Tag: god’s glory

Our Creator and Sustainer (Psalm 104:24-34, 35b)

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

Our Lord, by your wisdom
    you made so many things;
the whole earth is covered
    with your living creatures.
But what about the ocean
    so big and wide?
It is alive with creatures,
    large and small.
And there are the ships,
    as well as Leviathan,
the monster you created
    to splash in the sea.

All of these depend on you
    to provide them with food,
and you feed each one
with your own hand,
    until they are full.
But when you turn away,
    they are terrified;
when you end their life,
    they die and rot.
You created all of them
    by your Spirit,
and you give new life
    to the earth.

Our Lord, we pray
that your glory
    will last forever
and that you will be pleased
    with what you have done.
You look at the earth,
    and it trembles.
You touch the mountains,
    and smoke goes up.
As long as I live,
I will sing and praise you,
    the Lord God.
I hope my thoughts
    will please you,
because you are the one
    who makes me glad…

With all my heart
I praise you, Lord!
    I praise you! (Contemporary English Version)

In the wake of the Day of Pentecost, we are reminded by the psalmist that the Spirit was not only involved in forming the church, but was already experienced in forming creation. Everything about the Spirit’s work at the origins of the earth was immensely good, wonderfully complex, and intricately interrelated. Indeed, it all reflects the wisdom and majesty of God.

According to the psalmist, God is the Creator and is therefore sovereign over all of this vast dominion of earthly space and ecological systems. We humans are workers in this ordered world; and created in God’s image and likeness as the Lord’s vice-regents over this incredible domain. Humanity is thus both intimately connected with and distinctly separate from all the rest of the world.

As the Creator and Sustainer of all things, the entire world depends upon God for every need; no one can survive, let alone thrive, without the Lord’s continuing presence by means of the Spirit.

This sustaining force of God includes gracious, loving, and compassionate guidance. Everything holds together and has its meaning within God. The breath of God – the Spirit – gives life to both our physical and spiritual selves.

The psalmist paints a picture of creation as full of life – with life itself as the highest expression of its purpose. Our delight in living and being comes from a profound connection with the Creator, Sustainer, and Guide of the universe.

Because of humanity’s deep connection with God and the rest of creation, everything we do as people on this earth impacts God and God’s big world. Every human action exerts an influence. Theology, anthropology, and ecology all exist with complex interconnectedness. God, people, and the world are bound to each other. Since God is relationship itself, relational connection is built into all creation.

Humanity is the apex and climax of God’s creative activity; yet, at the same time, we are but one piece within this intricate whole of creation. We humans are tasked by God to serve the earth and care for it – not to rule in such a way that exploits its grand resources, but to maintain and strengthen the existing connected systems of the earth.

This means we are meant to think of the common good of all earth’s citizens, as well as to consider future generations, and equip them to steward our vast world with practical wisdom and spiritual sensitivity.

Everything that brings disconnection, and thus harm, is to be weeded out and discarded. Wickedness, injustice, oppression, exploitation, unrighteousness, and arrogance are to be purged from the good earth, so that all creatures great and small can thrive and enjoy what God has provided.

Even the seemingly uncontrollable elements of this world – sea monsters and leviathans, chaos and evil – are ultimately subject to the sovereign God of this realm. It is the Lord who brings order from chaos, life from death, and calms the churning waters – quieting all of those ancient leviathans which cause so much of a stir.

It would be great if everyone everywhere found joy in their lives, brought God joy, and enjoyed being with everyone else and caring for all creation. Yet, those chaotic disconnecting powers are there – causing harm and division, splitting that which is designed to be connected, and disrespecting the inherent goodness of God’s image bearers and God’s world.

By being in harmony and in sync with God’s Spirit, we can work together against wickedness and not separate or dismantle what God has built and joined. Through our spiritual awareness, we can help, and not harm. In maintaining our proper spiritual connections, we can be agents of upholding the good, the right, and the just; and not underhandedly undermining God’s sovereignty.

Let us then offer our hallelujahs; our praise, adoration, and gratitude, to God who is the source of life. Because it’s awfully hard to be bad when you’re being good.

May you be able to say with the psalmist – and with all creation, including the trees and even the rocks – that with my whole heart I praise you, almighty God, Creator and Sustainer of heaven and earth.

And may your prayers be pleasing to the Lord and be full of mercy and love. Amen, amen.

Jesus Prays For Us (John 17:6-19)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Word of Life, by Millard Sheets

“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me.

“I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.

“Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 

But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 

“I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth. (New Revised Standard Version)

It seems to me only fitting that Jesus concluded his time with the disciples in the Upper Room before his betrayal, crucifixion, and death with prayer. It also seems to me that if you really want to know the heart of a person, listen to them pray.

The prayer of Jesus was thoroughly oriented toward the spiritual needs of his followers – even potential believers who will follow him in the future. And it was a prayer completely devoted toward honoring the heavenly Father through praying consistent with God’s will for this world.

Without the physical presence of Jesus – which would soon be gone – his followers would have to rely on prayer. And Christ was intent on instilling within his disciples the confidence and hope they needed for a solid life of prayer.

For post-resurrection Christians living in an ever-expanding world of oppression, greed, and indifference, we can be encouraged not to settle into despair or loneliness. Why? Because believers can have a solid hope and an abiding trust in the continuing presence of Jesus by means of the Holy Spirit.

God Gives

God gives. Jesus gives. Both the Father and the Son are givers. This is a major reason and motivation for prayer because God is not a reluctant giver. In the act of giving, the Father and the Son are fully on the same page; God is ready and willing to give. The Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Spirit – are in complete unity, and act as One, in giving to us what we need.

“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)

“Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” (John 6:27, NRSV)

“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:28, NRSV)

We Belong

Through giving we are included. Believers and followers of Jesus – having been given the grace of faith – know that they belong to God. Christians are in union with Christ. The redemption which Jesus has secured is a million billion times stronger, and bonds us closer, than any sort of Gorilla glue. And, what’s more, once we belong, we are never forgotten, but always remembered by God.

“The Father knows me, and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” (John 10:15-16, NRSV)

Christ the King, statue in Swiebodzin, Poland

The Name of Jesus

Because we belong, we know God’s name. The divine name stands for all that God is and all that God has done. It’s all focused in Christ. In the name of Jesus, through the person and work of Jesus Christ, we have everlasting life, spiritual power, and eternal security.

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31, NRSV)

We Have the Word

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Jesus has given to his disciples only those words which he first received from the Father. Those who accept the enfleshed Word and his words have been given power to become God’s children (John 1:12). Because believers belong to God, they know the truth and that truth has set them free.

It is the Christian’s mission to live into the words and ways of Jesus, to follow Christ in thought, word, and deed. The very glory of Jesus in his cross and resurrection is focused within the believing community, who is in union with Christ and belongs to God.

In his prayer, Jesus claimed an intimate oneness in the sharing of concern for people who are the objects of the Father’s gracious giving of love through the Son. All who belong to Christ belong to God, and vice versa. All the love that went into the cross was poured out upon us.

Those who believe in the name of Jesus Christ are the very glory of Jesus, and thus, the glory of God.

Sent Into the World

Because of the Father’s name—because of who the Father is and what the Father has given in love to the Son—we are set apart for truth; the words of God are truth.

Since we belong to God and bear the name of Christ, we don’t belong to the world’s systems of guilt, shame, injustice, and evil. And yet, we are separated from the world for precisely the reason of immersing ourselves in the world. In other words, Christianity is meant for the life of the world, and not as a religion that’s only concerned for itself.

To reach the world, we must be different from it. To reach the world, we need to have boots-on-the-ground in it. To reach the world, Christians are to be both far from the world, and near to the world.

As the Father sent the Son, so the Son sends us into the world – not to be like the world, but to embody the words and ways of Jesus to and for the world.

Just as the world rejected Jesus in his suffering and death, so the world, too, will reject his followers. Which means we will need to pray, a lot! And there is no better scriptural prayer to emulate than the very words of the Lord Jesus, who loved us and gave himself for us.

Holy Father, guard our hearts and minds in Jesus, as we pursue this Christian life which you gave as a gift through Christ, so that we can be united, just as the Father and the Son are one. Although we long for heaven, don’t take us out of the world until we have fulfilled our sacred mission to carry the words and ways of our Lord to the world. Make us holy, and give us everything we need for life in this present evil age; through Jesus Christ your Son, our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit are one God, now and forever. Amen.

Ascension of the Lord (Acts 1:1-11)

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

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 

On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (New International Version)

Ascension Day often feels like the weird stepchild in the family of church events in the Christian Year. It’s often overlooked without ever really being missed.

O sure, there are a few congregations that worship on this Thursday, coming 40 days after Easter Sunday. And a few more churches will observe Christ’s ascension this coming Sunday. Yet, most Christians will go about their usual business; thus, in my opinion, for what it’s worth, missing a grand opportunity.

It’s hugely important that Christ is now presently sitting at God’s right hand, offering continual prayers on our behalf to the Father. Ascension Day teaches us, and reminds us, that we have an advocate, a champion who has gone before us and secured deliverance from sin, death, and hell.

On top of it all, Christ’s ascension to heaven means that Jesus is the universal ruler; he commands a kingdom which will never end. Ascension Day proclaims from the heights of the clouds that Jesus is Lord – which means nothing and no one else is. It is because of his ascension that Jesus can authoritatively grant us repentance, forgiveness, and new life.

Speaking of clouds, the reference to a cloud in Christ’s ascension is not a heavenly elevator with a special pass to the umpteenth floor to be with God. The cloud is meant to be a sign of God’s presence – much like the pillar of cloud for the Israelites in the exodus from Egypt; or like the cloud that surrounded Jesus and his disciples on the mount of transfiguration.

Jesus ascending into the cloud is the divine welcome into the Father’s presence. This is a whole lot more than returning to the status quo of things before Christ’s incarnation. No, everything has changed.

The life, ministry, crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Christ makes the ascension possible – and now Jesus is enthroned at the right hand of God. Jesus has permanently impacted the world. The dark forces and the demonic powers of this world have been stripped of their control.

Through humiliation, Christ has been exalted. Jesus gladly bore the shame and rejection that was ours. We now have spiritual freedom and are no longer in bondage to sin, death, and hell.

The stage is set for Pentecost and the giving of the Spirit. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. God’s Spirit is moving in the world to bring a new thing: the birth of the Church and the mystical union of Christ and his Church.

Every good spiritual thing comes through patience and faith; we must wait and trust in God’s good promise. The disciples, of course, saw no need for this waiting thing. They were ready for a restoration of everything immediately.

Unfortunately, their idea of restoration was an old-style sort of kingdom, very hierarchical with themselves in control and calling the shots. These apostles needed to discover what the rule and reign of God was actually all about. It’s not a turning back of the clock to the good old days.

Rather, it’s in doing away with the dark shadows of old ruling oppressions and allowing the divine light of Christ to shine into the world so that hearts are transformed and justice for all is the norm. In other words, all things are being redeemed.

By God’s grace, the Church and all believers will be steadfast in proclaiming good news, teaching the words and ways of Jesus, loving one another, and serving with the model given to us by Christ. The ascension and glorification of Jesus makes this possible.

So, this is a day in which Christian churches and believers are to shake off their collective spiritual A.D.D. (Ascension Deficit Disorder) and stop staring up in the sky, slack-jawed and shoulders hunched. Hopefully, no angels will come along and ask us what we’re doing just standing there.

Jesus will come back when he comes back. You and I aren’t going to know when. Now is the time to get busy with what Jesus just told us to do two minutes ago: Tell everyone about me.

Christians since the time of the ascension have been proclaiming Christ crucified, died, risen, ascended, and coming again. This is a day of joy and celebration for us. Jesus is our ascended and glorified king! The fate of the earth is with the benevolent and mighty Ruler of all. Jesus is Lord!

The great Reformed Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, question and answer 49, states the following question and answer:

How does Christ’s ascension to heaven benefit us?

First, he is our advocate

            in heaven

            in the presence of his Father.

Second, we have our own flesh in heaven

            as a sure pledge that Christ our head

            will also take us, his members,

            up to himself.

Third, he sends his Spirit to us on earth

            as a corresponding pledge.

            By the Spirit’s power

                        we seek not earthly things

                        but the things above, where Christ is,

                                    sitting at God’s right hand.

Amen.

Wednesday of Holy Week (John 13:21-32)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
The Lord’s Supper, by Rubem Zevallos Técnica

After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining close to his heart; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” 

Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “Do quickly what you are going to do.” 

Now no one knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival,” or that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. (New Revised Standard Version)

In some Christian traditions, Wednesday of Holy Week is known as “Spy Wednesday.” It’s a reference to Judas Iscariot, and recalls his betrayal of Jesus to the religious authorities. Historically, the association of Wednesday with this betrayal of Jesus led to Wednesdays being observed as fast days in the church, a tradition still observed by some. 

Jesus was gathered with his disciples for the meal we know as the “Last Supper.” Jesus had just taken a towel and a bowl of water and washed the feet of those gathered with him. Peter, predictably, protested to Christ doing such a thing. Yet, Jesus told Peter that if there’s no foot washing, there’s no Christ. 

The Lord Jesus then went on to say that not all the disciples are clean. Christ knew he was about to be betrayed. Since Judas was there with the other disciples, that meant Jesus knelt to wash his feet, as well. Hence, the heightened reason why Jesus was so troubled in the moment.

The clueless men didn’t know what or who in the world Jesus was talking about. Nobody around the table suspected Judas as a betrayer. That’s how much Judas was a part of the group. He was trusted enough to be the purse holder who handled the common money account.

It appears that only Jesus and Judas know what’s going on when Judas is handed the piece of bread; then Jesus told him to do quickly what he must do. Sadly and unfortunately, Judas made his own free and deliberate choice, without any coercion – except perhaps with some satanic nudging.

The Last Supper, by Unknown artist, c.1400 C.E.

To betray the Son of God seems unthinkable. What could ever motivate a person to sell out Jesus? What reasoning is there behind such a foul decision? Why would anyone choose to be a turncoat toward an innocent man?

Although we may be interested in answers to such questions, and even though I myself have my own thoughts about the matter, the Apostle John gives us no motive for the decision of Judas. He simply did what he did, with no other comment than that.

With Judas out of the room, Jesus began speaking of glory – of the glorious relationship between the Father and the Son, and the divine love which comes tumbling out on Christ’s followers. And the divine choice is for love.

We also have a choice. We can choose to be self-aware, to be attentive to our emotions, to recognize the consequences of behaviors and choices, to avoid unhealthy and harmful patterns of living. These choices help us to have love tumble out of us when it’s needed.

Faith can, and ought, to play a leading role in life. It is when folks refuse to listen to their conscience and ignore their gut feelings, that questionable decision-making of the head and heart can take over.

There’s a lot that’s out of our control. Yet, we always have the choice of self-control concerning our words and actions. Things like kindness, empathy, and love are within our ability to choose. And we are always free to live into our spiritual identity as loved by Jesus and belonging to God.

It’s hard, though. Making such choices in the face of such betrayal. Christ was troubled in his spirit, not because of his upcoming humiliation and torture, but because he knew that one in his inner circle would betray him.

A mosaic of The Last Supper, in Monreale Cathedral, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

If you have ever had someone very close turn on you, then you well understand why this troubled Jesus and wounded him more than a physical cross. It is terribly disheartening to know that someone is not who they seem.

Remember, Jesus chose Judas as a disciple. And Judas chose to follow Jesus. As such, Judas was privy to all of Christ’s private explanations of parables and events. Judas was entrusted with the money; he knew everything on the event itinerary.

In other words, Judas was trusted to be a faithful follower. But instead, he sold out Jesus. It really must have been weird for Judas when Jesus brought up the matter before everyone – that he was going to be betrayed by one of them.

An outright naming of the scoundrel, however, was not the purpose of Christ’s raising the issue. This was no mystery game to be played around the table. A simple sharing of bread and wine was the only tip Jesus gave as to who it was. John caught on to what was happening, at least later, if not at the time.

The symbolism happening was packed with meaning. Bread, wine, and sharing them together symbolized the blood about to be spilled; a body about to be broken. And, ironically, Judas is the one who set it in motion. He did his part in making the blood flow and breaking the body.

There is, however, for the Christian, even more going on than that. These very symbols have become for us reminders of radical grace and forgiveness. The elements become the means of gathering together to remember and partake of that original event.

So, when Judas left to enact his betrayal, Jesus spoke not of the bad apple in the bushel, but of God’s glory. For it is soon to be revealed. And none of it will really be about Judas. It is now about demonstrating the purpose of God, the heart of Jesus, and the power of the Spirit.

Creator of the universe, you made the world in beauty, and restore all things in glory through the victory of Jesus Christ. We pray that, wherever your image is still disfigured by selfishness, greed, and betrayal, the new creation in Jesus Christ may appear in justice, love, and peace, to the glory of your name. Amen.