Tag: faith

The Lord Will Grant Me Justice (Isaiah 49:1-7)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
From the final of scene of “The Count of Monte Cristo,” 2002 film from Touchstone Pictures

Listen to me, coastlands;
    pay attention, peoples far away.
The Lord called me before my birth,
    called my name when I was in my mother’s womb.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
    and hid me in the shadow of God’s own hand.
He made me a sharpened arrow,
        and concealed me in God’s quiver,
    saying to me, “You are my servant,
        Israel, in whom I show my glory.”
But I said, “I have wearied myself in vain.
    I have used up my strength for nothing.”
Nevertheless, the Lord will grant me justice;
    my reward is with my God.
And now the Lord has decided—
    the one who formed me from the womb as his servant—
    to restore Jacob to God,
    so that Israel might return to him.
    Moreover, I’m honored in the Lord’s eyes;
    my God has become my strength.
He said: It is not enough, since you are my servant,
    to raise up the tribes of Jacob
    and to bring back the survivors of Israel.
    Hence, I will also appoint you as light to the nations
    so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

The Lord, redeemer of Israel and its holy one,
    says to one despised,
    rejected by nations,
    to the slave of rulers:
    Kings will see and stand up;
    commanders will bow down
    on account of the Lord, who is faithful,
    the holy one of Israel,
    who has chosen you. (Common English Bible)

The Servant in today’s Old Testament lesson is referred to as Israel. Israel’s role is identified as being the covenant people of God. And Israel’s purpose is to be a light to the nations. It was the Lord’s intention that through this covenant community God’s glory would be revealed.

But in much of Israel’s history, this purpose and mission from God did not shake-out very well among the people. The prophets were sent to Israel’s leadership in order to point out the incongruence between Israel’s call from God from their actual lived experience.

Among the prophets, like Isaiah, was modeled for the people what they should have been doing all along: Persevering in faithful suffering for the sake of the surrounding nations. Yet, instead of embracing this difficult commission, Israel largely appropriated worship practices and dubious morality from the nations.

Whereas light was supposed to shine in the darkness, the light was hidden and the darkness overwhelmed it.

However, light cannot stay hidden for long. Servant Israel nonetheless discovered what it meant to suffer for righteousness sake. The Servant confessed having fallen short of God’s glory while also speaking confidently about God’s abiding faithfulness.

There is here a recognition by the Servant that Israel’s purpose and mission has not yet been fulfilled. A big task still awaits to bring forth justice to the nations.

Oftentimes, whenever we think of justice, we may tend toward believing that it refers to divine judgment, as if the task is to make sure the bad guys get it in the  end. But that’s a Western movie understanding in which the Sheriff puts some lead in the bandits bellies.

“Justice” in Holy Scripture refers to the good guys – that they receive what they need to live and flourish on this earth. Whenever food, clothing, housing, or basic human rights are withheld or ignored by those in power, that’s injustice. And God is most concerned that everyone receives proper justice, that is, having everything they need for life and godliness in this present evil age.

So, what God cares about, the Servant is to care about. Since God cares about justice, so the Servant is to work toward ensuring there is justice for all.

God has provided. It is the Servant’s task to use that provision and live into the vocation given by God. In other words, the Servant has been equipped to do the work. There’s no excuse for injustice.

Wrapped-up in this call for justice is making sure that the faithful in Israel bring back the unfaithful, so that everyone together might fully engage in God’s purposes for humanity and reach the nations with deliverance from all that stands in the way of justice.

God is continually on a mission of bringing back wayward people. It is the role of God’s people to honor and glorify God by fulfilling their divine call to the nations. The Lord desires restoration, and wants to work with people in a divine/human cooperative which establishes just practices for the common good of everyone on planet earth.

Real strength comes from the Lord. There’s empowerment for God’s people to return to their sense of vocation, to be a light to the nations, and to realize deliverance from injustice so that people may thrive and enjoy creation and the Creator forever.

No matter what the circumstances one faces in this life, everyone has the capacity to trust in God in the middle of their suffering and/or discouragement. It’s in this context that the light of God is best shown among the nations.

Others rarely take note of believers’ faith when things are going well. It’s easy to show faith when life is good. But when life is precipitous, when situations are dire, and the believer nonetheless has a genuine and confident trust that God’s justice will prevail, then the world takes notice of that kind of faith.

Right now many people are facing hardship and feeling powerless due to governmental interventions that they don’t want and didn’t ask for. It’s easy to become discouraged and to be fearful of what will happen.

I definitely feel it. I have a 36-year-old daughter who is a white Christian mother of three living in Minneapolis. Sound familiar? It’s people like my sweet girl who are getting oppressed, abused, even killed. It’s unjust and unrighteous.

God is looking for justice in the public square. God does not forget the downtrodden, the immigrant, the weak, and the powerless. And God holds those in power to account – whether they are using their resources for justice or injustice.

What I need to hear, and maybe you do too, is that ultimately God is still on the throne – and not any earthly ruler or president or national leader of any kind. God still cares about the needs of everyone. The Lord has a heart and a passion for justice for all, and not just some.

The Lord will grant me and you justice.

Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Waiting Patiently For God (Psalm 40:1-11)

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

I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the desolate pit,
    out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
    making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
    a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
    and put their trust in the Lord.

Happy are those who make
    the Lord their trust,
who do not turn to the proud,
    to those who go astray after false gods.
You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
    your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
    none can compare with you.
Were I to proclaim and tell of them,
    they would be more than can be counted.

Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,
    but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering
    you have not required.
Then I said, “Here I am;
    in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
I delight to do your will, O my God;
    your law is within my heart.”

I have told the glad news of deliverance
    in the great congregation;
see, I have not restrained my lips,
    as you know, O Lord.
I have not hidden your saving help within my heart;
    I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
    from the great congregation.

Do not, O Lord, withhold
    your mercy from me;
let your steadfast love and your faithfulness
    keep me safe forever. (New Revised Standard Version)

Some of the greatest gifts any of us could ever receive are God’s steadfast love, faithfulness, and mercy. These are no problem for the Lord to bestow, because they are all a part of God’s very character.

Since, according to Holy Scripture, people are created in the image and likeness of God, every single one of us contains a divine reflection of faith, love, and mercy inside our very souls.

So, why aren’t these gifts and character virtues more evident in humanity?

Why does it seem to so many that love, faith, and mercy are in short supply today?

I believe today’s psalm gives us a clue to the answer. Virtuous character only really arises out of us through the practices of patience and gratitude. Another way of looking at this is: Our waiting and our thanksgiving help us become aware and in-touch with love, faith, and mercy.

Waiting Patiently

The Psalter is replete with encouragements to wait. The ability to be patient is connected to our character’s integrity.

May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
    for I wait for you. (Psalm 25:21, NRSV)

Our patience is an expression of our trust and reliance upon God.

Wait for the Lord;
    be strong, and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord! (Psalm 27:14, NRSV)

Throughout the psalms, faithful and patient waiting leads to God’s deliverance.

Wait for the Lord and keep to his way,
    and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
    you will look on the destruction of the wicked. (Psalm 37:34, NRSV)

We can wait because we have the hope that God is good for promises given.

And now, O Lord, what do I wait for?
    My hope is in you. (Psalm 39:7, NRSV)

It would be great if love and mercy were always right there, embedded clearly within every human community, family, group of people, and nation. But, as you well know, virtuous character is not always there for us.

This is why there are times in life in which we must wait for others’ love and faithfulness. We can do that through active patience, that is, by purposely loving others and being committed to them despite their unloving and uncommitted behaviors.

I’m not saying this is easy. In fact, it is downright hard. Yet, our persevering patience, expressed in mercy, will eventually win the day. What’s more, the Lord Jesus made it plain that we are to love others whether they are nice to us, or mean to us. (Matthew 5:43-48)

Giving Praise and Thanks

When God gives us deliverance from whatever or whomever is oppressing us, a new song arises in our hearts. The song declares and testifies to God’s goodness toward us. A song provides witness to our experience of God’s steadfast love, faithfulness, and divine mercy. Through singing, we show others the path toward deliverance.

O sing to the Lord a new song;
    sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord; bless his name;
    tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous works among all the peoples. (Psalm 96:1-3, NRSV)

I admit that there are many times I don’t feel like singing. Yet, even using my voice to sing a lament is a way of expressing thanks to God for being present with me in my grief, and for what God will do in my life.

For he will hide me in his shelter
    in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
    he will set me high on a rock.

Now my head is lifted up
    above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
    sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
    be gracious to me and answer me! (Psalm 27:5-7, NRSV)

Monetary sacrificial giving and offering is needed, yet this is not so much what God truly desires from us. God delights in our delight to do God’s will. So then, our sacrifice can look more like the exhortation of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2, NIV)

Petitioning God For Mercy

In today’s psalm, the psalmist makes a shift from offering thanks to asking God for mercy. Mercy in the form of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness is what the psalmist needed. And it is likely what you and I need, as well.

Any sort of deliverance we experience in this mortal life seems to have a temporary element to it. There is really no final deliverance until Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead. In the meantime, we need a lot of mercy.

I don’t know if you have ever had that feeling of deliverance from a slimy pit, and having your feet set on firm solid ground. Thankfully, I have.

My own deliverance(s) were never experienced because of any superior character on my part. No, deliverance is realized through asking. And asking requires some humility which admits need, and knows how much we cannot simply save ourselves from trouble.

But we must brace ourselves for the reality that we might do a lot asking over a seemingly long period of time. It’s one thing to ask; it’s another to keep asking day in and day out, week after week, month after month, even year after year, or decade after decade.

Yet this is the nature of patient waiting. There is no deliverance apart from perseverance in prayer. I’m not talking about a vain repetition of trying to get God’s attention – that’s because you and I already have it. I’m talking about the reality that we ourselves are not in control of anything except ourselves. And even our own self-control doesn’t often go so well.

A song of thanksgiving to God always understands that there will be ongoing trouble in this old world; and a continual need for deliverance.

I humbly ask that you join me in getting on your knees every day and asking for deliverance from the injustice and unrighteousness of our current world and national troubles. They are legion.

It isn’t easy watching friends live in fear, and neighbors becoming victims of oppression and abuse. But here we are, all of us in need of seeing God’s kingdom come to earth and God’s will be done on this planet, as it is always done in God’s heaven.

Soli Deo Gloria

May it be so, to the glory of God.

“Your Faith Has Made You Well” (Luke 17:11-19)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
Jesus heals ten lepers, with one returning to give him thanks

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten men with a skin disease approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’s feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? So where are the other nine? Did none of them return to give glory to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” (New Revised Standard Version)

Ten persons seeking healing called out to Jesus. And they got it. Yet, those persons were much more than passive receivers of healing. And Jesus was more than simply a giver.

Even though the lepers had heard about Jesus, they did not personally know him. It seems that – from their perspective – they had a chance encounter with Jesus. When they least expected a healing, a healing happened.

They called out to Christ, recognizing who it was that had entered their village. There was enough faith present for the diseased persons to make themselves known to Jesus – to expectantly put themselves out there and cry out for a healing to happen.

If you think about it, the power of any healing is really in the connection of being seen and heard in crying out to Jesus.

Although the healing of a person can come through a wondrous miracle, healing most often happens by the beautiful act of mutuality and participation. That is, the healer and the one in need of healing encounter each other with the willingness to both give and receive.

It’s in real human connection that healing happens. And it’s more than a physical cure; it’s also a healing reconnection of persons who were once isolated from the community. In other words, the healed person no longer needs to be on the outside of society, but can once again be a full participant in neighborhood and community.

Faith is central to what happens in the healing process. We all have some agency in realizing our own healing. We need not be passive spectators just wishing for things to be different.

Our anxiety and/or discouragement of present circumstances can move to a different place. We can discover relief through participating in social activities, taking walks in nature, and other modes requiring us to actively make a meaningful connection.

It requires faith.

Where faith is present, relational interaction and participation happens. In this context, a healing can occur. Rarely, if ever, does healing happen in complete isolation from others.

The fact that Jesus declared to the cleansed leper, “your faith has made you well,” indicates the mutuality of the healing encounter.

Let’s keep in mind that it takes at least two in order to have a healing: the healer and the healed one. Both participate together in the healing.

What’s more, when Christ heals, he heals without prejudice or favoritism.

In my front yard is a large ash tree with broad and expansive boughs. It is the ultimate shade tree. The tree’s name is Bob (I have a tendency to name trees, especially the ones I enjoy daily). Bob and I share the similarity of being created by the same Creator; and we both glorify God by simply being who we are created to be.

For Bob, he provides shade to people and animals without prejudice or favoritism. Anyone who comes under his great limbs can enjoy his shade. All that is needed for the protective and enjoyable experience of Bob’s boughs is a person under him.

Although it is appropriate to highlight the need for gratitude and praise in today’s story, the narrative itself builds to the climax of faith, of a participatory experience between Jesus and the leper(s).

And it did not matter if the persons healed were lepers, Samaritans, or even miscreants. What mattered was the faith-dialectic of the healer Jesus and the ones to be healed. All may enjoy the grace of divine shade if they move to becoming participants together with Christ by merely coming under his mercy.

I find that many people get hung-up about faith. We often make faith either too simple or too difficult. We create an overly simplistic faith when it becomes a completely passive affair of just waiting on God, or expecting someone else to heal me. We make faith a great difficulty whenever it becomes all about our level or amount of faith through the strenuous effort of intense prayer and contacting umpteen prayer chains.

But more or less prayer, more or less work, more or less of anything misses the point – because even a puny amount of faith will do, if it moves toward Jesus and seeks the participatory experience of a divine/human relation.

There is a cost to healing. It requires participation, relationship, and most of all, the humility to be seen and heard, instead of trying to control some sort of process to get the healing I want.

We call this genuine participation faith.

When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8)

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. (Galatians 5:6)

Your faith has made you well. (Luke 17:19)

In your love, O God of all, your people find healing. Grant that the pains of our journey may not obscure the presence of Christ among us, but that we may always give thanks for your healing power as we travel on the way to your kingdom; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit are one God, now and forever. Amen.

Increase Our Faith? (Luke 17:5-10)

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

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

“Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me; put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’ ” (New Revised Standard Version)

Here’s a simple observation of today’s Gospel text: Because Christ’s apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” they were acknowledging that they did not have enough faith.

But is that really true? Did the apostles – or do any of us – lack the faith we need to live the sort of life Jesus wants us to live?

I know that I sometimes feel like I have such little faith that it prevents me from being the person I want to be, and to do the good things I want to do. Yet, if I’m honest with myself, I truly don’t lack for anything in living out my faith. For God has already given me what I need.

God is good, all the time. Divine resources are always present. The Spirit dwells within us.

I’m reminded of Peter’s encouragement:

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2 Peter 1:3, NIV)

Jesus gave his disciples a hard answer to their request for faith. Perhaps hearing a bit of exasperation in the Lord’s voice, Christ communicated to them that they already have all the faith they need.

It’s never about the amount of faith. That’s because we already have enough faith. It doesn’t take much faith to radically change things. It’s much more an issue of accessing the faith which has already been provided for us.

Indeed, even if we have faith the size of a tiny little mustard seed, we could command a tree to be uprooted and throw itself into the sea. (Matthew 17:20; Mark 11:20-25)

Therefore, the apparently weakest of people in the world actually have the power to move mountains and uproot trees.

For example, when a sinful woman poured out expensive ointment on Jesus and applied it with her hair, Christ responded with a resounding “Your faith has saved you.” (Luke 7:50)

Furthermore, when a blind beggar longed to see again…

When a Samaritan leper looked for healing…

When a woman reached out and touched a tassel of the Lord’s garment…

When and a Gentile Roman Centurion came to Jesus on behalf of his ailing servant…

Christ affirmed the existing faith which was present with them – and each one of them therefore experienced the healing they so expected to realize. (Luke 3:48; 7:9; 18:42; 17:19)

In God’s economy, there is no distinction between basic trust in God and the faith that uproots trees. There is absolutely no need to try and manipulate spiritual forces in order to access a special kind of supernatural power. That’s what the pagans of old were always trying to do with their religion.

Getting a right or particular formula for a healing or a miracle is the stuff of other religions, not Christianity. For the Christian, something else is going on with faith.

What is impossible for us is possible with God. The issue with faith is where it is placed, and not with how much or how little you have. Any amount of faith that is directed to Jesus is more than enough. Even a mustard-seed-sized faith.

When participating in the sacrament of communion, you may wonder why a quarter-sized communion wafer is supposed to feed you anything. But this is communicating something important about our faith: Even a tiny portion of bread can fill and satiate the Christian’s need for spiritual sustenance.

A little bit of Jesus goes a very long way, no matter how many are gathered around the Table.

Having faith involves possessing thoughts, feelings, and actions which are thoroughly transformed by God. In other words, it involves being a “slave” of God, being a person who is devoted to engaging in God’s purposes for this world.

Whenever we engage in our work as servants of God, there’s no need for medals and accolades; we are simply doing what is expected of us. Our faith is quite enough to sustain us in doing our normal work in the world. Nothing added or unique is needed.

So, how do we access the faith needed to live the Christian life, in order to please God and bless the world? We do the work which is expected of us.

Then, we will find and see that the faith is there to do and to say what is needed. We need not wait for it; the faith is already there. But we will have to act if we want to see faith in action.

God of all ages, you have revealed your grace to us in the Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord. As we actively live into your mercy, strengthen us to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with You. May we accomplish Your divine will and live by the faith You have so graciously provided for us; through Christ, who lights the way to everlasting life. Amen.