Tag: faith

Nothing Makes Sense (Ecclesiastes 1:1-18)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Statue of “The Thinker,” by Auguste Rodin, 1880. Photo by Robert Reynolds.

When the son of David was king in Jerusalem, he was known to be very wise, and he said:

Nothing makes sense!
Everything is nonsense.
    I have seen it all—
    nothing makes sense!
What is there to show
for all of our hard work
    here on this earth?
People come, and people go,
but still the world
    never changes.

The sun comes up,
    the sun goes down;
it hurries right back
    to where it started from.
The wind blows south,
    the wind blows north;
round and round it blows
    over and over again.
All rivers empty into the sea,
    but it never spills over;
one by one the rivers return
    to their source.

All of life is far more boring
    than words could ever say.
Our eyes and our ears
are never satisfied
    with what we see and hear.
Everything that happens
    has happened before;
nothing is new,
    nothing under the sun.
Someone might say,
    “Here is something new!”
But it happened before,
    long before we were born.
No one who lived in the past
    is remembered anymore,
and everyone yet to be born
    will be forgotten too.

I said these things when I lived in Jerusalem as king of Israel. With all my wisdom I tried to understand everything that happens here on earth. And God has made this so hard for us humans to do. I have seen it all, and everything is just as senseless as chasing the wind.

If something is crooked,
    it can’t be made straight;
if something isn’t there,
    it can’t be counted.

I said to myself, “You are by far the wisest person who has ever lived in Jerusalem. You are eager to learn, and you have learned a lot.” Then I decided to find out all I could about wisdom and foolishness. Soon I realized that this too was as senseless as chasing the wind.

The more you know,
    the more you hurt;
the more you understand,
    the more you suffer. (Contemporary English Version)

There’s an awful lot of nonsense in this old world. Arguably, the wisest person who ever lived, King Solomon, said that everything is nonsense, and all things are meaningless.

That’s probably why the Book of Ecclesiastes isn’t at the top of most people’s reading list. Admittedly, in many ways, it’s a depressing read.

Yet, maybe we are being led to consider that it really isn’t our task or purpose to understand everything in this world. After all, if a wise guy like Solomon didn’t make heads nor tails of it all, why in tarnation would you or I try to do so?

This doesn’t mean we don’t understand anything; it just means that we don’t have the ultimate answers on the universe’s workings. And if we try to have perfect knowledge of all things, it will be a fool’s errand. That’s because only God has ultimate understanding and perfect knowledge of everything and everyone.

So then, what do we do? Glad you asked. We accept our limitations, and thereby, it is likely we will gain more understanding than any other way we try.

Meister Eckhart, a medieval Catholic monk, had some sage observations in this short poem:

What is the prayer

of a heart loosed

from all the things

that crowd our lives

and worry our minds

from day to day?

it is coming to that

place within us where

not knowing is the

mark of faith,

not wanting

the work of hope,

and not demanding

the gift of love.

Meister Eckhart talked of acceptance, and letting go of expectations. Learning to allow things to go as they will go, to be okay with not always having to have answers for everything, and refusing to control people and outcomes, is not only the path to acceptance, but is also the way of peace and less anxiety.

Likely, the best that we can do every day is to show up, pay attention, speak the truth in love, and don’t be married to the consequences.

If we can accept our limitations and weaknesses, and embrace the mysteries of life, then a whole world of discernment and wisdom can open to us within the narrow scope of our very mortal lives.

Indeed, we can find a sense of satisfaction and happiness in who we are, and what our place is in this very big world. Yet, this only comes with some significant struggle. Taking the easy path only results in cheap counterfeit contentment.

We will need to become comfortable with mystery and paradox, the knowledge that comes with not knowing, and upside-down theology. These are our keys to the secrets of life.

We must rid ourselves of the idea that Scripture is merely a life map that shows how and where to live. Holy Scripture may be a map, yet, it will point us in directions we may not want to go; and may even tell us to be in two places at once.

To try and make the Bible neat and tidy, with clear answers to modern day questions, is probably why such persons avoid the Book of Ecclesiastes as if it were the plague.

In reality, Ecclesiastes is a book that stands the orderly nature of life on its end. It is the scriptural place where playing by the rules and believing the right things won’t give you the good life you’re searching for.

Eventually, everyone encounters a dark night of the soul in which the death of a loved one, a failed relationship, or the loss of health turns our neatly ordered world upside-down to the point where we don’t recognize who we are, or what the world really is anymore.

These are times when our platitudes of simple faith are impotent to help us. Trust and belief are still important and vital, but they are no longer as understandable and intelligible as they once were.

It is imperative in these times that we doubt and question things; and even question God. A genuine robust faith is one that has been gained by plodding through the muck of anger, and even depression.

Authentic belief is neither cheap nor easy. It engages more than a few mental thoughts; it also goes to the heart and the gut, often with heart-rending emotions and gut-wrenching insights.

The Book of Ecclesiastes is a book for all of us. But it must not be read lightly nor flippantly. It’s contents need to be grappled with. Simply reading the last page of the book and making a faith declaration from that place will not only get you nowhere, it is also potentially damaging.

Only engage this material if you are brave enough, have some chutzpah within you, and are willing to reconsider and perhaps let go of all previous settled ideas about how the world is, or at least, how it should work.

So, if you want some quick answers to life’s meaning and purpose, Ecclesiastes is not the place to look. There are plenty of charlatans out there who would be happy to give you such information.

But if you are searching for something real and authentic, genuine and lasting, then be prepared for a tough, yet fruitful, slog through the “meaningless” meanderings of Ecclesiastes.

Only the courageous and the vulnerable should enter.

O God, I am very sorry that I have sinned against you and for all the wrongs I have done and the good I have not done. Forgive me, and grant me strength and wisdom to amend my life.

I offer you praise and thanksgiving, for creation and all the blessings of this life, for redemption, faith, and love; and for the means of grace and the hope of glory. Amen.

Spiritual Wisdom and Power (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

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

When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the testimony of God to you with superior speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were made not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God. (New Revised Standard Version)

When it comes to proclaiming the gospel – the good news of Christ’s person and work – both the message and the messenger are important.

The Apostle Paul was dialed in and focused on the Cross of Jesus Christ. Although he could have used various methods of persuasion, he was determined to set aside all other means of proclamation, and declare Christ’s Cross as the message and method itself.

This means that Paul also deliberately faded himself into the background, in order to have the Cross of Christ in the foreground. He emphasized his own weakness, his fear and trembling, in order to highlight the strength and majesty of God.

Paul wanted the messenger to point to the message – which meant that all of his speaking allowed God’s Spirit and power to show itself through him, rather than in spite of him.

The Corinthians came to believe the message not because of a big showy demonstration of Paul’s strength, intellect, and wisdom. Instead, they embraced Christian belief because of spiritual power and effort.

If it is spiritual wisdom and power centered in the message of Christ’s Cross which saves us, then it is also more than good enough to sanctify us, as well, and be the core from which all of the Christian life emanates from.

The Apostle understood that he is God’s agent, God’s ambassador, but that God alone is the One who saves humanity and delivers them from sin, death, and hell.

Christ Carrying the Cross, by Martin Schongauer, c. 1480 C.E.

Paul’s argument doesn’t have anything to do with making sure that the word “cross” is said in every sermon and conversation, or that Christians have only one thing to talk about.

Instead, the Apostle wanted the Corinthian Church to distance themselves from their typical of use of worldly philosophical wisdom, in favor of a distinctly spiritual wisdom which demands a certain kind of ministry:

The cross of Jesus Christ is to be the central event in which all of Christian life and ministry revolves around. In other words, the shape of Christianity is cruciform.

And since the cruciform nature of Christianity is our reality, our wisdom is to be received and flow from the Cross of Christ. To do less is to rely upon a different power other than the distinctive spiritual power of Christ’s death.

It isn’t any one of us which breaks through to another’s spirit; the power of God compels a person to listen, receive the message, and be given faith to believe, grow, and spiritually mature.

When the good news of Christ’s person and work takes root and develops within us, then what comes out of us is spiritual power, and not our own homespun worldly human wisdom.

“Wisdom” is the ability to take a body of knowledge and apply it to concrete situations in life.

So, when it comes to spiritual wisdom, Christians mature in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus; then, they learn to take this important body of knowledge and apply it to all of the various circumstances and situations they are faced with every day.

This isn’t to say that worldly wisdom has no merit or significance, or that it is misguided. Rather, it means that this sort of wisdom doesn’t have the ability, the strength, or the power to move and change us, or others, toward deliverance and new life. We need the wisdom of the Spirit for that. And Paul insisted that this wisdom comes from the Cross of Christ.

The crucifixion of Christ is the wise guide for all of the Apostle Paul’s theology, message, and ministry. That singular event was like a massive meteor hitting the ocean of humanity, with a powerful tsunami of spiritual power and grace still making waves up to this very day.

Indeed, the Cross of Christ impacts all of creation, the entire universe. The person and work of Jesus Christ has cosmic implications for the salvation and deliverance of everything from the grip of evil.

On the practical daily level of things, none of this is about trying to do or be better, to somehow work harder at being a Christian or doing Christian mission and ministry. The fact of the matter is that we can only give to others what we have received from God. This means that:

  • The Holy Scriptures are to be received with reverence and fear, as a message given for us to learn and know so well that it becomes as familiar to you as the backdoor of your house.
  • The Christian life is about dying to self, taking up one’s cross and following Christ. If we desire the power of the resurrection, then this will first require embracing and allowing the powerful suffering of the cross to do its work.
  • Faithfulness is at the heart of living. Our task is to show up, pay attention, and speak the truth in love, and let God use this to accomplish the Divine holy will. Being married to outcomes and consequences will likely lead to reliance upon worldly wisdom, and eventually disappointment.
  • The Cross of Christ is what everything and everyone hinges upon. The world does not revolve around you nor me. So, let’s get in sync with the Spirit of God and rely upon the cruciform power provided for us by means of Christ’s death.

O God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; who lives and reigns now and forever. Amen.

Get Low Enough To See (John 7:25-36)

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

At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”

At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?”

The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.

Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”

The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?” (New International Version)

Once in a while, I pray something like this: “Lord, if I’m not seeing you when I ought to, or am not getting something you’re trying to show me, please use your divine baseball bat and whomp me upside the head!”

That’s because, far more often than I would like to admit, I miss seeing the Divine whenever God shows up. That’s true for all of us, as well. We tend to mistake experiencing God when the Lord comes and stands in front of us.

In the New Testament Gospels, some who followed Jesus ended up turning around and going back to their old life. Either the situations with Jesus got too dicey, or Christ’s teaching seemed too confusing. When that happens, it’s too easy to forget Jesus altogether, and never pay attention to him.

There are others who treated Jesus with contempt, simply because they didn’t recognize who he really is. One cannot have faith if they don’t know or acknowledge the object of faith. You cannot believe Jesus if you don’t believe he is from God.

And, of course, there are those who see Christ for who he is. Yet, some of them see Jesus as a threat and want to be rid of him. Others see him as a great healer and teacher, and follow Jesus in order to gain something from him.

However, there are others who see through spiritual eyes and gain the faith to believe and follow him.

All of us, in some way or another in our lives, have misread Jesus and mistaken him for the gardener or some other person.

Many of the Jews in Christ’s own lifetime rejected him because they believed him to be a common nondescript Jew. They knew his parents, and his family. Jesus was too familiar to be special, let alone the Son of God. Besides, everyone knows nothing good comes from the Hicksville that’s Nazareth, right?

The thing is: People miss seeing Jesus for who he is (sometimes including you and me) because we have particular expectations and requirements of our personal Jesus. In other words, it is awfully easy to make Jesus Christ into our own image of how he should be.

Having worked with college students for many years, I continually got a kick out of some of them who had precise requirements for a spouse, and certain expectations of how their potential kids were going to be someday.

It went well beyond having the same core cardinal values. Handsome and beautiful, smart but not too smart, assertive but not sassy, subservient but not a washrag, a 3-point Calvinist but not 5-point, willing to eat anything on the table except weird food that would embarrass, willing to live on a shoestring budget, funny but not quirky…. Actually, I could keep going; there’s a lot more. But you get the idea.

You may be curious as to my counsel to them. I typically said something along the lines of “I guess you’ll never get married, because marriage has nothing to do with any of that stuff. If you’re willing to have your eyes open and see a good person when they come along, and if you’re patient enough to develop a solid relationship built on grace, truth, and love, then you’ll likely find yourself a spouse you can be with for a lifetime.”

I remember one day on a college campus talking with a student after he asked me why he should ever be a Christian. I don’t think he expected my answer. I had already assessed that the guy was looking for a philosophical debate, so I went in a different direction. I said something like:

“I don’t think you should be a Christian. Jesus had people misunderstand him all the time. He was ridiculed and persecuted, tortured and killed. And he had the chutzpah to tell his followers that suffering would be a big part of being his disciple. Many of them followed him anyway. If you’re interested in why they did, we can talk. But if you just want to try and feel good by talking about Jesus, and avoid facing life’s pain and suffering, then I’m not wasting my time. So, what do you want to do?”

We will miss Jesus altogether if we are looking for a particular person. Whenever we get married to specific outcomes, then we’ll miss him for sure.

I wonder how many times Jesus showed up in your life this week, and you didn’t recognize him. In truth, Jesus is with us, by means of the Spirit, all the time. If you don’t see him, it’s not God’s fault, or anybody else’s.

Humility accesses spiritual sight. The religious leaders of Christ’s day were flummoxed and fuming all the time because of their arrogance, and their settled theological and biblical dogma. And so, they could not see who Jesus is, even though he was smack in front of them.

Yet, even though we may be spiritually blind and deaf, and finally see a glimpse and catch a sound of Jesus, that graciously means he is still there, beside you, never having given up on you.

Even a blurry and faint awareness realizes Jesus coming in the people we meet each day who encourage and bless us. Christ even comes and speaks through those we would not expect to hear a word from God.

Whenever we may wonder where Jesus is in our suffering and pain, he is there, sometimes even holding us and carrying us, despite our lack of awareness.

In reality, Jesus is in front of us, beside us, and holding us, all of the time. It’s just a matter of whether we know it, or not. Christ is in everything we experience. He is in both our sadness and joy, the noise and the silence, our work as well as worship, business and leisure, at night when we fall asleep and in the morning when we open our eyes.

So, if we are looking and longing for Christ, he has already come. Jesus came in the most humble forms possible. So, in order to see and experience him, we need to get low enough to see and hear him.

My Lord and my God, help me to see You in all of the ways You come to me today. Teach me not to despise any of the forms in which You come to me as being too common, humble, or ordinary. 

Wake me with Your presence in the morning and tuck me into bed when I sleep. Labor with me in my work today, and cause my leisure to lead to thanksgiving. 

Speak to me through the people You have ordained for me to meet today, and speak even through me, in spite of myself. 

For good and for ill, better and worse, in sickness and health, and in richness and poverty, reveal Yourself to me that I may receive whatever blessing You have chosen for me this day; through Jesus Christ Your Son, my Lord, who with You and the Holy Spirit are One God, now and forever. Amen.

Self-Denial (Mark 8:27-38)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
“Let him take up his cross and follow me.”

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

He called the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (New Revised Standard Version)

It is quite common for English translations of Holy Scripture to smooth over some of the rough edges of the biblical text. In today’s Gospel lesson, there are three instances of a Greek word (ἐπιτιμάω, pronounced ep-ee-ti-MA-o) getting a somewhat tepid translation into English:

  1. Jesus “sternly ordered” them not to tell anyone about him (8:30)
  2. Peter took Jesus aside and began to “rebuke” him (8:32)
  3. Jesus “rebuked” Peter (8:33)

These are accurate translations; it’s just that the Greek word’s punch isn’t quite there for us as English readers. “Sternly ordered” and “rebuke” are strong English words, yet they must go further. For a more vernacular reading, I would frame the verses this way:

  1. Jesus made it very clear to the disciples to “shut up” about him. In my family growing up, “shut up” was the one word we were never to say without severe consequences. Swear words typically were fine; “shut up” was not. 
  2. Peter took Jesus aside and told him to “shut up.” Now you can see how much more forceful the word is. Imagine saying that to Jesus! 
  3. Jesus told Peter to “shut up.” Christ took up his authority and let Peter know who was really in charge, and perhaps more importantly, let Satan know that he is to “shut up” and keep his sinister mouth quiet.

The strong language is necessary because Jesus was quite strongly upsetting the apple cart and being the sort of Messiah that nobody expected, and frankly, did not want to see.

Messianic hope in the first century did not include things like being crucified, and no less, by religious leaders. Folks believed the opposite would be true. Messiah would come, affirm the religious status quo, and crucify the wretched Romans, thereby setting up Jewish rule with no more Gentile interference and persecution.

But Jesus was insistent about the way of the cross, and was not about to sidestep his ultimate mission of suffering and death. This was not just being killed; it was terrible torture and human degradation.

What’s more, to follow Jesus is to follow the way of the cross. Self-denial, ironically and paradoxically, is the true way of finding oneself and becoming awake and aware of how the universe works.

Yet another less than stellar English translation is “life.” For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it (8:35).

The typical Greek word for life was not used by the Gospel writer Mark; instead he used a word which denoted the substance of a person’s life, the essence of one’s innermost personhood: “soul” (Greek ψυχή, transliterated psyche)

It was necessary for Jesus to give himself for us. His self-denial and horrible martyrdom was the way to save our souls. Humanity is in such a dark predicament that they cannot save themselves; we need someone to deliver us, to save our innermost selves.

But, of course, that doesn’t stop so many of us humans from trying to save ourselves anyway. Knowledge and education, perfectionism and achievement, hard work and effort, money and resources, political power and control, are all the typical ways of trying to psychologically (or psyche-logically) make our souls, our inner person, feel as if there is freedom and happiness.

Yet, it doesn’t take long for those on the committed path of self-improvement to realize that they have only imposed a greater burden on themselves which keeps them in their immaterial shackles.

Instead, we must accept Christ’s authority over our lives, and over our souls. The stark reality is that we need a Savior, and that savior is not you nor me. And neither health nor wealth will get us anywhere with our soul.

It is imperative that we walk in the way of Jesus. It is the way of suffering. Yet, the suffering leads to glory; the crucifixion results in resurrection.

In giving your soul, you find it. In giving yourself to Jesus, you will discover the key to the soul’s freedom and happiness. Furthermore, in losing yourself for the sake of others, you find the soul’s real mission on this earth.

The only path to overcoming shame is by reframing it and embracing it, just as the Lord Jesus did:

Fix your eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2, NIV)

Perhaps many of us need to “shut up” long enough to listen well to Jesus, and discover in him what our inner self has been searching for so long to find.

Blessed Lord, give us grace to deny ourselves, to take up our cross daily, and to follow Christ; to discipline our bodies and keep them under control. Keep us from being lovers of ourselves, and from being wise in our own eyes and leaning to our own understanding. Help us to seek, not our own good only, but also the good of our neighbor. And grant that we may not live to ourselves or die to ourselves, but whether we live or die, we may be the Lord’s, and may live and die to him. Amen.