Tag: god's abundance

Abundant Life (1 Kings 8:1-21)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Solomon dedicates the Temple at Jerusalem, by James Tissot (1836-1902)

Solomon then summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes—the leaders of the ancestral families of the Israelites. They were to bring the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant to the Temple from its location in the City of David, also known as Zion. So all the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the annual Festival of Shelters, which is held in early autumn in the month of Ethanim.

When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests picked up the Ark. The priests and Levites brought up the Ark of the Lord along with the special tent and all the sacred items that had been in it. There, before the Ark, King Solomon and the entire community of Israel sacrificed so many sheep, goats, and cattle that no one could keep count!

Then the priests carried the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant into the inner sanctuary of the Temple—the Most Holy Place—and placed it beneath the wings of the cherubim. The cherubim spread their wings over the Ark, forming a canopy over the Ark and its carrying poles. These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place, which is in front of the Most Holy Place, but not from the outside. They are still there to this day. Nothing was in the Ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Mount Sinai, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel when they left the land of Egypt.

When the priests came out of the Holy Place, a thick cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple of the Lord.

Then Solomon prayed, “O Lord, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness. Now I have built a glorious Temple for you, a place where you can live forever!”

Then the king turned around to the entire community of Israel standing before him and gave this blessing: “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept the promise he made to my father, David. For he told my father, ‘From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have never chosen a city among any of the tribes of Israel as the place where a Temple should be built to honor my name. But I have chosen David to be king over my people Israel.’”

Then Solomon said, “My father, David, wanted to build this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. But the Lord told him, ‘You wanted to build the Temple to honor my name. Your intention is good, but you are not the one to do it. One of your own sons will build the Temple to honor me.’

“And now the Lord has fulfilled the promise he made, for I have become king in my father’s place, and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised. I have built this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. And I have prepared a place there for the Ark, which contains the covenant that the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.” (New Living Translation)

Dedication of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, by Johann Georg Platzer (1704-1761)

I admit, at many times, that I am prone to melancholy. I tend to be quick at accepting blame, and rather slow at owning my good work. Another way of putting this is that it is easier to give than to receive.

Those who have endured a lot of hard circumstances, and persevered through many adversities, can sometimes be reticent to accept the good, the abundant, and the beautiful, whenever it comes to us in this life.

Waiting for the other shoe to drop, far too many people hold back themselves from receiving and enjoying the really good things in life. They worry that the goodness will disappear, or be taken away; and so, they withhold gratitude and blessing, whenever they are in the presence of great abundance.

Just so you know, in case there are those of you who need to hear it spelled out plainly: That’s messed up.

People are meant to be abundantly generous, as well as wildly receptive. It’s likely why there are so many spiritually unhealthy persons in the world.

Bless their hearts, they give a lot, without receiving much, and then their spiritual diarrhea makes it so they can’t give anymore. And they oftentimes give to those who are in such a habit of receiving (and not giving) that the receiver’s spiritual constipation becomes a terrible problem.

Let’s avoid both extremes by letting ourselves both give and receive with equal abandon. No one can be spiritually growing, healthy, and mature without the dynamic of giving and receiving.

Solomon knew how to do both. King Solomon was the king of abundance. He accepted and received big; and he gave and blessed big. Nobody before him or after him received and gave more.

The Temple, in all of its glory and grandeur, with the Ark of the Covenant encrusted with gold as the central object in the building, was all for a God who doesn’t live in houses, a God who is invisible.

In Solomon’s dedication of the Temple, he made it clear that the God of Israel is not, and cannot, be restricted to, or located within, a single place. Thus, the Lord is limitless, and not subject to any human manipulation.

God is free to give with great abandon. And God is also free to take away. Blessed be the name of the Lord God. If we continually try and anticipate or predict what God will do, we will likely be a nervous ball of anxiety all of the time, wondering when the unexpected and/or unwanted will visit us.

It is much better to receive the good things the Lord gives us, and enjoy them while we have them.

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Jesus (John 10:10)

Nothing is permanent, with the exception of relationships and love. So, if we can connect the temporal material things of this life in service to the immaterial realities of this universe, then we are in a position to experience peace, joy, and satisfaction.

If and when the material disappears, or is taken away, then it shall neither defeat us, nor destroy us. For our relational connections with God and others exist, and are free flowing, with the energy of gracious receiving and giving as the conduit of abundant life.

Melancholy is important and has its place for us in this present life; yet, so do things like celebration, dedication, joy, exuberance, emotional commitment, and open love. Indeed, to have these in abundance is a reflection of the God of abundance, in whose name we are bold to pray:

God of abundance, you have fed us with the bread of life and cup of salvation; you have united us with Christ and one another; and you have made us one with all your people in heaven and on earth. Now send us forth in the power of your Spirit, that we may proclaim your redeeming love to the world and continue forever in the risen life of Christ our Savior. Amen.

For the Sake of Beauty (1 Kings 7:1-12)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
King Solomon’s throne room, by Edward Poynter, 1890

Solomon’s palace took 13 years to build.

Forest Hall was the largest room in the palace. It was 44 meters long, 22 meters wide, and 13.5 meters high, and was lined with cedar from Lebanon. It had 4 rows of cedar pillars, 15 in a row, and they held up 45 cedar beams. The ceiling was covered with cedar. Three rows of windows on each side faced each other, and there were three doors on each side near the front of the hall.

Pillar Hall was 22 meters long and 13.5 meters wide. A covered porch supported by pillars went all the way across the front of the hall.

Solomon’s throne was in Justice Hall, where he judged cases. This hall was completely lined with cedar.

The section of the palace where Solomon lived was behind Justice Hall and looked exactly like it. He had a similar place built for his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt.

From the foundation all the way to the top, these buildings and the courtyard were made out of the best stones carefully cut to size, then smoothed on every side with saws. The foundation stones were huge, good stones—some of them four and a half meters long and others three and a half meters long. The cedar beams and other stones that had been cut to size were on top of these foundation stones. The walls around the palace courtyard were made out of three layers of cut stones with one layer of cedar beams, just like the front porch and the inner courtyard of the temple. (Contemporary English Version)

By Bible Art

Having secured the throne after his father’s death, King Solomon set himself to the task of following his father David’s ardent desire to build a temple for the Lord. The work took seven years to complete. (1 Kings 5-6)

Then, Solomon turned to building a royal palace with a complex of buildings (or halls). It seems these had the purpose of being both residences and government structures. This architectural achievement took nearly twice as long as constructing the temple of God.

Some commentators are rather hard on Solomon about this fact of taking so much time to build himself a palace. They interpret him as being distracted, almost self-absorbed – that somehow his heart was more into his own buildings than God’s temple.

I don’t really buy into that line of thinking. It seems to me this reads more into the text than what’s there. They could be right. However, it appears such commentary does an anachronistic reading of the text. Taking a standpoint of Solomon’s later devotion to his many wives, and hence their many other gods, a lack of commitment is then superimposed upon the construction projects. It’s as if Solomon finished the temple stuff in order to get his real architectural passions.

I think there’s a more plausible explanation for King Solomon’s dedication to erecting buildings in addition to the temple. The editor of 1 Kings includes the detail and dedication that went into the temple.

Let’s keep in mind that King David had been stockpiling and preparing materials, and planning for the temple, well before he died. Just because the Lord told David that he would not be the one to build it, that Solomon would, did not mean that David kept his thoughts and his hands off of getting as much ready as he could for his son.

What’s more, once Solomon put together such a marvelous and intricate building as the temple, the experience gave him a desire to work on other projects, as well. Solomon had an expansive vision of his kingdom.

As the wisest person on earth, he put his money where his mouth was, by constructing beautiful structures given to justice, and reflecting the abundance of a goodness and justice which comes through living by God’s covenant code.

Did Solomon go overboard? Yes, and no. It depends on the project, and with whom you talk to. The issue of Solomon’s building projects, as I would frame it, has much more to do with demonstrating a particular theology.

The theology I believe Solomon was trying to reflect was that Israel serves a God who is given to beauty, justice, and abundance. And those qualities are also seen in the New Testament. I think of the story when Mary came to Jesus with her expensive and beautiful perfume:

Mary took a very expensive bottle of perfume and poured it on Jesus’ feet. She wiped them with her hair, and the sweet smell of the perfume filled the house.

A disciple named Judas Iscariot was there. He was the one who was going to betray Jesus, and he asked, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for 300 silver coins and the money given to the poor?” Judas did not really care about the poor. He asked this because he carried the moneybag and sometimes would steal from it.

Jesus replied, “Leave her alone! She has kept this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor with you, but you won’t always have me.” (John 12:3-7, CEV)

I would argue that Judas Iscariot was the one distracted – and not Mary. Thus, returning to the story of Solomon’s building the palace complex, I would also argue that perhaps some of the commentators, with an eerily familiar criticism, are actually the ones distracted – and not Solomon.

Anyway, I like my positive reading of today’s Old Testament lesson, rather than the others’ negative reading. What about you?…

O heavenly God, who has filled the world with beauty: Open my eyes to see what is beautiful, to behold your gracious hand in all your works. Open my mind to know what is true. Open my heart to love what is good. May I learn to serve you with gladness, justice, and righteousness. Amen.

The Blessing of Unity (Psalm 133)

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

How very good and pleasant it is
    when kindred live together in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
    running down upon the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
    running down over the collar of his robes.
It is like the dew of Hermon,
    which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there the Lord ordained his blessing,
    life forevermore. (New Revised Standard Version)

In the ancient world, the temple in Jerusalem sat at the highest point of the city. In fact, Jerusalem itself sits relatively high in its geographic region – about 2,500 feet above sea level. A person walking literally goes up to Jerusalem, and up even higher to the temple mount. It was here, at the highest point, that the worship of God happened.

And as the worshipers made their pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and then to the temple, they sang the psalms, including today’s psalm, where they anticipated meeting with God. The Psalms of Ascent (Psalms 120-134) all express a joy of coming together in faith to worship Yahweh.

To meet with God is to experience an abundant life and joyous unity. It is to be blessed, having a settled peace in being with God and God’s people.

From the vantage of Christianity, the great high place for Christians is the Easter celebration of Christ’s resurrection. Since Jesus rose from death, he raises us up from unbelief to faith, and from death to eternal life.

Everything for the believer in Jesus flows from this infinite and powerful fount of resurrection grace. And everything unites and galvanizes around the center of the person and work of Christ. Because of the resurrection, believers are united into one spiritual family; we are all brothers and sisters.

It is a very good thing that Christ has united us, and it is a very pleasant thing when we consider one another as kindred and maintain the unity that we have been given. And not only are we joined by the gracious action of God, but today’s psalm calls all people to worship God and be united together.

The abundant blessing of unity with each other is maintained by allowing it to flow. The psalm lets us know that the two liquid elements of oil and dew help us to keep things moving and flowing in the right direction for our sense of family and working together. And when those elements flow from the top of Mount Calvary, the result is a world of blessing.

Oil provides the lubrication for our unity here on this earth. This sort of oil was used to consecrate a priest for service.

Moses poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him, to consecrate him. (Leviticus 8:12, NRSV)

The consecrated oil was special, to be used for the purpose of anointing the priests. It was both expensive and precious, yet God encouraged liberality with it in the consecration ritual. The oil is poured out so lavishly on the priest’s head that it ran down over the beard and onto the collar of the robe.

This was, indeed, symbolic that God is not stingy, but generous; and that unity with both God and others is pleasant, and not an onerous chore. For the Christian, this recalls the Gospel story of Mary liberally pouring out an entire bottle of perfume on Jesus:

Then turning toward the woman, Jesus said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.” (Luke 7:44-46, NRSV) 

The Lord has always been a generous God. And because of Christ’s resurrection, a new life of abundance and generosity is possible. It’s like the dew of Mount Hermon.

Mount Hermon is on the border between Lebanon and Syria

Mount Hermon is well north of the temple mount in Jerusalem. It too, is high up. Mount Hermon  rises to 9,232 feet and is the highest point on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. When the snow-capped ridge of the mountain melts, it liberally flows down and feeds the Jordan River, providing life for the valley.

Without Mount Hermon, there would be nothing and no one in the valley, which is why this water source is so important. Just like the oil flowing down Aaron’s beard, so the dew of Mount Hermon flows well beyond the mountain’s peak to provide abundant life. It enables us to come together united as one family in one place together.

Life and unity are not scarce. The resurrection of Christ opened the floodgates of heaven with life-giving grace, instead of death-dealing judgment, as in Noah’s day. Jesus is the wellspring of life who makes us one big family of faith by providing people with living water.

“Those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” (John 4:14, NRSV)

No longer does life need to be quantified and measured in terms of years of time. Yes, we are mortal. But this will give way to immortality because a resurrected life is an everlasting life – made possible by Jesus.

My prayer and my hope is that our psalm for today will be like a glass of cold water on hot day when you are feeling parched. And this water will keep coming, as much of it as you need. The oil will keep flowing, with as much love and grace as you need for today. And there will be plenty more when tomorrow comes. It never runs out.

Perhaps you are encouraged with your own faith walk, but are awfully discouraged with the lack of unity in your family, neighborhood, church, workplace, nation, and world. Unity is not a piece of pie in which some get only a sliver, if any at all. In reality, there is plenty to go around. The power of the resurrection has made it possible.

In this present evil age, there are times of angry conflict and emotional distress, along with periods of great separation and sorrow. People everywhere who are divided and estranged from one another can hear God’s call to live together in unity. It is a call of love which beckons us to participate in the generous overflowing love of the Savior who has paved the way for an abundant life by bringing people together in faith.

Jesus prayed, “Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.” (John 17:11)

Be Resilient, Not Resistant (Exodus 16:9-21)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
The Israelites gather manna in the desert, by Ercole de’ Roberti (1451-1496)

Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’”

While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud.

The Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”

That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.

Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’”

The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.

Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”

However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. (New International Version)

Despite the grumbling and complaining, the Lord determined to do good, even though the ancient Israelites in the desert were quite unworthy of it. It is to God’s glory to act according to the divine nature of mercy and grace, unlike the mass of humanity.

What’s more, the Lord not only freely gave, but also provided abundantly for the people – and all they had to do was go out and gather what God so mercifully bestowed. No matter what people do or don’t do, the Lord is always true to character, showing steadfast love.

Most of the people responded with obedience to God’s instructions concerning the manna from heaven. Yet, there were still some who ignored the commands, preferring to act with avarice by hoarding the abundance of food gathered.

A miser collects with a stingy attitude and cruel heart; but the Lord takes it away with maggots, moths, or any other creature God calls upon to correct the erring person. An individual is part of a society that is to be concerned for the whole of their citizens.

Whether hoarding or handing out, everyone is meant to move through an unwanted situation or missed expectation with faith and resilience. The following are three simple phrases to keep in mind and practice amidst the complexity of overwhelming circumstances:

Let it be

Accept the situation as it is and not as you want it to be. Embrace the awkward and uncomfortable. Situations, such as wondering where your next meal is coming from, aren’t helped with grumbling. We need to face what is actually in front of us.

Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. (Hebrews 10:33-35, NIV)

Let it go

Difficult feelings and a more than a few unhelpful thoughts pop up for us when experiencing trouble. Try to see the big picture and consider alternative thoughts. Let go of the disobedient thoughts and bitter feelings.

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. (Acts 3:19-20, NIV)

Let it in

Open yourself to God’s Spirit, self-compassion, and cut yourself some slack. You are going through a hard thing. Reflect on what you handled well, and also what you could have done differently.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16, NIV)

The process – let it be, let it go, and let it in – is a circuitous path and not a neat linear progression. You will get all your needs met, and so, move at pace that works for you, instead of trying to compulsively gather manna at someone else’s anxious pace.

Let grumbling be turned to gratitude, murmuring to mercy, and complaining to consent. This is the path of resilience.

Heavenly Father, you have promised to hear what we ask in the Name of your Son: Accept and fulfill our petitions, we pray, not as we ask in our ignorance, nor as we deserve in our sinfulness, but as you know and love us in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.