Tag: injustice

Watch Out For the Millstones (Mark 9:38-50)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year B1 Comment

John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

“If any of you cause one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell,where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.

“For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” (New Revised Standard Version)

Weird encounters and exorcisms, hard words and sayings, and enough metaphors to creep out the visual learners among us, were all regular staples of Christ’s earthly ministry.

For me, this makes sense. Christ coming into a world of great need, filled with all sorts of disturbances and disturbing people, will create spiritual headlines. The ministry of Jesus does not involve idyllic pictures of beautiful butterflies, and bunnies without bowel movements.

The world needs real saving, which is why Jesus showed up in an incarnational invasion that nobody saw coming.

Christian discipleship is not for the faint of heart. It demands an embrace of robust moral teaching, along with a cross to carry.

Following Jesus involves lots of servitude, and only a little bit of leadership. It requires radical humility to do anything.

Furthermore, Jesus was anything but a narrow-minded exclusivist. He encouraged his disciples to have broad and open-minded attitudes and approachs toward those who do good and provide help, outside of the disciple circle.

Whether following Jesus, or not, Christ commended, and did not condemn, those who squish evil like a grape, and offer cold water to others on a hot day. Why? Doesn’t this seem antithetical to the demands of discipleship within the disciple group?

Maybe. Maybe not. Frankly, it seems paradoxical (two things that seem contradictory but nevertheless are equally true). On one hand, only the disciples bear the name of Christ; but on the other hand, everyone who does justice and mercy has Christ’s name invisibly emblazoned on their heads.

Anybody who remotely conforms to the character of Christ, upholding basic morality and human kindness, receives a divine thumbs up from Jesus.

And conversely, anyone who acts the bully and trips up a little one who believes – whether they have a label of disciple or not – are in for a world of divine retribution.

It all hinges on how scandalous we can be; or rather, what sort of scandal we stir up with our lives.

The good kind of scandal is going against the grain of injustice and doing good when no one else much cares; and the unjust ones need a big obstacle of righteousness in their way.

The bad sort of scandal is putting a stumbling block between God and those trying to come to the Lord. It’s the wicked who need to be tripped up and set straight, and not the faithful who need to run an obstacle course just to get a peek at the good life as defined by God.

Just so you know, millstones were usually the heaviest objects in a village – weighing up to a ton (2,000 lbs.) or more. We can perhaps understand Jesus talking of perpetrators getting a millstone necklace; but it’s a real tragedy whenever someone puts one on for themself.

You’re harming yourself if the choice is to be irresponsible, hateful, unloving, or unjust. I’m not talking about the inevitable mistake, white lie, or unconscious bias. I’m talking about a deliberate choice to get in another’s way of happiness; tear someone down with verbal violence; or harm a person by any means you can do it.

All of us have a responsibility to protect and promote the common good of all persons, and the social good of the community.

Nobody is helped whenever a person comes down hard with judgmental criticism on a coworker who was just trying to do their best but failed. Everyone loses whenever a relative spreads gossip throughout the family system.

And no one is built up whenever a neighborhood association leader or condo board chair creates unnecessary roadblocks to community well-being, but then railroads a pet personal project through for their own advantage.

Feet end up walking in dangerous places. Hands reach where they shouldn’t. Eyes look with a sinful gaze. There are times when it is warranted to amputate a limb in order to save the whole body; to perform a surgery in an effort to save a life; and to remove an eye before it creates serious sickness.

But I am talking metaphorically and spiritually – which is no less real than the physical and tangible. Gangrene happens not only to the flesh and blood body; it also happens to the diseased soul.

When it happens, the only the way to deal with it is by getting rid of gangrenous part. Otherwise, death is around the corner, as well as the coroner. Both body and soul suffer. And it will do no good to feign healthiness and pretend as if everything is “just fine.”

Some salt, therefore, is good. It acts as a preservative against expiration; and promotes the good taste of obedience and fidelity to God.

All your grain offerings you shall season with salt; you shall not omit from your grain offerings the salt of the covenant with your God; with all your offerings you shall offer salt. (Leviticus 2:13, NIV)

Let’s consider hard whether we want to be lame Christians who offer nothing but a tepid discipleship and spirituality to the church and world; or whether we will spiritually support one another by building bridges to provide needed supply lines, instead of walls to keep out the people we don’t like.

You already know what Jesus wants, and what Christ advocated and agitated for. So, let’s avoid a future with millstones in it.

Almighty God of redemption and mercy: Help us to be at peace with one another: not clambering for positions; not being fearful of those who we do not know in the kingdom, but honoring, loving, and serving them. Enable us to increase peace among ourselves by being aware of sin and its effects, and choosing to deal with it. May we be seasoned with salt as we live for the cause of Christ in a world of conflict. Amen.

When Things Are Screwy (Esther 3:1-15)

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

After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles. All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor.

Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?” Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.

When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.

In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the pur (that is, the lot) was cast in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell on[a] the twelfth month, the month of Adar.

Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.”

So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.”

Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the language of each people all Haman’s orders to the king’s satraps, the governors of the various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed with his own ring. 

Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so they would be ready for that day.

The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered. (New International Version)

A Purim mask of Haman, by Mimi Gross, 1964

I don’t like arrogant people. I don’t like those who only think of themselves, and expect others to fall in line with them, too! It’s unlikely that an arrogant person would be reading or listening to this, namely because such individuals believe they are above the menial task of reading – unless it gets them more attention and/or power.

I don’t like Haman. The story clearly sets up Haman as the antagonist. He is a number one jerk in the first degree. Having a front row seat to his manipulative ways with the king arouses our sense of justice and injustice. Mordecai was the one person who saw Haman for who he is; so, if Haman couldn’t cajole and control Mordecai, he was determined to do him in, permanently.

It’s interesting that the royal command that people bow to Haman, follows the command that men are the lord of their homes. That doesn’t sound very “complimentary” to me. Haman wanted a strict hierarchical structure, with himself at the top.

It is consistent of the arrogant authoritarian person to not stop with wanting Mordecai out of the way, but also to lay plans for all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, to be destroyed.

Because of Haman’s arrogant anger, he sought to enlist the king in his sinister plan. Every authoritarian dictator throughout history has scapegoated an entire race of people through rewriting history. Haman spun the Jewish people as a constant historical problem.

Using generalities and twisted truth, Haman depicted Jewish life as one long continuous rebellion against governmental authority. Note that Haman did not produce any hard evidence to his claims.

If this weren’t bad enough, Haman appealed to the king through the promise of financial gain with a plan of ridding the empire of Jews. The king let Haman go ahead with the plan, while keeping his own hands clean from the affair.

Thus, it was decreed that on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the people of the empire were to rise up against the Jews and wipe them off the face of the earth. No one was to be spared. And the Jews could be plundered.

So, King Xerxes and Haman went back to drinking and having a good time, neither being aware nor caring that the entire plan is insane and nonsensical – which is why we get the picture of the city’s citizens looking at one another quizzically… “Huh!?”

The story’s stage is set for the protagonist, Esther, to enter. Yet, we need to sit with this terrible situation for a while, and not rush to the conclusion of the narrative. That’s because the ancient Jews had to sit with this for an agonizing stretch of time, knowing that the actual day of their demise was on the calendar.

There would not be the centuries old Jewish celebration of Purim without this tension. Yes, the awful suffering would eventually end in glorious joy. However, there would not be such joy apart from the grinding circumstance of facing extinction.

Another way of putting this: There cannot be a resurrection without a crucifixion. There must be suffering before glory. When things are screwy, we have only our faith to cling to.

The wise person will ponder these things and take them to heart.

Do not forget us, your people, O Lord.
Be present to us in the time of our distress and grant us courage.
Save us by Your power, and come to our aid,
for I am alone and have no one but You on whom to depend. Amen.

Reverence, Humility, and Contentment (Ecclesiastes 5:1-20)

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

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than the sacrifice offered by fools, for they do not know how to keep from doing evil. Never be rash with your mouth nor let your heart be quick to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few.

For dreams come with many cares, and a fool’s voice with many words.

When you make a vow to God, do not delay fulfilling it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Fulfill what you vow.It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake; why should God be angry at your words and destroy the work of your hands?

With many dreams come vanities and a multitude of words, but fear God.

If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and right, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. But all things considered, this is an advantage for a land: a king for a plowed field.

The lover of money will not be satisfied with money, nor the lover of wealth with gain. This also is vanity.

When goods increase, those who eat them increase, and what gain has their owner but to see them with his eyes?

Sweet is the sleep of laborers, whether they eat little or much, but the abundance of the rich will not let them sleep.

There is a grievous ill that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owners to their hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture; though they are parents of children, they have nothing in their hands. As they came from their mother’s womb, so they shall go again, naked as they came; they shall take nothing for their toil that they may carry away with their hands. This also is a grievous ill: just as they came, so shall they go, and what gain do they have from toiling for the wind? Besides, all their days they eat in darkness, in much anger and sickness and resentment.

This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us, for this is our lot. Likewise, all to whom God gives wealth and possessions and whom he enables to enjoy them and to accept their lot and find enjoyment in their toil—this is the gift of God. For they will scarcely brood over the days of their lives because God keeps them occupied with the joy of their hearts. (New Revised Standard Version)

Life can be paradoxically both meaningful and meaningless. Yet, if we can live consistent with who we are and how we were created to be, then it is likely we shall find a semblance of meaning, purpose, and even joy in this present life.

Reverence

Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut. (Proverbs 10:19, NLT)

We are to be cautious in our speech, especially in addressing God. We must choose our words carefully and deliberately, in prayer, as well as with others.

God is God, and we are not. Therefore, since God is far above us, the high and holy One, it is wise to minimize our talking. There’s no need for lengthy and showy prayers. It is the mark of a fool that talks too much, just as much as it is the mark of a fool to let daydreams occupy too much of their thoughts.

Even fools who keep silent are considered wise; when they close their lips, they are deemed intelligent. (Proverbs 17:28, NRSV)

To be reverent and respectful before God involves not only the volume of words, but also the sanctity of words.

Whenever a person makes a vow or a promise to God, they need to be diligent about fulfilling that vow. The Lord takes our words seriously, and is not pleased with flippant promises that we have little intention of keeping.

On the flipside, good intentions are just that – they do not constitute a promise to do anything. We make vows so that we will be accountable to ourselves and others, and then follow through with the promise, no matter what.

Reneging on any promise, whether the vow is to another or God, is a foolish act with real consequences. Therefore, we should consider our promises well before making them, and avoid being rash.

Humility

All of us have both observed and experienced oppression and injustice of another or a group of people. In our anger, we may want to play both judge and jury. Humility teaches us that this is not our role, and to accept that a right and just God will deal with injustice.

The Lord sneers at those
    who sneer at him,
but he is kind to everyone
    who is humble. (Proverbs 3:34, CEV)

The injustice of this world does not necessarily need to create a deep theological conflict within us. We rarely, if ever, have the big picture on the circumstances and complexities of what is going on. But God does.

The Lord is watching. God neither slumbers nor sleeps. There is never a Divine nap time. So, God knows all, and will handle arrogant people according to their deeds and motives.

People who are proud will soon be disgraced. It is wiser to be modest. (Proverbs 11:2, GNT)

Contentment

It is the proud and arrogant person who never seems content. They continually want more – likely because they have the wrongheaded notion that they deserve more, even if it comes by taking resources from others.

Yet, the reality is that both kings and commoners rely upon the produce which comes from the soil. And regardless of whether a person has lots of money, or not, wealth isn’t the thing which makes for a truly happy life.

So, it is pointless and foolish to hoard food, money, stuff, resources, and even intangible things such as love and encouragement. Having a liberal outlook of sharing and giving creates joy. Misers, however, are typically curmudgeons who rarely smile and enjoy what they have.

The more stuff and wealth a person has, the less it is of benefit to humanity, whenever it is stockpiled and/or selfishly used and spent. Besides, when somebody has a lot, they have a lot to worry about. But workers living a simple life sleep just fine.

It is foolish to work so hard for something, only to end up with nothing you can take with you into eternity; or to have it taken by someone with an evil scheme to get it. On top of it, leaving this life with no humility and charity means that such a person really does leave with absolutely nothing to show for their life.

There’s no need to waste your life by filling it with nothing but aggravation and worry. Life has purpose and joy when there are liberal amounts of gratitude, encouragement, and friendship.

Let’s live today according to what is most important in life. Instead of chasing wealth, power, and control, we have the opportunity – no matter who we or our station in life – to live honestly and reverently, humbly and gently, with satisfaction and contentment.

What will you choose this day?

Almighty God of mercy, thank You for extending grace to me as I humble myself before You. Help me to be careful with my words, and to approach You with reverence and respect. Enable me to listen more and speak less, and to fulfill my vows to You. Guide me in being content with what You have given me and not to be consumed by the pursuit of wealth. I pray for wisdom and discernment in all my dealings and decision-making. Amen.

Have Enough Sense to Learn Some Life Lessons (Proverbs 19:24-29)

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

Some people are too lazy to put food in their own mouths.

Arrogance should be punished, so that people who don’t know any better can learn a lesson. If you are wise, you will learn when you are corrected.

Only a shameful, disgraceful person would mistreat his father or turn his mother away from his home.

My child, when you stop learning, you will soon neglect what you already know.

There is no justice where a witness is determined to hurt someone. Wicked people love the taste of evil.

A conceited fool is sure to get a beating. (Good News Translation)

I believe one good practice is to ponder the biblical proverbs and write them in our own words. So, here is today’s Proverbs lesson in my own colloquial words, with a brief bit of commentary:

There are folks who have gotten so used to laziness that they don’t even use their hands to feed themselves.

It’s important not to enable such persons to be this way by bringing them food and feeding them. It reinforces bad behavior, and will only frustrate you if you give-in to the rationalizations from the lazy person.

Arrogant fools need sense enough to see that foolish stupidity leads to punishable consequences; but a person with good sense learns the humility of being corrected without having to be harshly punished.

Part of what makes a person foolish and arrogant is that they honestly believe they’re an exception to the rules, that they can do what they want and not suffer the consequences. Conversely, the wise person doesn’t always need to learn the hard way. They listen to correction and accept it, thus avoiding adverse consequences from continuing in a particular way.

Kids without any sense at all are a disgrace to their parents; they steal from mom and dad and refuse to care for them in their need.

A parent’s greatest shame is when one of their children ignore what they’ve been taught and use the parents to get what they want. And then when mom and dad have a need, the kid has every excuse in the book to not help them. Unfortunately, there are times when a parent must take action to protect themselves from a wayward child. It isn’t healthy to let your children use you with impunity.

If you have no inclination to learn, you will eventually become as dumb as a brick.

Anyone who doesn’t take the stance of being a life-long learner will end up losing what little knowledge they have. That’s because memory is tied to actionable learning. If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.

A witness who lies brings harm to both the court system and the persons involved; he is just like a criminal who commits crimes and revels in a lie as if it was a delicious meal.

Sadly, there are some people in this old fallen world who take delight in lying, cheating, and stealing. It gives them a twisted feeling of superiority and control to manipulate a person or a system. So, beware of the one who has no conscience.

The only thing an arrogant fool can expect to get in this life (and the next) is punishment.

A fool is a fool because they neither learn a lesson from observing what happens to others, nor learn from their own mistakes, misplaced words, and bad behavior. Although they shouldn’t be surprised whenever they are fired from a job, arrested by the police, or have a spouse leave them, they are; somehow they feel entitled to live as they please and have others accommodate to their life.

The biggest chunk of the Book of Proverbs (chapters 10-22) are wise sayings framed mostly in couplets. The majority of the verses are a contrast between the wise and the foolish, the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad.

The contrasts are meant to demonstrate consequences. If we make decisions and live our lives in a good and right way, then it is likely that we will be successful and have some overall happiness.

However, if we choose to go through life like the fool, then we should expect some rather adverse consequences.

For example, both parents and children need to make some responsible choices in order to live well. Parents are to put a great deal of effort into raising, training, and loving their children so that they can be successful in life. Children are to respond by accepting parental teaching and seeking to live into the wisdom taught to them.

And yet, there are parents who are uncommitted to preparing their children for adulthood. And there are adult children who want nothing to do with anything their parents tell them, believing their mom or dad to be stupid or out of touch. However, sooner or later, they will learn a hard lesson.

A happy family is a beautiful thing; a contentious bunch of relatives always walks away hurt.

Every day is an opportunity to build on a wise foundation of life. The sorts of decisions we make, and why we make them, is of upmost significance for a good, right, and just way of living. And this wisdom, ideally, is to be passed on by both words and actions.

No matter who we are – whether parents or children, community leaders or citizens, managers or employees, neighbors or nations, we are all to grow in maturity by learning to make wise choices in life which bless others, and thus, bless yourself.

We are neither to live arrogantly and selfishly, nor are we to allow bad attitudes and behaviors to exist within our families, communities, and workplaces.

The beginning of wisdom in living a good life is to know God and be a life-long learner of sacred wisdom literature. This is the first and most important choice of all.

All-wise and all-powerful God of the universe, you have given dominion over this earth, in order that we may steward good and right living which allows all life to thrive and flourish. Give us wisdom to use all that you have given, so that no one may suffer from our foolish stupidity, and that the generations yet to come may know that there is a good God in heaven who blesses those who do right and forsake evil. Amen.