Tag: christ’s teaching

Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
The Parable of the Ten Virgins, by Lilibeth Kindle

“When the end comes, the kingdom of heaven will be like ten bridesmaids. They took their oil lamps and went to meet the groom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The foolish bridesmaids took their lamps, but they didn’t take any extra oil. The wise bridesmaids, however, took along extra oil for their lamps. Since the groom was late, all the bridesmaids became drowsy and fell asleep.

“At midnight someone shouted, ‘The groom is here! Come to meet him!’ 7 Then all the bridesmaids woke up and got their lamps ready.

“The foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out.’

“But the wise bridesmaids replied, ‘We can’t do that. There won’t be enough for both of us. Go! Find someone to sell you some oil.’

“While they were buying oil, the groom arrived. The bridesmaids who were ready went with him into the wedding hall, and the door was shut.

“Later the other bridesmaids arrived and said, ‘Sir, sir, open the door for us!’

“But he answered them, ‘I don’t even know who you are!’

“So stay awake because you don’t know the day or the hour. (God’s Word Translation)

Here’s the point of Christ’s parable, up front, so that we know what we are dealing with:

We prepare for things we really care about; we anticipate things that are important to us.

For example, people who really care about hunting make careful preparations for the season and anticipate opening day. Those who care about professional football look forward to game-day, plan for special food to eat, and set aside normal activities to watch them play.

And, of course, weddings are events that take lots of preparation because families care about the upcoming marriage. Since I have raised three girls, I can testify first-hand that wedding plans begin in third grade for many females.

The Wise and the Foolish Virgins, by Charles Haslewood Shannon, 1920

Here’s the point of Christ’s parable, stated in the negative: People show up to things unprepared mostly because they don’t value the event enough to be ready for it.

Casual hunters and fair-weather football fans go home when it gets too cold. That’s because they are not adequately prepared for the conditions.

Quickie weddings happen in Las Vegas where two people are not prepared to have a marriage for a lifetime. 

People drop out of impromptu events when there is no fun or gets too hard. However, if they really care about it, they prepare for it, have patience through it, and persevere in it when things get tough.

The true test of authentic commitment comes when things are not easy and it takes blood, sweat, and tears to see something through.

A Christian is one who not only professes Christ as Lord and Savior, but also backs the words up with a resolve to:

  • live into their baptism
  • avail themselves of communion
  • plan and prepare for both personal and public worship
  • make it their aim to love God, one another, and neighbor

There are few human events more freighted with emotion and preparation than weddings. Parents invest a lot of time, energy, resources, and love to have a meaningful wedding for their kids. There’s also the potential for disaster at a wedding.

A Greek Orthodox fresco of Jesus and the Parable of the Ten Virgins

Since I have done many weddings, I can tell you that a lot of things go sideways in the preparation process and even at the wedding itself. I have seen bridesmaids pass out, grooms forget the ring, and families fight like cats and dogs in the narthex just as the bride is ready to come down the aisle. All kinds of crazy stuff can happen with a wedding. 

At my own wedding, the bridesmaids were literally sown into their dresses by the seamstress just hours before the wedding; one of my groomsman did not show up because, I later found out, he was in jail; and, we were married on the hottest and most humid day of the year – 100 degrees – which did not go so well for a bunch of women trying to have their best ever hair day.

But you know what? We got married anyway. The wedding happened because it was important to us. I think it’s interesting that Jesus chose a parable about a wedding to tell us what the kingdom of God is really like. Weddings in Christ’s day were just as prone to mishap, maybe even more, than weddings today.

In ancient Israel, a couple would become engaged but not set a wedding date. The groom would take the time to busily prepare a home for himself and his bride to live. It might take days, or weeks, or months, even years. It is this imagery that Jesus picked up to communicate his point of being prepared for things we care about. 

No one knew when the groom would be finished with preparations. (Note: We are told in the Gospel of John that Jesus the bridegroom is busy preparing for a great wedding feast at the end of the age when he will come back and take us to be with him forever).

When the groom was ready, he left the home he had prepared and went to the bride’s house. Then, the two of them, along with their wedding party, would have a grand procession through the streets of the town, almost always after dark, and then back to the home of the groom. So, oil lamps were important to have ready, and on standby.

Here is the parable’s setting: The groom has left his house and begun his trek through town. He might come straightaway, and he might not, depending on what route he takes. The bridesmaids (virgins) have their oil lamps ready. Five of them have plenty of oil, and five of them do not.

The groom takes the circuitous route, so the virgins fell asleep waiting. At midnight the groom finally shows up at the bride’s house. Five virgins spring into action and are ready. The other five aren’t ready, at all. 

The five virgins without enough oil go out to find or buy some more, while the five virgins with plenty of oil join the celebration. The procession goes back to the groom’s house, posthaste, before the five virgins who were not part of the procession finally catch up to them at the house.

The five foolish bridesmaids knock on the door and expect to get in. But the door is shut and it isn’t going to be opened. The marriage will happen without them. Therefore, the bottom line of the story: The five foolish virgins were not ready because they did not care enough to be prepared.

Orthodox icon of Jesus and the Parable of the Ten Virgins

This, at face value, might seem harsh. Yet, in Christ’s time, not having the oil needed for the lamps would be like, in our day, having half the bridesmaids show up at the wedding at the last minute in jeans and t-shirts without having done their hair and expecting to stand up with the bride. No bride or groom and their family in our culture is going to roll with that kind of behavior. Why? Because it is deeply offensive.

As in all of Christ’s parables, the characters represent the people listening. The five wise and five foolish bridesmaids point to the mixed characters who were following Jesus. They consisted of both faithful authentic disciples of Jesus, as well as wedding crashers who were not there because they valued and respected Jesus.

Jesus told us to keep watch, because we do not know the day or the hour when he will return. So, today’s parable raises the big question: Are you prepared? 

We are to maintain constant vigilance, being always alert for Jesus to show up. It’s one thing to make a profession of Christ; and it is quite another thing to live each day doing God’s will and being prepared for Jesus to return.

Jesus wants more than fair-weather Christians. 

We cannot assume someone else will give us oil. No one can simply rely on another person to have everything they need to live the Christian life. Each one of us must listen and learn from God’s Word for ourselves, cultivate a life of prayer, and serve the church and the world in ways God has called us to – without relying on someone else to do the work that I should be doing. 

Every day is a fresh opportunity and privilege to serve Jesus. My personal practice is to rise each morning by 4:30am. I light a candle and spend some quiet unhindered time reading the lectionary passages for the day. I spend time in prayer. Throughout the day I pause to intentionally connect with God in prayer and some Scripture reading. 

I get up early in the morning regardless of how I feel. I engage in spiritual disciplines even when it does not strike my fancy. I go to work and do what it takes to get myself in a position to be a blessing to others.

Now, let’s come back to the message of Christ’s parable: We prepare for things we really care about, and we anticipate things that are important to us. The return of Jesus is a future reality. It’s up to each of us, whether it will be on our spiritual radar, or not.

Yet, I can tell you this: Jesus wants us to watch and pray, and to be prepared, because today the bridegroom may show up.

The Parable of the Two Sons (Matthew 21:28-32)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Wheatfield with Crows, by Vincent van Gogh, 1890

“What do you think about this? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go to work in the vineyard today.’

“His son replied, ‘I don’t want to!’ But later he changed his mind and went.

“The father went to the other son and told him the same thing. He replied, ‘I will, sir,’ but he didn’t go.

“Which of the two sons did what the father wanted?”

“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “I can guarantee this truth: Tax collectors and prostitutes are going into God’s kingdom ahead of you. John came to you and showed you the way that God wants you to live, but you didn’t believe him. The tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. But even after you had seen that, you didn’t change your minds and believe him. (God’s Word Translation)

I once cheated on a college exam. It was a required class for which I was not much interested, so my grade was rather tenuous going into the final exam of the semester. When the professor stepped out of the classroom for a few minutes during the final, my fellow students began sharing answers. I gave in and went with the others.

I got an “A” on the exam and passed the class easily. However, I royally flunked God’s test. After a few days of misery, I went to the professor’s office and confessed what I had done. I was prepared to take a failing grade for both the exam and the class, yet I think the professor was so shocked that I would come and admit such a thing that he worked up my grade right there in front of me… I passed, but just barely.

I originally said “no” to what was right, but then said “yes” and made it right.  For those who practice repentance, there is a God of grace waiting for them. God has no tolerance for those who profess truth with a big “yes” on the outside but are passive-aggressive on the inside and say “no,” undermining the truth by how they live. 

The Sower, by Vincent Van Gogh, 1888

Today’s Gospel lesson highlights entrance into the kingdom of God – and the people entering might surprise us. Turns out, there are spiritual insiders on the outside of the kingdom, and spiritual outsiders as the ones who really inherit the kingdom.

Christ’s parable is a warning to all the spiritually serious: Beware, lest our insider energies be spent in correctness, conformity of belief, and cockiness rather than following Jesus. At the same time, the parable encourages outsiders with the wonderful possibilities of a changed life. 

Jesus was warning those who arrogantly assume they have the inside track by what they believe, and not by doing God’s will. It may be challenging for us to imagine how truly offensive Christ’s story was to the original hearers of the parable, so I restate it in a more contemporary form:

There was a man who was well respected in the community and had two sons. One son grew up and became a respectable member of the community, too. He was a successful businessman and gave lots of money to causes in his community, including new lights for the school football field – which was no small cost.  He only asked that appropriate and prominent recognition be given him with a plaque bearing his name on each of the light poles. 

The other son was not so successful.  He was the one in school who the teachers said, “Why can’t you be more like your brother?”  There was nothing spectacular about this son.  In fact, he lived an ‘alternate lifestyle’ and people murmured behind his back. 

One day the father said to this son: “Son, go and work at my place of business today; I am going away and need you to do some of the tedious paperwork I have gotten behind on.” “No way!” he answered, but later felt heartsick about the way he spoke to his father and decided to go and do all the grunt work his father needed done.

The father went to the well-respected son and said the same thing about needing him to do all the thankless paperwork that was piled up. That son answered, “Yes, sir, I will; anything you need I will do.” But that son did not go. Instead, he chose to go golfing with some people whom he was trying to coy favor with.

After telling the story, Jesus asked all the upstanding faith leaders and the people listening: “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered.

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, folks with different sexual orientations, unemployed persons on the low rung of society, and the religiously different with esoteric beliefs are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For you have had heard thousands of sermons about grace and the way of righteousness, yet you did not believe by putting God’s Word into practice; but the others did. And even after you saw how God can change a person’s life from the inside-out, you yourselves did not repent and believe.

For Jesus to tell such a story was so scandalous that, frankly, it got him killed. Specifically, the scandal is this: Merely believing rightly and living as an upstanding citizen is not the way of salvation. Tax collectors and prostitutes were some of the most despised people in Christ’s time. It was assumed they were outside of God.

However, the proof of genuine belief is not lip service but actively obeying God when no one is looking:

My friends, what good is it to say you have faith, when you don’t do anything to show that you really do have faith? Can that kind of faith save you? If you know someone who doesn’t have any clothes or food, you shouldn’t just say, “I hope all goes well for you. I hope you will be warm and have plenty to eat.” What good is it to say this, unless you do something to help? 

Faith that doesn’t lead us to do good deeds is all alone and dead! Suppose someone disagrees and says, “It is possible to have faith without doing kind deeds.” I would answer, “Prove that you have faith without doing kind deeds, and I will prove that I have faith by doing them.” You surely believe there is only one God. That’s fine. Even demons believe this, and it makes them shake with fear. (James 2:14-19, CEV)

The Christian life comes down to obedience, not cheap talk. Jesus wants to bless a lost world in need of God’s love and grace.

If we have ears to listen, we can hear numerous lost souls crying in the dark. If we have eyes to see, there are people caught in addictions standing in front of us. If we have hands willing to labor, needy folks surround us who can neither help themselves nor ask for it.

The Potato Eaters, by Vincent Van Gogh, 1885

Honestly, I am heartsick over the grinding loneliness of so many people; the boatloads of shame which thousands secretly carry; and the silent pain experienced by individuals everywhere. I feel this way because I genuinely believe my Lord feels the same. Jesus is looking to activate grace through his people to a world sinking in the depths of incredible human need.

Christ’s parable, however, is more than a warning; it is a story that opens the door of mercy for unlikely people seemingly far from God – people who ruined their lives by saying “no” to God. The parable is an invitation for all the screw-ups and those with little faith to come to Jesus.

There is a rather obscure Scripture reference, tucked away in the Old Testament. David was on the outside looking in. King Saul was on the inside trying to capture and kill him, even though David had done nothing wrong. Here is what happened:

David got away and escaped to the Cave of Adullam. When his brothers and others associated with his family heard where he was, they came down and joined him. Not only that, but all who were down on their luck came around—losers and vagrants and misfits of all sorts. David became their leader. There were about four hundred in all. (1 Samuel 22:1-2, MSG)

This rag-tag group of outsiders in Israel became Israel’s insiders as David eventually became king and these were the “mighty men,” the ones who helped bring Israel into prominence. 

Jesus Christ came into this world and identified himself as the Savior to the outsider when he quoted the prophet Isaiah:

Jesus went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
        to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
        to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16-21, NRSV)

In Christ, there are no lost causes and no persons too far on the outside to be redeemed. Therefore, now is the time to act on what we believe – to not only affirm right doctrine, but to live out that doctrine in obedience to God’s call.

May it be so, to the glory of God.

Be Careful (Luke 21:34-38)

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

“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple. (New International Version)

Nobody wakes up in the morning, sits up at the end of the bed, and says to themselves, “Well, today, I think I’ll be anxious, go to the bar, drink, and feel awful.” No, of course, we don’t do that. Instead, we are more likely to sit up and, at least, long for a good day and maybe even pledge to change some things; and at most, we make some good solid plans about how to have a fulfilling day.

Yet, for all of us, there are times when we find ourselves in a place in life we neither expected nor wanted. For sure, we cannot control the world and the circumstances and people within it. However, we can take charge of our own hearts and ensure that they do not become weighed down. In such a position, it becomes difficult to pray and have an accurate awareness of what’s happening around us.

This is precisely why even the Lord Jesus himself took the initiative to have regular times of withdrawal in order to connect with the Father in prayer. He could only give from the largess of his heart and soul. If Christ needed to pay attention to the Father, the world, and himself, then how much more must we regularly reorient ourselves so that grace and wisdom rule our lives, instead of anxious dissipation?

We are now in the first season of the Church Year on the Christian Calendar – the time of Advent. Advent literally means “anticipation” because Christians everywhere anticipate Christmas, the coming of Jesus the Messiah. 

While we wait, we pray. Jesus himself tells us to watch ourselves, stay awake at all times, and keep on praying. There is no patience apart from prayer. Show me an impatient person, and I will show you a person who has little discipline for prayer. But show me a patient person, and I will show you a person given to prayer in all circumstances for all kinds of matters.

This season of the year, despite all of its secular busyness and rush, is one of the most ideal times in the Christian Calendar to reconnect with a disciplined prayer life. Many Christians throughout the world desire more of God than a once-a-day “quiet time.” They want their entire lives to be a continual offering of prayer and connection with Jesus the Messiah. 

If one is not in the habit of punctuating each day with short, designated times of prayer, then perhaps begin taking the time in both the morning and evening to intentionally read Scripture, sing, and pray; this may be the best place to start. More outgoing persons may want to recruit others to participate with them. Yet, however its done, allow this Advent season to be an intentional time of reconnecting in prayer.

Let your longings translate into realizations. As we devote ourselves to basic spiritual disciplines, it helps us connect with others in basic human kindness – which is a basic foundational human need that keeps us away from a frivolous life of worrying, and leads us to a fruitful life of love and community.

People become trapped when they spend too much time alone with themselves, or in too much time with others who are only trying to deaden their physical and/or emotional pain. In both cases, they become trapped in their heads, thinking irrational thoughts and believing concocted conspiracy theories (or complicated end times scenarios). This is, at best, a dead end, and at worst, a one way road to destruction.

There is no substitute for prayer, spiritual reading, and wholesome community. Without these, we shall inevitably amble down a path of temptation and get lost in our heads. Christianity, for me, is unintelligible without the hope and the promise of a new and coming order of love, peace, and justice.

A great reversal of moving from anxious worry to ebullient hope is rooted in being able to understand that the words and ways of Jesus will not pass away. And that will only happen if we can locate ourselves as those who are spiritual beggars, in need of continually begging (praying) and searching (reading) for the words of God to become a reality in everyday life.

Our present contemporary life, daily experiences, and world situation is being called toward a future of God’s promises becoming fulfilled. And, at the same time, the future state of justice and peace is being called to our present circumstances, so that we can have a glimpse and glimmer of the hope which awaits us. In other words, the coming of Christ is the future which gives shape to our life today.

Today is the day of encountering the gracious God because tomorrow is the day of judgment, the time of the second Advent… sounds like it’s time to pray!

Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that all sorts of people everywhere may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of Peace, as children of one Father; to whom be dominion and glory, now and forever. Amen.

A Real Change of Life (Matthew 12:43-45)

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

“When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation.” (New Living Translation)

Nature abhors a vacuum. A tilled plot of soil will be overtaken with weeds if nothing is planted and nurtured in the turned-over dirt. 

The pecking order of a brood of chickens cannot handle the death of the top hen without filling the position almost immediately. 

In the spiritual realm, the exorcising of a demon will not simply leave a person empty of evil – their life will be filled with something in its place.

Jesus told a story about a man who was delivered from an unclean (evil) spirit. It’s a powerful and simple narrative on the necessity of true repentance, that is, on what a real change of life is like. 

Genuine freedom is more than getting rid of something bad and destructive; the evil must be replaced with something good and useful. In other words, biblical repentance, a true transformation of a person, is both a turning away from ungodliness and an embrace of righteousness.

We are delivered from evil so that we can start living into right and peaceful relationships, as God intends for us.

For example, the Apostle Paul exhorted the Ephesian believers to not only stop stealing but also to get a job and start sharing with others. They were not only to stop lying and using their tongues for gossip and slander and start using their words to speak truth that builds up others. (Ephesians 4:25-32)

The spiritual principle is the same as the nature principle: A empty vacuum will always be filled. The man who did not fill his life with God ended up having a problem with evil seven times greater than when he started. If anything, or anyone, is emptied of its unhealthy elements and practices, it is imperative that the hole be immediately filled with healthy disciplines for life.

Whether dealing with addictions, bad habits, or any kind of evil influence, a two-pronged approach is needed for its eradication. We expel the evil by replacing it with godliness. 

For example, the man struggling with pornography or adultery must not only stop the behavior but take up the mantle of being a champion for women’s issues; or the woman who has no healthy boundaries and allows herself to be used and abused must not only separate from the problem or person but adopt her identity in Christ as a precious child of God and enforce righteous limitations. 

These examples are not meant to be simplistic answers to complex situations. Rather, they illustrate why so many people do not experience freedom and continue to have even greater enslavement to their passions and sufferings. Freedom is realized through replacing old practices with new disciplines that directly attack the old.

We all have needs. How we get those needs met is often a mixed bag of both legitimate and illegitimate ways. In a perfect world, everyone would be aware of their needs and be able to express them to one another without shame, anxiety, or anger. Since we live on a blemished fallen planet, we end up trying to meet our needs indirectly through hustling for love, hoarding resources, and controlling others – all harmful ways which destroys souls and relationships.

In order to focus on meeting our needs in a wise and healthy manner, we must take a step beyond ending a toxic relationship, cutting up a credit card, or saying “no” to another responsibility. We often get into our mess to begin with because we are out of touch with ourselves and our needs. We need affection and encouragement, and there is no shame in needing this. We need security and safety, and there is no problem in acquiring this. There are some things we need to control, and that is okay.

If we fail to address our needs, we might do the necessary work of deliverance, then turn right around and become worse off than before by filling the empty place of our lives with:

  • Being all things to all people, as if we were the Messiah.
  • Being successful so that we stay ahead of being needy.
  • Pulling inside ourselves and trusting nobody.
  • Distancing from our needs and pretending they are not there.
  • Being continually vigilant so that we are never hurt that way again.
  • Keeping a positive spin on everything, as if there is no negative stuff in the world.
  • Challenging other’s opinions and behaviors to keep the focus off our needs.
  • Becoming a wallflower so that we can never be the brunt of someone else’s vitriol or evil.

Instead, we can let Jesus fill the emptiness with love, purpose, peace, joy, attention, and grace. Christ is the Savior who delivers us from evil, and the Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier who carefully applies the work of salvation to our lives. When our hearts and minds are full of God, there is no place for the demons to get in.

True change and transformation equally forsakes evil and embraces righteousness; replaces the unhealthy with the healthy; jettisons the illegitimate and seeks the legitimate; and puts away unnecessary suffering and pursues peace and joy in the Spirit.

O God, I no longer want to live with saying I’m sorry and going right back to the old pig slop of sin. I cannot change on my own. I need Jesus to both take away the sin and give me a new life of living for him. Help me to make choices that put to death the old way of life, and the courage to live into my forgiveness in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.