Tag: christ’s teaching

John 10:11-21 – The “Good” Shepherd

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, by P. Solomon Raj (1921-2019)

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. When the hired hand sees the wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away. That’s because he isn’t the shepherd; the sheep aren’t really his. So, the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. He’s only a hired hand and the sheep don’t matter to him.

“I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep and they know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. I give up my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that don’t belong to this sheep pen. I must lead them too. They will listen to my voice and there will be one flock, with one shepherd.

“This is why the Father loves me: I give up my life so that I can take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I give it up because I want to. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it up again. I received this commandment from my Father.”

There was another division among the Jews because of Jesus’ words. Many of them said, “He has a demon and has lost his mind. Why listen to him?” Others said, “These aren’t the words of someone who has a demon. Can a demon heal the eyes of people who are blind?” (Common English Bible)

Many people in today’s urban and suburban world are completely unfamiliar with sheep and shepherds. So, when it comes to picturing Jesus as the good shepherd, idyllic scenes might come to mind, full of green meadows and pastoral landscapes, where there is perfect peace and rest, at all times.

Having been raised in rural Midwest America, I can confidently say there is little romanticism to the life of shepherds and sheep. Sheep eat a lot. They’ll eat just about anything that’s growing out of the ground. Think about how you would feel if you ate copious amounts of plants…. Lots of gas, trips to the bathroom, and stink.

That’s how it is with sheep. They continually poop and the smell is downright awful. A lot of a shepherd’s daily work is helping sheep deal with all the gas inside them. Sheep are easily prone to bloating from excess gas. This isn’t just an uncomfortable situation for a sheep; it’s an emergency life-and-death scenario. The shepherd must continually be vigilant to the sheep and take care of such circumstances immediately and carefully.

Taking care of sheep is dangerous, difficult, and tedious work. Historically, shepherds were rough characters, constantly on the move to find lush pastures for the flock’s voracious appetite. They had to deal with both animal and human predators looking for an easy meal. Being mostly outdoors, even at night, led to their reputation as drinkers – keeping up a consistent nip of spirits to remain warm. And, of course, they smelled bad.

So, when Jesus described himself as the “good shepherd,” this was anything but a pleasing picture for people in the ancient world. The closest equivalents to our modern day might be for Jesus to say, “I am the good migrant worker,” or the “good carny” (carnival employee).

Anyone or any profession in which we might deem a person in that line of work as of dubious character – that is precisely how a shepherd, and their work, were viewed by ancient people. It’s often the low-wage workers of society who get down and dirty. Because of their work, they get a suspicious and contemptuous reputation. Remarkably, Jesus unabashedly aligned himself with such people.

And yet, it is the discounted professions and the dismissed people from which we must pay attention; God is probably at work in their midst.

The despised Samaritan gained the label of “good” by Jesus for giving himself fully to save a stranger. Jesus puts the same adjective in front of shepherd. Whereas no one in polite society would use “good” for shepherd, Jesus labels himself as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.

Jesus, this incredible figure who puts good and shepherd together, also goes out of his way to bring other sheep into his fold. Since Christ identifies himself as a stinky lowly shepherd, he has no problem connecting with everyone. After all, when one is already low, there’s no looking down on another.

People everywhere, no matter their station in life, can hear the voice of Jesus speaking to them when they, too, are low enough to be able to listen.

The Good Shepherd by He Qi

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is also the sacrificial lamb. In laying down his life he takes it up again (John 10:17). And when we participate in that dying and rising, when we eat the bread and drink the cup of salvation, we know he abides in us(1 John 3:24). Remaining in Christ with our Good Shepherd means, we, too, lay down our lives:

This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves.

If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.

My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. (1 John 3:16-18, MSG)

Community is messy. People are stinky. Stepping into another’s life is rarely picturesque or idyllic. Yet, it’s at the same time elegant and aromatic. For we discover that our old ideas of beauty are obsolete. We gain a new spiritual sense which is redolent with the fragrance of Christ.

O God, Shepherd of all your people, deliver us from all troubles, worries and cares that assail us so that we may always do what is pleasing in your sight, and remain safe in the care of our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Luke 18:18-30 – A Rich Man’s Question

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

A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”

“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”

Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.” (New International Version)

The sorts of questions we ask say a lot about us. We might classify all questions into genuine curiosity and self-justification. This includes the tone of voice and affect in which the question is asked.

The wealthy man in today’s Gospel lesson asked a question. Rather than his tone being one of truly seeking to know, and his affect reflecting an authentic desire to know, instead he had his nose held high with a sanctimonious sounding expression. The man was mostly after a divine sanction of his lifestyle and his spirituality.

It doesn’t take the Son of God to know that this guy was pompously trying to angle for some kudos from Jesus about his superior life. But Christ, rather than blowing off the rich man or just blasting him for being a peacock, answered his question and led the man to what is most important.

One way of looking at the interaction between the rich man and Jesus is that it was an intervention. The rich man was addicted to wealth and money, but he didn’t see it. And he wanted validation that his way of life was sanctioned by the Almighty. 

The rich man believed himself to be quite godly and spiritual – an upstanding citizen, a religious man, attentive to God’s law. It’s a sad story because he walked away un-transformed by his encounter with Jesus and refused to follow him. He didn’t see himself as hopeless and desperately needing to change. He held to his denial.

We are all addicted to sin.  If you want to push back on that statement and are thinking, “Well, I don’t have as much money as _____” or, “So-and-so really has a problem with this…” then you are practicing what we call, in terms of addiction, denial. 

Truth be told, all of us are in some sort of denial about how much we really trust in paychecks, bank accounts, investments, and a wealth of stuff. Even people who are truly in poverty can also be addicted to wealth by always thinking about money and wishing for it as the answer to their problems, as if wealth is the highest good to attain in life.

Jesus put the problem out there for us all to see by communicating to us that sin cannot be managed – rather, sin needs to die. 

The good news is that by honestly facing up to our own addiction to things we can find grace. Grace always has the last word. Grace trumps addiction to money, stuff, and anything else. 

God’s love and acceptance is not conditional. Both the wretched sinner and the pompous peacock will find Christ’s forgiveness through the cross. Jesus put sin to death. We are simply invited to bring it out in the open, confess it, and follow Jesus.

One question that delights the heart of God, and reflects a humble and penitent spirit from us is this: “Will you forgive me, Lord?”

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Luke 14:25-33 – The Cost of Being a Disciple

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

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. And turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. (New International Version)

The goal of the Christian life is to be a disciple, and to do the work of discipleship. “Disciple” is another word for “follower.” We are to be faithful followers of Jesus; and the Church is to engage in the task of inviting others to join us along the way of following Jesus.

Jesus made it clear to the large crowds of people following him that the disciple’s life and work of discipleship (following Jesus) is to be of highest importance to us – it is why we exist as the Church. We are to discover what this kind of life entails, and we are to decide volitionally and intentionally to follow Jesus in every area of our lives with everything we have. 

Therefore, it is necessary to carefully consider the implications of Christ’s words to us and weigh the cost of following Jesus. 

Discipleship (following Jesus) requires obedience. Love of family must not stand in the way. Jesus said we are to “hate” family and even self. In our culture, we typically use the words “hate” and “love” as descriptions of our emotions or feelings. However, in Scripture, love and hate are primarily terms of allegiance or priority. 

In other words, Jesus is saying that our primary loyalty must clearly lie with following him over every earthly relationship. To follow Jesus means that we will not use family responsibilities to avoid obeying Christ, nor use other commitments to work or school as a reason to put our cross down.

The bottom line is this: In this life, with all its competing loyalties, the call of Jesus to discipleship not only takes precedence, but it also redefines all the other loyalties we have. 

The call of discipleship involves some detachment from other things in order to pursue following Jesus. All of life is to be infused with being a disciple and doing the work of discipleship. If we insist on making other commitments and loyalties as high a priority as following Jesus, we will find ourselves in a pickle. 

Several years ago, I took a trip with some other church leaders into the Canadian wilderness. We were so far out in the boonies that we needed special first aid training because if someone got hurt it would be hours before help could come. We canoed the lakes, carrying our backpacks and canoes between the lakes for an entire week.

Whatever we took with us, we had to carry. Some people thought they needed all kinds of clothes and other accessories. Not far into the week, they quickly began to leave things along the trail and learned, over time, to see that what they thought was important in their life wasn’t really important to what they were doing.

We must get back to basics and do what is essential; and what is of most importance is following Jesus. An un-salty disciple is worthless. Making a commitment to Christ without counting the cost is foolish.  Discipleship was never designed to be easy; it was intended to be a public display that Jesus is Savior and Lord in every area of my life. 

That means we will struggle with questions such as: 

  • How do I be a faithful follower of Jesus in my family? 
  • How do I be a disciple, and do the work of discipleship at work? 
  • How do I practice following Jesus in my neighborhood, and everywhere I go?

If we do not plan to follow Jesus at home and in the world, we won’t, because all kinds of competing loyalties will take over if we are not intentional about being disciples and making disciples. 

Everything and everyone is to take a back seat to Jesus, who is to be our primary loyalty.  Jesus used two examples to illustrate that we need to count the cost of discipleship. In the first, a builder plans and should ensure that he has enough money and materials to complete the entire structure. 

We must take stock to finish what we have started; if we started well with Christ, we need to do whatever it takes to finish well as a disciple of Jesus. What will we do when the going is difficult?

“Jesus has many who love his kingdom in heaven, but few who bear his cross. He has many who desire comfort, but few who desire suffering. He finds many to share his feast, but few his fasting. All desire to rejoice with him, but few are willing to suffer for his sake. Many follow Jesus to the breaking of bread, but few to the drinking of the cup of his passion. Many admire his miracles, but few follow him in the humiliation of the cross.”

Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

We only know real joy whenever we give up pursuing happiness. In God’s upside-down kingdom, to live is to die, and to die is to live. Until we grasp this, we will be endlessly frustrated with our circumstances and other people.  

The second illustration from Jesus is of a king and war. The king makes a battle plan, and if he thinks he cannot defeat the opposing army, he wisely seeks a peace treaty. My friends, no one is going to oppose God and win, so it is best to make peace. 

Rather than trying to fit Jesus into our calendar, we are to let our calendar fill out around the center of following Jesus. If we insist we are too busy for prayer; do not have time for daily reading of the Scriptures; for loving one another; for making disciples (which requires much time and effort) then we have lost our way and must listen to this call of Jesus to be his disciple.

What then, shall we do?  

Imagine that in our heart is a big conference room: a big table, leather chairs, coffee, bottled water, and a whiteboard. A committee sits around the table in your heart. There is the social self, the private self, the work self, the sexual self, the recreational self, the religious self, and others.

The committee is arguing and debating and voting, constantly agitated and upset. Rarely can they come to a unanimous, wholehearted decision. We may tell ourselves we are this way because of so many responsibilities or too little abilities. Yet, the truth is that we’re just divided, unfocused, hesitant, and not free. 

One way to deal with the situation is to invite Jesus onto the committee. Give him a vote, too. But then he becomes just one more complication. A better way is to say to Jesus, “My life isn’t working. Please come in and fire my committee, every last one of them. I hand myself over to you. I am your responsibility now. Please run my whole life for me.” 

Being a disciple of Jesus is not just adding Jesus. It is also subtracting the idols that are in our hearts. Saying that we belong to Jesus means that he will come in with a whip, overturn tables, and throw out a bunch of people.

If you are ready for that, pray with me…

Almighty and everlasting God, from our recliners and comfortable chairs, we solve all the world’s problems. We take people to task for what they say and do, without lifting a finger to be a part of the solution. We are too often de-sensitized to your mercy and compassion because we are not involved in your dream for all people to be your disciples. 

Remove the scales from our eyes and lift the indifference from our hearts, so that we may see your vision – a vision of people following Jesus in the mission of being disciples and of making disciples. 

Transform our lives, so that we may accomplish your purpose. 

Anoint us with your Spirit that we might bring good news to the oppressed, bind up the brokenhearted, and proclaim release to the captive. 

Give us a new urgency to reach out to those whom no one else will touch, to accept the unacceptable, to embrace the enemy, to do justice and love mercy. 

Surround us with your love, fill us with your grace, and strengthen us for your service. Empower us to respond to the call of Jesus – to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Christ our Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Luke 14:15-24 – The Parable of the Great Banquet

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

When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’

“Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’

“Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

“The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’

“‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’

“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’” (New International Version)

If the gospel of forgiveness in Jesus Christ is such good news, and God is so good, then why aren’t people breaking the door down to get into the Church? 

Today’s Gospel lesson gives us one reason why: They just aren’t interested. The parable Jesus told was of people, when invited to come to the great banquet, kept making one excuse after the other why they couldn’t come.

Keep in mind that Jesus wasn’t talking to sinful outsiders, but the religious insiders – they were the ones making the excuses why they could not participate. 

Let’s cut to the chase: If professing believers in Jesus Christ are not excited about the gospel… If Christians are not enthused over what they possess in the gospel… If the Church is content to go through the motions of Christianity without a concern to be with Jesus… If we are simply too busy to come and attend God’s banquet of grace…

Then, why in the world would any Christian or any Church believe that others ought to show up and be a part of their fellowship, that they would even remotely entertain a thought to profess Christ as Savior and break down the door to get into Christianity?

Jesus was offering a penetrating warning: The unresponsive religious insiders will be replaced by the responsive sinful outsiders. 

If the insiders take for granted what they possess and have better things to do, then God is going to call people who will hear, listen, and respond to the gracious invitation.

The deeply probing question for every believer in Christ today is: Are we so familiar with Jesus, and so content with the way things are that when God breaks into our lives in the form of an invitation that we refuse to respond because we are not interested in going to some stupid banquet? 

There is an incredible abundant feast for us – in fact, Jesus said that his food and drink was to do the Father’s will, that Scripture was his bread. (John 4:34) 

It’s much too easy to take the spiritual abundance of grace and mercy – as well as our physical abundance of food and water – for granted. After all,…

  • Being well-fed, it’s easy to assume that everyone else is, too.
  • Enjoying good health, it’s easy to forget that others are hurting and in pain.
  • Having money and the ability to work hard, it’s easy to think that there are not many poor people around.
  • Living around other Christians all the time, it’s natural to assume that everyone knows the gospel of Jesus – but they don’t!

In Christ’s story, the people making excuses see no real importance to take the invitation to the banquet seriously. And so, they go off to take care of their business and their family.

Like them, we can be much too busy with mundane activities to notice that people need the Lord. And then, when we get around to acknowledging that there are people who need Jesus, we keep devising ways to reach them without having to change our own lives to do it.

Jesus has no intention of calling and inviting us to a discipleship that requires no change on our part. The refusal to alter our lives to accommodate God’s invitation will result in the invitation going out to others. 

So, the master’s servant in the parable goes out into the roads and country lanes and invites any common person to come – anyone he can find.

And that is the scandal of Christ’s gospel – that the invitation to God’s abundant mercy is open to outcasts and failures, to problem people and unimpressive low-life’s, to backwater rednecks and uneducated hicks, to the jobless and the needy, to all sorts of people who are not like your circle of friends. 

People who are flawed are especially dear to Jesus, and not just people who have it all together. It’s the people who outwardly have it all together that are being replaced wholesale with those who admit their guilt, shame, and brokenness. 

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy upon us sinners.

Gracious God, forgive me for wasting time in things that just don’t matter in the scope of eternity. I choose to go out and compel outsiders to come in, so that your house will be full for the great feast at the end of the age. Through Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, I pray. Amen.