Tag: lent

The Call (Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Call to Worship, by Darrell Black

Confess Yahweh, because he is good,

            because his commitment is permanent.

Yisrael is pleased to say,

            “His commitment is permanent”…

Open the faithful gateways to me;

            when I come through them, I shall confess Yahweh.

This is Yahweh’s gateway;

            faithful people come through it.

I will confess you because you answered me

            and became deliverance for me.

The stone that the builders spurned

            became the head cornerstone.

This came about from Yahweh;

            it’s been extraordinary in our eyes.

This was the day that Yahweh made;

            so that we would celebrate and rejoice in it.

Oh, Yahweh, will you deliver us, please?

            oh, Yahweh enable us to succeed, please.

Blessed be the one who comes in Yahweh’s name;

            we are blessing you from Yahweh’s house.

Yahweh is God; he has shone light to us

– tie the festal offering with cords to the horns of the altar.

You are my God and I will confess you;

            my God, I will exalt you.

Confess Yahweh, because he is good,

            because his commitment is permanent.

(The First Testament, A New Translation by John Goldingay)

This psalm is the last of the Hallel (praise) psalms (Psalms 113-118) used at the Passover meal. It includes a summons for the entire community to praise God; an individual thanksgiving to the Lord; and a communal speech.

The Call to Confession

We are invited and called upon to recognize and confess Yahweh’s enduring steadfast love, which is a lasting and permanent commitment toward God’s people. Why? Because it is through a tenacious love that never gives up that brings healing, wholeness, and health to the community. Our relatedness to God makes all the difference in life.

“The unrelated human being lacks wholeness, for he can achieve wholeness only through the soul, and the soul cannot exist without its other side, which is always found in a ‘You.’ Wholeness is a combination of I and You, and these show themselves to be parts of a transcendent unity.”

Carl Jung, The Psychology of Transference

When it comes to healing – whether it be physical, emotional, or spiritual – love must be involved. The need for healing implies brokenness. And love is relational. Therefore, in order to experience the wholeness of healing, there needs to be another.

Love extended to one who requires mercy creates the opportunity to see light in the other, and to feel it in your own. And that energy brings the healing wholeness of both body and soul.

Every divine/human encounter, and each gracious intervention of God to people, is the chance to bring wholeness through the power of love by means of relationship. Communal worship affords us the opportunity to experience the steadfast love and commitment of God – as well as to steward that love well, for others who need it.

The Call to Thanksgiving

Everyone is on board for thanksgiving, right? Well, not so much. Like most things, it’s complicated. On the one hand, we have those persons who seem to never express gratitude for anything; it appears they are only capable of cynicism and sarcasm. And, on the other hand, are those who are incessantly positive, always thankful, no matter the circumstance; for them, it seems they are never living in the reality of a messed up world.

A reflexive response of gratitude to everything is merely a cheap thanksgiving. And a constant stream of ingratitude is simply taking the easy road of complaint. Thanksgiving ought to be thoughtful and well-placed. Gratitude is really a spiritual discipline that requires constant practice until it becomes a solid life skill.

The psalmist pictures the king, David, leading a procession of worshipers as they approach Yahweh. It’s as if the king is teaching the people how to go about entering God’s presence, and what role thanksgiving has in this relationship between God and humanity.

Central to that relationship are offerings of praise and thanksgiving for divine deliverance. Specifically, it is acknowledging gratitude from the place of a spiritual cornerstone. This is the foundation from which an individual’s and an entire community’s faith is rested upon.

The New Testament locates this vital cornerstone as Christ. Jesus is,

“‘the stone you builders rejected,
    which has become the cornerstone.’

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:11-12, NIV)

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. (Ephesians 2:19-20, NIV)

The Call to Commitment

The permanence of God’s steadfast love and loyalty toward people demands a response. In Christianity, because of the Lord’s commitment to us – through the person and work of Jesus Christ – there is opportunity for a reciprocal response of commitment to God in Christ through the Spirit.

This response of genuine worship and thanksgiving avoids the crush of the constant critic, on the one hand, and on the other hand, steers clear of ignoring suffering.

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
    a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
    will never be put to shame.”

Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

“The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone,”

and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:4-10, NIV)

Holy Week is nearly upon us. The celebration and praise of Palm Sunday is coming, along with the suffering and death of Good Friday. This all sets the scene for a victorious resurrection which solidifies the Christian’s faith with the mortar of God’s steadfast love in Christ.

As we enter the Week, let us be open to the full range of thoughts and emotions that arise because of God’s loyal and loving commitment to us, and our reciprocal commitment to Christ. Let us be receptive to the call of love.

God of compassion and love, you know our faults and yet you call us to forgiveness instead of leveling judgment upon us. Keep us in your gracious presence, and give us your wisdom. Open our hearts to gratitude and commitment, and restore to us the joy of our salvation. Amen.

Remember Passover (Deuteronomy 16:1-8)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Exodus, by Yoram Raanan

Observe the month of Aviv and celebrate the Passover of the Lord your God, because in the month of Aviv he brought you out of Egypt by night. Sacrifice as the Passover to the Lord your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his Name. Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste—so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt. Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until morning.

You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the Lord your God gives you except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary of your departure from Egypt. Roast it and eat it at the place the Lord your God will choose. Then in the morning return to your tents. For six days eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day hold an assembly to the Lord your God and do no work. (New International Version)

The first five books of the Old Testament are known by Christians as the Pentateuch. These same books are the Torah in Judaism. Deuteronomy is the fifth and final book; it is a restatement of God’s Law for the Israelites about to enter the Promised Land.

Several prominent theological themes are highlighted in the book of Deuteronomy. It vigorously advocates for exclusive loyalty to the monotheistic God, Yahweh. Yahweh is characterized as a transcendent Being, full of steadfast love and transformative justice.

Deuteronomy places significant emphasis upon the covenant relationship between God and Israel. The covenant was established with the patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – and affirmed at Mount Sinai after the exodus from Egypt, at the giving of the Law. This Law was graciously provided by God for the people; it is encapsulated in the Ten Commandments, and is to be reaffirmed as soon as Israel enters the land.

Moses receiving the Tablets of Law, by Marc Chagall, 1963

Therefore, the entire book of Deuteronomy looks forward toward a new existence in the Promised Land. This new society is to pursue justice and be devoted to righteousness. All Israel is to live in harmony with God and one another, enjoying the land and the covenant relationship.

The welfare of Israel depends upon upholding and maintaining the social and religious laws given by Yahweh. God’s commands are a divine gift, and if closely followed, will be the best humanitarian way of caring for the poor and disadvantaged, as well as bringing the people close to Yahweh.

The sacrificial system will revolve around a singular sanctuary in the religious capital. By locating sacrifices in a particular place, this has the effect of Jewish faith not becoming dependent on offerings, but instead on mercy, love, learning the law, and rituals that uphold reverence for God.

Perhaps the greatest of all the rituals is Passover. Israel’s experience of deliverance at the Red Sea and the centralization of worship in Jerusalem is remembered and celebrated at the festival of Passover every year.

In the original Passover, at the time of the exodus, the blood of a sacrificed lamb was smeared on the doorposts of each Jewish home. In doing this, it let the angel of death know to “pass over” that house, thereby only entering Egyptian homes that did not revere nor recognize God. This act was also the final miraculous act of ten plagues leveled on Egypt.

And There Was a Great Cry in Egypt, by Arthur Hacker, 1897

As the households of Egypt were grieving their dead, Israel was urged by the Egyptians to get out. Egypt feared what would happen if the Israelites remained. Therefore, Israel left post haste. They didn’t have any time for their bread to rise. The people ate unleavened bread so they could immediately leave Egypt.

So, from then on, every year in early Spring, Israel commemorates and remembers God’s deliverance of the people from slavery. God, through Moses, instructed the Israelites to mark Aviv as the first month; it is then that the Passover festival is to occur.

I believe that what we can takeaway from this Scripture, is that perhaps, we ought to stop trying to always have takeaways for everything – as if the Bible can be boiled down to some neat personal application for my life.

Aside from admitting I’ve had a bit of a cynical streak lately, we really must contend with seasons like Passover and Lent, and matters such as social justice and religious worship. These religious seasons are important enough to warrant what the late Eugene Peterson called “a long obedience in the same direction.”

By that phrase, Peterson meant that there are some spiritual practices that we must commit ourselves to year after year, even day after day, for the rest of our lives. Generations before did, and generations after us will need to, as well.

Spiritual growth and maturity take time; and we must patiently and consistently cultivate a sense of justice and a practice of righteousness over and over again.

Passover Seder, by Melita Kraus

One must fight for what they believe, each and every day. Spiritual growth takes a lot of time, grit, tenacity, and resilience. It requires patience and grace, perseverance and a good nature. And it is very much a skill which demands daily practice.

Contemporary society is obsessed with quick fixes and easy solutions. But the time-tested practices of Lent, rooted in the remembrances of Passover, are a Christian discipleship that is long on obedience in the same well-worn ancient directions.

We need to keep moving in the directions of deepening a life of prayer, learning the joy of service, growing in the worship of God, and discovering the virtues of humility and a concern for the welfare of everyone in the community.

In other words, to truly observe something, we need to do it, over and over, year after year. In observing the significant events and dates and seasons of the Christian Year, we can find the sort of spiritual support that will fortify our soul, and bless others.

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make within us new and contrite hearts, so that we may acknowledge our guilt and lament our shame. Let us obtain from you, O merciful God, reconciliation through the Cross, and empowerment through the Spirit, to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with you. Amen.

Dealing with Disrespect and Disbelief (John 12:34-50)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Christ and the Pharisees, by Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641)

The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:

“Lord, who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:

“He has blinded their eyes
    and hardened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
    nor understand with their hearts,
    nor turn—and I would heal them.”

Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human praise more than praise from God.

Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

“If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.” (New International Version)

It seems that nowadays, the more one rises in popularity and garners national attention, the more some folks want to disrespect them.

Out of the many examples of this phenomenon, consider the case of a young woman from my home state of Iowa. Sportswriter Mike DeCourcy recently mused on why the University of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark has discovered that not all the greats of women’s college basketball welcome her success.

Several women – who ought to know better – have cynically reacted to Clark’s legitimate college greatness with a sort of “Why her, why not us?” attitude. They’ve indulged in misinformation and cheap shots that clearly say more about them than Caitlin Clark.

This is especially curious, since Clark has elevated women’s basketball to a level of attention that her now detractors and others have envied for decades. DeCourcy writes, “None of this [delegitimizing Clark] is a good look for NCAA women’s basketball, and neither does it appear to be the most prudent way to continue growing the sport.”

The same type of thing could be said about Jesus and the movement he was sparking during his ministry on this earth. Many of the religious leaders refused to acknowledge his greatness, nor believe in the words he was saying. Instead, they sought to knock down Jesus and the good work he was doing.

It seems the religious leaders wanted the praise and attention Jesus was getting. Even many who believed in what was happening, kept their mouths shut and let the misinformation spread, because they, too, loved the praise of others instead of praise from God.

Playing with the game of darkness, nobody wins. People end up only being a mere shadow of the person they could be. Trying to disrespect others in order to shine the light on yourself is a convoluted and misguided way of handling anyone or any situation.

Carl Jung (1875-1961) described this hidden shadow self as an unconscious aspect of the human personality. In other words, the shadow results from the conscious self being unaware or unconscious concerning areas of its own personality. Without the light of conscious awareness, the shadow self runs amok within the psyche of a person and far too often calls the shots in speaking and behavior.

“Everyone carries a shadow,” Jung wrote, “and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is.” (Psychology and Religion, 1938)

According to Jung, the shadow side of a person is prone to psychological projection, in which a perceived personal inferiority is recognized as a perceived moral deficiency in someone else. If those projections remain hidden, they eventually come out sideways by harming others because there is a dark illusion, even delusion, that others are stealing what is rightfully mine.

Hence, the sinless Jesus is denigrated, disrespected, and disbelieved. And it is what led to him being tortured and killed by those who thought they are doing a good thing.

It’s easy to be hard on the religious rulers in the New Testament, but this is the Christian season of Lent, and so, we must shine the light of Scripture upon ourselves. This is the time to deliberately gain awareness of our own shadow selves.

Perhaps the burning question for all believers at this time of year is: Do I seek the presence of God more than the presence of anything or anyone else?  

Maybe you live in fear at work and are more concerned about the presence of people around you than the presence of God, so you keep quiet when you ought to speak up or turn a blind eye to the shadows of an organization. Or worse, you talk bad about someone good, just because they’re getting the attention you feel you deserve.

In these remaining days of Lent, as we journey with Jesus to Jerusalem, let’s let the light of his gracious ministry dispel the dark shadows of our hearts and make us aware of who we are, and what we need to change.

If we can learn to appreciate the God-given and hard-earned talents of a young woman playing basketball, then perhaps we can then also learn to glory in One who is greater than any sports celebrity, and celebrate the great work done on this earth for us and for our salvation.

Good and gracious God, we are far too often influenced by what others think of us. We sometimes pretend to be either richer or smarter or nicer than we really are. So, prevent us from trying to divert attention from others to ourselves. Don’t let us gloat over praise received from others, nor be discouraged by criticism from another. Show us, instead, how to be humble of heart, like the Lord Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.

A Prayer of Confession (Psalm 51:1-12)

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

Have mercy on me, God, according to your faithful love!
    Wipe away my wrongdoings according to your great compassion!
Wash me completely clean of my guilt;
    purify me from my sin!
Because I know my wrongdoings,
    my sin is always right in front of me.
I’ve sinned against you—you alone.
    I’ve committed evil in your sight.
That’s why you are justified when you render your verdict,
    completely correct when you issue your judgment.
Yes, I was born in guilt, in sin,
    from the moment my mother conceived me.
And yes, you want truth in the most hidden places;
    you teach me wisdom in the most secret space.

Purify me with hyssop and I will be clean;
    wash me and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and celebration again;
    let the bones you crushed rejoice once more.
Hide your face from my sins;
    wipe away all my guilty deeds!
Create a clean heart for me, God;
    put a new, faithful spirit deep inside me!
Please don’t throw me out of your presence;
    please don’t take your holy spirit away from me.
Return the joy of your salvation to me
    and sustain me with a willing spirit. (Common English Bible)

Sin. The word is rarely used anymore in places outside of churches. And when it is used within the church, sometimes it is grossly misrepresented, as if humanity’s identity is sin.

Although everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, our inherent personhood is not sinful. Every human is made in the image and likeness of God. Sin is like a permanent putrid abscess which never seems to go away.

Sin is everywhere – in our hearts, in our world, in our institutions, and in our families. It is on television, the internet, social media, and moves in and out of smartphones. Sin, apparently, is even in our desserts (oh, the decadence of chocolate!). If it takes one to know one, we are all experts on being sinners.

From a biblical vantage point, sin is serious business. Sin involves both the things we do (1 John 3:4), as well as the things we leave undone (James 4:17). Sin is both the breaking of God’s commands, and the lack of conforming to the teachings of Jesus.

Christians throughout the ages have generally understood that the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) and Christ’s law of love (Luke 10:27) constitute a brief summary of God’s holy and moral instruction for humanity.  This is all based in the character of God as both holy and loving. 

Sin, then, can be defined as anything present within a person which does not express, or is contrary to, the basic character of God.

All sin, whether in actions or inactions, has at its root an attitude and activity of self-centeredness. It is a selfish bent of thinking, feeling, and acting. And, oh my, the consequences!

Sinful attitudes bring about an obsession with lust (1 John 8:34; Galatians 5:16); a broken relationship with God (Romans 3:23; Galatians 5:17); bondage to Satan (1 Timothy 3:6-7; 2 Timothy 2:26); death (Romans 6:23; 8:6); hardening of the heart (Hebrews 3:13); and deception (1 Corinthians 3:18; James 1:22, 26) just to a name a few.

Sin lurks in the shadows of the heart, drips from the tongue of the wicked, and lingers in the actions of the selfish and proud. Sin is not something to trifle with, dabble in, or even manage. No, sin, at its core, is a rebellion against God, a stiff-arm to the Lord that claims we know better than God about how to run our lives. 

Sin will eventually break us. It may initially look good and meet a quick emotional need, but in the end sin is like a poisonous snake bite that will kill us unless it’s treated.

People are guilty of transgressing basic morality, as well as failing to be ethically virtuous people on any on-going consistent basis. 

Well, that sounds like a total Debbie-Downer. Actually, it’s total depravity. Being depraved people does not mean we are never capable of doing good; it just means that sin has profoundly touched everything in our lives, without exception.

When we come to the realization that we are in dire straits, then it is high time we blurt out a prayer of confession along with David. The book of Psalms is the Christian’s prayer book, and there is no better prayer to pray when we come to the end of ourselves than the psalmist’s plea for mercy, based in the steadfast love and faithfulness of God.

The ironic paradox of all this is that experiencing true joy and comfort comes through knowing how great our sin is. 

We can live above sin by being set free from it by the grace of God in Jesus Christ. If a person is to be redeemed from sin, then a provision must be made. Sin has been dealt with once for all through the person and work of Jesus. Christ is our representative, taking our place with the punishment we deserved (Galatians 4:4-5; Ephesians 2:5-6; Colossians 2:9-15; Hebrews 2:17-18; 1 John 2:1).

Jesus Christ is our ultimate substitute (Romans 5:8) which resulted in: our redemption (Galatians 5:13); satisfying all justice (Romans 3:25); and reconciliation to God (Romans 5:10). Therefore, the person who believes in Jesus is forgiven of sin because Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient to deal with all the effects of sin. The Christian is complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10).

A genuine prayer of confession asks for mercy based upon God’s character and ability to heal, rather than trusting in the attempted quality of our petition. 

When it comes to offering a confession in prayer, neither the eloquence of the speech nor the sheer word structure itself is the proper basis for a prayer of confession; utterances of a broken and contrite heart, submitted to God, trusting solely in his grace to transform, are the only words appropriate for approaching God with our sin. 

Such prayers are not to be few and far between; they are to be a regular regimen, engaged on a daily basis. Just as we take pills each day for all that ails us, so we need to take in the mercy of God through prayers of confession that link us to the true healing power which brings spiritual health and life.

Create a clean heart for me, God; put a new, faithful spirit deep inside me! Please don’t throw me out of your presence; please don’t take your holy spirit away from me. Return the joy of your salvation to me and sustain me with a willing spirit. Amen.