that others are hurting. Making money, it’s easy to think there are not many poor people around. Living in a community with plenty of churches and more bibles than people, it’s natural to assume that everyone knows the gospel of Jesus – but they don’t!

Then, whenever we get around to acknowledging there are people who need Jesus, we keep devising ways to reach them without having to change or accommodate our own lives to do it.

Christ’s call to faithful discipleship requires people to change from having a narrow focus on our small circle of friends, to including those who have no means to pay us back.

Table fellowship by Sieger Köder 

The gospel of Jesus Christ is open to outcasts and failures, to problem people and unimpressive persons. People with needs and flaws are especially dear to Jesus. It’s the people who outwardly have it all together who are being replaced wholesale with those who admit their need. 

We must not be picky about who we invite to participate in the largess of abundance we possess. We are to avoid the spiritual snobbery of looking down our noses at the needy and less fortunate, who have nothing to offer us in return.

Those who give need to do so without prejudice or favoritism. Even the lazy, the fool, and the sinner still need basic resources to live. By opening our hearts in almsgiving, we open ourselves to Christ, who is present in the least of those among us.

Refusing mercy to people deemed as unworthy, givers then actually shut themselves off from the very mercy God desires for them. There is no reward from God when there is only reward from others.

“If we are going to examine lives, we will never have mercy upon any human being; rather, hindered by this inopportune meddlesomeness, we will remain fruitless and destitute of all help ourselves.”

St. John Chrysostom, On Repentance and Almsgiving

It’s not only the poor who suffer when the rich fail to give. In judging whether or not a particular person is worthy of love and aid, the wealthy person rejects the spiritual fruit that he would have received by giving with humility.

Giving to the poor, simply to relieve our own conscience, is not real charity; it doesn’t consider the other. We attend fully to the other by observing their spiritual and holistic needs for community, purpose, respect, and dignity. Dispassionate giving from a distance, without relationship, refuses to acknowledge the whole person. It exploits the poor for the mental comfort of the rich.

We need to be involved in people’s lives, and that takes a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. There are too many lost people who need Jesus – and, I may add, too many Christians who are the walking wounded and need the healing touch of Jesus – for us to pay scant attention to the call of Jesus to invite the needy into our lives. 

Seeing people come into God’s great banquet, and into a joyous and vital relationship with Christ, will likely take ten times more work than what you are thinking it does right now. Yet, this is the pathway of true blessing – to having God’s stamp of approval on our lives.

How can I be blessed? Not by posturing for the best place in the room but by being a blessing to the most vulnerable and needy amongst us.

Merciful God, thank you for the abundance of life, relationships, health, comfort, and wealth you have provided to so many. Thank you that, even in times of need, despair, and brokenness, you are there. Please, put your arms around children and families in  poverty and disability so that they feel your comfort and hope. Meet their needs both physically and spiritually. And guide me so I can be your hands and feet pursuing justice for the poor and upholding the cause of the needy, in the way of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.