Tag: gospel of matthew

Family Dynamics (Matthew 12:46-50)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
En la Cena ecológica del Reino (At the Ecological Kingdom Dinner) by Spanish artist Cerezo Barredo

While Jesus was speaking to the crowds, his mother and brothers stood outside trying to speak with him.Someone said to him, “Look, your mother and brothers are outside wanting to speak with you.”

Jesus replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” He stretched out his hand toward his disciples and said, “Look, here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven is my brother, sister, and mother.” (Common English Bible)

Jesus obviously did not get the cultural memo that blood is thicker than water.

When his own blood family were waiting outside for him, Jesus used the occasion to speak of what makes up a true follower of God. Christ boldly asserted that his true family is made up of people who do God’s will. By saying this, Jesus brought the point home that the kingdom of God turns on obedience.

Rather than merely confessing a belief, or appealing to a family heritage of faith, Jesus said that a genuine believer in God is one who listens to God’s words and then promptly obeys them. Therefore:

A Christian is defined by allegiance to Jesus, and not by having a certain bloodline. 

Identity determines activity. For example, if I identify myself primarily as…

  • a worker at my job, my activity will show it – I will spend long hours at my labor, and will do whatever it takes to please my boss and gain promotions.
  • an athlete, I will spend long hours honing my skills, and do whatever it takes to please the coach and to win.
  • a spouse and a parent, I will focus most of my attention on my family and seek to please them in all things. 

But if my identity is first and foremost as a Christian, I will seek to please Jesus. With my identity in Christ:

  • I will view my job as an opportunity to express the ethics of God’s kingdom, as a calling from God, and as a means for God to transform me for his glory.
  • I will view athletics as means to glorify God, and not as an end in and of itself but as a special gift for God to teach me about the importance of community and working together. 
  • I will view my kids as belonging to God and I will steward the trust of children given me by doing whatever it takes to teach and train them in the way of Jesus. I will thank God for my family and not confuse them with being God by idolizing them.

Jesus was inside a house, with his family on the outside. So, why were the family members of Jesus not inside the house sitting at his feet, taking the posture of a disciple?

The disciple Matthew wanted to communicate more than physical distance between Jesus and his physical family – being “outside” was meant to convey the posture of Christ’s family as spiritually distant, skeptical of him, and indecisive about who he was and what he was up to. The disciple Mark made this spiritual and emotional distance clear:

Jesus entered a house. A crowd gathered again so that it was impossible for him and his followers even to eat. When his family heard what was happening, they came to take control of him. They were saying, “He’s out of his mind!” (Mark 3:20-21, CEB)

Christ’s earthly family were not looking for Jesus to give them warm-fuzzies and have a big family hug. They were there to essentially say to him, “Cut it out, Jesus, because you’re acting like a nut-cake and embarrassing us all!”

Jesus was saying that identifying only with a biological family leads to only pleasing that family. However, identifying with Jesus leads to a radical form of following God that seeks to please him instead of submitting to family practices, mores, and beliefs which are inconsistent with the kingdom of God. 

Ethiopian Orthodox Church depiction of Christ and his disciples

For the Christian, the church is the family of God, and we are to act consistent with being in such a family.  We are to pursue God’s will, serve one another, and adopt outsiders into our family. The church is a family, not a restaurant. When we go to a restaurant, we either like the food and the service, or not. If the experience was unpleasant, we might complain to the waitress and may or may not come back. Try doing that with your mother and see where it gets you! 

As a biological family, we are committed to each other. There is no complaining about mom because of dad’s wrath. Instead, we are expected to clear our plates and put them in the dishwasher, to sweep the floor and clean the table, and to work together for the benefit of the entire family. In the same way, following Jesus means being committed to his family, the church.

Priority is to be given in doing God’s will, regardless of blood, because obedience to Christ identifies us as being in the family of God. Our actions and the way we live points to what we honestly believe and where our commitments truly lie. 

The first step of God’s desire for us is quality focused time in sitting at Christ’s feet and listening to him, because this is at the heart of all Christian discipleship. We can only do God’s will if we have clearly heard it; and we can only hear God’s will by taking the time to be at the feet of Jesus. 

Both listening and doing are necessary. Listening without engaging the world is a failure of mission; and doing without first listening leads to misguided acts and eventual burn-out. Allow Jesus to call the shots and let him instruct us so that we can live wisely and obediently. 

Jesus did not devalue blood relatives as irrelevant. Rather, the kingdom of God seeks to restore and redeem all things, including family. Both church and family are important. The relationships within each are to be nurtured.

The family of Jesus, the church, is important because Christ suffered and died for her. So, we are to be committed to the church, love the church, and serve the church because we are family. If we have a good grasp of this, we will make decisions based in what we believe God’s will is, instead of whether a relative will get upset, or not. 

We need to persistently pray for spiritually lost family members, and those whom we are estranged from. Most families have at least a few toxic persons in their orbit. Here is how we might pray for them:

  • That God will arrange divine appointments between them and others who love Jesus.
  • That God will draw them to the mercy of Christ.
  • That God will hinder the devil’s schemes against them.
  • That they will understand and respond to the good news of God’s grace.

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Parable of the Three Servants (Matthew 25:14-30)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Parable of the Three Servants, a woodcut by Jan Luiken, 1712

Jesus said, “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one servant, two bags of silver to another servant, and one bag of silver to the last servant—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.

“The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.

“After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’

“The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

“The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’

“The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

“Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

“But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

“Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (New Living Translation)

What would you do with a million dollars?…  Maybe you would pay off some debts, finish some work on your house, or quit your job and take a vacation. Perhaps you might invest a good portion of it. Whatever you do with it, your investment of money is only as good as your level of trust. 

When I worked at a senior citizen healthcare facility, there was a resident living in an independent living apartment, but he still owned his house. During one conversation, the old man admitted to me that over the past sixty years, he had secretly bored holes in every door jamb of his house and had stuffed away $100,000 dollars in cash! This dear resident had personally experienced the run on banks which began the Great Depression in 1929. He had zero trust for investment banking.

As Jesus told his parable, one of his chief points was to communicate that God is gracious, and gives generously.

The three servants responded their master’s generosity according to their view of him. Two of the servants regarded the master as gracious and generous, and so, freely took their hefty bags of money and confidently invested them to create even more money. They took risks, invested, worked, and acted with the idea that they were secure in their relationship with their master. 

The third servant, however, perceived his master as stern, serious, and angry. So therefore, he did nothing with his bag of money because he was afraid.

If we consider God as primarily an angry Being, then we will almost certainly not use the gifts he has given us, for fear of messing up and experiencing God’s wrath. 

Yet, the truth is, God is gracious and generous. The Lord has generously give to everyone; and God expects us to use what was given and not hide it away in a door jamb! If we want to hear the Lord Jesus say, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” then taking faithful initiative is necessary.

Fear is perhaps the devil’s greatest tool in preventing God’s people from being productive Christians in serving the church and the world. Beneath the fear can be powerful feelings of inferiority, inadequacy, and an inner conviction of not being enough. Oftentimes, a low view of self can come from a low view of God.

Fear paralyzes our potential to serve God’s kingdom

Being continually afraid, wastes whatever impact we could have for God in the world, and diminishes our resolve to act so that our lives are ineffective.

Fear destroys our dreams and godly desires

We are meant to enjoy the gracious and generous God, and in our enjoyment of the Lord, godly dreams will be placed within us that God is pleased to fulfill:

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4, NLT

Our enjoyment of God gives us the security and confidence to act upon godly desires and produces a generous harvest of righteousness and peace. We then can share the bounty with others, as a way of giving back to God. 

Yet, if fear gets thrown into the mix, it dilutes and destroys everything. Fear paralyzes us, and we do nothing, like the third servant in the parable who did nothing. What’s more, fear leads us into hiding, just like the servant hid and buried his big bag of money. 

We might wrap a lot of our fears in morbidly sanctified self-belittling, that is, of feeling good about feeling bad. Those self-deprecating feelings stop us from exploring God’s dream and vision for us. Yet, we really can speak and act in the world with confidence because we serve a God who is gracious and generous.

Some of the greatest fears that hold back people from exploring their faith is:

  • Fear of criticism – being afraid of what others may think or say 
  • Fear of taking a risk – being afraid of going outside the comfort zone of how something has always been done
  • Fear of ourselves – being afraid to explore our vast inner world with its guilt, shame, insecurity, and mixed motives

If you once had a dream and you think that dream is dead because of your sins and bad habits, you are wrong.  Dreams are destroyed by fear, by being duped into believing that we are not enough, and never will be. So, we end up doing nothing.

Fear ruins our relationship with God and others

Living in a way that is always looking over your shoulder to see if God is going to rap your knuckles with a ruler is no way to live.

The hardest people to get along with are those who have a low view themselves. Because they do not like themselves, they do not like others. They continually wonder if God is upset with them about something. The man in the parable blamed God for his lack of investment. Blaming others is really our own fear and insecurity seeping through – it helps no one, especially ourselves. 

Fear sabotages our service

“I can’t!” is the cry of the person locked in fear. I cannot stand up in front of people, meet strangers, serve like others, or love like Jesus did. I cannot because I am afraid, and I only have one measly bag of money! 

Yet, God typically uses tongue-tied people like Moses; worriers like Abraham; lowly tax-collectors like Matthew, and prostitutes with sordid pasts like Mary Magdalene – and not superstars. The less talented a person is, the more God gets to show up and show off with generous power and gracious ability through that person.

Conclusion

God loves you, and really does have wonderful plans for you. God created you with your unique personality, gave you unparalleled experiences, and gifted you with uncommon abilities. God wants you to tap into that passion and dream placed down deep in your heart to serve the world. 

What would you do with a million dollars? You already have it. Now, go and invest it.

Soli Deo Gloria

A Real Change of Life (Matthew 12:43-45)

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

“When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation.” (New Living Translation)

Nature abhors a vacuum. A tilled plot of soil will be overtaken with weeds if nothing is planted and nurtured in the turned-over dirt. 

The pecking order of a brood of chickens cannot handle the death of the top hen without filling the position almost immediately. 

In the spiritual realm, the exorcising of a demon will not simply leave a person empty of evil – their life will be filled with something in its place.

Jesus told a story about a man who was delivered from an unclean (evil) spirit. It’s a powerful and simple narrative on the necessity of true repentance, that is, on what a real change of life is like. 

Genuine freedom is more than getting rid of something bad and destructive; the evil must be replaced with something good and useful. In other words, biblical repentance, a true transformation of a person, is both a turning away from ungodliness and an embrace of righteousness.

We are delivered from evil so that we can start living into right and peaceful relationships, as God intends for us.

For example, the Apostle Paul exhorted the Ephesian believers to not only stop stealing but also to get a job and start sharing with others. They were not only to stop lying and using their tongues for gossip and slander and start using their words to speak truth that builds up others. (Ephesians 4:25-32)

The spiritual principle is the same as the nature principle: A empty vacuum will always be filled. The man who did not fill his life with God ended up having a problem with evil seven times greater than when he started. If anything, or anyone, is emptied of its unhealthy elements and practices, it is imperative that the hole be immediately filled with healthy disciplines for life.

Whether dealing with addictions, bad habits, or any kind of evil influence, a two-pronged approach is needed for its eradication. We expel the evil by replacing it with godliness. 

For example, the man struggling with pornography or adultery must not only stop the behavior but take up the mantle of being a champion for women’s issues; or the woman who has no healthy boundaries and allows herself to be used and abused must not only separate from the problem or person but adopt her identity in Christ as a precious child of God and enforce righteous limitations. 

These examples are not meant to be simplistic answers to complex situations. Rather, they illustrate why so many people do not experience freedom and continue to have even greater enslavement to their passions and sufferings. Freedom is realized through replacing old practices with new disciplines that directly attack the old.

We all have needs. How we get those needs met is often a mixed bag of both legitimate and illegitimate ways. In a perfect world, everyone would be aware of their needs and be able to express them to one another without shame, anxiety, or anger. Since we live on a blemished fallen planet, we end up trying to meet our needs indirectly through hustling for love, hoarding resources, and controlling others – all harmful ways which destroys souls and relationships.

In order to focus on meeting our needs in a wise and healthy manner, we must take a step beyond ending a toxic relationship, cutting up a credit card, or saying “no” to another responsibility. We often get into our mess to begin with because we are out of touch with ourselves and our needs. We need affection and encouragement, and there is no shame in needing this. We need security and safety, and there is no problem in acquiring this. There are some things we need to control, and that is okay.

If we fail to address our needs, we might do the necessary work of deliverance, then turn right around and become worse off than before by filling the empty place of our lives with:

  • Being all things to all people, as if we were the Messiah.
  • Being successful so that we stay ahead of being needy.
  • Pulling inside ourselves and trusting nobody.
  • Distancing from our needs and pretending they are not there.
  • Being continually vigilant so that we are never hurt that way again.
  • Keeping a positive spin on everything, as if there is no negative stuff in the world.
  • Challenging other’s opinions and behaviors to keep the focus off our needs.
  • Becoming a wallflower so that we can never be the brunt of someone else’s vitriol or evil.

Instead, we can let Jesus fill the emptiness with love, purpose, peace, joy, attention, and grace. Christ is the Savior who delivers us from evil, and the Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier who carefully applies the work of salvation to our lives. When our hearts and minds are full of God, there is no place for the demons to get in.

True change and transformation equally forsakes evil and embraces righteousness; replaces the unhealthy with the healthy; jettisons the illegitimate and seeks the legitimate; and puts away unnecessary suffering and pursues peace and joy in the Spirit.

O God, I no longer want to live with saying I’m sorry and going right back to the old pig slop of sin. I cannot change on my own. I need Jesus to both take away the sin and give me a new life of living for him. Help me to make choices that put to death the old way of life, and the courage to live into my forgiveness in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The End of the World (Matthew 24:1-14)

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

The Final Sign

Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (New International Version)

I am a suspicious person when it comes to end-time gurus. I find most of them to be false teachers, trying to scare people into their own little group, like a bunch of nuts in a fruitcake.

Yet, Jesus is an end-time preacher, giving an answer to those who asked him about the future and how things will literally shake up and shake out at the end of the world. So, because I trust him when he lays out what will happen, I believe there is a time coming when there shall be a judgment of the living and the dead.

Christ’s disciples had heard Jesus pronounce doom on the Jerusalem temple, and wanted to know about when this was going to happen, along with the signs leading to it. Jesus then went on to tell them about a much bigger picture than what the disciples were asking for; Jesus described not only the end of the temple, but also the end of the world as we know it.

I often find myself warning people about buying into those who constantly and confidently talk of the end, as if they have the inside track on it. Jesus did the same; so I’ll take my cues from him. Notice the warnings he offered his disciples concerning signs of the end time:

Don’t let anybody fool you

Watch out for deceivers. False teachers are those who claim to be Christians and have insider information from all their great study. Stay clear of them. Their sense of superiority, because of their supposed knowledge, will trick many people. Don’t be fooled by them.

Don’t be afraid

Anyone who pays any sort of attention to the news – whether local, national, or international – is likely to be concerned about the state of our world. We may even become terrified. But Jesus wants us to avoid being fearful all the time. And that will only happen if we listen as much or more to him than we do people who whip up a frenzy and get us all upset – much like talk radio hosts do to their audiences; or hack preachers do to spiritually vulnerable Christians.

We can be wise and discerning without being fearmongers and constantly worried. In times of crisis and disaster, Christians really ought to be the calmest people on the planet.

Armies may surround me,
    but I won’t be afraid;
war may break out,
    but I will trust you. (Psalm 27:3, CEV)

Wars, rumors of wars, coups, famines, and earthquakes happen. All these, and more, are signs – just like a woman with labor pains, about to give birth. When we look ahead, we may feel apprehensive, upset, and afraid with pain. But our fear will eventually give way to joy. Before things get better, things will get a lot worse. Disaster and destruction will lead to the renewal of all things.

The world will hate you

Because there is fear and deception, the Church will become an oppressed victim. The world hates those who truly follow Christ. All that has been simmering underground will break out in persecution against believers.

So, it ought not surprise any Christian or any Church when there is intolerance and disdain against them. Anyone following Jesus should expect the same treatment he received in his last days on earth.

Many “Christians” will turn against each other and hate each other. They will drop out and refuse association with Christ or his Church. The outside pressure will become intense enough to force a crumbling of the Church on the inside. Parishioners will tear each other to pieces.

Unfortunately, the world’s hate leads to the church’s apostasy – a turning away from faith. And this situation is a ripe situation for false teachers to rise and have their way. People will glory in their shame.

The ones who stick it out will be saved

The true believer holds onto faith, despite the intense pressure of hatred. This isn’t salvation by works; it’s salvation by a faith that is authentic, genuine, and the real deal. This faith remains as a testimony to all that love still exists and will never be extinguished.

And then the end will come.

There shall always be the good news in the middle of all the terribly bad news. Divine sovereignty will always be above the world’s hate and disorder.

Therefore, let the believer be the herald of good news and give themselves to the mission of faith, grace, hope, and love in Christ. No matter where or when you locate the time of great tribulation, it is always open season on gospel proclamation.

God will make something out of nothing. Trouble, hardship, oppression, persecution, and death are the signs of the end. Now is the time for faith and patience. Now is the opportunity to love with the light that penetrates the darkness of hate.

Eternal God, you are the light of the minds that know you, the joy of the hearts that love you, and the strength of the wills that serve you. Grant us to know you that we may truly love you; to love you so that we may truly serve you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.